This is a talk I gave at Trout Lake 2023
Ramji planned to give a talk specifically on the reflection teaching at Trout Lake, but he did not get around to it. However, this is at the heart of self-inquiry, and all he has been teaching this week. A quote from the bible that sums up the reflection teaching is ‘man is created in the image of God’. Vedanta reveals what is different and what is the same about the image and its creator.
The reflection teaching is the ability to discriminate satya, unborn, unchanging, ever-present, whole and complete Consciousness – the original, from mithya, that which is born, incomplete, always changing, not always present, and dies – the reflection, or jiva. It is removal of the superimposition of duality onto nonduality.
To do that, the teachings first unfold the cause and effect teaching, which unpacks the identity of the creator – Isvara, the individual, jiva, and the world of experience, with reference to the Self. Thus we have the means of knowledge, the methodology of Vedanta, to remove ignorance of the Self, our true nature.
Because Maya, the hypnosis of duality, is so persuasive, this is no easy feat. Most inquirers are identified with the reflection, and at best, have indirect knowledge of the Self. Meaning, the Self is something they know about, it is not yet known to BE me. For Self-knowledge to become direct, we must ultimately, move beyond cause and effect, to non-origination.
There is no creator or creation is the scary part of inquiry for the ego, because this teaching makes it clear that though the jiva and its world of experience exists because we experience them, they are actually, as good as non-existent. That is not good news for the ego. For some inquirers a great big void opens up.
Lynn told me about her experience with this, which is very common. She experiences that there is no separation between anything; she sees all things as one, and this scares her. She is afraid that this is totally solipsistic because she feels it’s ‘all about me’. This is what solipsism means – all about me – as an ego. But, she is experiencing nondual vision, so what is happening here? Self-knowledge is still indirect, so her nondual vision is co-opted by the ego. The ego is terrified because nondual vision means it does not exist. And that is true.
Nondual vision is solipsistic, in a sense, because it is all about you, as the Self. But, in what way is Self-knowledge different from egoistic solipsism, what word needs to be removed from the sentence – ‘all about me’? The word ‘about’ must go. Instead, the sentence should be: nondual vision is ALL ME. Solipsism with a big ‘S’.
Most of you here at Trout lake are very dedicated, highly qualified inquirers, and I imagine everyone is after direct Self-knowledge. But what does ‘direct Self-knowledge’ entail?
It means that Self-knowledge is no longer knowledge but an unshakeable identity. It means that both ignorance and knowledge are objects known to you. They have both been banished, for good. Why would you want to banish knowledge? Because you no longer need a means of knowledge for the Self when Self-knowledge is permanent, and you know you are the Self. You cannot gain something you already are. If you think you have ‘gained’ knowledge, that is just another object you are dependent on.
As the Self, you are totally free of dependence on all objects. The nondual teachings of Vedanta are a means to an end – the removal of ignorance. Ignorance is just lack of knowledge of your identity as the Self, the identification with the small egoic self.
If Self-knowledge is direct and permanent, the Isvara – jiva identity, meaning the subject/object split, has dissolved because the knowledge that Isvara and jiva share the same identity as the Self, has assimilated. The jiva persona is accepted as having an apparent existence, with a certain temperament, and still functions normally in the Field of Experience, but is known to be conceptual, i.e., only apparently real.
The both/and of this is the tricky part, and where many inquirers get tripped up, because you cannot be both the Self and the jiva. But if the subject/object split has dissolved, nondual vision is automatic and instantaneous, you no longer need to negate duality by discriminating satya (Consciousness) from mithya (objects). Therefore, the jiva persona is no longer a problem because the Self is the default setpoint of the mind.
If you are still negating duality, good for you. Keep going because Self-knowledge is still indirect. Most likely the problem is that you are lacking in motivations, qualifications, and/or have not understood Isvara and how it relates to your personal identity as a jiva. The idea of doership is still active. Or, maybe you are mostly qualified and applying karma yoga, but you are still confusing the reflection of the Self with the original, the Self; i.e., superimposition is still in place.
Thanks to the presence of Consciousness, we can know objects; the jiva would be 6 feet under without it. But the jiva’s conscious awareness is a reflection of Consciousness, and an object known to it. It is the result of Consciousness shining on the mind, just as the sun’s light illuminates the moon and seems to make it shine.
Is the light of the sun different from the light of the moon? Yes, it is because the moon does not have its own light; it receives reflected light from the source of the light, the sun. And no, the light of the moon is non-different from the sun because they are both light.
This teaching is called the cause and effect teaching because it provisionally accepts duality in order to explain what the creation is, how it functions, and impacts the jiva. This improves the life of the jiva immeasurably, but it is the first stage of learning to discriminate satya from mithya, and it offers freedom from the jiva.
But, as stated, if we want freedom AS the jiva, we must move beyond cause and effect for nondual vision, or moksa, to obtain.To do so we need to understand that there is no cause and effect; how could there be if there is only nondual Consciousness, incapable of causing anything? Nondual means just that – nothing other than. Yet, we are undoubtedly, conscious as a jiva. We experience objects. Consciousness, however, is not conscious in the way the jiva is.
For Consciousness, there is nothing to be conscious of; there are no objects, no jiva and no Field of Experience, because there is only itself. All objects exist for the jiva only, along with the jiva itself. But objects have a dependent existence of Consciousness, which is free of all objects. Herein lies all the teaching of Vedanta, discriminating satya from mithya, first from the perspective of the jiva, with reference to the Self, and then As the Self with reference to the Self.
What we notice with many dedicated and sincere inquirers, even if many of the qualifications are present, is that though they know they are the Self, the knowledge is still indirect. Why is this? Invariably, they have an ignorance setpoint, almost always related to the problem of the identity between Awareness/Isvara/jiva. As a result, no matter how long and how dedicated they may be to self-inquiry, they always return to that ignorance setpoint.
In other words, the nondual teachings of Vedanta are not integrating, or are only partially integrating. The teachings, which are a progressive step by step methodology designed to remove ignorance, do not fully assimilate. For assimilation to take place, what is required is ‘vertical integration’, a great term that John Baxter came up with.
Vertical integration means that there is a systematic approach to learning anything. In Vedanta, vertical integration means that each step of the teachings builds on the next step. For vertical assimilation to take place, the integration is not one way. The teachings need to assimilate from the perspective of the jiva and the Self.
If this takes place, nondual vision obtains, which means you see everything first as the nondual Self, and then from the Isvara/jiva perspective, without ever confusing the two. You have no problem with Isvara, the jiva, or the world because you know they are a mirage appearing in you, the ever present, unchanging knower of all, Consciousness.
Very importantly, all worry and anxiety has been eliminated, for good. You know that the world runs the way it does because it is governed by impersonal principles, the gunas, which have nothing to do with you as the Self. They are there so that the (conceptual) jiva can work out its karma. However, Isvara is not a person, and neither is the jiva, though most believe they are. But both are the Self. So what is karma, and who does it belong to?
Isvara, the creative principle, is karma phala datta – the giver of karma. What makes this crucial point so difficult to grasp is that karma has no meaning other than the one we (as a doer) assign it. But to be free of the doer requires acceptance of the fact that Isvara supports both dharma and adharma. The game of life would instantly end if Isvara only supported dharma or adharma. Once that is accepted, the game does end, for you, because personal ignorance (avidya) is removed. But macrocosmic ignorance (Maya) does not end. The world is just the way it is because it could not be any other way.
Knowing this, you stop wishing things to be different, no longer railing against unfairness and injustice, or the way things are, or think you know better than Isvara ‘how things should be!”, all of which cause so much needless suffering. You are at peace with the jiva and the world because you entrust it all to Isvara. Freedom only comes when you negate the whole game (Isvara/conceptual jiva) with nondual vision – Self-knowledge; then you are free as a jiva = Jivatman.
For some inquirers, surrendering to Isvara is the toughest part because it seems to mean that nothing you ‘do’, good or bad, makes any difference, which is true as the Self, but not necessarily true for the jiva. It depends on your perspective and your attitude. Acting according to your nature is no problem when karma yoga is in place, and the doer is negated, because you are acting as Isvara, you are free of anxiety and in harmony with the flow of life. You are unconcerned with results.
Now, here’s the thing. You are free to act as a doer for desired results, and whether you do or do not break dharma, suffer the stress of anxiety over results. If you go with the flow of life, you are likely (but not guaranteed) to get what you want. If you break dharma, Isvara does not mind. But you are going against the flow of life, and the blowback karma will accrue. It may take time, but it will find you.
We say this so often, and maybe you are sick of hearing it. But we need to repeat it because it does not seem to register for some inquirers. While you cannot study Vedanta, in order for the means of knowledge to permanently remove ignorance, all the steps of self-inquiry need to be followed, starting with motivations, qualifications, karma yoga, upasana yoga, jnana yoga. If the foundations for self-inquiry are not in place, the inquirer gets stuck; vertical integration cannot take place, and the whole thing may collapse like a building with bad foundations. Clearly, moksa – permanent Self-knowledge – will not obtain.
A common occurrence with many sincere inquirers, especially those who come together in a satsang situation where the energy is very high, is what we term ‘temporary vertical assimilation’. It all fits together, and the mind is very blissful, while it is in that supercharged environment. On the surface it may seem like assimilation is comprehensive, but it is temporary and shallow. What tends to happen when the satsang ends, and you go back home to your life, is the integration ‘flattens’ out and becomes horizontal integration.
Everyone loves being high, and reveling in the Self, because you are the Self. No argument there. Vedanta tells you that upfront. It is very beneficial to be exposed to the nondual teachings in ‘person’. And the teachings may well be incrementally assimilating after immersing the mind in them so intensely in a highly charged group setting. But the further away you are from the shakti of the satsang, the more difficult it is to apply the teachings.
Life gets in the way. Stubborn vasanas and doership issues rear their ugly little heads. If Self-knowledge is what I call ‘chin up’, meaning purely intellectual, it will not work to free the mind from disturbance, and suffering. There remains a troublesome jiva program in the mix. What use are these teachings if they are not applied to your life? And isn’t permanent freedom from suffering what we all want, and why we all show up here today?
What is the solution? Obviously, qualifications have a lot to do with this, and if you are lacking in any of them, do not despair. As long as you know what they are and are sufficiently motivated, you can develop them. But you do need them all. The same is true of karma yoga and upsana yoga. However, it takes really listening and putting aside your ideas for jnana yoga to assimilate.
We are often amazed how many inquirers just do not listen, or listen through their personal filters, bias and opinions, mostly unconsciously. They just do not understand the basic entry level tools of karma yoga and upasana yoga. Both practices are essential as they help the doer come to terms with how reality really functions – i.e., you can act for results but you are not in charge of them. Upsana yoga is any practice of devotion, be it prayer, chanting, meditation or silence that quietens the mind. In the first stages, karma yoga and upasana yoga are secular practices in preparation for self-inquiry; they are not necessarily connected to jnana yoga, nonduality.
If you put both into practice, eventually the mind is purified and the qualifications are developed enough so that karma yoga and upasana yoga go from secular to sacred. I.e., they are intrinsically part of jnana yoga. This is a different ball game altogether. Here you are not the boss, the scripture is. If Isvara/jiva is fully understood and the idea of doership has been permanently negated, karma yoga and upasana yoga are no longer practices but effortless knowledge.
Why is it that so many dedicated inquirers do not get to the stage of effortless knowledge, and struggle with putting into practice the foundational teachings of Vedanta? Why are we always repeating the same teachings on Isvara/jiva, even the most basic, like karma yoga? What stops the assimilation? It’s because motivation and qualifications are missing, the inquirer is not listening, or the inquirer has an ignorance setpoint. In which case, ignorance is going to budge without some serious hard work. Self-inquiry is not for the faint of heart.
Freedom from and for the jiva requires understanding and negating the conceptual jiva program, and the problems it has with Isvara, the world, meaning all its emotional/psychological problems, in light of the teachings. Not just sometimes, but 24/7. And that is not much fun. I speak from experience here; I know how tough it is when Isvara forces the deeply buried unconscious content of the mind into the light of the teachings. The ego does not like this one bit, and will fight it tooth and nail.
You either have the guts to face it, or you don’t. It’s much easier to conclude that as the jiva is not real, why bother with it? You never made it that way, it ‘belongs’ to Isvara. Not your problem. All very true. The Neos love this cop-out. But the problem is that while the conceptual jiva and the world are not real, they do not disappear when you know you are the Self. There are a few more steps involved for freedom from ignorance to obtain, and that involves Isvara.
If residual ignorance remains, the bad news is that it becomes more intense after Self-realization has occurred. It’s meant to, if moksa (Self-actualization), is the aim. The fire of Vedanta is no longer just keeping the pot warm. Isvara steps up the heat and things are cooking! As painful as it is, be grateful that Isvara is giving you the opportunity to free yourself of that small limited ego identity once and for all, no matter how much the ego hates it, so that the final teaching – non-origination – assimilates
There is a lot of talk going on at the moment about the weight-loss drug, Ozempic, among others of its class. What the science around this drug seems to be saying is that nobody is to blame for being overweight; it’s our biological destiny to have a ‘fat setpoint’. Now, it’s true that nobody is ever to blame for anything because as we know, nobody makes themselves the way they are. And many do struggle valiantly with weight problems. We all have an Isvara-given jiva program, and we all have different metabolisms which determine how the body processes food. There is no ideal weight other than what is healthy for you.
However, and this is a big ‘however’, there is a caveat here. Real or not, if you act or fail to act in a certain way, whether with or against dharma, Isvara is bound to give you the attendant results; it has no other option because this is as a cause and effect dream world. If you consistently eat too much or too much of the wrong foods, you will put on weight and be unhealthy. Maybe you are not ultimately responsible as the Self, or as the jiva you are born with the tendency to put on weight easily. But the jiva nonetheless has to live with the consequences of the karma of its actions, in this case, overeating. This applies to everything.
But now, thanks to the ‘new’ science around these weight-loss drugs, you can shirk it off as not your fault, which seems to let you off the hook. You don’t have to do the hard work of vanquishing your food vasanas or figuring out where they come from, or what they are compensating for. All you need to do is pop Ozempic for the rest of your life, problem solved. But is it?
The inconvenient truth is that the seemingly easy route to anything difficult seldom offers true satisfaction or self-esteem. One of my favorite sayings is that a straight line is the quickest route to the wrong place. As inquirers, what satisfaction are we after? Do we want freedom from bondage to the suffering caused by superimposition, the hypnosis of duality, above all? Or, do we want easy and fast? Are the nondual teachings your spiritual Ozempic, there to safely ignore the real problem of ignorance – the illusion of doership and binding vasanas, because you are the Self, after all, and if the jiva is not real, it’s not your fault?
This is an uncomfortable discussion, I know. It’s a very human tendency to skip the hard stuff and seek fast and easy answers. But there are none if you truly are after moksa. So the take-away from the teachings here this week, and always, is to ask yourself, what is your ignorance setpoint? What are you avoiding or not putting into practice, what is missing, what and are you doing or not doing to change it?
It’s true that your programming is not real, and the important thing is to show up and do your best. But sometimes, your best is not enough if you are slacking off or making excuses. There is no shortcut to applying the teachings or escaping cleaning up the sewer of the unconscious, if we want freedom from the ego identity. For vertical assimilation to obtain, we need guts and an unwavering dedication to the teachings.
Sundari
ShiningWorld.com
