Q: What are discrimination and dispassion? In Sanskrit, this is called Viveka and Vairagya.
As I have told you already, the bondage for us is ignorance. Ignorance of the Self. Understanding or thinking that I am the body, mind and intellect. The Self gets trapped in a journey, in the body, and in the karma phala, and it keeps on taking many births.
The way to realize the Self is to understand very clearly, I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am not the intellect. I am pure Consciousness.
naanu naanembudu naanalla ee deha mana budhi naanalla sachidananda atma shiva naanu naane shivoham shivoham shivoham
The understanding that I am pure Consciousness should be contemplated upon. This understanding deliberates. But for that understanding, we need to have clarity. The process of bringing that clarity is called discrimination. The intellect has the ability to discriminate. This ability is called Viveka. And dispassion is the result of discrimination.
What is this discrimination? First, we have to understand Atma and Anatma. The Self and non-Self. What is the difference between Self and non-self? Self is pure Consciousness whereas non-Self is matter or object. So, the body appears to be Conscious. The body appears to be alive. If you pinch, you feel the pain, you are able to see. But this Consciousness for the body is not the original Consciousness. It is a derived Consciousness or reflected Consciousness.
The mind also appears to be conscious and the intellect also appears to be conscious. But none of these is the original Consciousness. They are all Reflected Consciousness. Whereas, the one who is observing this, the one who is witnessing this, that alone is the original Consciousness. So, you have to know the difference between the Self, the body, the mind, and the intellect. This is called Atma-Anatma Viveka. Discrimination between the Self and the non-Self.
How do you know the body is not Consciousness? Because I feel the body is conscious. If somebody is not well and he is put in the hospital, he becomes unconscious, then, the doctor says, he is unconscious. And he gains conscious, then, the doctor says, he got back conscious. So, all Consciousness is referred to the body. But the body itself is unconscious, how do you know that?
For that, there is a principle. What you observe, is separate from the observed. For example, I am able to see this light. Obviously, I am different from light. The seer is always different from the seen. Seer has to be different from the seen. Seer is not the same as seen. That logic is very clear to us. I can see the wall, that’s why I am different from the wall.
Whatever I can see, I am different from that. Because the seer is Consciousness. The seen is the object. But, somewhere, this logic gets confused when we apply it to our body, mind and intellect. So, body, mind, intellect, we start confusing as the seer, instead of seen. It is like this. I am wearing glasses and I read something. When I am reading, I forget that I am wearing glasses. The glasses become a part of me.
Similarly, the sakshi or the witness, observes the world through the body and mind complex. And forgets that body and mind complex is an object used by sakshi, and it becomes a part of sakshi. That is the forgetfulness nature of the Self.
Now, let us take the logic back. I am wearing glasses and I am reading. Now, I forgot, and I am thinking that glasses are my eyes. I kept the book aside, and I look at the glasses. ‘Oh! The glasses are separate from my eyes’, I understand. Similarly, can we look at our body, mind and intellect objectively? Then, body, mind and intellect become separate.
Q: Spectacles, I am able to remove and see. But, body, I can’t remove and see?
A: So, Spectacles, I am able to separate and see, but, body, I cannot separate and see. There is no physical separation. But what I am saying is, the principle is the same. The principle is, if you are able to observe something objectively, then that object is separate from you.
So, you have to arrive at a stage where the object is completely separate from you, then, subject alone remains. This is what I call, ‘total objectivity’. And total objectivity is called enlightenment. Please understand, total objectivity is called spiritual realization.
Mind, intellect and body, all these are objects. How do you know, they are objects? Let us take the body. Can we see the body? Are you able to see the body? If you are able to see the body, still, you say that this body is me? The body is separate from the seer. The same logic applies. The body is an object of seen and the seer is different from the object.
Q: The seer is inside the body?
A: I don’t know if he is inside or somewhere. But seer is different from the seen. The body is seen. Are you able to see your mind? No? ‘I am angry’, ‘I am sad’. Are you not able to see the sadness and anger? Are you able to see the feeling? You know that there is a feeling. You know that there is happiness. You know that there is unhappiness. You know that there is pleasantness. You know that there is unpleasantness. Is it an object or a subject?
It is an object. You are able to see the mind. Are you able to see the intellect? ‘There are so many thoughts yaar, only one lakh thoughts. If so much of money was there, I would have been rich’. Are you able to see the thoughts? Are you able to see the worries which are related to intellect? Are you able to see the ‘I am’ feeling? There is a feeling called ‘I am’. Are you able to see that?
So, all these are subject or object? What you are able to see, is that subject or object? It is an object. Then, why are you confusing yourself with the object? Why are you mixing up yourself with the object? Is the question clear?
Q: I didn’t understand, how can we see the thoughts?
A: Not seeing, actually, don’t take ‘seeing’ as literally seeing. Feeling, seeing, knowing, all those things are coming under that category. Actually, feeling, seeing, knowing, everything, separates you from the, seen.
Okay, I would say that observer and experience. All experiences are in the domain of objectivity. Actually, if it was a subject, then, you are in trouble. You say, ‘I am in trouble’. Then, you are finished. Because you cannot do anything else. But ‘I am sad’, immediately, gets replaced by, ‘I am happy’.
So, your problem is that your sadness and happiness, you are associating with the object. The whole spirituality is to find out what is subject and what is an object. And understand that, anything happens to the object, nothing happens to the subject. If the body is removed, the body is an object. That’s why, after death, the subject has gone. The body is burnt immediately. Nobody keeps the body.
The subject-object relationship, you have to understand, very clearly. This is called Viveka. The moment Viveka is there, vairagya comes naturally. Dispassion naturally follows. Why? I can use it. I can use the body. But it is not me. I have love, I have attachment towards, what is mine, and what is me. But the real ‘me’ is separate from all this. So, obviously, I can use them. Even if it is not also, it doesn’t matter. I am okay with it. This is called vairagya.
Vairagya has nothing to do with running away from family. Vairagya has nothing to do with growing a beard. Vairagya has nothing to do with looking weird. All those are actually a disturbed state of mind. Real vairagya is, understanding things as they are. Understanding that body is not me, the mind is not me and the intellect is not me. Because I am able to observe that.
In meditation, you get dragged with the thoughts. The reason is simple. Because you start associating yourself with your thoughts. You identify with the thoughts. Thoughts are objects. They are not the subject. So, again, use discrimination, to come out of these objects, and be the subject. That is the way to freedom.
Let us understand one more characteristic of the subject. Eyes can see everything. Eyes can see all the colours. But eyes cannot see itself. Eyes can see everything, but itself. The tongue can taste everything, but itself. The Sakshi, can witness everything, but itself. The Atma can see everything, but itself. So, you have to come to a stage where everything is an object. Then what remains, is the subject, Atma. That is the stage of meditation. That is the stage of enlightenment.
“No, no, I had a beautiful meditation. My Atma stood in front of me. Such a glorious light, beautiful light, Atma, came in front of me”. That means, you are not Atma, you are some ghost. So, please understand, Viveka and vairagya. Discrimination. What is Atma? What is Anatma? Then, one more criterion, you have to apply, Nitya-Anitya. What is permanent and what is impermanent? What is changing and what is unchanging?
Now, you are listening to me. Sure? Is it possible, hypothetically, that, you are sleeping in your bed, at your house, and dreaming that you are listening to me? Is it possible? Because, in any dream, whatever appears, appears to be real. So, take the possibility that you are sleeping at home, on your bed, and, dreaming that you are sitting and listening to me. Is it possible? Which of these is true? You are listening to me is true? Or, you are sleeping on your bed, and dreaming that you are listening to me?
How do you find out the truth? In the dream, don’t you open your eyes? In the dream, everything you see, with open eyes. You have to wake up. But, when you are dreaming, you don’t even know that there is something called, you have to wake up.
So, there is always something called objectivity and subjectivity. You can always question any objective phenomena whether it is real or a dream? But, one thing, you cannot question is whether I am there or not? Whether in a dream or in waking condition, ‘I am’, you cannot question, because ‘I am’ is taken for granted.
So, that’s why ‘I am’ only is real. Everything else is a dream, Maya, appearance. Did you get the logic? So, what is eternal? ‘I am’, ‘I am’ is the truth, Sathyam, it doesn’t change. Whatever changes, it is a dream-like situation. So, are you in a dream, or are you in reality?
Whatever you experience through sense organs, you can always question, whether it is a dream or reality. This is a waking dream. Another, dreaming a dream is there. The only reality is, ‘I am’, the Self, the Sakshi. Everything else is temporary, changing, and dream-like situation. That dream is called Maya.
Q: What is the difference between waking dream and dreaming dream”
A: You will never be able to find out. You cannot find out. When you are dreaming, you cannot find out which is real. In a short-lived dream, you may be dreaming that you are a long-lived dream. So, you will never be able to separate out, what is a dream and what is reality, any time. It is a philosopher’s puzzle.
How do I find out if I am not dreaming? That’s why there was one Zen Master. One morning, he started crying. His students asked him, “why are you crying, sir?” Zen Master said, “I dreamt that last night, I was a butterfly”. “Why worries sir? It was just a dream”. Zen Master said, “I don’t know whether Zen Master dreamt that he was a butterfly, or the butterfly dreamt that it was a Zen Master. I don’t know which one is true. That’s why I am crying”.
Please understand, you will never be able to separate out, what is a dream and what is reality. That’s why our ancestors said that all this is Maya. The only thing, which is real in this is, ‘I am’, the witness, Sakshi. This is called Viveka and vairagya.
Pranams
References:
Self Knowledge_Talk 7_Discrimination&Dispassion_05Apr2016