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Three Random Satsangs


ShiningWorld Reader



Enlightenment, Just a Name for the Self
Alexander: Hello Sundari, “enlightenment” has been missing for about a decade. I “borrowed” I Am That (Nisargadatta) from the local library in 2004 – in the month of March, to be exact. Its front cover had been shorn off from overuse and it is sitting in the trunk of my car, unused presently.
Sundari:
I presume by saying “‘enlightenment’ has been missing for about
a decade” you mean the word “enlightenment.”
Enlightenment is just a word that refers to you, awareness, therefore enlightenment has never been missing. It is your true nature and synonymous with the self, unfortunately covered up by ignorance: the misapprehension of reality as a duality instead of a non-duality. The so-called spiritual world has hyped the word enlightenment to mean something extraordinary, only achieved by the select few. We use the word “ordinary” to refer to enlightenment, or awareness, because it is meant to negate the idea that there is some kind of special, spiritual, mystical otherworldly, transcendental enlightenment/awareness to seek.
Awareness/enlightenment is the most ordinary thing there is because it is all there is. There is only one awareness and everything arises from and dissolves into it. The apparent person as a person, however, remains limited enlightened or not even though the essence of the person is limitless awareness. This is because the person never leaves the apparent reality. Awareness is and always has been unlimited. When the self is actualised you are no longer conditioned by the idea of being the person because you know that your true nature is limitless (meaning unconditioned) awareness. So you live free of limitation. This is the true meaning of enlightenment. Enlightenment is not about perfecting the person, it is understanding that they are not real, i.e. dis-identifying with them.
Alexander:
How
to Attain Enlightenment arrived two
days ago, shipped to my mailbox from “Somewhere,” Ontario. A
business card marks the point where I have stopped reading. It is
downstairs sitting on my coffee table. To which book shall I turn for
truth, I
Am That or How
to Attain Enlightenment? From which
object shall I retrieve “enlightenment”? From the trunk or from
the table?
Sundari:
Enlightenment is not to be found IN a book, Alexander. In fact,
enlightenment/awareness is not to be found anywhere in particular
because it is you and you are what you are looking for. And there is
nowhere that you are not because awareness pervades every atom of the
apparent reality.
If a book contains a teaching which is based on an independent and valid means of knowledge such as Vedanta, if the mind is sufficiently qualified to hear the teachings and IF the teachings are unfolded by a qualified teacher of Vedanta, then there is a good chance that ignorance can be removed from the mind by self-knowledge. However, there is another IF involved: the inquirer needs to dedicate themselves 110% to self-inquiry, exposing the mind to the scripture with great dedication and commitment, assuming liberation from ignorance/existential suffering is truly their main motivation. Anything less than total commitment will not cut it.
James’ book How to Attain Enlightenment is based on pure, uncontaminated Vedanta and he is a qualified teacher of Vedanta. You are very fortunate to have come across him because he is one of the very few genuine Vedanta teachers alive today. James met Nisargadatta and has a lot of respect for his teachings. However, the problem with Nisargadatta was that he was not a qualified teacher of Vedanta, although he definitely knew who he was and was a very great soul. He often used language that is confusing and misleading, or at the least, the way he was interpreted and published contains many misleading statements.
Vedanta is very specific about words and how they are used because Vedanta employs the implied meanings of words to teach. Unfortunately, the way language has developed and is used is so open to interpretation, misinterpretation and the contamination of one’s own conditioning that it is very often the greatest source of misunderstandings. Vedanta is called a sabda pramana, the oral or spoken testimony of competent witnesses (a valid means of knowledge), meaning that the words are time-tested, impersonal and they work to remove ignorance IF the mind is qualified and ready to hear the truth.
I cannot tell you what you must read. It is up to you. Much depends on how ready (or qualified) your mind is to hear pure Vedanta.
Alexander:
My freedom depends on the answer to the following question: must I
understand myself before gaining enlightenment, or must I be
enlightened to gain an understanding of myself?
Sundari:
As awareness you are already free and enlightened. Alexander just has
an ignorance problem because he believes that enlightenment is
something to be gained, something he does not possess. That is why
James used the title he did for his book: How
to Attain Enlightenment. It is meant
to be provocative because you cannot attain enlightenment, because
you cannot gain something you already have. You can only remove the
ignorance standing in the way of the truth of your nature being fully
known to you. This is the whole point of self-inquiry. I have
attached an exchange between an inquirer and myself on what
self-inquiry entails. The most fundamental teaching on which the
whole of Vedanta (and therefore moksa)
depends is this: it is only knowledge and not experience that is
capable of removing ignorance. If you want to become a finder instead
of remaining a seeker, this has to be fully understood. I suggest you
read the booklet available on the website called Knowledge
and Experience.
Alexander:
My question is based on page 73 of How
to Attain Enlightenment, the chapter
entitled “Qualifications,” sub-headed “A Disciplined, Observant
Mind”:
“It is impossible to withstand your desires without self-understanding.”
If I were to understand myself, then I would have the capacity, according to the passage above, to withstand my desires. If I were to have the capacity to withstand my desires, then would that not mean I understood myself? And if I were to understand myself, would that not mean I were enlightened?
Sundari:
Yes, if you understood that your primary identity is awareness and
not Alexander, then you would understand Alexander and his
conditioning in the light of self-knowledge and you would be free of
him. You ARE enlightened, Alexander, because you are the Light which
makes light possible. But as you said, it is only intellectual
knowledge. You know about awareness, which is indirect knowledge. To
know what that means you need direct knowledge, to stand in awareness
as awareness and to live as awareness. Without understanding
Alexander’s conditioning (desires or likes and dislikes) in the
light of self-knowledge, you will not be able to withstand your
desires, meaning render the binding vasanas
non-binding and negating the doer.
The vasanas and idea of doership will run the mind because the mind is identified with them. Through self-inquiry and with proper teaching, Vedanta will reveal to you what gives rise to your conditioning and how to dis-identify with it. In other words, it will help you to dis-identify with being the person so that you can be free of the person and live as the self. This is where all the teaching takes place in Vedanta. It is fairly simple to understand what it means to be the person; it is also self-evident that you must be aware or you would not be here. Understanding what the means is what self-actualisation is all about. I have attached an article on the difference between self-realisation and self-actualisation for you to read.
Hello
again, Sundari,
Re-reading my email to you, now I realized that it
might have a tone of insincerity or even of criticism in it. I am
writing again to assure you that the tone of my email is one of pure
inquiry, an uncritical and sincere request for clarification, and my
intention is not in the spirit of any type of negativity, be it
contrariness or what have you. In fact, I recognize that my question
might be a stupid one and not worth addressing, which is fine. James’
book is more than adequate to get me on my way.
Sundari:
Your inquiry is not stupid at all, Alexander, and no, I did not think
it sounded insincere, quite the contrary, in fact. It is a very
respectful inquiry and I am very happy to be of service. Please read
the attached emails. We also strongly advise new people writing us to
read as many of the e-satsangs on the website as possible, read How
to Attain Enlightenment as many times
as possible signing on to the logic and going slowly through it. Do
not skip. Corroborate the teaching by watching as many of the videos
available on ShiningWorld as possible. Write to us when you get
stuck.
Alexander:
However, I do want to add here that I have never been moved or
motivated by anything I have ever read before on the topic of Advaita
Vedanta insofar as wanting to write to a teacher. I was 35 a decade
ago when I first came across Advaita Vedanta. It has changed my life
for the better but I am far, far from knowing myself as “limitless
awareness” – I mean, I know it intellectually but… well, as
ironic as it may sound, life keeps getting in the way of my living
what I know. Does that make any sense? (Probably not.)
Sundari:
It makes total sense, Alexander. Life does get in the way because the
mind is extroverted (rajas)
and clouded (tamas),
identified with objects. Liberation is the ability to discriminate
what is real, the subject, that which is always present and never
changes, meaning you, limitless awareness, from that which is only
apparently real, meaning not always present and always changing, the
objects appearing in you, awareness. And to never confuse the two
again. It sounds simple but it is the hardest thing anyone will ever
do because ignorance is hardwired and very tenacious. The belief in
duality, what Vedanta calls samsara,
is highly hypnotic and seductive. There is also a tendency to think
that there is something you can do to remove ignorance. To actualise
the self is a limitless result and no action taken by a limited
entity (the doer) will achieve a limitless result. However,
self-inquiry is also an action but it leads to self-knowledge, which
is a limitless result. It is only self-knowledge that removes
ignorance, nothing else.
Alexander:
In any case, if this email does reach you, please say hello to your
husband Ram whose book I am reading now. I am taking it very
seriously because I sense that Ram took writing it very seriously…
and he really knows what he is talking about. I am most impressed
with his advice to be careful with Neo-Advaita/pseudo-Advaita. I
always intuitively shied away from it but James is the first teacher
that I am aware of who articulates so well what I’ve intuited.
Sundari:
I have passed on your good wishes. Ram says to say thank you. It is
grace that brought you to hear his teaching, you are blessed to have
found him and your discrimination is obviously pretty good to have
avoided the Neo-Advaita trap.
Alexander:
So you and Ram are obviously both very, very busy people and I don’t
expect an immediate reply, nor in truth do I actually expect a reply
from either of you. You may decide that I am not qualified or
whatever, and that’s fine. I’m okay with it. My wife and I are
also very busy people so I totally understand “schedules” and
such.
Sundari:
We always have time for everyone who writes in. You are clearly a
very sincere inquirer and you have our attention!
Alexander:
Anyhow, you and Ram are blessed. Keep doing what you are doing. The
world certainly needs more people like you!
~ Sincerely, Alexander