Recently we had some questions from a Vedanta teacher relating to the doctrine. Specifically, the use of certain Sanskrit words, such as vasana and samskara, which both have positive and negative connotations (as do all things mithya). This brought up the important topic of the difference between being taught the doctrine of Vedanta, vs being taught Moksa. The valid point this teacher makes is that because we are moksa, nobody can teach us moksa. We can only be taught Vedanta, the means of knowledge for moksa, which we both agree, and disagree, with. As important as it is to teach the scripture, jnana yoga, impeccably, yoga is just as important. Without yoga, the mind will not be purified to assimilate the teachings.
Like all qualified Vedanta teachers, we teach both yoga and jnana yoga. Vedanta is a means to an end, not another object to identify with. Though all the qualifications for self-inquiry and signing on to the methodology of Vedanta are non-negotiable, our focus is not on turning out perfect Vedanta scholars, but helping inquirers to assimilate, and live, Self-knowledge. For jnana yoga to assimilate, the mind must be purified, and yoga in the form of karma yoga, guna yoga and bhakti yoga are essential. That said, because nonduality is so subtle, and as much as we do our best, it is very hard to assist inquirers to overcome all the mental/emotional blockages that prevent Self-actualization from being fully accessed.
No teacher can do that for you. The nondual teachings must be put into practice, and that is up to you. This is both good and bad news for us as teachers. On the one hand, its hard to teach nonduality, and qualifications and dedication to moksa must be present. But on the other hand, as we are not trying to ‘save’ anyone because you already are saved as the Self, whether that fact assimilates or not is not up to us. If you are still chasing experiential ‘enlightenment’ as a way of not dealing with your likes and dislikes and doership once we have done our job, that’s on you.
We have been making this point for a very long time. In fact, the emphasis on the difference between experience and knowledge has been Ramji’s main contribution to teaching Vedanta in the West. The doctrine of Vedanta tells you upfront that you are what you seek, and you cannot gain what you already have, so give up on experience and ‘do the work!”. If you are on board with this, you should know what is required of you in terms of your sadhana for moksa to obtain. Though we have done so in most of our teaching, we will try to explain again what ‘being moksa’ means on a lived basis, for the jiva.
Satya Mithya Discrimination
As most true inquirers know, there are two things in existence, satya Consciousness/that which is always present and unchanging, and mithya, that which is known to Consciousness, is not always present and always changing. Though this is a nondual reality and everything dissolves into satya, this discussion about whether or not we can be taught moksa brings up the question of discrimination between the two orders of reality. The ability to spontaneously and automatically do this means the nondual teachings have assimilated, and is called ‘being’ or ‘living’ moksa. But the big question here is, are you discriminating who you are as Consciousness purely on an intellectual basis, i.e., indirect knowledge (knowing about the Self), or does your discrimination translate into how you live on a moment to moment basis, i.e., immediate direct knowledge (living spontaneously as the Self)?
The whole point of subjecting the mind to nondual scripture is to remove ignorance of your true nature, the hypnosis of duality, permanently from the mind so that you live free of the jiva conditioning, and free as a jiva. But for this to take place, Self-knowledge must translate into your life. Only in this way can the jiva live without 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 because as the Self you have never been bound and do not have a life. You are life. As stated, we are told this upfront when we first encounter Vedanta. What a thunder bolt that is for the mind accustomed to duality! But….though as the Self, you are not ‘in’ this world, what does it mean for you as a person, living in this apparently real, yet existent, world? As Ramji is so fond of saying, this is where the rubber hits the road….
Ramji posted a gem of a satsang yesterday on the definition of mithya. Basically, the teaching from Panchadasi states that something that is not real in the past or future cannot be real in the present. But, though the person and the world may only be apparently real, it is indisputable that both still exist because you can experience them. We cannot deny this. We say this so often we think you must surely be bored with hearing it – but once Self-knowledge obtains, the jiva identity is as good as non-existent as your primary identity, it is not non-existent.
If you have unresolved emotional samskaras, they are not magically swept away when Self-realization obtains. You will still suffer the slings and arrows of good and bad fortune. Maybe not quite as much anymore, but the problem maker in the mix, the jiva identity and the doer, is still in the way. So what is the solution? Well of course, yoga and jnana yoga. Which means, purifying the mind, and understanding the jiva program with reference to, and in conjunction with, continued application of the nondual teachings of Vedanta, every waking moment. This the solution to all our problems. Build the house of freedom, brick by brick, thought by thought. But nonduality is very subtle, plus thanks to Maya/duality, the mind sees things backwards, and has a tendency to objectify Consciousness. This is just how it is programmed. Thus, we have a problem.
Assuming qualifications and a burning desire for moksa, Vedanta is a means of knowledge capable of reversing the hypnosis of duality by objectifying the limited conscious mind (reflected consciousness), i.e., the personal identity and what runs it, and ‘subjectifying’ the unlimited, impersonal knower of the mind, i.e., nondual Consciousness. Though the scripture too is mithya, if properly unfolded, it is a perfectly designed means of knowledge to meet the student where they are, in duality, and take them step by logical step through the nondual teachings, which unfold with perfection how and why the mind is conditioned the way it is, answering each doubt, resolving every paradox, so that their identity gets transferred to the Self, permanently. If the nondual teachings assimilate, Vedanta has done its job, and is no longer necessary. It is a throw away because you, the Self, are what is rea and always present. But it cannot be thrown away before it really has done its job.
The Mind is Under New Management
If your identity as the Self is established, i.e., Self-actualization (direct knowledge) has obtained, self-inquiry is over for you. There is no more avidya, personal ignorance, in your mind. Moksa is not an object to be obtained, it is a state of mind. You live life as a normal person, but your life as a person is forever transformed because the jiva conditioning has undergone a friendly takeover – it is now under new management: direct nondual Self-knowledge. The old management, Maya/duality, is out. So, the tail is not wagging the dog anymore. You have cleaned up your act, and the way you relate to, and contact, objects is not for happiness, but because you are already happy. You no longer seek nor are bound to objects hoping to find what is missing in your life because you are the fullness that knows all objects. Remember that an object is anything known to you, whether subtle like a thought /feeling, a person, or gross like a material thing.
Home run, right? Well, maybe. Living as the Self poses considerable challenges and is not so simple, due to the binding nature of duality which makes it so hard to negate our likes and dislikes, and any remaining subtle doership. The old management does not give up without a fight. The problem is that one can realize the Self without actualizing Self-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, or your jiva identity is still blocking access to direct Self-knowledge? Therefore, we point out over and over that while you need to memorise the teachings, you cannot study Vedanta. Moksa is not a degree you can obtain and add to your accomplishments. It is who you are. But to get ‘there’ means understanding mithya, the jiva and its world, and negating it with Self-knowledge.
As most of you should know, you can never negate Consciousness. As much as this unexamined logic is a mind blast for most, believe it or not, that’s the easy part of self-inquiry. Vedanta is the logic of Existence and tells you upfront that you are the Self. Thanks to the elegance and non-negatable logic of the nondual scripture, assuming most of the qualifications have developed, most traditional and qualified Vedanta teachers will take you elegantly up to Self-realization, which may result in indirect or direct Self-knowledge. Some people ‘get’ Self-realization very quickly, get very excited, and proceed to ‘unget it’ just as quickly because the jiva conditioning and doership is not fully dealt with. Thus, for many, while Self-realization obtains, Self-actualization remains elusive.
The next step, actualizing or direct Self-knowledge, means you need to not only know about the Self, if moksa, freedom from and for the jiva, is the aim. You need to know it and live it, as a jiva. But the problem is that you cannot actualize the Self as a jiva because the jiva is not real, and yo, the Self, are what is actual. This is a very subtle stage of inquiry, and it is common that a subtle egoic doer gets involved here, which is called ‘enlightenment sickness’. The inquirer remains stuck believing they are free because they have realized the Self. But they are ‘free’ as an ego, not as the Self. We know many ‘enlightened’ egos. I have been there, everyone goes through it. It’s a natural part of the process of assimilation and actualization, yet so subtle that it is hard to see, until you do. I cover this at the end of this satsang.
A teacher who is qualified to unfold the nondual scripture, whether they are truly ‘enlightened’ or not, can teach moksa. If they have done their job, they may take it upon themselves to point out what stands in the way of actualization, but they cannot help you with it, or enlighten you. Nobody can. If the first stages of inquiry have been processed, srvanna, hearing and manana, contemplating, the next stage, negating remaining mental/emotional samskaras, is nididhysana. But this stage is not about gaining anything you haven’t already gotten, if you have been taught properly, are qualified and dedicated to moksa. It is about applying nonduality to the residual ignorance in the form of the jiva’s conditioning.
Nididhysana means meditation. You can meditate, meaning to dwell intensely on a particular topic, before Self-realization and you can meditate after Self-realization. After Self-realization is called nididhysana because the topic is no longer who am I? You know who you are. The issue of identity has been laid to rest during the manana or Self-realization phase. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am unborn Existence shining as whole and complete ever-present ordinary Consciousness. But – I am still experiencing the bliss of Self-knowledge intermittently. What gives?
Are You Awareness, Or Are You an Aware Mess?
The issue during the nididhysana phase, is “how can I embody the teaching for my benefit, the benefit of others and for the benefit of the teaching tradition?” Remember, all is one. Self-realization doesn’t remove the karma that caused me to seek the Self. It only eliminates self-doubt. This is huge, as self-doubt is the curse that comes with the gift of self-reflectivity. But unfortunately, once prarabdha karma is in the pipeline, like a bullet shot from a gun, you cannot stop it from reaching its target. So if you are in denial about your binding tendencies and think you don’t care because ‘it’s just the body’, or it’s ‘just mithya’, the karma associated with my body and mind continues to fructify all the same. Suffering will ensue, not to mention that peace of mind will elude you. You are still the same jerk you were ‘before’, albeit a momentarily knowledgeable and happier jerk. So, are you unlimited Awareness, or a limited aware mess?
The thing is, now that I know that I am not that jerk, but the Self, I don’t feel good about myself unless I am living up to my highest value, which is freedom and non-dual love. Once you know, it won’t leave you alone. So, it finally sinks in that I must put the teachings into practice. Unlike many traditional Vedanta teachers, Ramji and I are prepared to tread where angels fear to go – we do our best to help inquirers figure out their psychology with the application of both yoga and jnana yoga. It is sometimes a thankless, difficult task. We avoid getting involved in people’s lives, but it sometimes happens anyway.
If you are paying attention to your teacher and the nondual teachings, you gradually rid that tamasic/rajasic person of his or her bad habits by setting out to clean up the psychic remnants left from childhood, as well as the teaching remnants, since you no longer need teaching. You are no longer a seeker of moksa. You are moksa, and you want the bliss of the Self permanently, not intermittently. If I am living it, not only I but others are benefitted by the presence of a person who embodies their highest value. A truly authentic human who loves his or herself unconditionally, has a great life, and provides a role model that motivates people to pursue their heart’s desire. I am a a beacon of light, a joy to be and to be around. And finally, I discharge my debt to my teacher and the scripture, which have set me free. It is only natural and appropriate to reciprocate. And I do this primarily, by living the teachings.
Where the Work Begins
As stated ad nauseum, Self-realization is where the ‘work’ of self-inquiry begins, not ends. What point is it if you do know you must be the Self, if your life is not transformed, and you are stuck with the problematic small-self identity, filled with self-doubt? For this reason, we have put so much emphasis on the importance of resolving all mithya issues as they pertain to our psychology, i.e., doership and our vasana/samskara load, or likes and dislikes. There is no getting away from this fact. Many in the nondual world argue that it doesn’t matter because from the satya perspective, if your nature is nondual Consciousness, you cannot and do not need to be taught moksa because you are it, which is true. Who cares about vasanas and samskaras if they ‘belong’ to Isvara, and are objects known to me, the Self? Also true.
As much as we are never not the Self whether or not moksa obtains, moksa is only for the mind. Indirect, or intellectual knowledge of who you are does indeed improve your understanding of what this life is about, especially if you apply karma yoga, bhakti yoga and guna knowledge to your life. If you are happy with that, so be it. But it’s not unlimited freedom from or for the jiva if the bliss is intermittent, so be honest about it. If ignorance has been removed, you live as the Self, free of the jiva program, and free as a jiva too. You are porous to what life brings you not because you are in denial but because your likes and dislikes are negated and any remaining are non-binding. Either way, you are never more or less the Self. It is only a question of how much you are still prepared to suffer if ignorance still stands in the way of your full appreciation of your primary identity as the Self.
There are four main reasons advanced inquirers get stuck:
Reason Why You Are Stuck #1.
Residual Ignorance – Self-Actualization
To recap the main points covered in the difference between being taught Vedanta and being taught moksa. While we do our best to help people understand their psychological blockages, the traditional Vedanta teachings do not focus on the final stages of self-inquiry – Self-actualization – other than to clarify what is required for moksa. And they do so in almost every teaching. A qualified Vedanta teacher can tell you what moksa is and isn’t, the importance of and the difference between yoga and jnana yoga, what values and qualifications you need to qualify and how to develop them; they can teach you to discriminate between ignorance/duality and knowledge/nonduality by unfolding what the jiva is and isn’t with reference to the ever present and unexamined factor, Consciousness; they can unfold the entire methodology of the logic of Existence with exquisite precision giving you the technical steps you need to follow and the tools you need to apply the teachings: karma yoga, guna yoga, bhakti yoga. It’s all there in the scripture. The only agenda Vedanta has is that happiness is good and suffering is only due to wrong thinking and living due to ignorance of your true nature. It is not to give you something you don’t have, but to remove what prevents the restoration of the jiva to its natural state of permanent happiness, free of anxiety. To live a fabulous life without suffering. If the teacher and the student are qualified, assimilation of Self-Realization should take place.
Even a little or intermittent access to the bliss of your true nature is huge in terms of transforming the jiva’s life. But it’s not moksa. Anyone dedicated to actualizing Self-knowledge is aiming to transition directly to perfect and permanent satisfaction – tripti. Such a beautiful Sanskrit word. Unfortunately, this can only take place if you are totally qualified when Self-realization takes place, which is almost never the case. The inquirer must clean up the binding samskaras, both in terms of the jiva’s practical and subtle emotional life. Especially the deeply painful life experiences of the jiva. No excuses here. All self-insulting habits must go. You have to clean up your lifestyle, The devil is in the details. It requires the final negation of the idea of yourself as an individual, a jiva, and a doer.
Reason Why You Stuck # 2.
Studying Vedanta
Studying Vedanta – You may well have realized the Self and have done or are doing the ‘work’ of cleaning up your act. You can quote the scripture and even understand it, but you are still stuck. Maybe, it’s because you think that ‘studying’ Vedanta is necessary. You are meticulous in your sadhana, maybe take pride in how ‘spiritual’ and ‘clean’ you are living. You have integrity, are authentic and transparent. But you cannot see the doer who has co-opted the knowledge, and spiritual hubris is holding you back. This is called ‘enlightenment sickness’, and though common, it is a big problem in the spiritual world, if moksa is the aim. It is only a problem if you don’t know it’s there. Once you do, you can deal with it the humility of applying karma yoga and bhakti yoga, along with continued jnana yoga.
Reason Why You Are Stuck # 3.
Imperfect Values, Qualifications, Karma and Bhakti Yoga Practice
The inquirers’ values need work, and/or they have not developed all the necessary qualifications for self-inquiry – particularly, faith in the scripture. Plus, their understanding of the importance and practice of karma yoga along with bhakti yoga is lacking. Without the right values, qualifications, surrender and devotion to Isvara, true humility is not possible because only in this way do we manage and negate the childish egoic doer – the one who owns things, people, experiences, knowledge. The adaptive child program we are all endowed with, who wants what it wants when it wants it.
Jnana yoga appeals to intellectuals. Thanks to the influence of religious thinking, bhakti yoga sounds like a devotional practice, which is not as appealing. But Vedanta is not a religion and takes the inquirer from dualistic worship of an external deity to the nondual understanding of the creative principle behind creation, Isvara. Bowing down to God, therefore, is not an act of devotion but an act of jnanum, of knowledge. When I bow down to God/Isvara, the ego identity is dismantled. My ‘human consciousness’ or reflected consciousness, is surrendered to nondual Consciousness, my true identity. My existence as a jiva becomes one with that of the God I bow down to because we share the same identity as Consciousness. I practice karma yoga effortlessly because I value peace of mind above all for the jiva. I stop worrying about everything. I have a much better life as a jiva.
Reason Why You Are Stuck # 4.
Renouncing the Renouncer
If all of the stages of inquiry have been completed, there is still one more step – the most subtle object to renounce – the desire for moksa itself, and the remnants of the teaching. Even in that there is still one more layer because there is still a ‘renouncer’ in the mix. Who or what is renouncing what, if there is only you, the Self? The beautiful quote from scripture states clearly that the ‘stick that stirs the fire must also burn in it”, for moksa to obtain.
James explains this perfectly:
1. “When Self-knowledge is hard and fast, you know you are not the doer and have cleaned up its act, the next thing is removing the doubts about yourself and the world created by the teaching. They will be there. When your last doubt disappears, the idea that you are a doer finally disappears. Then the doer appears as an object that is obviously not me. Self-knowledge alone does that.
2. Now that you are no longer a doer, you can do without doing and allow knowledge of the Self to transform the doer into a perfect reflection of the love that I am. With easy confidence you can say I am free. I am love.
Is that all?
3. No. You need to eliminate the non-essential variables in the two statements above. What are they? Anything other than you.
Is that the end? When you eliminate them, you will know the answer. “
Once you know that you are satya, you know that there is only satya. Mithya still plays out in all its apparent technicolour dream-like beauty and ugliness, but it’s known to be a dream appearing in you. There is only you. There is nothing to renounce and ‘nobody’ left to renounce anything. And then you can really enjoy the beautiful dream for what it delivers, without getting sucked into it. You are home free.
A Good Definition of Moksa
This brings us to the question: What is the definition of moksa? Because we all want to feel bliss, and tripti, perfect satisfaction or bliss is our true nature as the Self, 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, unafraid of death, who always follows dharma and instinctively practices karma yoga. They are very rare indeed, but I have met a few ‘wise’ people, and there are many examples throughout history of 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. Vedanta does not ‘make’ you the Self. The Self always knows itself. This is not up for debate. The difference is that if you are identified with your personal identity, perfect satisfaction is subject to change. We know that in mithya, on the jiva level, whether you know you are the Self or not, nothing ever stays the same, and perfect satisfaction is not always possible. Our bodies are always changing, people, situations, come and go. You can feel great one day and awful the next. Enlightened or not, we can accommodate life’s ups and downs, but dissatisfaction will happen because things will happen that are difficult and challenging. Moksa does not make you immune; it just objectifies all situations.
But if you are truly living moksa and are not just intellectualizing the teachings, the proof of the pudding will be in how you live. There are no rules for a free person, but no matter what is or isn’t happening in your life, you will follow dharma automatically and have perfect satisfaction 100% of the time. Though life is unpredictable, you are not unpredictable because you as the Self are not subject to modification. 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. But the big difference is that you know that it is only the jiva experiencing the zero sum of life, and neither deny or identify with it. You follow dharma and take appropriate action when necessary or possible because you value peace of mind for the jiva, above all. So what would be the criteria to differentiate a samsari from a free person?
It would be how quickly you accommodate to life, how quickly you negate all projection and denial, how quickly you disidentify with likes and dislikes, and how quickly any dissatisfaction that ensues is negated – all with reference to the Self. And by this we do not mean swept under the carpet or justified with the Advaita shuffle. 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. Nothing is ever suppressed or denied, but resolved with reference to the Self.
Satya, nondual knowledge, sees all things clearly, as they really are, wipes the emotional (mithya/duality) slate clean, and it stays clean. That is the bottom line. That is living moksa. Though perfecting the jiva is never on the moksa agenda, if your reactive instincts to what life presents to you on a daily basis are not subject to Self-knowledge and your life as a jiva has not improved, even if you know the doctrine well, you have work to do. Assuming freedom from limitation, moksa, is the aim, that is.
Sundari
