Hi James,
Greetings from Belgium and… Happy New Year. I hope you’re doing fine and that you’re enjoying this Christmas time.
As you may know, we have a small group that meets once a month to talk about Vedanta. One of these people asked me the following question and I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this.
“Hello Mike,
Yes, all good here. Nice to hear from you and happy to know that you are sharing Vedanta! Good thinking. Here is my reply. Much love to you and your lovely wife.
Mike: Looking back over the past year, I notice how cunning and persistent the ego remains ‘underground’. Two ego themes are currently keeping me busy: ‘non-judging’ and ‘acting selflessly’.
Non-judgment
Outside of meditation, I wonder how we can truly be free of judgment. Never ‘liking’ anything seems almost impossible. After all, the ego also has a function. Even spiritual teachers I see giving judgments or advice, such as: “do this, don’t do that.” Perhaps judging is part of being human but being able to let go completely in society I find it hard to accept at this point, because I have not yet seen and experienced it.
James: Vedanta agrees. The purpose of the intellect is discerning, judging, discriminating. So, inquirers use this function to discriminate ever- present unborn existence shining as consciousness…the Self…from the objects presented to it by ignorance of the Self’s wholeness.
It is also useful to discriminate one thing from another in the apparent reality. Problems come, however, when the intellect is not clear about the purpose of life. It should always choose a goal, an ideal or idea that is slightly out of reach. This sounds absurd, a formula for frustration, however it is good psychology. Why? Because you may just get what you want, particularly if you are unambitious and achieve small things quickly. Then what will you do? You will indulge yourself in pleasures, which will lead to cynicism and boredom. The mind needs a noble goal to keep it engaged, to keep it striving. Why should I want to keep striving? Because it is only when you push yourself that you grow spiritually. The mind is lazy and just wants to take it easy. By shooting for the stars, you keep your mind from stagnating, becoming a boring mind. Here’s a link to a video from Swami Chinmaya concerning this principle. Swami Chinmayananda #HappyNewYear2025 #ChinmayaMission #Short https://www.youtube.com/shorts/aylNaQLuiZY
Perhaps spiritual teachers tell their students what to do, but the bossy types are proper teachers. A proper teacher reveals the Self, and in light of Self knowledge leaves the doing to the student. However, proper teachers are free to make friendly suggestions, based on the issues the student faces that are obstructing his or her spiritual growth. If a student doesn’t respond appropriately to the suggestions, he or she cannot be called a proper inquirer. Why would an inquirer not implement a teacher’s good suggestions? Because he or she lacks confidence in the teaching and the teacher, even though he or she may be well-informed about Vedantic doctrine. And why is his or her confidence insufficient? Because the student’s samskaras compel action. The tail wags the dog when the dog lacks confidence. The person is lazy and just does what is expedient, not what is always good. Krishna makes this point clear in the beginning of his teaching in the Bhagavad Gita.
Acting selflessly
Mike: When is something completely selfless? For example, I teach yoga classes, partly to help others get closer to themselves, and because part of the tuition goes to charity. Still, I wonder: where does self-interest begin or end? The person enjoys doing it and learns from it himself. And what about the people who participate? Surely, they also come primarily for their own personal growth, not for the benefit of others.
I continue to find it difficult to see an action completely separate from self- interest. Maybe that is not a bad thing either, but it remains an open question for me: how do you determine if something is 100% not for yourself?
James: Selflessness is a myth. Nothing is selfless because the Self is all there is. Pleasing it is the object of all our actions. Nothing wrong serving it since there are no options. The Self includes all apparent others (which are mithya, as good as non-existent) by default, so just respond to what happens keeping dharma in mind and everyone benefits. Of course, if you can’t appreciate non-duality, you will think there are others. If you do, it is very helpful to think of others when you act, since all your actions impact others who will do good things for you, not to mention your doer, who will accrue good karma (punya). You’re right, self interest is not a bad thing.
Love, James
