Viveka talks, exercise 4.
Remember: this article/chapter is tokenized, and you may buy it as “writer’s NFT!”
Points to consider
Viveka means discrimination, a discernment between two objects, meanings, notions, concepts, or terms. It is a function of the mind we use for making distinctions between anything we experience. Without viveka, everything would be a blur, an indistinguishable mess of interwoven objects and ideas.
The easiest way to understand what viveka means is – common sense.
Viveka has a high place in one of the well-known philosophical texts: Patanjali’s discourse on yoga. It is not a requirement for silencing the mind and becoming one with the Self. That essential yoga experience is not everything, not even in Yoga Sutras. However, later, when it comes to keeping the yoga experience amidst everyday activity and achieving an abiding state of truth, viveka suddenly takes a high position, almost preceding everything else.
nāstrairna śastrairanilena vanhinā chettuṃ na śakyo na ca karmakoṭibhiḥ |
vivekavijñānamahāsinā vinā dhātuḥ prasādena śitena mañjunā ||
This bondage can be destroyed neither by weapons nor by wind, nor by fire, nor by millions of actions – by nothing except the sharp,
beautiful sword of knowledge forged by discerning.
Vivekachudamani 147
The only known text supposedly speaking directly about viveka is Vivekachudamani by Adi Shankara. In the chapter, you can read some historical facts about Vivekachudamani. There are doubts about authorship for at least parts of the texts.
The book contains 580 verses or slokas in Sanskrit. Like any other decent traditional Vedic scripture, it starts with a salutation to Govinda. In this case, Govinda is a possible Guru, or even a God himself. After an obligatory introduction VCh continues with the explanation of all-pervading personal attachment to the body, mind, and desires. There are different layers of identification, claims VCh, like koshas, gunas, and pranas (don’t worry, I will not drown you in exotic words without a feasible explanation).
Furthermore, there follows a description of Self-Realisation and unavoidable Atman and what atman isn’t (anatman). The Brahman is declared a universal consciousness, and the discernment between the individual and universal has to do something with viveka. Of course, a good book on deep spiritual philosophy cannot skip topics like meditation, self-inquiry, or virtuous life. If you read Vivekachudamani literary, you may find out the characteristics of an enlightened being, a right Guru, and an excellent student. Also, you will find exciting new concepts like vasanas – impressions, memorized beliefs, and other inner programs that make us run on auto-pilot. Oh, not to forget ideas like svadhyasa, which means „superimposed sense of „self, “and ahamkara, a false ego. Well, of course, you’ll need viveka to discern between those two.
On a personal note: Vivekachudamai was not my tool for attaining – ah! – enlightenment (whatever that means) , but viveka certainly was. From the text, I extracted the most essential, authentic advaita ideas and showed you how these could be useful to you, providing that you are on an honest search for truth. Also, I’ll point to you the „cracks“ in the rigid body of the tradition. We’ll try to look through the cracks and see what is on the other side.
Questions for thinking
There are no suggested questions from my side for this exercise. If you have any questions about Vivekachudamani or the traditional context of viveka, I’ll do my best to find you an answer.
It is your turn now. Write your thoughts, comments, or questions.
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