Advaita Bhoda Deepika #12

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End of post #11...

 

....How can an illiterate man realise

the Self without studying the shastras which deal with the nature

of the Self? He cannot. Therefore the shastras must be learnt as

a preliminary to realisation.

 

M.: In that case the knowledge of the Self got from the

shastras will be like that of heaven mentioned in the Vedas,

i.e., indirect and not directly experienced. This knowledge

corresponds to hearsay and cannot be direct perception. Just

as the knowledge of the form of Vishnu always remains indirect

and there is no direct perception of the four armed being or

again the knowledge of heaven can only be indirect in this

world, so also the knowledge of the Self contained in the

shastras can only be indirect. This leaves the man where he

was, just as ignorant as before. Only the knowledge of direct

experience can be true and useful; the Self is to be realised

and not to be talked about.

 

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86-88. D.: Has any one said so before?

 

M.: Sri Vidyaranyaswami has said in Dhyana Deepika:

The Knowledge of the figure of Vishnu gained from shastras

that He has four arms, holding a disc, a conch, etc., is only

indirect and cannot be direct. The description is intended to

serve as a mental picture for worship and no one can see it

face to face. Similarly to know from the shastras that the Self

is Being-Knowledge-Bliss amounts to indirect knowledge and

cannot be the same as experience. For the Self is the inmost

being of the individual or the consciousness witnessing the

five sheaths; it is Brahman. This not being realised, a superficial

knowledge is all that is gained by reading the shastras. It is

only indirect knowledge.

 

D.: Vishnu or heaven being different from the Self can

only be objective whereas the Self is subjective and its

knowledge, however gained, must be only direct and cannot

be indirect.

M.: Although spontaneously and directly the Vedanta

teaches the Supreme Truth, "That thou art" meaning that the

inmost being of the individual is Brahman, yet enquiry is the

only sure means of Self realisation. Sastric knowledge is not

enough, for it can only be indirect. Only the experience resulting

from the enquiry of the Self can be direct knowledge.

 

89-90. Vasishta also has said to the same effect. Shastra,

Guru and upadesa are all traditional and do not straightway

make the seeker directly realise the Self. The purity of the seeker's

mind is the sole means for realisation and not shastra nor the

guru. The self can be realised by one's own acute discernment

and by no other means. All shastras agree on this point.

 

91. From this it is clear that except by enquiry the Self can

never be realised, not even by learning Vedanta.

 

92. D.: The Self must be realised only by a critical study of

the shastras. Otherwise what can be the enquiry into the Self

but a critical and analytical study of the shastras?

 

93. M.: In the body, senses etc., the concept "I" persists. With

a one pointed mind turned inwards to look out for this "I" or the

Self, which is the inmost Being within the five sheaths, is the enquiry

into the Self. To seek elsewhere outside the body by an oral recital

of Vedanta Shastra or a critical study of its words, cannot be called

enquiry into the Self which can only be a thorough investigation

into the true nature of the Self by a keen mind.

 

94-96. D.: Can the Self not be known by reading and

understanding the shastras?

 

M.: No. For the Self is Being-Knowledge-Bliss, different

from the gross, subtle and causal bodies, witnessing the three

states of waking, dream and deep sleep. Always to exercise the

vocal organs in reading the shastras, or with a thorough

knowledge of grammar, logic and diction to critically examine

the scripture and make out its meaning, cannot reveal the Self

which is within.

 

D.: How can it be realised?

 

M.: By the mind to examine the nature of the five sheaths,

by experience to determine them, then to discard each of them

step by step "this is not the Self - this is not the Self", and by

mind thus grown subtle to look for the Self and realise It as the

witnessing Consciousness lying beyond the five sheaths - forms

the whole process. The Self cannot be seen without. It is overspread

by and lies hidden in the five sheaths. In order to find It,

the intellect must be made to turn inwards and search within,

not to look for It in the shastras. Will any man in his senses

search in a forest for a thing lost in his home? The search must be

in the place where the thing lies hidden. In the same way the Self

covered over by the five sheaths must be looked for within them

and not among the shastras. The shastras are not the place for It.

 

97. D.: True, the Self cannot be found in the shastras.

>From them a scholar can learn the nature of the five sheaths,

intellectually examine, experience and discard them, in order

to find and realise the Self. How can the other man ignorant of

the nature of the Self or of the five sheaths pursue the enquiry?

 

M.: Just as the scholar learns from books, so the other learns

from the master. Later, enquiry remains the same for both.

 

98-99. D.: Does it follow that a master is necessary for an

illiterate man and not for a scholar?

 

M.: Scholar or illiterate, no one can succeed without a master.

>From the beginning of time, unable to realise the Self without

a master, the seekers even learned in all the shastras always sought

a master to enlighten them. Narada went to Sanatkumara; Indra

to Brahma; Suka to king Janaka. Unless the master is gracious to

him, no man can ever be liberated.

 

100-101. D.: Has any one illiterate been liberated by Guru's

Grace only?

 

M.: Yes. Yagnavalkya helped his wife Maitreyi to be

liberated. Many other women ignorant of the shastras e.g.,

Leela and Chudala were also liberated while alive. Therefore

even those ignorant of the shastras are qualified for enquiry

into the Self.

 

102-108. It must now be obvious that the make up of the

best qualified seeker consists in dispassion, resulting from

discernment of the real from the unreal, so that he discards all

enjoyments here and hereafter as if they were poison or vomit

or blazing fire, retires from all activities to remain quiet like a

man in deep sleep, but finding himself unable to remain so

owing to unbearable pains, physical and mental, as if the hair

of his head had caught fire and was burning, he cannot feel

happy nor bear the agony even a minute longer and burns in

anguish feeling "When shall I be free? How and by what means

can I be liberated?"

 

For the best seeker all the qualifications must be full up to

the above said category "limit" (avadhi). For the next in scale,

the good seeker, the qualifications are developed only to the

"effect" stage; for the middling, only to the "nature" stage; and

for the lowest, only to their "cause" stage. These stages determine

the success of the seeker's efforts.

 

109. Immediate success attends the efforts of the best

qualified; some time elapses before the next in grade succeeds; a

longer time is required for the middling; and only a prolonged

and steady practice can enable the low-grade seeker to succeed.

 

110-112. Their perplexity of minds does not allow the last

two grades of seekers to take to enquiry. Their minds are more

readily composed by yoga, which is more suited to them than

enquiry. The first two grades of seekers readily profit by enquiry

which is more suited to them than yoga.

 

113-114. In Dhyana Deepika, Sri Vidyaranyaswami has

said: "The path of enquiry cannot lead to success to the seekers

whose minds are confused. To bring down the false notion of

their minds, yoga is necessary. The minds of those who are fully

qualified, are not confused but remain one pointed; only the

veiling power of Ignorance still hides the Self from them; they

await only awakening. Enquiry is the process of awakening;

therefore it best suits them."

 

115-118. Yoga can be successful only after a long, steady,

earnest, diligent and cautious practice without needless strain.

 

D.: Why should one be so heedful about it?

 

M.: When the attempt is made to fix the mind in the Self,

it gets restive and drags the man through the senses to the objects.

However resolute and learned the man may be, his mind

remains wayward, strong, mulish, and hard to restrain. Wanton

by nature, it cannot remain steady for a moment; it must run

here, there and everywhere; now it dwells in the nether regions

and in a trice it flies up in the sky; it moves in all the directions

of the compass; and it is capricious like a monkey. It is hard to

fix it. To do so, one must be heedful.

 

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Taken from Advaita Bhoda Deepika

as published by Sri Ramanasramam

Tiruvannamalai 2002.

 

To be continued...

 

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