Acceptance, Faith and Red Roses
There are certain mental qualities a person needs before being eligible to gain Self Knowledge as discussed in the Hindu Vedanta teachings. We have already seen a few previously (Discrimination, Dispassion, Mind Control, Sense Control and Practice of Duty). The remaining qualities are discussed here:
Forbearance (Titiksha) – This is the mental capacity to accept the highs and lows of life, without worry or anxiety. A cheerful acceptance of pleasures and pains (pairs of opposites), without overreacting. E.g. you arrive in India at the airport. You experience the heat, dust, pollution, dirt. Fine. But then…you complain “it’s so hot, it’s so polluted, it’s so dirty…”.Not just once – but for the entire trip! This is not cheerful acceptance. This is uncheerful non-acceptance. If it’s hot, polluted and dirty – sure it may not be pleasant, but it’s a fact which you cannot do much about if you are there. Therefore we must accept facts as facts, and not to get anxious over them. The fact is life is nothing but a series of pleasant and unpleasant experiences (opposites – dvandava). We must accept this and have the capacity to forbear unpleasant experiences too.
Faith (Sraddha) – This is trust. In what? In the Vedas as an instrument of knowledge for knowing the Self. Imagine you see a rose flower, and I ask: Do you see the red-ness of that rose? Yes. How do you know it’s red? Because I see it. I see it with my eyes – my eyes are the ‘instrument’ which I use to ‘know’ the red-ness. So there are 2 distinct things: (1)Red-ness; (2) My eyes which reveals (1). In other words: (1) The object of knowledge (Prameya) and (2) The instrument of knowledge (Pramana) which I use to know (1). Without 1 & 2, you cannot know the rose is red. OK, one more query – How do you know that what you see with your eyes is true? So you see red-ness with your eyes, but does that make mean it’s red? Well, yes. I see it, and I trust what my eyes see. I have 100% ‘faith’ in my eyes as an instrument for knowing colour. Agreed? That’s why we say: “Oh I will have to see it for myself to really believe it”. Because I trust my eyes 100%. That 100% Trust or Faith in an instrument of knowledge (eyes) is called Sraddha.
Now, when it comes to Self-knowledge, which as about you – the Self/perceiver/seer – we have a problem. Because you are the very perceiver, you can never be perceived. Its like asking your eye ball to look at itself. Can your eye ball see itself, ever ? No. Impossible. Why ? Because the eye is the seer of things other than itself. Even in a mirror it doesn’t really see itself – only an image. So the seer can never be seen. The perceiver can never be perceived. Therefore the Self can never be seen, heard, tasted, touched, smelt. Because it is the very perceiver behind all those perceptions. In other words: perception cannot logically be an ‘instrument of knowledge’ (pramaana). So then how will I gain Self-Knowledge? What is the Instrument of knowledge for Self ? Hmmmm. This is the crux question! This is perhaps one of the biggest questions to answer in the beginning of the spiritual path. Think about this, it is not trivial. What’s the answer? The words of the Vedas are the instrument of knowledge for the Self. The words of the Veda (Upanishad, Vedanta) convey a certain menaing, and the meaning reveals Self in a very special way. Why special? Because the Veda reveals something using words, that is beyond words! (Tait Upanishad 2.9.1: Yato Vacho nivartante). This is not at all a contradiction as it may seem. Why? This is where a Guru (teacher) is also required along with the words of the Veda to explain the special meaning of the words of Veda. It’s not that you just pick up a book and read. That is not what the Veda advises. If possible, approach a living teacher and learn Vedanta. OK, so in order for all of this to work, the student must have 100% ‘faith’ that the Vedas really are an instrument of knowledge for the Self. This faith or trust in Veda as an instrument is called ‘Sraddha’. This doesn’t come overnight – the longer you associate with something, the more trust you gain in it. So the more exposure you have to Veda and Vedanta, the more faith you will have. This is not a blind faith, it is a faith that encourages questioning, logic, analysis and challenge. But it does require Sraddha in the words of Vedanta and the Guru (Tattvabodha: Guru-Vedanta-Vakyesu Vishvasah).
One-pointed mental focus (Samadhana) – The ability to absorb the mind in a single object of concentration, without being distracted by any other thoughts. This is also known as ‘Samadhi’ in Yoga Shastra. The ‘8 limbs of Yoga’ as taught by Patanjali are the steps to achieving this. Even at a basic level to sit in a 1 hour Vedanta class without losing attention, following the complete thread of the teaching, requires a high level of concentration/samadhana.
Strong desire for Moksha (Mumukshutvam) – Before gaining Moksa, you have to really want it. Not just a casual interest, or a hobby – it must a strong all encompassing, burning desire to be free. Whereby Moksha is the only thing you are interested in, and this takes priority. You enjoy the pursuit, the discovery, the subject matter, the contemplation but are totally committed to achieving the end goal. It’s easy to get lost on this path – we must always remind ourselves why we are really doing all of this – for lasting Happiness (Moksha)!
Once you have cultivated all of the above listed mental qualities, then what? You become eligible for Self-Knowledge and Moksha.
Om
Aditya, London
adig_85@yahoo.com
