Discrimination of Reality
Divine Life
Society Publication: Chapter 1 – The Philosophy of
The Panchadasi by Sri Swami Krishnananda
The world consists of objects,
and every object is a content of positive or negative perception and cognition.
The special feature of each object is that it is distinguished from the other by
characteristics that are ingrained in it in a particular manner. This is why we
see the world variegated in colors, sounds, tastes, touch, and smells. For
example, we mark a difference between a cow and a tree, because we do not find
in a cow the features of a tree, and those of a cow in a tree. Objects manifest
a mutual exclusion of one another. It is this that enables us to know the
multitudinousness that the world is.
We also conceive such
difference as that between God and the individual, God and the world, one
individual and another, the individual and the world, in addition to the
differences among the various contents of the world. What it is that knows that
there is difference, and how is difference known at all? A kind of
consciousness in us is the knower of the different objects outside as also
inside, and this difference is also known by consciousness itself. The world
can be known by nothing other than consciousness. One and the same
consciousness sees, hears, tastes, touches and smells, and it is also possible
to be conscious of the consciousness of all these. Consciousness is a synthetic
unity of apperception, it is all at once. Though the eyes cannot hear and ears
cannot see, etc., and each sense has one particular function to perform,
consciousness is the unity of them all. It is one and indivisible, and it is
responsible for all the experiences in the world.
This same predicament is
observed in the state of dream, also. The difference of the waking state is
only in the permanency of experience which it reveals. While dream experience
is short, the waking one is comparatively long. But there is no difference in
the constitution, the make-up, or the construction of the two states. Though
there is difference between waking and dreaming, there is no difference between
the consciousness of waking and the consciousness of dreaming. This is
testified by the experience that one and the same individual wakes and dreams,
and asserts: “I dreamt.” While the waking state is due to actual perception
through senses, dream is brought about by the memory of waking state on account
of the impressions of the latter imbedded in the mind, which manifest
themselves on suitable occasions. Consciousness has no forms or shapes.
In deep sleep, there is a
persistent memory of one’s having slept and experienced joy therein. There is a
total absence of experience from the point of view of consciousness, but the
effect in the form of memory of having slept is enough evidence that there was
some sort of experience even in deep sleep. This leads to the conclusion that
the condition of deep sleep is one of a conscious experience, though this
consciousness is not to be construed in the ordinary sense of the term. When we
affirm that there was all darkness in sleep, it means, we knew darkness. Else,
we would not be making such an assertion. To know darkness there must be
knowledge, and knowledge is identical with the luminous intelligence with which
the states of waking and dreaming are also experienced. There is, therefore, an
unbroken continuity of consciousness in the states of waking, dreaming and deep
sleep. And, consciousness has no beginning, middle or end. It is absolute.
One cannot conceive of the
cessation of consciousness, since it is impossible to conceive of one’s own
destruction. Consciousness precedes thought, volition and feeling. There is an
immediacy in consciousness and it never becomes an object. The knower,
knowledge and the known are one and the same and inseparable. There is not in
it the opposition of subject and object, as in the case of the various things
of the world. It is not known by itself, nor known by another; the former case
is impossible, and the latter leads to infinite regress in argument. It is best
defined as That which Is.
This consciousness is the
Atman, and is the repository of supreme bliss. The bliss of the Atman is
unvarying, as different from the pleasure that one feels with any set of
objects which are changeful in nature. All things are dear and lovable for the
sake of this Self, and hence all things are subservient to the Self. When the
loves in regard to objects change due to changing circumstances in life, one
realises at the background of all these that the love of the Atman stands
unbroken and persists through change. Even displeasure with oneself is not in
regard to the essential Atman within, but with certain painful conditions in
life which are repulsive to one’s tastes, inclinations or desires. It is not
existence that is hated, but certain forms of existence. None ever condemns or
tries to negate oneself. There is an inner prayer from everyone that one may
live for ever. ‘May I not cease to be; may I exist always’ is the deepest wish
in every living being. This love is ingrained in the bottom of one’s existence.
It is never seen that the Self
is subservient to objects. On the other hand it is seen that objects are
subservient to the Self. On a careful psychological analysis it is observable
that the love which people have for things outside is the outcome of a confused
mixing up of the bliss of the Atman with the changing names and forms that make
up what we call the world. Hence, in loving an object, the confused mind
attaches itself to the changing names and forms in its ignorance and the false
notion that its love is deposited in the objects, while in truth it is in the
Atman, and even when we love objects we are unwittingly loving the universal
Atman. Hence the Atman is Supreme Bliss, which is the only natural condition of
spiritual existence, while all other conditions with which it associates itself
are transitory phenomena, and unnatural.
From the above it would be
clear that the Atman eternally exists as consciousness and is absolute bliss.
It is Sat-Chit-Ananda, which fact is demonstrated both by reason and intuition.
The identity of the Atman with Brahman or the Absolute Being is declared in the
Vedanta texts such as the Upanishads, which is also established by reason. But
this Atman is not seen, it is not visible to the eyes, and hence all the misery
of individual existence. Nor can it be said that it is entirely invisible, else
there would be no love or pleasure. That there is a faint recognition of the
existence of the Atman is proved beyond doubt by the unparalleled affection
which one has towards one’s own Self. But it is also true that it is not
properly seen or known; otherwise, one would not be clinging to objects, the
perishable forms of the world, which have neither reality in them nor the
happiness which one is seeking. Thus there is a peculiar situation in which we
find ourselves where we seem to know it and yet not know it. The beauty and the
joy are not in things but in the Atman. And this is not known. It is falsely
imagined to be in objects; hence the attachment that we cherish in regard to
them.
Just as in a large group of
students, who are chanting the Veda in a chorus, and where every kind of voice
can be heard, it is possible for the father of one particular student in that
group to hear the voice of his own son, due to his familiarity with it, though
this voice is mixed up with the voices of others, the Atman with concentration
on its nature can recognise itself in the midst of the millions of things of
the world, amidst the deafening clamour of the senses, because its presence in
them is natural and eternal. Just as the obstruction in the case of the
father’s properly hearing the voice his son, is the crowd of the voices of
others, so in the case of the Atman, the obstruction to its recognition is
Avidya or Nescience, which has the twofold function of veiling and distracting
consciousness. The veiling is effected by suppressing the character of
existence and revelation in regard to Reality, and then manifesting opposite
characters, viz., that it does not exist and it is not revealed. Hence we all
feel that the Atman is not, and it is not known. This conviction which is
brought about by Avidya is the deluding factor in the case of every individual.
There is not only the veiling of Reality, but also the projection of
phenomenality in the form of the universe outside, and the bodily layers
inside. (Verses 3-14)
Excerpts from:
Discrimination of Reality - Chapter 1 – The Philosophy of
The Panchadasi by Sri Swami Krishnananda
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