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Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.
Yesterday I began speaking about the qualities of the seeker. Earlier also, I happened to mention that there are some prerequisites to enquire into brahmavidya. Vidya means knowledge, Brahman means the Supreme reality.
The Supreme reality can be interpreted in two ways – it is the source of everything and it is the finale of everything. All the water sources in the earth, maybe rivers, lakes, tanks, wells etc., if you go into the source of all these water collections, you will find, it is the sea. From the sea, the water rises in the form of vapour, and the vapour travels in the sky, gets cooled, comes back in the higher altitudes in the form of snow, in the lower altitudes they start hovering in the form of clouds, they get cooled and they start shedding. And this water is what wets the surface of the earth, becomes the sub-soil water, river etc. So the source of all this water is the sea and you will find, ultimately, whenever there is a water flow, the flow will finally have to go to the sea. It is more evident in the case of rivers. So the oceans are not merely the source of water, they are also the terminus of water. In the same manner, you will find, the Supreme reality is that which survives when the whole visible universe is destroyed. When everything is reduced into its final form, what happens, it survives.
So what is the ultimate nature of all substances that we see in this world? That is called the Supreme reality. Another is the source of everything including creation. That is called Brahman. Vidya means knowledge. The knowledge relating to, or the knowledge, the pursuit of which will expose to you and make you realise, understand what is the Supreme reality called Brahman, this is called brahmavidya. Now in order to take up and pursue brahmavidya, is there any quality or qualification? Isaid there are some prerequisites and viveka is one.
We generally have viveka because it is an inevitable quality of human, particularly of our intelligence. But generally the viveka is to go into some of the functional and interactional details of substances, persons and the like. For e.g, I said the eyes are always distinguishing between colours. The ears are distinguishing between sounds. But what kind of a viveka we mean in the case of a seeker? That viveka is focused in order to find out – of all the substances including our body with which we live in the world, is there anything permanent and lasting? Because we find everything is changing. The earth is changing, air is changing, water is changing, our own body is changing, mind is changing, intelligence is changing, ego also has its undulations, so the gross and subtle things which constitute the universe are found to be constantly in a state of flux, change. So, the question necessarily arises; our body itself is changeful and whatever we acquire with this body, they are also changeful. So changefulness multiplied by changefulness will only become changeful squared. And what is meant by a change – mark my words - what is meant by a change? Whatever is now, it becomes extinct and in its place something else comes. So change implies extinction and emergence. Though we call it change, it is actually “whatever is the present form of a substance, that disappears and something else in its place arises.” So every change implies destruction. So the whole world including our body is destructive. It is getting destroyed. Naturally the question arises; what is this? Should I not have something indestructible, something which does not change off?
In the sensory level, we may be needing changefulness but for our real strength and real fulfillment, I must find something lasting. Is there anything like that? So, we must be able to enquire into and find out, what is real and what is unreal.
Anything unreal cannot exist by itself, because it goes on changing. So the changeful element is always supported by a changeless base or substratum. As you find in the running of a car or a train, the wheels are moving very fast. If they have to move very fast, they must have an unmoving solid, rigid rail or road. The same applies to everything. No change can be there except when related to, supported by a changeless substratum. What is that changeless factor? Is there anything outside? The outside universe is endless, so we cannot travel everywhere and find out. The outside universe itself is perceived, projected and reflected in our mind, so let us go into our own personality and find out whether there is anything changeless. Body is changeful, mind is changeful, intelligence is changeful, ego also is subject to fluctuations. So the question arises: - how can the whole changeful aggregate be there; unless it is supported by a changeless nucleus or a centre or a support. When we start thinking in this manner, we have a ready answer.
Ever since birth, when we began to speak, we started saying “I”, the first personal pronoun and we started saying I, I, I, I, and we continue to say that. Yesterday “I” was. Today “I” am. Tomorrow “I” shall be. “I” saw you five years back. You are coming for the first time after that. So in order to cognize, understand the changes in the ego, in the intelligence, in the mind, in the body, there must be a constant factor. That constant factor is what we refer to as “I”. And in our experience the “I” is changeless. The “I” does not change at all. When my height increased, I did not increase. When I become sick, I don’t become sick. When I become blind, my eyes become blind. I am not becoming blind. All the things like body, mind, intelligence, and ego, I refer to as mine. “Mine” is a possessive case. The possessive case always refers to something different from me. “I” is the nominative. Only when the “I” is there, the mind can be.
Any action can proceed only from an actor. Action is a face of expression of the actor. So, I can walk, I can jump, I can sit, I can lie, I can see, I can hear, I can think, I can understand, I can be proud, egotistic. Only when the “I” remains constantly, all these different activities can be possible. So we are able to find something changeless in us. Now, try to develop your thought and find out whether you can get into the arena of the “I”.
So, our shastras say, the Supreme reality is the atma, the Self. And what is the Self? Mark my words.
aham pratyaya gocharah -It is that which is denoted by the term “I”.
“I” is a ready realisation or experience. Everybody refers to it. You cannot refer to something non-existent (as I) and still continue to exist. So, there is something and we denote it in the form of “I”. Try to get into that arena and find out what this “I” in reality is and what is its magnitude, what is its potential and what are the different qualities it has.
Now this is called nitya-anitya vastu vivekah. Viveka, no doubt, but applied to this particular point – “is there anything distinct and changeless in the whole universe different from the changefuls, the senses perceive and interact with” This kind of a viveka is the first and the last quality everybody must have.
In the case of this viveka, what does it do? It sharpens your intelligence, it makes your faculties subtler and more perceptive. I always tell children, if you read a subject for one hour and understand, if you become a vedantically inclined boy or girl, you will find you can read and understand it, if not in 30 minutes, at least in 40 minutes. Because the very understanding process is rarefied, it is touched up and its efficiency increases. So this is the fundamental quality of a seeker.
Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.
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