“Who is a Sthitaprajna?” I ran the question by my Dad, but with a couple of conditions i) Please do not use Quantum Physics analogies and ii) Please keep it brief. He did manage to sneak in one Physics reference.
He replied, "Sthitaprajna, which is a Sanskrit term, relates to the attributes of a person with the steadiest and most concentrated mind. This person is immune to either extreme joy or extreme sorrow. Think of happiness and sorrow as a kind of oscillation, the crest being the happiness and the trough being sorrow. Ordinary people have at least some amplitude so that they feel both responses. A Sthitaprajna is one who has an oscillation without an amplitude at all. In real life, very few people can approach such a stage."
A few thoughts on where I am in my pondering. First, the old saw - "I feel like a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat this is not there.” Second, it might be easier to proceed down the road of Neti-Neti. i.e. what it is not.
So here are some thoughts on what Sthitaprajna may not be:
I. Boredom
Lets say I have told you a joke. You laugh heartily. I tell you the joke again. You laugh at the memory that it was funny. I tell it to you again. You no longer find it funny.
So is the reason a Sthitaprajna is calm, and not go up and down with emotion is because he/she is bored? Neti?
I have to admit a real nagging suspicion about this. My tongue-in-cheek question has always been, "Is God bored?"
II. Been there, done that
Let us say there has been a merger or acquisition in your company. Everyone is panicked about their jobs, about their positions, about their status or about their pay. One person is calm and serene in the middle of it (real life example, this one).
When asked why, the person says, I have been through a dozen mergers in my career. I know how this works and what to do and how to behave in this situation. This person is seasoned, been there and done that - so experiences equanimity. Is Sthitaprajna, a case of been there done that? Neti?
III. Autism:
Now into psychology territory. Remember the movie Rain-Man? That Dutin Hoffman character was modeled after a real life person who was Autistic. He was a Moe Norman, a supernaturally gifted, Canadian Golfer.
Three time Golf-major winer Vijay Singh (and others like Sam Snead) consider him the golfer with the 'purest' swing that they have ever seen. Everyone's golf swing gets impacted by the pressure of the situation, the physical conditions around, the competition, the last bad shot and so on. But not Moe Norman's. No matter what the condition, Moe's swing was 'pure'. Well, then why did he not win more tournaments than Tiger Woods? Because he did not like crowds!
We know Autism is a physical condition. A milder version of Autism is called the Asperger Syndrome. And many people with the Asperger Syndrome are considered high functioning. The reason I bring up Autism in the context of Sthitaprajna is the following. Autism is in a real physical sense an ability or the condition of withdraw from the world or in some cases for some of the physical senses.
So does Sthitaprajna get you to a state of Autism? Neti - it appears that the Sthitaprajna can revert back to 'normal' state of affairs.
IV. Psycopath:
Now on to a more egregious postulate. If Autism is the mild, gentle side of the spectrum of human condition, then Psychopathic behavior is the opposite end. Hannibal Lecter is of course the most famous example. An ability not to feel for the others. The cruelest behavior is possible when one turns off the ability to put oneself in another person's shoes.
A psychopath can also not feel 'up or down' when the victim feels up or down. Is Sthitaprajna the better cousin of the mental condition of a psychopath? Neti - because this is 'overtly physically harmful to others'
V. Willpower
My last neti on this is 'exertion'. Another movie example. John Rambo. He could bear extreme pain because of his training. One can imagine training oneself to exercise extreme emotional will-power in all situations. There could be a calamity and this 'will-power' training would kick in and one could control one's emotions.
Is that Sthitaprajna? Neti - because the Sthitaprajna state appears to be effortless.
VI. Summary
While I really don't know what the state of Sthitaprajna is, I have tried to articulate that it may neither be a severe psychological mental condition nor one of world-weariness.
2 comments:
An Oxymoron?
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For considerable time this Sthitaprajnatvam has been crossing my mind.
Each time I try think through the real issue behind this state of mind, I came to a stop without proper answer and the word "Sthitaprajna" was more like an oxymoron. Self defeating.
A couple of personal experiences :
1. I complete all documentation for a Public Issue of a Project which was stuck for a long time [say a couple of years] with enormous efforts. An young fellow from the Brokerage firm collects all documents, fly to Hyderabad from Bombay, checks in the baggage with documents, the baggage gets lost and I receive him empty handed. The next day is last day for approval of the board of Directors, file with the Registrar of Companies, Stock Exchange etc.
All the efforts are just lost right in front of your eyes. Now what should be right reaction..? Actually it should be frustrating, infuriating, irritating, agitating, maddening with height of anger. Right..?
But, I to my surprise I was quite cool, coaxed the Airline staff to locate baggage, took the fool
to a restaurant, gave him a nice meal and put him in the Hotel. Next day, explained the Directors about the loss of baggage while continuing to followup with airlines. While doing so, I got info that the baggage was miscarried
to Calcutta and reaching Hyderbad at 4 pm.
To cut short the long story short, the Directors passed a resolution approving the documents, authorizing me to sign on behalf of Board, Registrar waited till 6.30 pm accepted the filing of docs, night flight, went to Bombay and filed with the Stock Exchange the following day.
I was like a machine doing all that is needed to get out of the crisis. Is this behavior of mine is usual / unusual / or some great traits of Sthitaprajna..?
I don't think so...
Another time, a huge check flew off from the shirt pocket while driving a scooter.
* Tracing back on the route I retrieved it from a road center. No one knows about the incident.
* Got into flights after the doors were closed.
* Suddenly, you are asked to speak on a subject in front of a professional audience.
* You can refuse or you can still make a sensible speech.
We tend to jump at the slightest mistake of others which includes me.
But, in the face of a major crisis, how can you suddenly become cool [without any so called practice of saint.]
Finally, this Sthitaprajna is Oxymoron is my present understanding.
If there are no mood swings we are not really acting like normal human beings reacting to the good, bad and ugly situations that are offered through out the life.
I have carefully considered all the possible explanations you have suggested of what 'Stitapragnya' is.
At least in my opinion, I agree with you that none of these represent a 'Stitapragnya'.
To start with let us not define the qualities that make him one but who he is. He is first and fore most an extremely accomplished man (the character of Bhishma in the epic Mahabharatha is an example).
Second he can control his emotions by constant practice ( Yoga for instance) rather than 'not' have emotions.
Third, he has a higher sense of devotion to Dharma and righteousness.
In other words he has to be an extraordinarily accomplished man and who will be a model to humanity (Ramana Maharshi comes to mind).
In my opinion, a true 'Stitapragyna' state can not be achieved by mere practice. You might come close to it but not quite. For example, no matter, how hard I work, I can not become an Einstein.
'Stitapragnya' state can be considered as a lofty goal which only a few will try and very few can achieve.
'When all desires of heart have been abandoned. and the spirit finds joyous satisfaction in itself then only one can become 'Stitapragnya'.
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