Who is Liberated?
Who is Liberated from Samsara (suffering)? What does a liberated person (jivan-mukta) look like? How do they talk? How do they dress? What are their physical characteristics?
The teacher (in Tattabodha) answers: A liberated or enlightened person is one who has wisdom. Nothing more, nothing less. In other words, there is no physical difference seen in a liberated person as compared to anyone else. So don’t look for a beard, orange robes, or an aura to try and spot a liberated person. There is no such external indication unfortunately. Why? Because it is only wisdom which makes them different, and where is this wisdom located? In the mind of the wise person/liberated person. Only the person themselves really knows if they have wisdom or not. Wisdom is just Knowledge about my Self being Isvara (Tat Tvam Asi – http://advaita-academy.org/blogs/you-are-that-a-teacher-student-dialogue/). That Wisdom or Self-Knowledge must be 100% clear (dridha-nishchaya-jnanam). No vagueness or doubts. Such doubts are to be removed via systematic study of Vedanta with a proper teacher.
What kind of clear knowledge is this? It is technically called ‘Immediate Knowledge’ (aparoksha-jnana). To understand this, we need to first understand the 3 types of knowledge that are possible in this world:
1) Direct Knowledge (Pratyaksha Jnanam)
Knowledge of an object directly perceived by me through my 5 sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, tounge, skin). E.g. These letters on the page in front of your eyes right now. Hence, such direct objects must be ‘near’ you (prati-aksha) for you to perceive them ‘directly’
2) Indirect Knowledge (Paroksha Jnanam)
Knowledge of an object beyond the range of my 5 sense organs. E.g. You gain the knowledge that ‘there is a fire on that hill in the distance’, but you have not actually seen the fire with your own eyes. So how do you know there is a fire on that hill? You see smoke rising from the hill, and therefore infer there is a fire. Because you know that wherever there is smoke, there is fire (vyapti: yatra dhumah, tatra vanhih). So you use inference (logical process in your mind based on what you perceive via (1)) to correctly gain knowledge of fire which you do not see via (1), because it is too far away. Your knowledge of fire is called ‘indirect knowledge’ (paroksha jnanam)
3) Aparoksha Jnanam (Immediate)
This is neither (1) nor (2). It is ‘not-indirect-or-direct knowledge’ = aparoksha-pratyaksha jnanam = aparoksha-jnanam (short version).
Let’s explain via some inquiry:
If I ask you ‘are you here?’, you will say ‘yes, I am here’. But how do you know you are here? In other words, how do I gain knowledge of myself (I) as a conscious living being? What kind of knowledge is this of myself? Is it: (1) Direct – knowledge of near object; or (2) Indirect – knowledge of far object. We could re-phrase this question to ask: am ‘I’ near me or far from me?
This question is incorrect in the 1st place. Because an object can only be ‘near me’ or ‘far from me’ if the object in question is different from me. But here, is ‘me’ different from ‘me’? No! I am me, there are no 2 things here. So I can’t say I am far or near me, I can only say ‘I am me.’ Hence knowledge of myself cannot be Direct (1) or Indirect (2). So what do we call any knowledge about myself? It gets another word – ‘Aparoksha Jnanam’. Only knowledge of ‘I’ falls under this category, no other thing in the entire Universe is aparoksha.
Another a key point to note here is:
(1) Direct Knowledge requires an instrument (eyes, ears, etc)
(2) Indirect Knowledge requires an instrument (mind and thinking process, plus perceptual data)
(3) Immediate Knowledge does not requires an instrument. I know ‘I am’ without the need to use my eyes, or use any thought process. It is Self-evident. Hence (3) is unique knowledge as no instrument of knowledge (pramana) is involved.
Now, even this Aparoksha Jnana/Immediate knowledge has 2 types:
a) Before I study Vedanta – I think ‘I am the body/mind. I am different from Ishvara’
b) After I study Vedanta – I think ‘I am not the body/mind, I am Ishvara/Brahman from the perspective of consciousness’
(a) is wrong knowledge. It’s an error in my understanding. (b) is correct, it is the truth as taught by the Vedas.
Therefore, the only difference between an ignorant and liberated person, is that a liberated person concludes (b) clearly, whereas as others conclude (a) clearly.
That is liberation! May we all study Vedanta, assimilate its teaching and be free from Samsara!
Om,
Aditya.
