Swami Krishnananda

Swami Krishnananda

When we are after something, we must know what it is that we are after. This clarity by which we know what it is that we want, as distinguished from that which is different from what we want—a discrimination that we exercise in knowing what it is that we are after, what it is that we are expecting, other than what is secondary and redundant—this faculty of inner discrimination is called viveka, correct understanding.

What is correct understanding? It is the ability to distinguish between truth and falsehood. What is the truth here, and what is the falsehood? The falsehood is the appearance before us in terms of the variety of objects of sense, this vast creation of space and time which acts as a screen before us, preventing us from visualizing what is behind the screen; and what is behind the screen is Truth. The distinction between these two aspects of experience has to be drawn.