Choosing Nirvana or Moksha over participating in the transformation of earthly life can be seen as a selfish act. However, in the past, those who pursued Moksha did so under the belief that the world was inherently full of sorrow and misery, and that it could not be transformed. For them, liberation was not an escape, but the only meaningful solution to suffering. In such a context, can their choice truly be called selfish?
What I feel is that once the possibility of transforming the world becomes known, and one still chooses the path of personal liberation, it could be considered a selfish decision—but only if the person believes in the idea of worldly transformation. If someone does not accept this possibility, then their pursuit of moksha cannot rightly be labelled selfish, as they are simply acting according to their understanding of truth.
This brings me to another point: selfishness is generally rooted in ego. But Moksha, by its very nature, requires the dissolution of the ego. If a person is truly egoistic, how can they be eligible to attain Moksha or unite with the Infinite? Therefore, can we conclude that the persons who did it in the past were not egoistic?
In many mystic lores personal Moksha is regarded as the last sattwic illusion that one must overcome for union with the Divine Reality that is manifesting in creation through all beings and creatures. Individual Moksha meant abandoning God’s Lila if we take the standpoint of the Srimadabhagawatam, the Bhagwad Gita as well as the Mahayana Buddhism. There is the ideal of Jivanmukta or the nirlipta Yogin who works for the good of the world, lokasangrahartha, rather than seeks to escape it. This larger impulse that looks beyond Individual freedom and seeks to work for the freedom of all mankind has always been there regardless of the yoga of transformation. That is why earthly life advanced and progressed in number of direction because king-sages and hero-warriors chose to labour in the night to bring the Light here rather than seek an escape from a life of worldly suffering. Transformation is only taking this larger and wider impulse of bringing perfection to earthly life to its highest logical conclusion.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
