A Perspective - 22

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Obstacles for spiritual progress I:

 

We have discussed some aspects of this before. We present here some of

obstacles that have been identified in the scriptures as well as by other

aachaaryaas. Krishna says in Gita- 4th chapter that there are three main

obstacles for spiritual progress: - 1. avidya (ignorance) 2. ashraddha (lack of

faith) 3. samshaya (doubts about the goal and the means).

 

ajnascha ashraddadhaanascha samshayaatmaa vinashyati|

naayam loko2sti na paraH na sukham samshayaatmanaH|| 4-40

Again in the 9th chapter He mentions:

ashraddhadhaanaaH puruShaa dharmasyaasya parantapa|

apraapya maam nivartante mRityusamsaaravartmani|| -9:3

 

Shankara explains the ashraddadhaanaaH as the one who does not have shraddhaa on

the aatma jnaam, that is, the one who does not have faith in the knowledge of

the self that includes both in understanding its nature, means of gaining that

knowledge and the result of that understanding. Krishna says they will never

reach Me; instead they will be born again and again. Those who have doubts about

the nature and the means of reality will neither gain the highest nor can they

enjoy the benefits in the material worlds. Hence lack of Shraddhaa or faith and

having doubts about the nature of the truth, nature of the means of gaining that

knowledge (doubts about pramaaNa) will go down the drain that involves taking

lower and lower births. Implication is they will be living life trying to

fulfill only the sensuous enjoyments, and in the process accumulate more

vaasanaas where they will be taking life forms that live at sense level only to

exhaust those vaasanaas.

 

In the above sloka, ajnaanam stands for muula avidya – the fundamental

ignorance – which is the lack of knowledge of my own nature. That is ignorance

that I am complete or puurNam, or I am of the nature of pure unqualified

happiness or ananda swaruupa. I know that I am a conscious entity. I also know

that I am existent entity – no scripture is needed to teach me those. However,

I do not know that I am of the nature of happiness too or ananda swaruupa or

limitlessness. Hence, I am not looking for existence, nor looking for

consciousness, but looking for my happiness all the time. Limitlessness is

happiness. It is not qualified happiness which I get when I find I am happier

with the object of my desire and otherwise not. This is desire fulfilled

happiness or qualified happiness. Everybody’s happiness, including that of the

first born, the Hiranyagarba, is qualified happiness only, which is experiential

happiness, as discussed in Tai. Up. In the

happiness scale, the Upanishad says Hiranyagarbha’s happiness is 1 x 1023

times that of an ideal human being, who in his prime youth and who owns the

whole world. This experiential happiness is still limited. However, pure

happiness is limitless, unqualified, and it is my intrinsic nature, says

Vedanta. Nevertheless, all human efforts can be reduced to gain one essential

thing -absolute, inexhaustible, permanent happiness. That can be accomplished

only by gaining infinite limitlessness. Limitlessness cannot be gained by any

effort or pursuit. It can only be gained by knowing that I am already the

limitless. Due to ignorance of my true nature, I take myself that I am limited

being. Even though I know I am existent, I take myself to be of limited

existence – although existence by nature is limitless. Limited existence

involves taking existence itself as a qualified existence, that is, I exist as

this; this being primarily the gross body, sthuula

shariira, which is most tangible, and next I take myself as I am the mind and

then the intellect, put together as the subtle body, and finally I take myself

as I am the causal body, kaaraNa shariira. By taking myself that I am a limited

body, mind and intellect, BMI, the limitations of the body, mind and intellect

become my limitations. This is the error of superimposition where the

limitations of the BMI are superimposed on the limitless existence-consciousness

that I am. Since my true nature is limitlessness, I cannot readily accept the

limitations, since they are not intrinsic to my nature. With the identification

of the limitations of the BMI, I take myself to be a mortal, as the birth and

death is related to Body, and I consider myself to be unhappy due to the likes

and dislikes associated with the mind, and I consider myself to be ignorant of

the world of objects. BMI by nature is limited. The limited BMI can never become

unlimited by any process,

as the process by themselves are limited. Hence all the pursuits in life,

expressed in terms of 1. PravRitti – efforts to gain all that I do not have

and like to have and 2. nivRitti, efforts to loose all that I have and do not

like to have, will fail miserably. The specific efforts may be different from

individual to individual, due to the differences in the likes and dislikes; but

in essence the life struggles are essentially remain the same; the combination

of pravRitti and nivRitti. Hence we pray – asatoma sadgamaya – Oh Lord

please lead me from non-existence to existence, tamasoma jyotirgamaya, Oh Lord

please lead me from ignorance to knowledge, and mRityorma amRitam gamaya – Oh

Lord please lead me from mortality to immortality. In essence, all these prayers

by themselves are useless, since we are requesting the Lord to solve a problem

where there is no problem to begin with. That which is born has to die, declares

the Lord, jaatasyahi

dRivo mRityuH. Therefore, the body that is born has to die someday or the

other. Hence that which is mortal can never become immortal. Thus the prayer –

Oh Lord, please lead me from mortality to immortality cannot be fulfilled. That

I am a mortal is only a notion arising due to identification with the body. All

notions arise because of ignorance. Hence the prayer –mRityorma amRitam

gamaya – lead me from mortality to immortality should imply that Oh Lord|

please lead me from the notion that I am mortal to the truth that I am immortal.

Thus all prayers are ultimately for the elimination of ignorance about oneself.

No ignorance can be removed by prayers; it can only be removed by appropriate

knowledge. Therefore ignorance of the self can only be removed by the

self-knowledge. Since it is not objective knowledge the normal means of gaining

the knowledge will not work. Why do I need self-knowledge? It is because, ; I

am looking for eternal,

inexhaustible or limitless happiness, which cannot be gained by any effort.

 

In addition, since all our efforts, pravRitti or nivRitti, by definition, are

finite; they cannot give infinite results. Limitless or infiniteness alone is

fulfillment of life and it is freedom from all limitations and is therefore

moksha. It can not be gained by any effort, neither can it be given. Hence all

human struggles to solve their limitation problem remain useless. One cannot

become limitless by any, or sum of all limited efforts. The compassionate Lord,

out of compassion, has to come in some form, to teach the devotee to redirect

his mental attention from all his efforts of pravRitti and nivRitti to obtain

clear understanding of ones own true nature. Hence Krishna declares that of all

efforts or yagnas, the effort to gain the knowledge of ones own self is the

highest, since by gaining the knowledge one looses the wrong identification of

oneself. To gain that knowledge, Krishna says, one has to approach a proper

teacher who is well versed in

the Shaastras, able to communicate that knowledge and who himself is well

established in that reality.

tat viddhi praNipaatena pariprashnena sevayaa| 4-34.

Shankara gives the meaning for praNipaata – as the one who prostrates falling

at the feet of the teacher – pariprashnena by asking the appropriate or

relevant questions to the teacher such as -what is bondage? What is liberation?

What is the nature of ignorance, and what is the knowledge required, etc. For

such a prepared student who asks relevant questions, the teacher is obligated to

teach the knowledge, since he himself obtained that knowledge by approaching his

teacher.

 

Hence limitlessness or moksha is not something that can be gained, or can it be

given. It is not that some place that I have to go after the death of this body,

such as vaikunTa or kailaasa with some pure saatvic material body different from

this, etc. These are all concepts of dvaita-based philosophies where there are

differences and hierarchies among jiivas, with Lord and inert world existing as

different from jiivas. With inherent limitations I cannot have limitlessness or

freedom from all limitations. Moksha is, then, recognition of my own true

nature, which is limitlessness or puurNam or ananda swaruupam – which is

Brahman. The scripture defines Brahman as satyam, jnaanam and anantam. These are

not properties of Brahman but intrinsic nature of Brahman.

 

Hence the greatest obstacle for moksha is ignorance which can be removed only

knowledge and by nothing else. Knowledge does not depend on individual effort;

that is one cannot will the knowledge. It requires a frame of mind conducive for

gaining the knowledge. Hence Shankara says – a prepared mind for this is that

which has saadhana chatuShTaya sampatti or the mind which has the four fold

qualifications; viveka (intellect that can discriminate that which is eternal

from ephemeral), vairaagra (dispassion to reject the ephemeral), Shamaadi

shatkasapaati (mental and sense control, faith, commitment, equanimity, etc),

and mumukshutvam (strong desire for liberation). There are preparatory of the

mind in order for it to appreciate the mahaavaakya, tat tvam asi, statement of

the Vedanta.

 

We will discuss next role of shraddhaa in the self-knowledge.

Hari Om!

Sadananda