Commentary on the Yoga Vasishtha text “On Liberation”
“This messenger of consciousness is wisdom (viveka). It dwells in the cave of one’s own heart. This wisdom leads to the gradual awakening of one who is conditioned by ignorance.”
As we discussed in the previous lecture, wisdom is the manifestation of viveka—discriminating wisdom, discernment. Viveka recognizes 24 categories. The 24 recognitions are the theoretical foundation of the Prajna Yantra teaching. In other words, the result of our meditation and contemplation should be viveka. We cannot say that we have investigated the mind, found that it does not exist, and be satisfied with that. One may ask: “And if it does not exist, then who investigated the mind? Who, then, is in ignorance?”
The approach of the teaching is that, when investigating the mind, we do not merely affirm or deny something about it; rather, we give rise to viveka, discriminating wisdom. With its help, we clearly distinguish the mind as such from the five tattvas, the five koshas, the three gunas, time, space, causality, and the three principal shaktis. Ultimately, we discover the mind as luminous clarity, as emptiness; we recognize it as the principle of space, as an unsupported state. We discover the mind as the efficient cause of self-liberation—that is, as that which liberates itself, just as a snake unties its own knots. Having recognized these various categories, we ultimately recognize the mind as the Absolute, whose essence is sat-chit-ananda (being, consciousness, bliss), as the source of the three enlightened bodies.
To accomplish the 24 recognitions, including divine pride, pure vision, and the single “taste,” is to realize the fullness of enlightenment and reach the pinnacle of viveka-vidya. Without the realization of viveka, the three enlightened bodies cannot arise. Statements that the mind is itself empty, that it does not exist, or that it possesses certain qualities are not in themselves either jnana or the path to liberation. Only the arising of viveka and the recognition of the 24 categories constitute the path to liberation.
Of course, the 24 categories of viveka set forth in the “Viveka Chintamani” teaching are merely a classification convenient for explanation. In fact, many more can be derived—for example, 108 categories of viveka—if examined more deeply. Nevertheless, these 24 categories describe all the possible states in which we find ourselves as conditioned beings.
The Process of Developing Viveka
How will this happen? One cannot say that you will first recognize one category and then another, or that it will follow some kind of sequence. It happens simultaneously in all directions.
For example, you meditate and recognize the mind as space; you develop recognition of the mind as space devoid of qualities. You have had a good Mahashanti meditation in which you managed to stop your thoughts, and there was a profound experience of space in the fifth dhyana.
At another moment, you had an experience of divine pride and recognized that the mind is its source. Thus, the seed of this viveka arose.
In a third instance, the mind was recognized as separate from jagrat, svapna, and sushupti, and the seed of this recognition arose.
In a fourth instance, you managed to go beyond the element of space into the mahat-tattva, the element of consciousness, and clearly understood: “I am not the five elements. This gross body, borrowed from the material elements, contains my consciousness, but my consciousness itself is separate from the five tattvas.” Thus, this type of recognition arose.
At another moment, you recognized the nature of Mind as the principle of non-doing that permeates all actions, when you understood: “Oh, it turns out that I do nothing when I abide in awareness. It is the pranas and winds that move.” Wisdom flashed forth, and viveka—clarity in this regard—arose.
And the next time, you realized the mind as subject to the law of karma, as the source of causality that is itself not subject to the principle of causality, and understood Vasishtha’s words in the example of the crow and the coconut.
On another occasion, you recognized the mind as something natural, spontaneous, and effortless, and understood why the mind is called sahaja (natural).
The next time, you recognized the mind as that which liberates itself, as an efficient cause. If you direct your attention to it, it liberates everything; viveka arose in this regard.
The next time, you recognized the mind as a single “taste” when, having detached the mind from conceptual thinking and simply abiding in the direct vision of reality, you suddenly saw the situation as equanimous, even though you would have preferred to see it as anything but equanimous.
And gradually you accumulate all these kinds of viveka. It is like striking a stone, such as granite, with a hammer and producing sparks from it. In the same way, you strike sparks from your awareness, and as these sparks flare up, they produce rasas (tastes). One “taste” belongs to one wisdom, another “taste” to another viveka, and all these tastes illuminate the 24 aspects of your mind. And when all 24 aspects of viveka are fully illuminated, delusions are completely dispelled, limitations cease, and fundamental illusions are eliminated.
For example, a profound experience of contemplative presence gave rise to the understanding that the Supreme Mind abides in everyone, and therefore there is no point in judging others from an impure perspective; one must see through the eyes of pure vision, for the mind is fundamentally pure and perfect.
Awakening of Inner Consciousness
“That which awakens in this way is the inner consciousness, which is the supreme Consciousness whose name is ‘OM.’ He is the omnipresent being. The universe is, as it were, his body. All heads, eyes, hands, and so on belong to him. He is pleased by the repetition of mantras, charity, ritual worship, study, and similar practices.”
The 24 recognitions also include recognizing the mind as the essence of visual consciousness, auditory consciousness, gustatory consciousness, olfactory consciousness, and tactile consciousness. This recognition occurs when we are able to integrate our awareness with visual, olfactory, tactile, and other experiences. If we do not integrate them, ordinary perceptions occur: perceptions of visible forms, audible sounds, tactile sensations, or smells.
What, then, does such recognition entail? Such recognition embodies the principle known as siddha-yogini.
In this case, siddha is the principle of Shiva, the principle of awareness and integration that you bring into the energy of the sense faculty.
Yogini is the principle of energy (shakti), that is, perception itself: visual, auditory, or olfactory.
The moment these two principles unite is called mahamelana, the great meeting; that is, the moment when the object and the principle of consciousness are integrated with awareness itself is called the great meeting, when the mind is recognized as permeating vision, smell, or touch.
The Kama-Kala Method
The kama-kala method means that at the moment of visual perception, at the very first moment when we see a form, at the very first moment when we hear a sound or smell an odor, sahaja-spanda—active, integrative consciousness—is generated. This moment of kama-kala means that instead of slipping into the ordinary perception of a form, smell, or sound, sahaja-spanda is actively generated. And when sahaja-spanda unites, the union of siddha-yogini takes place. This moment is apprehended, and it reveals the essential tattva. It is also called kama-tattva. Some interpret kama-tattva as the essence of desire, but in fact it can be understood more broadly—as the essence of perception as such.
For example, there is visual consciousness, visual perception; there is the eye, and there is eye-consciousness. In the process of perception, forms are perceived, and the desire to perceive forms is called kama; that is, we have an attraction to visual images. But if, at the very first moment of visual perception, we integrate with them, sahaja-spanda is generated and integration occurs. And the moment of mahamelana means that the natural state unites with eye-consciousness and integrates with the emptiness of form—that is, not with the form itself, but with its emptiness.
If I look at a column with ordinary eyes, it is simply a column to me; but if I look at the column in a state of integration, the visual image of the column unites with my principle of awareness. This is an active, self-generating principle; it is spanda, it is vibration. And at the moment of union with the image, their great meeting takes place. My consciousness is the siddha, while the column has a feminine nature (shakti)—it is the yogini. And when they unite, I register the first moment—mahamelana. In other words, the initial act of perception does not penetrate my consciousness. Before the principle of the column’s form penetrates my consciousness, my consciousness manages to generate sahaja-spanda, and this reveals the essence of the column, kama-tattva, the essence of the visual image and the desire to see; the emptiness of the column and its inseparability from consciousness are revealed. Then the column as such does not exist in and of itself; rather, there is a column whose essence is empty, and it is recognized as inseparable from consciousness. Perception occurs in this way with all audible sounds, tactile sensations, perceived smells, and so forth. And a yogi who understands this can be called a contemplative.
The Essence of Contemplation
What, then, is the main principle here? The main principle here is precisely viveka—discriminating wisdom. For example, when I looked at the column, I recognized it; through my wisdom, I recognized its essential tattva.
If you are asked what viveka is, what the essence of contemplation is, what its fruits are, and what freedom is, this is what you should say: “The essence of contemplation is the attainment of the 24 categories of viveka. And viveka is the process by which integrating consciousness penetrates the essence of the five consciousnesses and the five sense organs. It is the process of releasing the emptiness of kama-tattva at the moment kama is perceived, in the first instant of perception, called kama-kala, when the great meeting (mahamelana) of two experiences takes place: external energy and empty essential awareness.”
It is often said that viveka-vidya simply means withdrawing the sense organs from external objects, practicing pratyahara, and understanding that you are not the five koshas, or that it is analytical meditation. For example, some say something like this: “Viveka-vidya means reflecting, ‘I am not this body, I am not the pranas, I am not the mind, and I am not the will,’ and then arriving at the conclusion ‘neti-neti’—that I am the unconditioned Brahman.” This is how viveka is usually interpreted in Samkhya or Raja Yoga. But viveka in the Laya Yoga teaching has its own entirely unique interpretation, and this interpretation is connected specifically with integration and contemplative presence while perception is taking place. And when, in the presence of perception, you recognize the 24 categories that I mentioned in the previous lecture, that is true viveka. One who has revealed the 24 categories through viveka at the moment of integration is a true jnani, while one who has not yet done so is still only a candidate for becoming a jnani. He may be a good meditator or a Raja yogi; nevertheless, if he does not possess the 24 categories of viveka revealed in integration, he cannot yet lay claim to the title of jnani.
Viveka as a Boat Across the Ocean of Samsara
“When this consciousness awakens through wisdom, or viveka, an inner unfolding occurs, and the intellect and individual consciousness disappear. In this dreadful ocean of samsara, wisdom alone is the boat that makes it possible to cross it.”
Thus, viveka is the essence of jnana yoga; one must love viveka and literally be devoted to it. It is through viveka that one becomes free from samsara, and it is precisely due to the absence of viveka that one falls into lower rebirths.
Everything happens through viveka.
The gods live safely in heaven as immortals precisely because their viveka is very profound. The asuras suffer defeat in battles with the gods and constantly wage war in a state of mental agitation precisely because their viveka is weak. In other words, a person who lacks viveka is like a fool who can be deceived very easily.
The Sutra of Angulimala
There is a sutra on wisdom and foolishness that tells the story of one of the Buddha’s disciples. It is also called the “Sutra of Angulimala.”
This disciple was born into a good family and showed great promise. In his youth, he was strong, agile, and intelligent. When he was sent to live in the guru’s household as a brahmachari, he learned the Vedas well and was one of the foremost disciples.
One day, the brahmin decided to go on a pilgrimage and asked his wife:
— Whom should we leave in charge as the senior disciple?
The brahmin’s wife was very fond of the disciple and was constantly looking for a way to get closer to him, so she said to the brahmin:
— Oh, of course, let’s leave this disciple in charge!
With a pure heart, the brahmin set off on his pilgrimage, while his wife began approaching the disciple in various ways and trying to flirt with him. But the disciple said:
— I regard you as a mother. I cannot treat my guru’s wife in any other way, because that would be a sin.
Nevertheless, the brahmin’s wife did not abandon her attempts. Finally, when she came to him directly, he said:
— I must not have any relationship with you. I will tell my guru all about this.
She flew into a rage because she was deeply offended by this and decided to take revenge. She scratched her face, tore her clothes, faked blood, and pretended to be suffering just as the brahmin arrived. Seeing her in such a state, he asked what had happened, and she said:
— Just look at the kind of disciples you have. You left your best disciple in charge, and this is what he did to me.
Since the disciple came from a noble family, the brahmin thought, “If I curse or punish him now, his father may make me suffer for it. I must punish him covertly somehow. I will certainly take revenge on him, but not immediately.” And so the brahmin, controlling his emotions, suppressed his anger, approached the disciple, and said to him:
— Dear disciple, you have served me so well! I intend to reveal to you the most secret knowledge, which I do not disclose to others.
And with a pure heart, the disciple asked:
— What knowledge do you wish to reveal to me? Tell me quickly.
The brahmin said:
— There is a secret teaching. You must collect a thousand little fingers from a thousand beings, make a necklace out of them, and wear it around your neck. As soon as you collect them and perform the ritual, you will immediately attain great mahasiddhis, and after death you will become Brahma.
The disciple was shocked. He said:
— I do not believe that killing living beings and cutting off their fingers can lead to enlightenment and siddhis.
But the brahmin continued to insist, saying:
— If you do not believe me, I will curse you. I have entrusted you with such a secret teaching, and this is how you treat it.
While they were arguing, the brahmin did indeed curse him, and so the disciple’s mind became clouded. After that, he flew into a violent rage and, drawing a dagger, began killing living beings and cutting off their fingers. All the inhabitants of the area were terrified and began to hide. He came to be called Angulimala (“angula” means “finger”). Within a short time, he had already cut off 999 fingers and made a necklace out of them, which he wore around his neck while imagining himself to be Bhairava, that is, the great wrathful Shiva the Destroyer. There are wrathful forms of Kala Bhairava in which wrathful deities wear such a skirt made of severed hands or a necklace of human skulls.
News of this even reached the king.
Angulimala was hiding in the forests because the king’s archers were hunting him, and he had eaten nothing for many days. Then his mother came to him and said:
“Son, at least eat something.”
But he said:
“Mother, I am going to kill you now because I need one more finger, and there is no one else; I cannot find anyone. I must do it soon, before the end of this week.”
His mother began to shame him and plead with him. The Buddha, who had heard about this, was passing at that time through the grove where Angulimala was. People tried to dissuade him from going there, but he went anyway and saved the woman. And when Angulimala—the one who wore a necklace of a thousand fingers—chased after him, the Buddha kept disappearing and reappearing elsewhere, making it impossible to catch him.
Then Angulimala said:
“Ascetic, stop!”
The Buddha said:
“I stopped long ago. Now you must stop.”
After saying these words, the Buddha turned around and walked toward him. He told Angulimala about the harmfulness of killing, the accumulation of bad karma, and how he had been deceived and cursed by the brahmin, and that all of this had happened because of a treacherous intrigue. The whole truth was immediately revealed to Angulimala; his mind entered a state of equanimity, he humbled himself, and asked the Buddha to grant him Refuge and ordain him as a monk.
The Buddha said:
“Then come with me, O monk.”
When he shaved Angulimala’s head and ordained him as a monk, people were still afraid to approach him because they remembered that he was the very Angulimala who had killed a thousand people. But since he was under the Buddha’s protection and belonged to his community, no punishment was imposed upon him, as he was considered to have repented completely.
One day, when the king came to visit the Buddha, he entered a hut next to the one in which Angulimala lived and heard terrible sounds of suffering. He asked:
“Who is there?”
The Buddha replied:
“There is a disciple there who killed many living beings. Although he has repented and his mind is pure, the consequences of that karma are coming upon him, and so he suffers because of it.”
The Buddha explained to Angulimala that his wrongdoing had been caused by his past incarnations. He told him why it had happened in the first place, who the people he had killed were, and why Angulimala had acted as he did. The Buddha said that the cause lay in past lives: even then, Angulimala had hunted those people because they had insulted him. In this life, the entire situation that ended with the brahmin’s curse was merely a catalyst that brought forth the karmas that had already existed.
The Operation of Karma and Discriminating Wisdom
Thus, karma operates when viveka—discernment, discriminating wisdom—is absent. The mind then becomes deeply entangled in causes and their effects, and an irreversible chain of cause and effect arises, rigidly confining a person within limitations. Attaining even a small measure of discriminating wisdom makes a yogi at least happy and free, and therefore one should always strive to attain such discriminating wisdom.
We also commonly use the term “clarity.” However, clarity relates more to the general principle of contemplation. Discriminating wisdom, on the other hand, is what makes it possible to distinguish the mind in its essence—the nature of Mind—from that which is not it.
