In Friday's class, we were discussing Schopenhauer's foundations in Eastern philosophy - specifically those in Hinduism and his concept of defeating the desire/quieting it. This reminded me of a core class I took my freshman year where I read the Bhagavad Gita which is a part of the Mahabharata - a foundational scripture in Hinduism. The Gita takes place amidst a big battle where warrior-prince Arjuna is torn between fulfilling his role as a dutiful member of a family (half of the members are on the other side of the battle) or as a faithful warrior who fights until death. He engages in a discussion with his charioteer (the god Krishna in disguise) where he shares his concerns. Krishna shares some advice, "one need not renounce actions but merely the desire (karma) for the fruits of actions, acting without desire". This, to me perfectly describes Schopenhauer's perspective on desire and I hope to explore this in more depth because while Schopenhauer took influence from Hinduism along with other Eastern philosophical approaches it is still intriguing to trace them back to the source.
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