Tattva Bodha

(Knowledge of Truth)

Introduction

Desire

Physical and biological needs are natural; they are built into the body and shared by all members of the human species. Others needs, however, are cultivated on the basis predetermined ideas that arise from experience. The tendency of a dog to go towards a man holding a bone is a cultivated instinct. It has previously been fed by hand and remembers that the experience of chewing a bone is attractive. If its owner appears holding a stick it runs away, having developed an aversion to beatings based on past experience.

In addition to the instinctual choices which we share with animals humans have the ability to think. This allows them to consciously choose between alternatives: good and bad, pleasure and pain, right and wrong, etc. The ability to discriminate makes another powerful psychic fact possible: the desire to seek improvement and betterment.

Human beings are a work in progress. Not only are they imperfect and incomplete but, unlike animals, they are aware of it. This innate sense of incompleteness gives rise to a strong urge to seek completeness and wholeness. This urge in turn appears as the desire to be better or different from what one presently is and can be as important to them, sometimes more important, than their instincts and natural bodily urges.

The Irony of Desire and Action

Common sense observation shows that attempts to fulfill desires do not permanently remove desire. On the contrary the more one satisfies one’s desires, the more desires appear. In spite of romantic notions fostered by the culture about its desirability, desire is a big problem for human beings. It is an uncomfortable and often intensely painful state of mind that continually cries to be removed.

The natural response when one feels the itching of desire or the aversion of fear is to do something. When I pursue the object of my desire I believe that the attainment of the object will remove the desire and give me peace of mind. It so happens that this does happen. But alas, the sense of satisfaction and relief felt is only temporary. And to make matters worse the attainment of the desired object actually reinforces the original desire. So instead of ending up free of desire when I act, which was my intention, I ultimately end up with more desire.

Another way to formulate this problem is to say that human beings are continually motivated to remove an innate but unnatural sense of limitation. Therefore they strive to feel limitless and free. For example, who doesn’t feel limited by lack of money, time, power, or love? The thousands of things offered by the culture all promise in some way to remove a perceived sense of limitation and lack. But whether we see the problem as a quest for completeness or a search for limitlessness why, in spite of the ready availability of material objects, self improvement programs and therapies both religious and secular, does every attempt to become pure and perfect, limitless and complete fail?

Cause and Effect

Because the desire to be complete can only be satisfied if it is possible to achieve completeness. Unfortunately completeness cannot be achieved because of the law of cause and effect. Completeness/limitlessness/perfection could only be achieved if it were possible to make an effort that would bring an unlimited result. But actions, which are always performed by finite entities, only produce limited results. Even the sum of tens of thousands of limited actions does not equal limitlessness. Thousandaires become millionaires and millionaires become billionaires and billionaires still strive more. Sadly, one is as far from infinite wealth with one dollar as one is with a trillion. With reference to the state of limitless bliss, ten thousand moments of emotional satisfaction are exactly the same as one moment. Even in the realm of knowledge, the more one knows the more one becomes aware of what is unknown. In spite of his great mathematical knowledge Einstein was ignorant of many other things.

What to do? Understanding the limitations of action some conclude that the way to completeness is to go limp, drop out and do nothing. But it is impossible not to act. Even non-performance of certain activities produces consequences. For instance, I don’t pay my taxes and I end up in trouble. If I don’t brush my teeth they rot and fall out. Furthermore, like all desire-prompted activities non-doing does not reduce craving so a person who is not pursuing his or her desires is as emotionally discontented as someone who is. At the same time simple observation leads to the conclusion that in spite of appearances this is a purposeful creation and that things here follow certain well known laws. Everything we do depends on this fact. If water one day decided to be dry and ice to be hot the whole cosmos would stop working. Because the desire to be whole and complete, like other desires, occurs in a purposeful creation it must serve a purpose. If this is true then there is a way to satisfy it. Vedanta is such a way. But it accomplishes completion an unexpected way.

Accomplishment of the Accomplished

Every act is performed to accomplish something. Three factors are involved in the process: what you want to be accomplished, the means employed to accomplish it and the person who wants the accomplishment. By appropriate, timely and adequate effort anything that is unaccomplished can be accomplished. However, no effort or action is required to accomplish that which is already accomplished. One day a man asked God to give him a head on his shoulders and the Lord was flummoxed. “I may be omnipotent but I cannot grant your request,” He said, “I can give you a bigger head, a smaller head. I can twist it up like a pretzel or spread it out like a pizza but I cannot give you a head on your shoulders.” “Why not?” the man asked. “Because, dummy, you already have a head on your shoulders.”

Completeness-perfection-limitlessness-freedom falls into the category of the ‘already accomplished’ and no action or effort is required to accomplish it.

VEDANTA

The Tenth Man

A group of ten men were on a trip in the country. They came to a river that needed to be forded. To make sure they were all present and accounted for after they crossed the leader lined them up and counted…but the count revealed only nine. They became distressed and searched high and low for the missing person. When their efforts did not produce the tenth man then fell into a deep depression. At this time an old man approached and seeing their distress inquired as to its cause. The leader explained the situation and the old man smiled. “Line up with the rest,’ he said to the leader. Then the old man counted. ‘Eight, nine, ten!” he said pointing to the leader…who had forgotten to include himself.

No action produced the missing person. He was produced when the leader realized he failed to include himself in the count. In fact he was only searching for himself…all the while believing he was looking for someone else. Vedanta says freedom-perfection-wholeness- limitlessness is already accomplished. It unequivocally states (and epiphanies confirm it) that we are whole and complete by nature and that no action on our or on the part of anyone else, including God, can complete us.

The Teaching, the Teacher and the Taught

If I believe that the completeness I seek is to be found in something other than myself, a ‘permanent experience of enlightenment’ for example, I will be unable to realize my innate perfection because wholeness and completeness only reside in my Self, not in a particular experience. Therefore this fact needs to be made known to me. It so happens that the knowledge that the ‘I’ is whole and complete has been with us for as long as human beings have been on the earth. The teachings that remove Self ignorance have evolved out of successful attempts by Self realized beings to reveal it and comprise the ancient teaching tradition of Vedanta, a means of Self knowledge. Vedanta also includes the scriptures of Yoga which are essential for attaining the proper state of mind for receiving knowledge.

A teacher of Vedanta is someone who has realized his or her limitless nature and can skillfully reveal the Self by unfolding the true meaning of the teachings. It is often believed that an epiphany or the transmission of energy from a ‘spiritual’ master will result in Self realization but this is not true except in the exceedingly rare instance that the knowledge ‘I am limitless awareness’ arises during the experience and permanently remains in the mind when the experience ends destroying all subsequent thoughts of limitation. The so-called ‘spiritual’ world is little more than hundreds of thousands of people who have enjoyed the experience of limitlessness and completeness but who persist in seeing themselves as limited wanting creatures. Therefore someone seeking Self knowledge needs to be prepared. The preparation essentially consists of gaining a mind immune to the pull of fear and desire, one in which the Self can be clearly apprehended and one that can retain the knowledge ‘I am the Self.’

Knowledge

Two factors are required to gain the knowledge of an object: the object itself and a valid means of knowledge. To gain dog knowledge a dog should be present within the scope of perception and the eyes, backed by the attention of the mind (because all knowledge takes place in the mind) should be functioning. If the eyes alone are functioning but the mind is not present knowledge cannot take place. In this case the eyes and the mind are the means of knowledge.

Knowledge is either direct or indirect. The knowledge of the dog gained by looking at it is direct knowledge. However, if the dog is not present within the sight of the individual the knowledge obtained by listening to its description is indirect knowledge. Even if the dog is present but the eyes are not functioning, the knowledge gained through other senses is also indirect. For direct knowledge a valid means of knowledge must be available. For example, ears are not a valid means to gain the direct knowledge of the color of an object. If the means of knowledge and the object to be known are present knowledge takes place on its own. No action is involved in the process of knowledge. Only the operation of the means of knowledge is required.

Ignorance deprives us of a means of Self knowledge. We may have heard a great deal about a person but have not seen her. Even if we happen to be in her presence by chance we do not gain the knowledge of who she is until someone informs us that the person we are looking for is in front of us. When this happens knowledge instantly takes place. In this case the words of the one who informed us constitute the means of knowledge.

Only direct knowledge is complete and error free. The knowledge obtained through reading or hearing about an object is subject to question because the picture formed in the mind depends upon our past impressions and our beliefs and opinions. The picture formed in different minds from the same object or description of an object is generally different.

Most of us are ignorant of the fact that we are complete and perfect beings. Just as the eyes cannot see themselves, the sense organs and the mind cannot see the Self. Vedanta is a direct and immediate means of Self knowledge. It can deliver Self knowledge because the Self is always present. It is not hidden away in the spiritual Heart or a transcendental state nor is it covered by the physical body. If you exist you are the Self. Therefore you are always within the scope of your perception. When do you not experience yourself? That you think that the world you are experiencing is something other than you is due to lack of understanding. That you don’t realize who you are is due to a belief that you are something or someone other than who you are. When this belief is investigated and subsequently dismissed in light of the teachings of Vedanta your sense of limitation dissolves… because the Self is limitless. Therefore if you want to realize your God given freedom you need to expose yourself to a valid means of Self knowledge.

The Text

Tattva Bodha was written in Sanskrit in the Eighth Century by Shankaracharya and means ‘knowledge of truth.’ It is an introductory text outlining the fundamentals of Vedanta. After explaining the qualifications necessary to realize the Self it deals with the relationship between the individual, the world and the Self. It explains the technical terms that form the basis of Vedanta. Without understanding the meaning of these words the means of knowledge will not operate.

INVOCATION

Salutations to the Self, the bestower of knowledge

in the form of my teacher. This treatise,

‘The Knowledge of Truth’ is for the benefit

of qualified seekers of liberation.

At the beginning of most Vedantic texts one usually finds a verse that tells the purpose of the text, who is it is intended for and the benefit to be derived from understanding it. In this case it is for a qualified seeker and its purpose is to explain the nature of reality. The benefit to be derived is freedom from existential suffering. A teacher is someone who helps remove Self ignorance.

Modern society is a veritable supermarket of identities. But all its identities are based on ignorance of our true identity. Though limited identities offer to solve our existential problems they only offer limited relief. If I am gay I can’t be straight. If I’m a man I can’t be a woman. If I’m a Republican I can’t be a Democrat. The teachings of Vedanta reveal an identity that encompasses all identities and is not in conflict with any.

To realize our true identity the process of discrimination (viveka) should be employed. The knowledge of the Self is mixed with Self ignorance. Therefore a discriminative inquiry is needed. This inquiry will only yield successful results if the student is qualified. A qualified person possesses the following qualities.

(1) Discrimination (viveka)

What is meant by the discrimination

between the permanent and the permanent?

It is the conviction that the Self alone

is permanent and that everything

experienced is impermanent.

People attracted to Self inquiry have usually had experiences that convince them that there is a ‘spiritual’ something other than what they perceive with the senses, emotions and the mind. But they are always uncertain what it is. The fundamental method for Self realization is the discrimination between what is permanent…the Self…and what isn’t…the mind and the world. Although this is a non-dual reality and everything that changes is also the Self, this fact is not known to the beginner. Even if it were known intellectually he or she must go through the long and sometimes difficult introspective process of separating the ‘I,’ the Self, from all its changing forms.

(2) Dispassion (viragya)

Dispassion is the absence of desire

for the enjoyment of the fruits of

one’s actions in this world.

This qualification basically excludes ninety nine point nine percent of the human race from Self realization. Why? Because it is precisely the desire for the results of one’s actions that people undertake action. A seeker of liberation, however, has understood and accepted the painful fact that the results of action do not permanently erase his or her sense of inadequacy, incompleteness and limitation. Why? Because they are conditioned by time. Dispassion should arise from this understanding, not from despair. It is common for people to become negative when they realize that getting what they want and avoiding what they don’t does not solve the happiness issue. A discriminating person will be pleased to discover that the results of actions (what happens in his or her life) are not permanently satisfying. Why? Because it frees him or her from the compulsion to act and allows spontaneous creative non-goal oriented activity. And it frees the mind to seek happiness in the Self.

(3) Control of mind and the senses (sama and dama)

Will power is helpful but not enough to control a restless mind. Control of mind means that a person does not pander to the fears and desires arising in the mind but lives according to a higher principle. By subordinating oneself to a higher principle the mind becomes calm.

(4) Strict observance of one’s duty (uparama)

Duty is a higher principle than desire prompted action based on a belief in rights. When one fulfills one’s duty toward oneself, one’s family, community, and religion the mind becomes controlled.

(5) Forebearance (titiksha)

Sticking to one’s chosen path with a happy frame of mind no matter what obstacles are encountered is called titiksha.

(6) Faith (shraddha)

Faith is the belief that what the scripture and the teacher say is true.

Faith is not blind belief. On the contrary one should independently reflect and analyze what is being taught to see if it jibes with common sense and reason. Faith is the belief that an honest attempt to enquire will lead to understanding.

(7) Single Pointedness of Mind (samadhana)

Single pointedness of mind is the ability

to keep the mind absorbed in a

particular train of thought on a given topic.

Everyone has the ability to concentrate on things that particularly interest them. The student of reality keeps his or her mind constantly at work reflecting on the teachings of Vedanta.

(8) Burning desire for liberation (mumukshutva)

A burning desire for liberation means that the person has completely ruled out the possibility that anything that could happen in life would make him or her permanently happy. As a result all the desire that formerly went into making the world work now goes into the search for the Self. If this factor is operating intensely all the other qualities develop quickly. And conversely a discriminating, dispassionate person with a clear mind will not realize the Self unless he or she develops an abiding interest in it.

These are the qualifications for making

the discriminative inquiry into the Self.

No other factors are necessary.

Inquiry into the Self

The text now discusses the nature of the inquiry (discrimination) that leads to the truth of one’s Self.

The Self alone is real.

Everything else is unreal.

This is the firm conviction

of the inquirer

and is called inquiry.

THE SELF

is that which remains unchanged

in the past, present and future.

It exists before and after time.

It pervades and transcends all

states of consciousness.

It is called satyam, what is.

That which does not exist,

like the antlers of a fish,

is called asat, unreality.

That which exists but undergoes change

is called mithya, apparent reality.

All things in the subjective and

objective worlds change.

The whole of existence can be divided into two categories:

(1) the ‘I’ which is called aham and

(2) the rest of the world which is called ‘This’ (idam).

Due to ignorance of the nature of the Self a human being is always identified with what is changing and apparent: the body, emotions or intellect. Belief that I am my body, feelings or thoughts constitutes a false notion of the Self. It is called ego.

If a person can clearly distinguish the Self from the apparent and changing ‘not Self,’ the ‘not Self’ can be negated as the primary identity and the real Self be recognized and appreciated.

Inquiry into one’s real nature by first identifying what is ‘not I’ (anatma) and subsequently asserting that one is the unchanging Self is called inquiry (tattva viveka). The way to do this is to understand that what one knows is different from the one who knows.

The following analysis shows how the ‘I’, the knower, is different from the body with which it is falsely identified.

THE INDIVIDUAL

What are the three bodies (sharira traya)?

The Self is apparently clothed in thee bodies and enjoys three corresponding states. The food body is called the Gross Body (sthula sharira). The physiological systems, the emotions, the intellect and the self image (ego) are called the Subtle Body. The seeds of one’s past experience are called the Causal Body because they cause one to think, feel and act.

The Gross, Subtle and Causal bodies are witnessed by the atman, the Self. If the Self identifies with the Gross Body it seems to be a waking entity. When it identifies with the Subtle Body it seems to be a dreamer or thinker. When it identifies with the Causal Body it appears to be a sleeper. This process is similar to an actor playing different characters in a drama or a clear crystal that assumes the color of an object near it. But like an actor the Self is distinct from the roles it appears to assume. The Self is therefore called the witness (sakshi) of the three bodies and their respective states. The Self is ‘I’ and the bodies are ‘this.’

What is the Gross Body?

It is that which is composed of the five elements (mahabhutas)

…space, air, fire, water, and earth… after they have undergone

the process of splitting and combining (panchikarana).

It is born as a result of meritorious actions of the past

and is the vehicle by which one gains experience in the world.

It is born, grows, sustains itself, decays and finally dies.

What is the Subtle Body?

It is composed of the subtle aspect of the five elements (tanmatras)

before they undergo the process of splitting and recombining.

It is a result of good actions in the past and is an instrument

for subtle experience. It is comprised of seventeen parts:

the five perceptive senses (jnanendriyas),

the five organs of action (karmendriyas),

the five vital airs: respiration (prana),

evacuation (apana), circulation (vyana),

digestion and assimilation (samana) and

the power in the body to reject unwanted objects (udana).

Udana is also active at the time of death and

is responsible for expelling the Subtle Body from the gross body.

The Subtle Body also contains the mind and intellect.

The mind (manas) is the psychic location of one’s feelings, moods, and emotions.

The intellect (buddhi) is the deciding faculty and the source of the sense of doership (ahamkara). The Self identified with the intellect results in the feeling that “I am a doer. I am a knower.” The mind and the intellect are really two aspects of the same Subtle Body function. When the Subtle Body is feeling volitional, emotional or vascillating it is called the mind. When it is involved in the cognitive process of determining, deciding and discriminating it is called intellect.

The Gross Body, the external material sheath,

is kept alive by the Subtle Body which operates

the organs of perception and action and

the pranas, the physiological systems.

When the Gross body dies the Subtle Body departs.

The Subtle Body varies from one person to the next.

The identification of the Self with the emotional aspect

of the Subtle Body results in the feelings like

“I am happy. I am unhappy. I am angry.” Etc.

The organs of perception are called

the jnana indriyas, knowledge organs.

They are eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin.

The elements that give rise to the perceptive

organs are as follows: Space for the ear.

Air for the skin. Fire (light) for the eyes.

Water for taste and earth for the nose.

The field of experience for the ear is space

which makes sound possible.

The field of experience for the skin

is air which makes touch possible.

Fire (light) makes the perception of forms possible.

Perception of forms is the function of the eyes.

The tongue operates because water makes taste possible.

The purpose of the nose is to cognize earth elements.

The organs of action are called karma indriyas.

They are: speech, hands, legs, anus, and the genitals.

The element responsible for speech is fire.

For the hands, air. For the feet, space.

For the anus, earth and for the genitals, water.

What is the mind? (antahkarana)

The mind receives the stimuli from the perceptive senses and unifies or assimilates the information into one experience. The mind is thoughts. Thoughts can be divided into four categories based on their functions.

When the mind is in a state of volition, vascillation or doubt it is called manas, emotion. When the mind is involved in the analysis of a situation with the idea of making a determination, discrimination or judgement it is called buddhi, intellect. When the mind considers itself to be the author of action or the enjoyer of pleasure and pain it is called ego or ahamkara. The part of the mind that recalls memories and stores subconscious impressions is called chitta. The mind responds in the mode that is appropriate to the situations that occur in life. It is another way of conceiving of the Subtle Body.

What is the Causal Body?

That which is inexplicable (anirvachaniya)

and beginningless (anaadi).

It is free of division and the

source of Self ignorance.

It is cause of the Subtle and Gross Bodies.

It is called the karana sharira.

If we are whole and complete, pure and perfect by nature there is no reason to enter a body to experience the world since the world is simply a place to garner experience that is aimed at removing the universal feeling of incompleteness. The verse says that the ignorance that causes us to be born is inexplicable. This means that it is prior to the formation of the Subtle Body (the mind) and therefore cannot be rationally explained.