Pascal and the Search for Happiness
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapters
Human misery and material diversions
This is a section of continuation of Pascal, Blaise Pascal, Pascal, P-A-S-C-A-L. Pascal saw man situated in the universe between two extremes, between the abyss of infinity and the abyss of nothingness.
Man has a body like the animals and an intellect like the angels or demigods. As such, he is neither a demigod nor an animal, but somewhere between the two.
Due to this situation, man is intelligent enough to know that he is in a miserable situation. Nonetheless, he has a great desire to be happy and to rid himself of his misery.
Pascal saw that all men complain and suffer regardless of the situation. According to him, man engages in all kinds of hobbies and games and diversions in order to divert himself from his misery.
But ultimately, nothing really helps. What man once possessed and now has lost is perfect happiness. Pascal believes that the emptiness felt by man can only be filled by God.
Isn't this the same as it? But mūḍhā, māyāpahṛta-jñānā, māyām āśritāḥ.
Divine guidance through the heart
Because he does not get under the shelter of Krishna, the life after life he's trying to be happy and he is becoming baffled. He is manufacturing new ways of sporting.
Sometimes diving in the water, sometimes flying in the air. So this is according to his desire, God is supplying all. Like you want to fly, you become a bird.
You want to dive in the water, all right, you become a fish, big fish. So God is giving him and trying to see whether, giving up all this nonsense plan, he comes to God and surrenders.
"I have tried all my plans, I could not become happy. Now, my God, You say that You give up all this nonsense business, You surrender to Me, I will make you happy." Then we can train. For this message, God comes.
Because this will not do according to the desire of God. Therefore God comes personally and teaches him.
As Lord Ramachandra, as Lord Krishna, as Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and He did teach the same instruction: that you surrender unto Me and act according to My instruction and you'll be happy. But he'll not do that.
Whereas Descartes stressed reason, Pascal says that the principles that are understood by the heart are absolutely certain, and that they are certainly adequate to overcome all skepticism or doubt in God.
Is this something like the Supersoul speaking in the heart? Or how can one be certain that it is the Supersoul? That is dadāmi buddhi-yogam, that uh, dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te.
"I give him intelligence by which he can always live with Me." Upayānti. He is living anyway. Every living entity is living with God, but out of his ignorance he does not know that another body is there, but he's doing.
And He is living as a witness, His friend, that what this nonsense is doing, he will suffer, so He's finding out the opportunity. How he'll take instruction from the other, but God,
He gives instruction, but to whom? When he surrenders and is engaged in His service, then He gives instructions. Teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam. Dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ tam. He gives.
God is giving intelligence to everyone. But the non-devotee, he's not surrendered, he'll not accept. The same example: when the thief goes to steal, God gives you, "Don't do this, you will suffer."
As he knows that, the conscience is speaking, "He doesn't do this," but still he does. This is a thief. But if he can feel fire and acts according to the instruction of God, then it is perfect.
And that is the difference between a non-devotee and a devotee. A devotee strictly follows the order of God. He is happy. And the non-devotee, he also knows what is God's desire. He disobeys.
He acts according to his whims, he suffers. God is giving instruction. There's no doubt about it. Externally, He is giving instruction through His agent, the spiritual master, through books, and internally, as conscience.
Conscience. Did you mean? Alright. But the rascal cannot accept it. Okay, we'll continue.
Original sin and false godhood
Pascal believed in the doctrine of original sin.
That doctrine holds that at one time man fell from grace by committing some sin or other, and that fall from grace accounts for his present position between the demigods and the beasts.
In other words, that original sin accounts for man's engagement or entanglement in matter. Yeah. Well, what was this original sin? To disobey the order of Krishna or not to serve Krishna.
Just like some servant, he tries: "Why am I serving this master? Why not become a master?" Sometimes psychologically it comes.
A man is working in the office, he's seeing the managing director, he's sitting and is taking all the money, and sometimes the work... definitely capitalist and the... this communist movement, that they're thinking that we are working and the capitalist is taking the money.
So they revolt, they make strike, and they form a society that "we must have this money that is coming in." Similarly, when a living entity is eternally a part and parcel of God, to serve God, that is his real position.
But when he thinks that "while I shall serve God, I shall enjoy myself," that is the beginning of fall. What is your question? This was your question, that when the sinful life begins, or what was this original sin?
This is the original sin. When you thought of not to serve God, but to become God, that is. It's like the Māyāvādīs. They have knowledge, they have philosophy, everything, but still trying to become God. Which is impossible.
Then there is no meaning of God. If simply by meditation and by some material efforts one can become God, then where is the use of God? You cannot become God. But artificially you can try to become God.
That artificial way of becoming God is the beginning of sinful life.
Limitations of reason and death
He believed that it is impossible, it is impossible for man to understand the universe or his position in the universe.
In the material world, we cannot look for certainty or stability because our reasoning powers, our reason, is always being deceived. Consequently, man must surrender to the dictates of his heart and to God.
Yes, that is our policy. We are teaching Krishna consciousness means that you act according to the instruction given by Krishna.
We are not depending on heart, because the heart, the direction is coming, but it is not appreciated by the demons, non-devotees. The direct instruction is the Bhagavad-gītā and it is explained by His devotee.
See, in this way, if we take light from God and His representative. Not that... So therefore Krishna consciousness movement is teaching or preaching Bhagavad-gītā and to teach and act accordingly, and we have...
That is our right. So do not manufacture any ideas. The ideas are already there. Simply we are preaching. If one is intelligent, fortunate, he accepts, and we are...
Of all things in the world, Pascal considered this to be the strangest.
He says, "A man spends many days and nights in rage and despair over the loss of his job or for some imaginary insult to his honor, yet he does not consider with anxiety and emotion that he will lose everything by death.
It is a monstrous thing to see in the same heart, and at the same time, this sensibility to trifles and this strange insensibility to the greatest object: death.
It is an incomprehensible enchantment and a supernatural slumber which indicates as its cause an all-powerful force such as māyā."
This is the instruction of Bhagavad-gītā: that one who does not believe in God or disobeys the orders of God, a day will come when God will come as death, and his all power, all false prestige, all imagination, all plans will be all broken.
Then after that, according to the transmigration of the soul, that person, because he did not obey the orders of God, he acted like animals, he gets the body of an animal. This is transmigration. And he suffers.
Religion as perfect divine law
He also writes, "If we submit everything to reason, our religion will have no mysterious and supernatural element. If we offend the principles of reason, our religion will be absurd and ridiculous." Yes. That is a fact.
Because religion means the orders given by God. So if we faithfully carry out the orders of God, then that is religion. But if we don't carry out the orders of God, this is cheating religion. That is not religion.
That is condemned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam; the cheating religions are kicked out from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
So any religious system which has no conception of God and does everything—every year changes by resolution of the priest, and that "now this is all right"— against it is a fight, that's not really religion.
This is by way of saying that, uh, we should not accept our faith blindly, but at the same time we should not expect everything to be comprehensible to our understanding. Yes.
And that the father and the child... the father says, "You do this," that is all-comprehensive. The father's idea is complete; it is good for the son. But the son says, "No, I want to act in this way," that is his folly.
Similarly, what God says, that is law. And so there is no question of blind following. If you know, "Here is God, He's all-perfect. And whatever He's saying, that is all-perfect. Let me accept it." Then you are a gainer.
And if you apply your reasoning and change it according to your whims, then you suffer.
Perfection through love and truth
He also writes: "The greatness of man is great in that he knows himself to be miserable. A tree does not know itself to be miserable. These miseries prove man's greatness.
They are the miseries of a great lord, a deposed king." Yes, that is explained in the Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, that you are trying to live long. So does the tree not live longer than you?
You are trying by scientific method how to live more than a hundred years or better? The tree is living for ten thousand years. Does this mean this is perfection of life? To live long, that is not perfection of life.
So in this way, analyze all other living conditions. When we come to God-conscious life, that living condition is perfect.
Because with God consciousness, or Krishna consciousness, you understand God, how to behave with Him, what is your relationship with God, then you become perfect and you go to the kingdom of God and live there eternally.
Descartes was more in the jñānī tradition and Pascal more in the bhakti tradition; he says, employ the rule of love, not of intellect.
And for Pascal, knowledge can only be attained by curbing the passions, submitting to God, and accepting the revelation of God. He was also Christian. And he said there is no happiness apart from religion. Yes.
We say the same thing: that without religion, one is an animal, because in the animal society there is no church, there is no religion, there is no discussion of God.
So in the human society, as they are doing now, they are denying discussion about God even in schools and colleges. So it is the most degraded form of society and the consequences are there also.
Although he was considered a great philosopher, he concluded that philosophy in itself only leads to skepticism, that faith is needed. And he always added: fear God.
Then philosophy means to understand the truth; that is philosophy.
So without understanding about the truth, if he encourages untruth, just like some philosopher philosophizing on sex life, surely people are becoming degraded. So what is philosophy in the sex life? That is an art.
It is there in animals and man also. So sex life is not actual life; it is a symptom of life only. So if we stress on this point only, that is not philosophy. Philosophy means, as it is stated: «tattva-jñāna-saṁskāram».
To find out the absolute truth, tattva. That is philosophy. And tattva means the spirit soul or the spiritual atmosphere. «brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate».
So those who are discussing about Brahman or Paramātmā or Bhagavān, the Supreme Person, they are real philosophers because they are trying to find out the absolute truth. Others are bogus. And so...