Dear James,
Thank you and Sundari again for making these regular online teachings and satsangs possible. They are immensely valuable. I really think that they are helping me to understand better, or at least to reflect more deeply, so I can see where I’m still not clear on certain topics. Not to mention that it’s helping me keep my mind on something other than my occasional annoyances, while showing me how I can better deal with them.
My question is: If everything the (waking state) jiva does is mithya, why is following svadharma so important? Isn’t svadharma mithya too?
James: Yes, svadharma is mithya, apparently real. If you think you are the apparently real waking state jiva you won’t be happy unless you take care of your conditioning, svadharma. But there is another svadharma If you understand that you are the Awareness of the waking state jiva, then your Svadharma is awareness with a capital S, which is not a doer. This Svadharma is satya, real. It doesn’t change, stands on its own and is of the nature of bliss. The mithya jiva is known to it but isn’t “important” to it.
It “follows” the actions that present themselves to it as a waking state entity only in the sense that is disinterestedly watches them, as one might watch a movie, which is to say knowing that what is happening on the screen is not real.
As I’ve been reflecting on your recent teachings on the Mandukya Upanishad and the 3 gunas, I’ve been making notes of key points and there are some questions that have come up related to that.
What I’ve understood so far is that freedom is the ability to discriminate between satya and mithya. We can also describe this as discriminating between the Self / Consciousness (satya or the fourth factor) and the three states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep and their corresponding jivas (mithya).
Reflected consciousness is original unborn Consciousness (satya) plus a reflecting medium (mithya) – subtle, gross and causal bodies. The waking state, dream state and deep sleep state jivas all ‘experience’ reflected consciousness, in different ways according to the available active instruments.
James: They actually don’t because they are inert. The three states and the three material entities are material factors. They seem to experience. They are reflected consciousness.
So reflected consciousness is also mithya (the apparently real) appearing to be satya (real) when we don’t understand the relation it has to Consciousness. At the same time, reflected consciousness allows us to infer Consciousness and is non-different from Consciousness.
James: Yes. Got it in one. Go to the head of the class.
Freedom or moksha is for the waking state jiva. (Freedom for the dream state jiva is simply waking up!) Freedom, you could say, is becoming a ‘lucid’ waker, able to discriminate the real from the apparently real, just as a ‘lucid’ dreamer is aware that he or she is dreaming. In the deep sleep state, there are no ‘problems’! But it’s interesting that our waking state activities may influence the quality of our deep sleep state. Have I understood this correctly?
James: Very good! Nicely expressed. One small point, however. Waking state activities seemingly influence the quality of deep sleep. If there is any mental activity, we call it the dream state. However, for all intents and purposes they compromise the “deepness” of sleep.
As for my occasional annoyances, I am examining them (when I remember) in the light of the values and am slowly reading and rereading The Value of Values. I can see so clearly where my annoyances are related to some lack in developing a particular value. I don’t expect I’ll be able to follow them all, all the time, but if I can change my reactions to more deliberate responses that will already be a great improvement for my peace of mind.
James: I didn’t reply to your email about one of your annoyances, although I intended to, for two reasons: (1) I have been very busy and (2) it was an annoyance. Your apparent jiva seems to be quite well taken care of by Isvara so the jiva’s reason for agitating itself seemed a bit gratuitous to me. I hope you are not annoyed by this remark.
Much love,
James
