Advaita Bhoda Deepika #19

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End of post #18...

 

M.: Not so. It is true that the sacred text reveals the Truth,

"That thou art". Still direct knowledge does not result merely

by hearing it. In the absence of enquiry into the Self, knowledge

cannot become direct. In order to have this indirect knowledge

directly experienced, it is necessary to reflect on it.

 

77. Here ends the chapter on sravana. The student who

reads this carefully will gain indirect knowledge. In order to

experience directly, he will seek to know the nature of manana

or reflection.

 

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CHAPTER V

MANANA (REFLECTION)

 

1. D.: Master, on hearing it from you, the nature of the

Self is now clear to me, but the knowledge remains only indirect.

Kindly instruct me in reflection, by practising which the

darkness of Ignorance now hiding the Self may vanish and direct

experience result.

 

2. M.: Always to direct the thought with subtle reasoning

upon the non-dual Self that is now known indirectly, is called

reflection.

 

3-4. D.: Please tell me its 'cause', 'nature', 'effect', 'limit'

and 'fruit'.

M.: Discernment of the real from the unreal is its 'cause';

enquiry into the Truth of the non-dual Self is its 'nature'; to

tear off that veiling aspect of Ignorance which makes one say

"It does not shine forth" is its 'effect'; the non recrudescence of

this veiling is its 'limit'; and direct experience is its 'fruit'. So say

the sages.

 

5. D.: Why is discernment said to be its 'cause'?

M.: Only he who, by discernment of the real from the

unreal has acquired indirect knowledge, is fit to seek by enquiry

the direct knowledge of experience. No other can succeed in

the search for it.

 

6. D.: Why should not the Desire for Liberation be the

'cause' of reflection?

M.: A mere desire to be Liberated cannot make a man fit

for enquiry into the Self. Without sravana one cannot have even

an indirect knowledge. How can one succeed in one's enquiry?

Only after knowing the nature of the Self, should one proceed

to seek It. Ignorant of Its true nature, how can one investigate

the Self? Simple desire to be liberated will not suffice.

 

7. D.: Should not this desire lead to enquiry? With the rise

of this desire the man will begin to hear about the nature of the

Self and gain indirect knowledge which must enable him to

undertake the enquiry.

M.: This amounts to saying that the seeker possesses

discernment. He is not only desirous of Liberation but also

discerning in intellect. With sravana comes this faculty of

intellectual discernment of the real from the unreal, or the Self

from the non-self. This is called indirect knowledge. The shastras

say that only he who possesses indirect knowledge can discern

the real or the Self from the unreal or the non-self, and is fit for

enquiry into the Self. Therefore discernment is the sine qua non

for enquiry.

 

8-12. D.: Even if the desire for Liberation be not the

particular (visesha) cause of Reflection, could not either

desirelessness or tranquillity be the cause of it?

M.: All these are only general aids for reflection but not

its particular causes. A desireless and tranquil man need not

necessarily have the indirect knowledge of the Self and is

therefore unfit for enquiry into the Self. There are men of

austerities who are desireless and tranquil but not anxious for

Liberation. Having no desire for Liberation they have not

heard at all about the Self.

D.: How can they be said not to be desirous of Liberation?

M.: Inasmuch as they engage in austerities without taking

to sravana etc., which is the only gateway to Liberation, the

absence of desire for Liberation is inferred.

D.: No. They too can be desirous of being Liberated.

M.: If so, they must give up their austerities, always remain

with a master and engage themselves in hearing of the Self. If it

be said that they have already done sravana also, then since they

have gained indirect knowledge, they should be engaged in

reflection. Not having done sravana, though endowed with

desirelessness and tranquillity, they are incapable of discerning

the real from the unreal and therefore unfit for enquiry into

the Self. Desirelessness etc. can only be aids to this enquiry but

not its chief causes. Discernment of the real from the unreal is

the only chief cause.

 

13-14. D.: Can the Self not be realised by austerities

accompanied by desirelessness and tranquillity, without enquiry?

M.: No. By non-enquiry the Self has been lost sight of; to

regain It enquiry is needed. In its absence how can even crores

of austerities restore the sight? Always to enquire into the Self is

the only remedy for the blindness of the ignorant whose mental

eye has been bedimmed by the darkness of non-enquiry

spreading its veil. Unless by the eye of knowledge gained

through enquiry, the Self cannot be realised.

 

15-16. D.: What is this enquiry into the Self?

M.: With one-pointed intellect to seek within the five

sheaths the Self which is shining forth as "I" in the body, senses

etc., considering "who is this Self?, where is It? and how is It?",

is the nature of the enquiry into the Self. With subtle intellect

the enquiry into the Reality, namely the Self within the unreal

sheaths must always be pursued.

17. D.: Earlier it was said that the Self is all-permeating.

How can the all-permeating Self be looked for only in the

sheaths? Moreover the sheaths are said to be unreal. How can

an enquiry into unreal things lead to the recognition of Reality?

18-19. M.: Truly the Self is all-permeating. Still Its

knowledge is obscured by the covering of the five sheaths. The

Self which lies hidden in them must be looked for only there

and not elsewhere. A thing is sought in the place where it was

lost. Something lost at home is not looked for in a forest. In

the same manner the Self hidden in five sheaths and remaining

unrecognised by wrong identification with them must be found

only by sifting the unwanted elements, here the five sheaths.

D.: How can an investigation into unreal things lead to

the recognition of the Reality?

M.: The unreal coverings must be removed to disclose the

Reality hidden in them. They are superimposed on the Real Self.

They must be examined and ascertained to be unreal so that their

substratum which is the sole Reality can be known. Unless the

external trappings that are superimposed are looked into, their

substratum, that is the Reality, cannot be found. Has any one in

the world been able to find the rope without looking and enquiring

into the nature of the seeming snake, though this is superimposed

on it and unreal? Or can there be any one, who having enquired

into the superimposed snake, did not discover its substratum to be

the rope? No one. In the same manner an indirect knowledge

should be gained by sravana that the five sheaths are superimposed

and unreal; but by a keen intellect the seeker must probe deep into

this superficial knowledge and experience the truth of it; just as the

directly experienced gross body is clearly known to be built up by

food and recognised to be only the food-sheath covering the Self,

so also the other four subtler sheaths remaining unknown to the

common people but taught by the scriptures and the master must

be known by their characteristics; they must be enquired into and

directly experienced; at the same time they must be recognised to

be only sheaths and successively dismissed in order to seek their

witness, Consciousness-Being or the subtle Self.

 

20. D.: If the Self is enquired into, after investigation and

dismissing these sheaths, how can It be realised?

M.: This enquiry is but reflecting on the Self i.e., manana,

its effect is to destroy the veil of Ignorance. A constant reflection

on the Self lying behind the sheaths must burn away that aspect

of veiling which makes one say 'It does not shine forth'.

 

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Taken from Advaita Bhoda Deepika

as published by Sri Ramanasramam

Tiruvannamalai 2002.

 

To be continued...

 

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