Tattva Bodha - Post 8

VIVEKA, VAIRAGYA, SAMA, DAMA, UPARATI

Dear Readers,

This post is meant to bring in more clarity on Sama, Dama and Uparati.

Let us look at this diagram carefully and then proceed.

VIVEKA

-  Discriminate between real / unreal, Self / non-Self, Eternal and ephemeral.

- The faculty provided to human beings for discriminating between real and unreal, right or wrong is our Intellect or Buddhi, as shown in the diagram above.

-  Based on the above diagram, in practical life, Viveka is to filter all thoughts through Buddhi, before they pass through the gateway of Manas – mind, to get converted to actions, through senses.

VAIRAGYA

-  In the above filtering process, to develop non-attachment towards all those thoughts / words / actions which are not approved by Buddhi. 

- Wherever possible, we have to avoid those actions totally, wherever not avoidable, (movie/dress example) develop non-attachment towards such actions.

-  Detachment sounds negative whereas non-attachment means, even if we have to involve in certain things (dressing, movie example), still, we have to stay non-attached to such things. 

SAMA

-  Once we are non-attached to things which we have to take up being in the world/we are able to totally avoid the unreal/transient things without affecting our  life as householder, then, tranquility of mind through exercise of such vairagya.

-  Whenever this tranquility is a little disturbed, we have to exercise restraint on our internal organs BCA, (Buddhi, Chitta and Ahamkara as per diagram) which push our thoughts through the mind for actions. 

-   By putting in a timely effort to check the vagaries of the mind, we can prevent it from becoming fragmented or dissipated. This requires effort, self-will, mastery over the mind, and a great deal of patience. Every effort needs to be made to restrain the mind. This is the essence of the practice of Sama.

- The Task of Sama: Disturbances arise from sub-conscious Vasanas (impressions, manifesting out of past memories stored in our Chitta), requesting satisfaction of certain desires. In Sama, all such requests are scanned by the intellect and either permitted, if they are in accordance with Dharma, or rejected if they are anti-Dharma. 

DAMA

-  In case, Sama is not achieved and the CA (Chitta and Ahamkara) are forcing mind to act without cognizance / consensus of Buddhi, then control of senses is required.

-   Senses here, are the external senses. They are the five organs of perception that bring in knowledge of the external world, and the five organs of action to express action in the world. All ten are considered Bahya Indriyas, and are the subject of control in Dama (all these 10 sense organs are shown in the diagram above).

-   The Task of Dama: Due to the rebellious mind, sometimes the Sama officer is deluded and allows a bad request to go through to the senses. Here, the second officer Dama has a chance to stop it from being fulfilled by not allowing the sense organs to act on the order given by the mind. 

UPARATI

-  Defined as “Conquest of the Mind” in Viveka Chudamani - The freedom from mental disturbances renders the mind one-pointed. This makes it a perfect launching pad for further sadhana. 

-  Defined as “Strict observance of one’s own Dharma” in  Tattva Bodha, and it is based on the key factor involved in the actual practice or process of Uparati.

- Defined as total sense withdrawal, with absolute satiety, in Sanyasa, the Upanishads use this definition for the word Uparati. 

The essence of Sanyasa is a perfectly controlled mind which has no attraction for worldly pleasures, and the renunciation of all unnecessary actions, so that Sadhana may be pursued. 

The essence of definitions of Viveka Chudamani (Conquest of Mind through sense withdrawal) and Tattva Bodha (Strict observance of Swadharma) result in definition as per Upanishad (Total sense withdrawal, resulting in SATIETY).

Hope this post brings much required clarity on the three virtues covered so far. We will move to the fourth virtue - Titiksha, in the next post tomorrow.

Love.