Fw: Tattva Bodha - Lesson # 4

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TATTVA BODHA

of Bhagwan Sri Adi

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Lesson 4

 

Thus having enumerated the names & brief definitions of the

four-fold qualities, which qualify a person to undertake the

journey to know the truth of himself and the world, the teacher

now answers the queries of student regarding the in-depth

understanding of these extremely important four-fold qualities.

 

The first question of the student pertains to understanding the

first quality, i.e. viveka. He asks :

 

Q : What do you exactly mean by the discrimination between the

eternal and the ephemeral ?

 

The teacher answers :

 

A : By the discrimination between the eternal and the ephemeral

we imply, the conviction that 'Brahman (the eternal & omnipresent

consciousness) alone is the one real entity, and everything else is

transitory'.

 

The quality of in-depth discrimination (viveka) is the hallmark of

human mind. It is his greatest asset. It is because of this ability

alone that man has progressed to mind-boggling heights in various

fields. Whether it is the field of science, business, defense,

relationships or any thing whatsoever, the understanding of right

or wrong pertaining to that field is what makes him a scholar of

his field. By education also this ability to see through the truth &

untruth of each field is strived to be manifested. Thus not only the

power of discrimination is present in one & all, but is also

unanimously understood as the greatest asset of human beings.

 

Discrimination is the ability of the intellect to see through a

situation, so as to 'see' rice & chaff separately without even

physically doing so. A good investor can 'see' the profit or loss

in a given situation, even when a layman can't comprehend a

thing. This is his power of discrimination in the field of his

investments. So also with the experts in all other fields. Thus

in discrimination there is no need or question of physical

separation of two entities or inter-mingled probabilities, one

has to just see through the situation or object, and separate

the two in our intellect itself.

 

When ever in course of ones life, a realisation dawns, that

the genesis of all my problems is non-apprehension of the

exact truth of life, that the real search starts. Not knowing that

which really matters the mind subsequently apprehends that

which is untruth as the truth. This further compounds &

complicates the problem, and the result is eternal, never

ending seeking, along with inevitable heart breaks and

discontentment. This is called samsara. With this realisation

starts the process of conscious endeavor to know that which

is permanent and what is not. If a man really wants to

know then he will know, because all he wants is understanding

of that which is the truth of all that which is. He is not looking any

where beyond, right here in the present, outside as well as inside.

 

The process of identifying that which is eternal or permanent

is basically a very easy job, because that which is the untruth

keeps changing constantly and thus keeps declaring its

ephemerality. This has just to be kept aside by affirming that

'this is not what I am looking for'. When thus the mind which has

been crowded by so many mis-apprehensions is cleaned, then

to identify and know that which is eternal is not a difficult job.

The straight forward job of knowing the truth as truth does

become extremely difficult for one who is yet to realize the

untruth as the untruth. Our attention is already on untruth, and

one should start from here alone. See the untruth deeply

enough so as to appreciate this fact in its entirety that 'this

is something ephemeral'. Don’t be in a hurry to know the truth,

first let the cloud of various mis-apprehensions whither. Then

& then alone the 'discrimination' of that which is eternal and

that which is not dawns.

 

In the process of this appreciation, what is subsequently realized

is that 'all that which is perceived is transitory', and that

light, awareness or consciousness, because of

which this realizations are possible alone

appears steady. A person endowed with this understanding

is said to possess the first pre-requisite of a

student of vedanta. It should be noted here that this viveka is

not the end but the beginning of the study of vedanta. A person

who already has this much understanding is best poised to go

deep into the secrets of mind & self.

 

The conviction that 'all that which is perceived is transitory' and

'that which illumines all this' appears relatively permanent, is by

itself a great leap forward, but is not the entire truth. Thus inspite

of this knowledge the person keeps suffering though relatively less.

Such people have become 'introvert' in the real sense of the term.

Their fascinations for extraneous things gets reduced drastically,

they seem to have more time & energy at their disposal. There is

quititude in their minds and thus the intellect becomes all the more

sharp & subtle. They can now become sensitive to subtler & finer

things of life, and overall stand apart from the rest. This viveka is

by itself a great blessing, but there is still miles to go before he

can sleep. The thrust of the knowledge of vedanta is to there

after reveal that which is the very substratum of the knower,

known and the process of knowing. That substratum is not really

an object of our knowledge in the ordinary sense of the term, for

the simple reason that to know the substratum of the knower, we

have to transcend this knower. We are no more a knower. With

the negation of the knowership that which remains is that which

is revealed as the truth. While in a fragmented state we may

have turned inwards because of some understanding about

that which is transitory, but are far from truth. This fragmentation

has to drop for the unfragmented to get revealed, and mind you

our ability to discriminate doesn’t call for physical separation of

permanent and impermanent. Inspite of the apparent fragmentation,

the person can 'see' that which is 'not fragmented'. Study of

Vedanta makes this power of discrimination all the more sharp & clear.

 

As far as the requisite of the student is concerned, it refers only to his

realisation that all that is dryshya, seen is impermanent, and that which

is drg or the seer is permanent. Rest of the knowledge is the Guru

prasad brought about by the study of vedanta.

 

This thus is the first quality of the student of Vedanta. The second obvious

quality is vairagya, or dispassion towards that which is realized to be

impermanent.

 

To be contd…

 

Swami

Questions for Lesson 4 :

 

1.. What is the meaning of the word 'viveka' in general ?

2.. Why is viveka of permanent & ephemeral necessary ?

3.. What is the exact nature of viveka in a beginner ?

4.. What is the subsequent contribution of the study of Vedanta,

if the student already has appreciation of what is truth & what

is untruth ?

PS : Please send your answers to the personal e-mail address of Swamiji,

which is

atma ----------

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OM TAT SAT