Knowledge is all, for bliss is something you feel just before you get hit by a bus.
Printable View
Knowledge is all, for bliss is something you feel just before you get hit by a bus.
Ignorance definitely is bliss. The more you know, the heavier you are. The less you know, the lighter you are because you are not harrowed by awareness.
I agree with you my friends, ignorance can be bliss mostly and the root of our stress is knowledge and experience. The reason why more and more people are divorcing in the west is everybody is too much conscious about his or her rights and enjoying the freed of knowledge, the freedom of economic and political choice.
But unfortunately this is not always the case. Ignorance of laws has no excuse. And at the same time the bliss the average eastern woman enjoys is due to the lack of the knowledge about their rights and duties.
I must take a different stance. In college I read (or was forced to read) something that argued education is necessary for true happiness. That might be an exaggeration, but the increase of knowledge does increase the range and depth of experiences one can have. To argue ignorance is bliss can only be upheld if you simultaneously hold a dreadfully pessimistic view of reality (Life is pain, etc.). But as knowledge grows, joy can be found in more things. As I learned to read I found joy in books. As I learned music theory I was able to enjoy music on a level beyond "It sounds good." I have a background in agriculture and can find joy in a healthy herd of cattle, a field ready to be harvested or a barn stacked with hay. My knowledge of what these things are and ability to discern the beautiful from the damaged has brought me more opportunities to have joy and more depth to the joy I have.
Likewise, there are things I do not know, yet I recognize could bring me greater or different joy. I do not know knitting, so I can only appreciate the warmth or appearance of a sweater, but not the skill of it's fashioning. And so on.
Regarding ignorance of rights, etc. Is it really better to have one happy to be in one's position because they don't know there are options? Or to be happy because they are aware of the options and chose to remain? Is the obedience of a slave or a son more treasured?
Personally I view ignorance as a synonym for immaturity. To become an adult is to gain knowledge that we didn't possess as a child; to not gain knowledge is to stay in an immature state. Also, with knowledge always comes responsibility, and without knowledge there can (or at least should not be) responsibility. For instance in worklife you only work within your field of knowledge and you will not be put into a position where you will not know what to do.
So is ignorance a bliss? If it's a bliss to be immature, without knowledge or responsibility, then it certainly is.
However, we all lose some of our childlike innocence sooner or later, don't we? Some more, some less.
"The only true paradise is paradise lost"
-Proust
What I believe you are saying is that a western woman may stay in a bad marriage because of ignorance of the law? She does not know what her legal rights are, because she is blissfully ignorant?Quote:
Originally Posted by osho
Am I understanding you clearly?
If so, I think this point of view may be very narrow. There could be a million reason way a woman would stay married.
Hm……are you saying that western women can’t experience the bliss in marriage…….because they are not ignorant and they are stressed out due to having knowledge and experience? :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by osho
I can’t say that much about Eastern culture. However, where I live we have big population of emigrants from China, Taiwan, or Korea. It would be the last thing that I would say about them as they constitute the majority of students at university. Their parents have the same expectations for sons as for daughters. I guess eastern women would have to suffer in marriage without the bliss. too. :cryin:
All I can say is whomever is correct, whatever Osho means, offends me. ftil, your comprehension may be better than mine. But I'd still like clarity on the statement.
Oh, I don’t know if I understood Osho correctly and I would appreciate his clarification too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Buh4Bee
I like what Togre said.
This necessitates some more illumination. All I have said is in the East women are not as educated, intellectual as those in the West. That is why they in the east are more ignorant. They are not aware of their rights.Their religions, and the social and ethical standards and norms born of their religions have conditioned their minds not to defy their male-counterparts. Traditionally women used to be burned on a pyre.Today in some metropolis things are different. More than 90 percent Indians are brutally treated. I am not from India yet I have learned a lot about India. Second marriages are generally unacceptable in most Indian villages though today more and more women are getting modernized or westernized and they are rebelling a bit.
Why this happens is they were taught or programmed to be tolerant, ignorant.There are fewer cases of divorces or separations. Few women dare to raise their voices against their male-counterparts. It seems there is harmony,cohesion and understanding in their families. But few can see the suppression prevailing there. And we know the same thing happens in some Islamic societies like. Ignorance in such cases seem bliss but in actuality it is not so.
I am not critical of western sobriety. They are more educated, freer and do not accept enslavement the way it is in Hindu and Muslim societies. They are bolder, braver and they love freedom at any expense. I want to sing songs in praise of them despite the fact that there are more numbers of divorces there every year.
Slavery breeds hatred ultimately. It keeps people ignorant of some of the basic facts and those keepers of ignorance or some socially and of course religiously, racially or ethnically privileged males choose to keep their wives, sisters, mothers ignorant of their rights to ensure that they are served or worshiped. In Hinduism males are considered superior Gods though in some cases females are also worshiped. Buddhism however sets women somewhat freer( I am talking against any religion at all only some ignoble practices and social mores or ills)
Oh, Osho you are turning everything upside down now. :brow: Earlier you said that” ignorance can be bliss and the root of stress is knowledge and experience” Now, you are saying that “more than 90 percent Indians are brutally treated” Hm…...are you saying that a brutal treatment is….the bliss and better than stress resulting from having knowledge or experience? :biggrinjester:Quote:
Osho wrote:
This necessitates some more illumination. All I have said is in the East women are not as educated, intellectual as those in the West. That is why they in the east are more ignorant. They are not aware of their rights.
So, what about “knowledge is power”
It's definitely bliss to have all of those.Quote:
Originally Posted by Freudian Monkey
Being immature means that people pardon you for your foolishness. True they will see you as immature and foolish but they also let you slide with that one. What gets you into trouble is also your get out of jail free card.
Without knowledge means less options. The less options you have the more satisfied you are. Knowing more only leads to more questions. And although knowing more can lead to happiness too, what we don't know can't hurt us.
Without responsibility? Well that's a no brainer. FREEDOM
Maybe I lacked the skill of putting forth what I wanted to say. My poor writing skill created a fissure between what I wanted to say and what I actually verbalized. Notwithstanding all I have said in both of my posts the essence was ignorance can be bliss for a time and this blissfulness has already paid a price or will have to if not. I have in a while illuminated on this giving a fair comparison of two diverse cultures. I always side with knowledge and ignorance imperils us. In our childhoods ignorance can be bliss, once we become grownups ignorance puts us at risk and I reiterate your own expression "knowledge is power" and do not want to go for ignorance. I never choose to reverse my course of life towards a state of barbarism wherein ignorance could be bless, not in this twenty first century.Quote:
Originally Posted by ftil
Ok. But what about western women and the reason of divorce as you said, “The reason why more and more people are divorcing in the west is everybody is too much conscious about his or her rights and enjoying the freed of knowledge, the freedom of economic and political choice."Quote:
Originally Posted by osho
Are you saying that western women got too much education……..that knowledge is an obstacle and stands on their way of being happily married? :brow:
It sounds that consciousness is really bad…….women may discover mistreatment, for example. :smilewinkgrin: