Page 69 - THE FOURTH DIMENSION

chinna-dvaidhā yatātmānaḥ / sarva-bhūta-hite ratāḥ

Those who are beyond the dualities that arise from doubts, whose minds are engaged within, who are always
busy working for the welfare of all living beings and who are free from all sins achieve liberation in the Supreme.
(Bg 5.25)

Speculative literatures of imperfect thinkers

We must understand the fultility of reading speculative literatures of imperfect thinkers like novelists,
philosophers theoretical physicists and mathematicians. Their theories and imaginary speculations are no more
than a useless type of entertainment on the level of a comic book or a Disney movie for children. Most if not all
of the so-called great literature of this world is simply meant for entertainment rather than useful information
for complete liberation from the struggle for existence in the material world. The so-called great writers can
elaborately chronicle the struggle for existence, but they give no practical information for liberation from the
dire circumstances of karmic entanglement in the cycle of birth and death. I will give one example of such useless
literature, the Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus.

In his book, Camus declares there exists a conflicting duality of what we expect to accomplish in our life by
working in this universe and what we actually are able to attain in a universe that appears to be chaotic. He
purports that people will never realize the knowledge and awareness that they seek in life. Thus their life is
reduced to the level of “absurd.”

He forsees two conclusions: put one’s faith in a God who cannot be seen or proven to exist empirically; or accept
the conclusion that life is meaningless.

Camus asks the question: if life is meaningless, then should people by force believe in a God that does not exist,
or should they commit suicide. Camus considers a third possibility of holding on to life in a world without
meaning or purpose.

Since the absurd life circumstances cannot be compatible with the aspirations of people, any endeavor to adjust
the absurd material events and conditions is a hopeless effort. For Camus, to liberate oneself from the
meaningless chaos in order to find a stable situation is impossible in a constantly fluctuating and unstable world.
His conclusion is that no one has ever transcended the absurd life.
Camus projects living with the absurd. He rejects faith in a God as a means to reconcile the absurd. Committing
suicide is also not a solution.

His solution is living life to its fullest. This actually means for him to proactively pursuing a life of continual sense
gratification by finding as many diverse partners/victims for his self-indulgence as possible. The self-gratification
at the expense of others is a selfish life. Selfish people trying to exploit other selfish people engenders an absurd
society, which Camus criticizes as meaningless. It leads to alienation and loneliness.

For Camus, living the absurd life to the fullest requires three attitudes:

1- Do not accept the dictates of any authority and never give up the struggle to experience as much as
possible life’s pleasures despite opposition
2- Remain absolutely free to think and behave according to one’s desires
3- Live passionately without inhibitions of prudish morality

Camus gives four examples of persons who make the most of living the absurd life:

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