End Of Knowledge

Tag: self-knowledge

  • A Conversation with Ashtavakra Pt. 21

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    CHAPTER 14
    Janaka said:
    14:1 – One who is void of mind, whose thoughts of sense objects are spontaneous and who remains awake while sleeping has their recollections of worldly life exhausted. 

    In Swami Nityaswarupananda’s excellent translation of the Ashtavakra Samhita he interprets “void of mind” to mean that the mind of one with self-knowledge is devoid of desires, habitual mental tendencies and knowledge of objects.  Unless I’m misunderstanding his words, I politely but heartily disagree.  Because how could a self-realized person write, teach—or do anything else for that matter—without the desire to do so?  How could they have a personality without habitual mental tendencies?  How could they function in the world without knowledge of objects?  Either self-realized people do have desires, habitual tendencies and knowledge of objects or those with the desire to teach self-knowledge, using their personality and knowledge of objects to do so, aren’t actually self-realized. 

    The latter scenario is problematic, seeing as there would be no living proof that enlightenment is possible.  So I contend—and I think Vedanta supports this contention—that “void of mind” means despite the fact that self-realized people have desire etc. in their minds, they are void of the belief that the contents of their minds either belong to them or affect them.  

    The idea that a self-realized person’s thoughts of sense objects are “spontaneous,” meaning they simply come to that person’s mind rather than being the product of a deliberate desire-based thought process is rooted in the theory that a self-realized person is free from the karmic cycle of cause and effect.  In other words, once they give up the notion of being the doer, the body-mind, they’re passively reaping the effects of past karma created by the doer rather than actively creating new karma. 

    If the theory of karma is true, then perhaps this is correct.  But if self-knowledge clearly demonstrates that you’re not the body-mind—and therefore never involved in the cycle of karma in the first place—what does it matter?  The fact is that regardless of self-knowledge, the body-mind is going to keep functioning as it always has until it dies.  The key is to know it has nothing to do with you either way. 

    To “remain awake while sleeping” can mean two things: 1) A self-realized person is ‘awake’ to the knowledge of their true nature even while appearing to still be ‘asleep,’ meaning while appearing to still be a regular person ignorant of who they really are and 2) A self-realized person knows that they’re always ‘awake’ as consciousness-existence, even though the body-mind may be asleep. 

    To have your “recollections of worldly life exhausted” is not to develop amnesia upon gaining self-knowledge.  Rather, it’s to no longer identify with the sum of your past actions, thinking they somehow define or affect you.   

    14:2 – When desire has melted away, where are my riches, where are my friends, where are the robbers in the form of sense-objects, where are the scriptures and where is knowledge?

    Self-knowledge puts things in perspective.  It demonstrates that money, relationships and sense objects—while they all have relative value in the everyday world—don’t offer any lasting happiness, owing to their transient nature.  For those who eschew such mundane pleasures and instead seek peace in so-called spiritual things such as scriptures, Janaka is quick to point out that they too have no lasting value.  Even though the scriptures can be useful guideposts on the path to self-knowledge, once you’ve ‘arrived’ at the goal, they no longer serve a purpose, the same way a map is useless once you’ve reached your destination.     

    “Knowledge” here can be taken in two ways.  The first is as worldly knowledge, which suffers the same drawback as money etc.  The second is as indirect knowledge of the self obtained from either the scriptures or a teacher.  “Indirect” means you’re told about the self.  But once you understand that you are the self, these indirect statements are no longer useful.      

    14:3 – Realizing I am the self, the witness and the lord, I have become indifferent to both bondage and liberation and I no longer think of my own emancipation.

    Bondage and liberation are dualistic concepts that only apply when you think you’re the body-mind.  But when you know you’re consciousness-existence you understand that the desire for liberation—although a necessary component in the process of self-inquiry—is ultimately irrelevant seeing as you were always the self, the witness of the body-mind seeking liberation, and therefore never bound in the first place.   

    14:4 – The state of one inwardly free of doubts but who outwardly moves about at their own pleasure like a deluded person can only be understood by others like them. 

    Self-knowledge doesn’t dictate certain behavior precisely for the fact that it demonstrates you’re not the doer in the first place.  So just because someone’s body-mind goes about their life in a completely normal way, just like those without self-knowledge, doesn’t mean they don’t know who they really are.  Although this fact can be used by unscrupulous individuals to justify their bad behavior, it’s nonetheless true.  So if you know who you are, your body-mind can still act like an asshole.  But I certainly don’t recommend it.  Because if you truly know that everyone is actually yourself and that you’ve got nothing to gain or lose, what’s to be accomplished by abusing or taking advantage of ‘others’? 

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  • A Conversation with Ashtavakra Pt. 19

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    CHAPTER 12
    Janaka said:
    12:1 – First I became averse to physical action, then to extensive speech, then to thought.  In this way I abide in my own nature.

    Self-inquiry is a contemplative journey, one that requires you to progressively withdraw your attention from external things in order to look inward and investigate your true nature.  This withdrawal is the natural consequence of seeing that physical action, speech and thought, being transient in nature, can’t bring about a permanent solution to existential angst.  Once you come to this understanding, it’s not as if you completely stop acting, speaking or thinking.  That’s impossible, unless the body-mind is dead.  Rather, you’re able to prioritize your actions, words and thoughts, focusing on the ones that work towards your goal of self-knowledge to the exclusion of those that don’t.  In this way you ‘abide’ in your own nature.

    12:2 – Having no attachment for sound and other sense objects, and by virtue of the fact that I am not an object of perception, my mind is freed from distraction and is one pointed. In this way I abide in my own nature.

    Seeing the impermanence of sense objects allows you to reduce your attachment to them.  After all, what’s the point of attachment to sense objects if none of them last?  When this is known, distraction caused by sense objects decreases, freeing up attention to inquire into what is permanent:  consciousness-existence, your true self. But this isn’t an inquiry into yet another object because your self is never an object.  Instead, it’s the essence of all objects without being an object itself, the way water is the essence of all waves without itself being a wave.

    12:3 – An effort has to be made for concentration when there is distraction of mind owing to superimposition (self-ignorance).  Seeing this to be the rule, I abide in my true nature.

    During self-inquiry the mind has to be continually brought back to the contemplation of consciousness-existence when it gets distracted by sense objects and thoughts contrary to the inquiry itself.  But when self-inquiry bears fruit you clearly understand that you’re consciousness-existence regardless of whether your mind is distracted, concentrated or otherwise.  You see that you’re always ‘abiding’ in your true nature—consciousness-existence—because you always are consciousness-existence.

    12:4 – Having nothing to accept and nothing to reject, and having neither joy nor sorrow, I abide in my true nature.

    You’re consciousness-existence and consciousness-existence is non-dual.  This means there’s only you, so there’s nothing outside of yourself that’s available for acceptance or rejection.  This doesn’t mean you’ll stop preferring one flavor of ice cream over another or that you’ll just sit back and let an unhealthy situation in your personal life slide.  It just means that you gain perspective on life through the knowledge that everything, good or bad, is in reality just yourself.  So when that irritating co-worker comes up to your desk yet again to talk to tell you their asinine views on politics it’s not as if you won’t tell them that you’re not interested.  But you can do it with the empathy, informed by the understanding that both of your body-mind’s are but appearances of the exact same self, consciousness-existence.

    12:5 – A stage of life or no stage of life, meditation, control of mental functions—finding that these cause distractions to me, I abide in my true nature.

    Observing your duty, renouncing your duty, meditating and controlling your mind—when properly applied—can be invaluable practices on the path to self-knowledge.  But once self-inquiry negates the idea that you’re the doer of said practices, they become distractions to simply ‘abiding’ in the knowledge that you’re consciousness-existence regardless of the actions of the body-mind.  But caution must be exercised here.  To dismiss spiritual practice as a distraction before gaining self-knowledge is a mistake that will likely hinder self-knowledge because a mind undisciplined by spiritual practice is usually unable to muster up the concentration necessary for sustained inquiry.

    12:6 – Refraining from action is as much the outcome of ignorance as the performance action. Knowing this truth fully well, I abide in my true nature.

    Thinking both, “I will do this” or “I will not do this” stems from the same erroneous belief:  that you’re the doer of action, the body-mind.  When you know that you’re consciousness-existence, you realize that you’re not involved with the body-mind, regardless of what it does or doesn’t do.

    12:7 – Thinking of the unthinkable (consciousness-existence) is not possible without thought itself.  Therefore giving up that thought, I abide in my true nature.

    Conceptualizing the self as this or that is a necessity in the process of self-inquiry because you can’t inquire into something that you can’t think about.  But in the end inquiry shows you 1) That you, the self, aren’t and object and 2) That you’re not the thinker, the mind.  At that point you can stop trying to think of yourself as one thing or the other and you can simply rest easy in the knowledge that you are the self.

    12:8 – Blessed is the one who has accomplished this. Blessed is he who is such by nature.

    Om. Amen. Word.

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  • A Conversation with Ashtavakra Pt. 18

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    CHAPTER 11
    Ashtavakra said:
    11:1 – One who knows for certain that existence, non-existence and change are the nature of everything in the universe easily comes to peace, unaffected by affliction.

    Anything that changes or that can be classified in dualistic terms such as existence* and non-existence is unreal. So when you see that the entire universe is unreal like a dream, you can rest easy in the knowledge that it can’t harm you. When I say “you,” do I mean the body-mind? No. The body-mind can always be harmed. It can always be affected by affliction. But “you,” meaning consciousness-existence, cannot.

    *“Existence” here means that something is perceptible. It’s not to be confused with the “existence” in consciousness-existence which refers to the imperceptible essence of everything i.e. your true nature.

    11:2 – One who knows for certain that nothing exists but Isvara, the creator of all, has their inner desires swallowed up in peace. To what can they be attached?

    The literal translation of Isvara is “lord” and in this sense it denotes the creator and ruler of the universe. But in the classic Vedanta expounded by Shankara—Vedanta’s most prominent teacher—Isvara is taken in a broader sense to mean consciousness-existence. So the verse is saying that when you know everything in the universe is consciousness-existence—your own self—the desires of your mind are swallowed up.

    Does this literally mean that if you know you’re consciousness-existence that you’ll never want to eat a sandwich, find a new relationship or get a new job? No. It just means that when needed, you can put your desires in check from these two perspectives: 1) If everything is your own self, you already have everything you want. 2) If everything in the universe is only an appearance of your own self, there is nothing to want, at least nothing of real substance.

    At the initial stages of Vedanta it is fine to think of consciousness-existence as a creator god, especially for the purpose of purifying devotional practices. But ultimately, consciousness-existence is no creator or god. Why? Because it’s non-dual. If there’s only consciousness-existence, there can’t be a second thing over and above it, such as a creation*. And if there’s no creation, then consciousness-existence can’t be a creator i.e. god.

    *Vedanta doesn’t deny the appearance of a creation, which is a plain fact of our everyday experience. But it says that the appearance of a creation is in reality just consciousness-existence, similar to the way that the appearance of a wave is really just water.

    11:3 – One who knows for certain that fortune and misfortune come in their own time abides in their own self with senses under control, neither desiring nor grieving.

    You can never be certain what the day will bring, good or bad. And while it’s a positive and healthy practice to believe that everything happens for a reason, when things go wrong it’s helpful to abide in your own self, meaning you fall back on the knowledge that as the changeless self you are always okay. Does falling back on that knowledge necessarily fix the situation? No. Constructive action is still required. But you can work toward solutions for your relative problems from the stable platform of self-knowledge rather than being overcome with the desire and grief caused by the false belief that you’re the body-mind.

    11:4 – One who knows for certain that happiness, misery, birth and death are due to fate alone does not see anything to be accomplished. They are free from action and attachment, even while acting.

    Things change. Shit happens. The universe operates according to laws that you have no control over. When you come to this conclusion, it can be taken in the negative sense that fate controls your destiny. But this only applies if you’re the body-mind, the doer of action and the recipient of the results of action. When you know that you’re the self you can relax in the knowledge that you’re not subject to the cycle of action (karma), even if it feels like you are. From that standpoint, there’s nothing to be accomplished in the sense that as the self you’re never actually doing anything, despite the continued appearance that the body-mind is acting. This is how you’re free from action and attachment, even while acting.

    11:5 – One who knows for certain that suffering is caused by thought alone becomes free from it. They are happy, peaceful and everywhere rid of desires.

    The thought, “I am the body-mind” causes identification with the source of suffering, the body-mind. But you can rid yourself of that thought by seeing you’re really consciousness-existence. When this happens, does the body-mind cease suffering? No. But by correctly identifying with consciousness-existence, you know that the suffering doesn’t apply to you.

    11:6 – One who knows for certain, “I am not the body, nor is the body mine. I am consciousness” attains kaivalya and does not remember what they have done or not.

    By dis-identifying with the body-mind and subsequently identifying with consciousness-existence, you attain kaivalya. While this term has various meanings in other schools of Indian philosophy such as yoga, in the context of Vedanta it refers to liberation, the clear understanding that you’re non-dual, changeless consciousness-existence rather than the body-mind. In other words, it’s the realization that you’re always okay, no matter what happens to the body-mind. When you no longer view yourself as the body-mind, you don’t remember what you’ve done or not done. This doesn’t mean you literally forget. You simply see that all action or lack of action never has and never will have anything to do with your true self, consciousness-existence.

    11:7 – One who knows for certain, “I alone am everything, from Brahma (the creator) down to a clump of grass (the lowliest creation)” turns away from what is attained or unattained and becomes pure, peaceful and free from thought.

    To know, “I alone am everything” is to know that you’re the non-dual self. And when you understand that there’s only yourself, then despite appearances to the contrary, you know that nothing is ever attained or unattained because you’re free from action and change. It’s hyperbole to say that this knowledge makes you (meaning the body-mind) completely pure, peaceful and free from thought. In truth, the body-mind will always have impurity. The mind will periodically be subject to anxiety. And being its very nature, the mind will always have thought. Only as the self are you totally pure, peaceful and free of thought. Regardless, knowing “I alone am everything” is a powerful tool for increasing purity and peace of mind and reducing thoughts, at least thoughts of anxiety.

    11:8 – One who knows for certain that the curious appearance of the universe is but a non-existent manifestation becomes peaceful and free of desires as if nothing exists.

    “Non-existent” here means “unreal.” When you take the typical viewpoint that the universe is a real entity, it’s a genuine cause for distress and desire. But when it’s seen as being unreal, anxiety and desire can be reduced. Because what sense is there in worrying about something or desiring something that doesn’t truly exist? As Biggie Smalls famously says, “It was all a dream.”

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  • A Conversation with Ashtavakra Pt. 15

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    CHAPTER 8

    In Vedanta, the definition of bondage is self-ignorance i.e. believing that you’re the body-mind when you’re actually consciousness-existence.  Liberation, therefore, is 1) The clear understanding that you’re consciousness-existence and 2) The subsequent dis-identification with the body-mind and its various states.  This means from the absolute viewpoint that liberation has absolutely nothing to do with the state of your mind.  Whether it’s angry, desirous, attached and full of egoism or happy, unattached and free of desire and egoism is inconsequential because as consciousness-existence you’re always untouched by the mind.

    But on a relative level, a mind burdened with excessive desire, attachment, egoism and negative emotions can be conditionally defined as ‘bondage’ insofar as it’s uncomfortable and generally detrimental to conducting your day-to-day affairs.  In that regard, it’s sensible to be aware of those states of mind in order to manage them for maximum efficiency and mental peace. 

    Of course, it could be argued that the mind doesn’t need to be managed because it doesn’t affect you, consciousness-existence.  And that would be completely true.  But if you extend that logic, it could also be argued that if you fall down the stairs and break your leg there’s no need to seek treatment because the body doesn’t affect you either.  Or that there’s no need to go to work or tend to the welfare of your family and friends because it doesn’t matter to you, consciousness-existence.  And that would also be completely true. 

    But in the same way that you’d prefer to have a healthy body, keep your job and maintain good relationships with your family and friends, it’s preferable to take care of your mind to ensure that it too remains healthy and happy.  You just do it because it makes sense to do it.  And you do it knowing that you’re always okay, whether or not your efforts bear fruit. 

    If, however, you’re satisfied with your mind being miserable, then so be it—it’s your choice.  It doesn’t affect the fact that you’re unchanging consciousness-existence one single bit. 

    In this chapter, Ashtavakra discusses what bondage and liberation are from the relative level.  Those interested in mental well-being take note.  For all of you hardcore enlightened beings out there who don’t care, feel free to skip to the next chapter 🙂        

    Ashtavakra said:
    8:1 – Bondage is when the mind desires anything or grieves at anything, rejects or accepts anything, feels happy or angry at anything.
    8:2 – Liberation is when the mind does not desire or grieve or reject or feel happy or angry.
    8:3 – It is bondage when the mind is attached to any sense experience. It is liberation when the mind is unattached to all sense experiences.
    8:4 – When there is “I,” there is bondage.  But when there is no “I,” there is liberation.  Knowing this, easily refrain from accepting or rejecting anything.

    The gist of what he’s saying is that it pays to be objective and dispassionate about your everyday life.  Desire never solved anyone’s problems because it always leads to more desire.  Grief over loss, at least excessive grief, isn’t warranted because it’s the nature of things to be impermanent—losing them is inevitable.  Acceptance and happiness or anger and rejection aren’t necessary because the value assigned to objects to determine whether they should be accepted, rejected etc. is completely relative.  What one person deems worthy of rejection might just as soon be accepted by someone else.  Furthermore, all objects are unreal, and nothing unreal deserves to be the source of real desire, grief, acceptance, rejection, happiness or anger.     

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  • A Conversation with Ashtavakra Pt. 14

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    Note: This will be the last installment of the commentary until the New Year. 

    CHAPTER 6

    Ashtavakra said:
    6:1 – I am like limitless space and the universe is like a pot.  Knowing this, there is nothing to grasp, renounce or destroy. 

    In the same way that space remains unaffected even when a pot seems to limit or divide it, existence-consciousness remains unaffected even when objects seem to limit or divide it.  So when you know you are existence-consciousness, there’s no reason to grasp, renounce or destroy objects because gaining an object, giving up an object or destroying (changing) an object has no effect on you whatsoever.     

    6:2 – I am like the ocean and the universe is like a wave.  Knowing this, there is nothing to grasp, renounce or destroy. 

    A wave and the ocean are non-different as water, just as the universe and the multitude of objects comprising it are non-different as existence-consciousness.  If everything in the universe is you, existence-consciousness, then there is nothing to grasp, renounce or destroy because you can’t grasp, renounce or destroy yourself.      

    6:3 – I am like mother of pearl and the illusion of the universe is like silver.  Knowing this, there is nothing to grasp, renounce or destroy.

    Just as there is never any silver in mother of pearl, even though there appears to be, there is never a universe in existence-consciousness, even though there appears to be.  Since the universe, like the silver, is only an illusion, it can’t be grasped, renounced or destroyed because you can’t grasp, renounce or destroy something that isn’t real in the first place. 

    6:4 – I am in all beings and all beings are in me. Knowing this, there is nothing to grasp, renounce or destroy. 

    “I am in all beings” doesn’t mean that existence-consciousness is contained in living beings like some kind of soul.  Existence-consciousness is only “in all beings” insofar as it is the essence of all beings, the same way that water is the essence of all waves.  “All beings are in me” means that all beings appear in the field of existence-consciousness and are nothing but existence-consciousness, the same way that all waves appear in the ocean and are nothing but water.  The meaning of this verse is similar to the meaning of Verse 2—that everything is you, existence-consciousness, and you can’t grasp, renounce or destroy yourself. 

    But there is a subtle difference.  Verse 2 only mentions that the universe is existence-consciousness.  For some this could lead to the idea that only inanimate objects (the material world) are part of existence-consciousness and that living, conscious beings are something else.  But to dispel that doubt, this verse explicitly states that existence-consciousness is the essence of all living beings and that all living beings are “in” existence-consciousness, just the same as the inanimate, material universe.  Reality is non-dual: absolutely everything is existence-consciousness.     

    CHAPTER SEVEN

    All five verses of Chapter Seven are ideal for contemplation.  Saying them to yourself and thinking about their implications is an excellent practice for gaining confidence in your identity as existence-consciousness.  In a nutshell, each of these verses is saying, “No matter what happens, I am just fine.”  So even if you don’t yet understand how you can be existence-consciousness, repeating these verses to yourself can help you start to take the stance of being existence-consciousness.     

    Janaka said:
    7:1 – In me, the limitless ocean, the ship of the universe moves about by its own inner wind (nature)—I remain unaffected. 

    Like a ship adrift at sea, the world goes about its business, impelled by forces that no one truly understands.  And for many people, that uncertainty can be unnerving.  But if you are existence-consciousness (which you are), then there is no reason to have fear about what happens in the world because it never affects you.  

    7:2 – In me, the limitless ocean, the wave of the world—according to its inherent nature—arises and comes to an end.  I gain nothing by its presence nor do I lose anything by its absence. 

    In this verse the metaphor is a wave instead of a ship but the meaning is basically the same as in Verse One.  But it does elaborate on what it means for you (as existence-consciousness) to remain unaffected in spite of the appearance of the universe.  Most people want to get rid of what they don’t want and gain what they do want.  But this verse clearly states that in either case you remain unchanged.  So there is no reason to be obsessed about gaining things or overly concerned about losing them.    

    7:3 – The universe is merely name [and form], an imaginary concept that appears in me, the limitless ocean.  Despite its appearance I remain formless and at peace.  In this (knowledge) alone do I abide. 

    There’s no need to be concerned about the world because it’s just an illusion that appears in you, existence-consciousness.  An illusion can never disturb you or limit you by superimposing its form on you.  For instance, even if you dream that you’re being beaten, your body remains untouched.  In the same way, no matter what happens to you (the body-mind) in the world—either good or bad—as existence-consciousness you remain completely untouched.     

    7:4 – I am not an object nor am I within an object.  I am infinite, free from attachment and desire and ever at peace.  In this (knowledge) alone do I abide. 

    The only object to really be concerned about in the world is the body-mind because it’s the one that you feels like it’s you.  No one—at least no one sane—worries about being a tree or a refrigerator.  So the question is, “Am I the body-mind?”  Verse Four answers that question by saying you aren’t the body-mind nor are you contained within it.  It never limits you in any way.  And because attachment and desire are purely products of the mind, you are never subject to desire and attachment. 

    This means the presence of desire or attachment in the mind doesn’t change the fact that you are existence-consciousness.  The implication here is that you don’t need to completely eliminate desire and attachment to be enlightened.  Being enlightened is knowing that you’re existence-consciousness.  And if you know that you’re existence-consciousness, you know you’re existence-consciousness no matter what’s going on in the mind.     

    7:5 – I am consciousness alone—the world is merely a net of illusion.  How and where can there be any thought of rejection or acceptance?

    It’s completely normal to reject one thing as bad and accept another as good.  This happens all the time, especially in spiritual life when you determine what parts of your life are good or bad, meaning whether they promote or inhibit spiritual growth.  While those definitions do serve a purpose, at some point they have to be given up, at least on the mental level, the level of understanding.  Why?  Because how can you truly call something good and accept it, or deem something bad and reject it if it isn’t real in the first place?  It would be like saying, “Wow, that soup I dreamed about last night was really good.”  It was never there so it can’t really be good.