All the problems we have in life, if we do not have Self-knowledge, stem from the belief that our identity is dependent on our body and mind, with our story about the life we have had and are having. We are not aware that it is this identification that is the cause of our suffering. We think the problem lies in the fact that there is something wrong with us, that we are inadequate and lack something. Depending on what kind of story we have created about our life, we most often believe we did not get what we wanted or were due, that life is unfair, hard and uncertain. We worry a lot about a lot of things because we are afraid of not getting what we want or of getting what we don’t want.
We believe the solution to our problems lies in us becoming a better person according to whatever our value system is (material or spiritual), and in gaining or losing what we want or don’t want. We believe we must work hard and manipulate life to get what we want. But this never really works to our permanent satisfaction; we never feel truly safe, secure, satisfied, even if we get what we think we want. Sure we can live relatively peaceful lives if we have good values, some dispassion about the inherent gains and losses of life, and have some objectivity about our mental/emotional subjective reality. This is not a small thing. But it is not freedom from limitation.
What is limitation and why do we want freedom from it? Isn’t it OK to live a reasonable life with good values, a mind which is capable of reason, knowing that results are not in my control, that all things end? No, there is nothing wrong with that. So why are so many of us spiritually driven to find answers because we are tired of suffering? Why are we suffering?
We suffer because we are not the limited body/mind identity that is always changing and subject to birth, decay and death, but the unlimited witness of it. (Please note that by limited, we mean conditioned, and by unlimited we mean unconditioned). We suffer because we don’t know we are unborn and never die. We suffer because we do not know that we do not need anything to complete us, no object or experience, because we are the fullness that never changes.
Vedanta tells us upfront that our search is over because we are the sought. This is a nondual reality and there is only one principle operative, Consciousness/The Self. The only real problem we have is ignorance of our true unborn nature as the unchanging, limitless Self. Vedanta also teaches us how to ‘fix’ our problem, without having to overhaul our identity as a person. The solution to our ignorance problem is simply Self-knowledge. Once we know the difference between ignorance, which is my identification with objects (body/mind/field of experience), and me as the witness (Consciousness), I have found the Holy grail. The search is over. Or should be. But for many, it isn’t. It’s where the ‘work’ of inquiry really begins.
Vedanta is a valid means of knowledge to realize the nondual Self (satya), and it does so initially by provisionally accepting duality. Meaning, it explains what or who the creator of the field is (Isvara wielding Maya/hypnosis of duality) how the field of experience functions, what forces run it (the three gunas), how they condition the mind and create it’s binding likes and dislikes (personal identity/mithya).
Home free, right? Knowing that we are the unlimited nondual Self and not the limited person we thought we were should be enough to produce permanent satisfaction. But for most, it creates another problem. When microcosmic maya (personal ignorance) is removed from my mind, the person does not disappear, and nor does the world (macrocosmic Maya). What or how do I live if I am not the person but the witness of it? How do I respond to the world? Should I leave it, and join a monastery?
Joining an ashram or monastery will not ultimately help if you are doing it for that reason. For the majority of Self-realized people, this stage can become a big obstacle, which is why nididhysana is about resolving residual ignorance that survives moksa, our attachment to the identity of inquirer and the one who is taught. If there is still a subtle doer with binding likes and dislikes, we do need to resolve that in light of the teachings. This is not about perfecting the person, but living a truly dharmic life in accordance with the scripture. But the fear of ‘getting it wrong” can prevent us from experiencing the permanent satisfaction that is our birthright. From having the confidence to live nonduality without fear.
Think about these three points because they are often stated in the Vedanta teachings, but their full import is not fully understood:
1. You do not have to have your ignorance removed to live as the nondual Self. What? But, don’t we say that Vedanta removes our ignorance? Yes, Vedanta does do that. But you only need to know what ignorance and knowledge are, and have the ability to discriminate between them. You do not gain or lose anything when you realize the Self. If you think you have lost ignorance and gained knowledge, you ot only have attachment to another object, but what you have lost could return.
That should be enough of a pass for you to know that if our true nature is freedom as the Self, you have no limits. You are free to experience anything because if you were not, how free are you? If you are the Self, you are completely porous, so nothing sticks to you. You live with total confidence in yourself and life because you know that the jiva is the Self though you are not it, you know what the field is, how it functions, and you know that you will never break dharma. There is no contradiction in being the Self and devotion to Isvara as controller of the field of experience.
2. You do not need moksa as the Self because you were never not free. You never gain enlightenment because you were never unenlightened. It’s ordinary, to be the Self. Moksa, freedom from the limitation of duality, is for the jiva to have a wonderful life, all the time, regardless of what is happening or not happening in your field of experience. Nothing touches you, the witness. Forget about Self-actualization and focus on a dharmic life of complete surrender to Isvara.
3. You do not need a purpose in life as the limitless Self. You are the purpose. As the jiva is known to be you, its only purpose in life is to live surrendered to Isvara, or God. Knowledge-based mindfulness is the practice of taking the nondual perspective of the witness, Consciousness, the observer of your mind in the present moment, 24/7. Self-knowledge changes the filters of the seer who looks at life through the lenses of its likes and dislikes, and feels dissatisfied by what it sees, so wants things to be different.
We no longer need to manipulate life once the subject/object split collapses, and we know that the seer (Consciousness) is not the same but not different from the seen (jiva/life). Life ceases to be threatening as we relax and become the seer who sees only itself, Consciousness. No more bad outcomes. The jiva is safe, known and happy. We live a sacred God-centered life of complete trust and humility, that has one overarching purpose: to neutralize our likes and dislikes and live in harmony with whatever life presents to us, knowing that Isvara always gives us exactly what we need, taking appropriate, stress-free, dharmic action where necessary.
That is what it means to live as the Self. Isvara is the centre of your world, even though you know that you as the jiva and Isvara as the creator share the same identity as Consciousness. Life is a joy to live, and you live it in deep gratitude and wonder. Laughter will never be too far from your mind.
Think about it this way. Georg has been sending us wonderful videos of life in India, with special emphasis on what ashram life is all about. He has spoken a great deal about the Kailash Institute in Rishikesh, where monks who take the vow of sannyas live a life dedicated to the study of Vedanta, to the exclusion of everything related to the world, for the rest of their lives. To take this vow means you not only have the svadharma for this path in life, you also have what it takes to renounce the world.
Thank goodness there are souls Isvara chooses who protect the lineage of Vedanta in this way. It sounds tempting for us spiritual types to live this way too, but we do not all have this svadharma. Are we any less a protector of Vedanta if we live the teachings, and share them in our field of experience? Definitely not. In fact, it is harder to live as a true jnani in the world than cloistered away from it. Isvara works as much through the jnani in the world as the one who lives completely shut off from it. There is no order of greatness in Isvara’s world. There is only one Self, and we are all it.
Much love
Sundari
