Sundari: Recently we had some questions from a Vedanta teacher relating to the doctrine, specifically, the use of certain Sanskrit words. It elicited a good discussion on the topic of the difference between teaching the doctrine of Vedanta, vs teaching Moksa. This teacher maintains that because we are moksa, we cannot teach moksa, but teach only Vedanta. Ramji and I disagree, and will be expanding on this topic on Zoom this coming Sunday Dec 22.
Here is my response.
Question: Can you teach moksa if you are moksa?
Sundari: This brings up the question of satya and mithya. Clearly if your nature is nondual Consciousness, satya, you cannot be taught moksa because you are it. But as much as mithya is only apparently real, you as a jiva and the world you live in, do exist. There is an apparent person either deluded by Maya, the hypnosis of duality that causes mithya, which renders the mind ignorant of its nature as nondual Consciousness, or you are a jiva whose ignorance has been removed from the mind by Self-knowledge as a result of the nondual scripture being taught by a qualified teacher. Either way, you are never not the Self, or more or less the Self.
There are two things in existence, satya and mithya, though this is a nondual reality and everything dissolves into satya. The whole point of subjecting the mind to the nondual scripture is for ignorance to be removed so that the jiva lives identified with its unborn and unchanging nature, instead of being blown whichever way the winds of Maya blow it, enjoying and suffering in equal measure. Moksa is only for the jiva to have a good life. As the Self you have never been bound and do not have a life. You are life. We are told this upfront when we first encounter Vedanta.
This does not mean that the jiva no longer exists or never existed. Once Self-knowledge obtains, the jiva identity is as good as non-existent, but the person still exists because you can experience it. And if you are ignorant of your true nature as the unborn Self, you will suffer the slings and arrows of good and bad fortune, seeking joy in objects, always limited. So what is the solution?
We need a means of knowledge capable of objectifying the limited conscious mind (reflected consciousness), or the personal identity, and ‘subjectifying’ the unlimited, impersonal knower of the mind, nondual Consciousness. Vedanta is such a means. It reverses the reversal that mithya imposes on the mind. Though the Vedanta scripture is mithya, if properly unfolded, it is perfectly designed to meet the student where they are, in duality, and take them step by logical step through the nondual teachings, answering each doubt, resolving every paradox. If the student is qualified and the nondual teachings assimilate, Vedanta has done its job, and is no longer necessary. It is a means to an end because you, the Self, are what is actual. Once that is established as your identity, i.e., Self-actualization has obtained, self-inquiry is over for you. You live life as a normal person, but you are no longer identified primarily as a person.
But living as the Self poses considerable challenges and is not so simple, due to binding likes and dislikes. One can realize the Self without actualizing the knowledge, and truly living moksa. What good is the scripture if the teacher has succeeded in teaching you the Vedanta doctrine perfectly, and you can repeat it verbatim, word perfect, but you still do not know what it means to be the Self? Nonduality is very subtle. Therefore, we point out over and over that you cannot study Vedanta. It is not a degree you can obtain and add to your accomplishments. It is who you are. But to get ‘there’ means understanding mithya.
This brings us to the question: What is the definition of moksa? We could say that perfect satisfaction is as good a definition as any. However, it is reasonable to argue that you could be totally ignorant of your true nature as the Self, and just be a happy, satisfied person, who always follows dharma and instinctively practices karma yoga, unafraid of death. They are very rare, but I have met a few people like that. Does this make you less free than someone who is perfectly happy and satisfied for the same reasons, but also knows that they are not the person but the nondual unborn undying Self?
Not in essence because whether you know it or not, your true nature is the unborn unlimited Self . This is not up for debate. The difference is that if you don’t know who you are, your perfect satisfaction is subject to change. We know that in mithya, on the jiva or mithya level, whether you know you are the Self or not, nothing ever stays the same, and perfect satisfaction is not always possible. We may accommodate life’s ups and downs, but dissatisfaction will happen because things will happen that are difficult and challenging.
But if you are truly living moksa, and have not just intellectualized the teachings (what I call chin uppers), mistaking it for a philosophy, the proof of the pudding is that you will have perfect satisfaction 100% of the time. No matter what is or isn’t happening in your life. So if you are the Self does it mean you will never like or dislike anything again, never be dissatisfied? No, of course not. If you are the Self, you are free to like or dislike, and you are even free to be dissatisfied. You know that it is only the jiva experiencing the zero sum of life, and don’t identify with it. So what would be the criteria to differentiate a samsari from a free person?
It would be how quickly you disidentify with your likes and dislikes, and how quickly any dissatisfaction that ensues is negated. If you really do know who you are, and Self-knowledge is firm, this will never take long. Emotional storms of whatever kind will come and go without leaving a trace. I had a situation arise earlier this year which was a painful and difficult experience for the jiva, especially as it was unfair and untrue. It hurt deeply for a short while, but the hurt stopped when Self-knowledge kicked in. When it did, a fellow Vedantin accused me of ‘pivoting’ and of ‘Vedanta double-speak’. But it was neither. Nondual knowledge wipes the emotional slate clean, and it stays clean. That is the bottom line.
Sundari
ShiningWorld.com
