Tattva Bodha - Post 13

Tattva Viveka Kah?

Atma Satyam, tad Anyat Sarvam Mithya iti.

What is Enquiry into the Truth?

(The firm conviction) that the SELF is real and all other than that is unreal.

The Two Levels of Discrimination: 

Earlier when we were discussing Viveka, we were concerned with the discrimination between the permanent and the impermanent, or between the eternal and the ephemeral. 

That was the initial stage of the use of the intellect or Buddhi to come to an understanding of the defects of worldly life, so that the seeker may turn his attention away from it.

This definition is from the standpoint of one who is engrossed in worldly life. It is designed to lead him away from worldliness and begin the first steps in spirituality. It teaches the seeker to DETACH from the world. 

Now the seeker is being taught to take discrimination a big step further. 

Now the discrimination is between the Real and the unreal, between Sat and Mithya, or between the unchanging reality and the ever-changing apparent reality of this world. 

The mind is here being taken to a depth of analysis far beyond the earlier level of Viveka. 

This definition of discrimination is designed for the one who is already on the spiritual path and who needs to go further. It teaches the seeker to ATTACH himself to God. 

Jagat Mithya

MITHYA is used for that which has a “temporary existence” in the absence of knowledge. When knowledge dawns, then it is seen to be false. This category of existence is posited on the fact of our experience of this world.

This phenomenal appearance (Jagat) before us is only a relative reality, ever-changing, unstable, unreliable, never dependable, limited, subject to time and space, subject to decay and dissolution, having a beginning and an end. Characterized by these defects and shortcomings, everything here seen, perceived by the human individual consciousness, is but a mere temporary relative reality. 

And the individual soul that thinks of itself as the knower of this, or the seer of this, or the experiencer of this ever-changing phenomenal flux, which is called Samsara or the universe, is a non-entity or a mere illusion/Mithya.

All the waves we see in an ocean are the various objects in this creation which arise, grow, reach the peak, recede and perish at the end. 

And, the ocean itself is this creation, which appears to be real but on a careful observation, with a higher level of discrimination/Viveka, one does realize that ocean itself is not eternal. 

Then, what is the ultimate reality?

Brahma Sathyam

Imagine that I was in a dark room. There was no current at the time and so, except for a candle, I was in darkness. Immediately the truth flashed to me - "This darkness is not the reality." 

What exists is only brilliant sunshine scattering in all ten directions, pervading everywhere, prevailing always without change, without anything to bar or hamper it, filling everything with light, radiance, effulgence, brightness. That is the reality where everything is seen clearly; this darkness is only a temporary condition.  

As the earth rotates, the sun will rise and the whole place will be flooded with light. Even when I am lighting a candle and thinking 'I am in darkness', there is only light and light only. 

This darkness is a temporary superimposed condition due to certain limiting adjuncts. The light is the reality; this darkness is a passing unreality, a relative reality. The positive factor is the reality; the negative factor is a temporary mode or condition.

And what is that Truth? Anando brahmeti vyajanat (He knew bliss as Brahman). Those who have drunk this honey, this bliss, declared: “Sweetness, sweetness, sweetness, everything is sweetness, sweetness beyond description; all is beauty, auspiciousness, bliss.” 

And that is the reality that is everywhere present in all its fullness, always, always unchanging, without contradiction, successively borne out by the experience of all mystics, of all times - ancient, medieval and modern.

What a tremendous realization! What a tremendous realization that at this moment the bliss of Brahman pervades everywhere within and without! 

Therefore, this is a discipline. This is an exercise you must be engaged in: “This is nothing, it cannot come in my way, it has no power. It is Mithya, it is only a false appearance. I am living in the reality. Who can assail me?” 

Then each day will be a victory. Each day will be an ever-progressive liberation. They are not meant only for books or scholars or pundits or ultimate realization; they are meant for now also. 

Thus, in the wave and the ocean example, neither wave (the created objects) nor the ocean (the creation itself) are real. What is real is the water - The Brahman.

As shared earlier in a talk, this Brahman is the eternal, changeless and self-illumined Chaitanya.

Love.