The power of discrimination (Viveka) II
The discrimination is the highest of virtues, because thanks to it we can transform ourselves
in real human beings and live in harmony with the eternal Truth (commonly called
God) and the universal laws of life experiencing peace, love and bliss,.
The capacity of discrimination allows us to realize the truth behind the illusory phenomena, ie. to
realize what is true and what is not, what is beneficial and what is harmful for us and for our fellowmen.
What is beneficial
and what is harmful?
Beneficial is what diminishes the ego, what promotes good health (physical and
mental), prosperity (individual and collective), causes inner harmony, unity
with everything, happiness, peace (individual and collective) awakening and
realization of Truth.
Harmful is what causes physical and mental illness, poverty, misery, imbalance and disharmony (personal and collective), wickedness, violence, forgetfulness and ignorance of the Truth.
Swami Sivananda says about Viveka: Viveka is discrimination between the real and the unreal, between the permanent and the impermanent, between the Self and the non-Self. Viveka dawns in a man through the Grace of God. The Grace can come only after one has done unceasing selfless service in countless births with the feeling that he is an instrument of the Lord and that the work is an offering to the Lord. Association with saints and study of Vedantic literature will infuse discrimination in man. Viveka should be developed to the maximum degree. One should be well established in it.
The door to the higher mind is flung open when there is an awakening of discrimination.
The aspirant should separate himself also from the six waves of the ocean of Samsara - birth and death, hunger and thirst, and exhilaration and grief. Birth and death belong to the physical body; hunger and thirst belong to Prana; exhilaration and grief are the attributes of the mind. The Soul is unattached. The six waves cannot touch Brahman which is as subtle as the all-pervading ether.
Harmful is what causes physical and mental illness, poverty, misery, imbalance and disharmony (personal and collective), wickedness, violence, forgetfulness and ignorance of the Truth.
Swami Sivananda says about Viveka: Viveka is discrimination between the real and the unreal, between the permanent and the impermanent, between the Self and the non-Self. Viveka dawns in a man through the Grace of God. The Grace can come only after one has done unceasing selfless service in countless births with the feeling that he is an instrument of the Lord and that the work is an offering to the Lord. Association with saints and study of Vedantic literature will infuse discrimination in man. Viveka should be developed to the maximum degree. One should be well established in it.
The door to the higher mind is flung open when there is an awakening of discrimination.
The aspirant should separate himself also from the six waves of the ocean of Samsara - birth and death, hunger and thirst, and exhilaration and grief. Birth and death belong to the physical body; hunger and thirst belong to Prana; exhilaration and grief are the attributes of the mind. The Soul is unattached. The six waves cannot touch Brahman which is as subtle as the all-pervading ether.
The highest form
of discrimination allows us to have direct experience and knowledge of the
essence of life, the eternal Truth (brahman, Consciousness). It allows us to
realize that this truth is always shinning in our hearts, that is perfect,
unchanging and eternal; that it is unaffected by what happens to the imperfect, variable and
perishable body and mind and eventually discrimination allows us to realize
that we are this eternal Truth, the immortal Spirit of life, incarnated in a
human body.
Paramahansa Ramakrishna
have said: "Discrimination is the reasoning by which one knows that
God alone is real and all else is unreal. Real means eternal, and unreal means
impermanent. He who has acquired discrimination knows that God is the only
Substance and all else is non-existent.
Adi Sankaracharya writes in his book Vivekachudamani: The realisation of Truth is brought about by discrimination and not in the least by ten million of acts.
Swami Sivananda Saraswati says: Once you are fully aware of the magnitude of human suffering in this relative world, you will naturally begin to discriminate between what is real and what is unreal. Brahman, the Absolute, is real and jagat, the world, is unreal. This is viveka, right understanding or discrimination. Sincerity and faith will develop, aspiration or keen longing to realize God will be felt and you will remember the truth constantly. You will have to assert constantly, ‘Aham Brahmasmi, I am Brahman.’ By incessant practice, name, form and desire will vanish and you will realize Brahman. It is the vedantic sadhana or spiritual practice. Discrimination, aspiration, always remembering the truth, assertion and finally realization are the various stages or means for realization of Brahman.
The discrimination
is not the result of studies in colleges and universities, or the accumulation
of knowledge. Socrates, for example, as well as many other sages of the past and
the present age have not developed the discrimination due to their erudition,
but through intense spiritual practice, self-enquiry, reflection and
meditation.
The main causes
that we lack of discrimination is the ego which is an aggregation of multiple
small egos, the passions and desires, the laziness (physical and mental) and
the predominance of tamas and rajas gunas in the mind.
We can develop
discrimination by systematic practice and the increase of sattva guna in the
mind. Control of senses and mind, purification of the mind and heart, the
development of virtues such as truthfulness and compassion, satsang and the studying
of spiritual books and sacred texts, reflection,
contemplation, auto-observation, self-enquiry, all these are means to develop
Viveka.
Discrimination is the
highest faculty of a human being. Every moment we make decisions. Without
discrimination we cannot see things as they are and thus we cannot
decide rightly according the circumstances. Especially for spiritual
aspirants Viveka is a sine qua non. They must be able to discern if something
is helpful or not for their sadhana or for their development. They must be able
to discern if they do their practice properly. To discern if a suggestion that
appears in their mind is something that comes from their consciousness or from
the ego. Ego likes also to play the voice of consciousness. In relation
with the ego discrimination enable us detect the play of the ego from its very
beginning; viz. we can perceive the first movement of the egoic impulse and
thus to avoid identification and be lost in it. The earlier we detect the ego
the easier for us to dissolve it and remain focused in our source.
Without discrimination we cannot recognize the tricks and illusions that the
egoic mind creates constantly and thus we will fail to dissolve the
ego.
Without a great
development of discrimination we cannot also eliminate the desires that are
powerful and persistent. If we cannot discern how the ego make us
identify with its imaginations and projections and if we cannot discern the
illusory nature of pleasure it becomes very difficult or impossible to dissolve
the desire mecanism from our psych. Discrimination causes the development of
dispassion and detachment which are of the greatest importance to renounce and
dissolve desires. Without dispassion we cannot talk about meditation. If our
mind is attached to sensual pleasures cannot remain calm and focus for much time;
thus meditation is impossible, and without meditation self realization is
impossible as well. Dispassion can be of a permanent and intense nature only
when is the result of our capacity to discriminate and realize the illusory
nature of sensual pleasures. Without this the mind will not give up pleasures
and we will be always in a struggle to control our mind and turn it towards it
s source. Thus the development of discrimination is unquestionable.
Sri Sankaracharya affirms
in his texts the importance of Viveka and Vairagya. Let see some extracts of
his work SATA SLOKI about Discrimination, Dispassion,
Renunciation, Detachment.
Discrimination
and Dispassion (Viveka and Vairagya)
The essential pre-requisite for the
dawn of Self-knowledge is dispassion. This is of two kinds according to Sage
Patanjali's Yoga sutras, namely, inferior dispassion and superior dispassion.
The
inferior type of dispassion arises as a
result of the realization that attachment to one's house, friends, son,
possessions and the like culminates only in sorrow.
The
superior type of dispassion arises from
discrimination between what is eternal, namely the Atman and what is
perishable, namely the body-mind complex.
Dispassion
and Renunciation
When this superior dispassion arises,
all worldly objects and pleasures become as revolting as vomit. One who has
attained control over the mind as a result of such dispassion is fit to
renounce the world. This renunciation not only means leaving his home, but also
giving up attachment to his body.
Everything in this world, being only
name and form, is unreal from the absolute point of view. All things appear to
have reality and function in various ways only because of the substratum,
Brahman (consciousness), on which they are superimposed. By renunciation alone,
can the unsurpassed bliss of Brahman be enjoyed and so one should not covet
impermanent things like wealth and possessions.
Detachment
Fire does not burn wet firewood, but
if the firewood has been dried by the heat in the atmosphere in summer, then
fire will burn it.
Similarly, the fire of
Self-knowledge cannot enter the mind of a person who is deeply attached to his
family, wealth and possessions, even if he has acquired considerable religious
merit (punya) by the performance of Vedic rituals, by begetting a virtuous son
and by using his wealth for noble purposes.
Only if he has developed strong
detachment can Self-knowledge dawn in his mind. Therefore the scriptures
declare that the acquisition of pure detachment is essential for a person who
seeks Self-realization.
Discrimination
also helps us recognize the games of pride and vanity in us. Desire and pride
are the most difficult egoic tendencies to recognize and be aware of their
play. A very well development of Viveka is necessary not to be deluded by them
and dissolve them. Without a proper development of Viveka we cannot succeed in
the battle against desire and pride. Of course fear and anger are also two of
the stronger tendencies we have to work for many years in order to dissolve
them. Each thought, emotion and action must be examined with proper attention
and the light of discrimination. This is the only way to succeed in the
dissolution of ego.
As soon as discrimination arises, the power of the mind becomes weakened and the mind tries to recede and retrace its steps to its original home, the heart. The mind cannot do anything improper in the presence of discrimination. It will be dethroned because the will becomes stronger and stronger when discrimination is awakened. Thanks to viveka one can leave this miserable samsara, cycle of birth and death. ~ Swami Sivananda
As soon as discrimination arises, the power of the mind becomes weakened and the mind tries to recede and retrace its steps to its original home, the heart. The mind cannot do anything improper in the presence of discrimination. It will be dethroned because the will becomes stronger and stronger when discrimination is awakened. Thanks to viveka one can leave this miserable samsara, cycle of birth and death. ~ Swami Sivananda
Due to the very
fact that the ego tries constantly to make us identify with the body and the
mental and emotional forms, we must constantly exercise the faculty of
discrimination in order to impede these identifications to happen and remain as
detached observers of the movements of the ego itself and the mind. This is
something we have to do moment to moment. This is the corner stone of
spirituality, viz. by the power of attention and discrimination to impede moment to moment identifications to happen (identification with the ego, body, emotions, thoughts,
objects) and keep our attention focus in its source.
Finally Viveka in
its higher function enable us discern our Self as the silent substratum of all
forms and experiences and totally different and unaffected by the body, energy
and mind as well as the external forms.
Discrimination with dispassion consist the
two wings that allow us to fly towards liberation and eternal peace and bliss.
These two are the most important virtues which open the gates towards
Self-realization.
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