Q. We discussed how atma is not affected by vrittis. This
made me think who are these teachings addressed to since atma is already
complete and unchanging. To the mind and not to this not to the essence
consciousness. Is this correct?
A. Remember the word
vritti is a Sanskrit term we use to describe all mental activities. Those
mental activities could be thoughts, cognitions. Those mental activities could
be emotions. Those mental activities could be perceptions. What you see here,
taste, touch and smell. All of those are vrittiis. They are all mental
activities. And consciousness is not affected by those vrittis.
Atma is already satcidananda already unborn, uncreated,
limitless, vast, full and complete. So then what is this Vedanta for? Atma is
already that. Or how about some very typical um language used in in Hinduism, in
general when it when it said your true nature is divine. Please
note that it's not said that you will become divine but that your true nature
is already divine. It's not a matter of becoming divine. It's a matter of
discovering your true divine nature, your already divine nature.
So then who are these teachings addressed to? Atma doesn't
need Advaita Vedanta. So if atma is already complete and unchanged then your
teachings must be addressed to whom? To the mind and
not to the essence consciousness. Is this correct? The answer is yes.
The teachings of Advaita Vedanta are not for the sake of
atma. We can't really say for the sake of the mind either- the problem of
suffering is in the mind. What is the locus of suffering, where does suffering
take place? Pain may take place in your
body, suffering always takes place in your mind. So we say the locus of
suffering is in your mind and if the locus of the problem is your mind the
locus of the solution will be your mind. Locus means the place. So if
the problem is in your mind the solution has to take place in your mind.
But we can't really say that your mind suffers. When you feel terrible, do you
say, "Oh, my mind feels terrible." You don't say that. You say,
"I feel terrible." You don't say, "My mind suffers." You
say, "I suffer."
So who is Vedanta meant for? Vedanta is not meant for atma-
satcitananda which is pure consciousness, already divine, already limitless,
full and complete. Teaching of Atma is not for the sake of atma. Nor are the
teachings of Vedanta for the sake of your body or mind. Your body and mind will
continue to experience pain. As long as you have a body and mind, pain will
come.
For whom are the
teachings of Vedanta? The simple answer to this is, whoever says I am
suffering, for that person thee teachings of Vedanta have purpose, meaning
and value.
You say ‘ I am suffering’. Who is that I? That's the big
question. And we're not quite ready to get into that in detail, but ultimately
that's the point. There's something a
little subtle here.
The problem is in the mind, but the problem is not the not
the mind. Again, let me make that clear. You don't say my mind is suffering.
You say I am suffering.
Why? Here's a Vedantic analysis of that question. Why do you
say I suffer? I am suffering. Using some Vedantic teachings, we can
understand it like this. You have failed to discover your true nature as
pure consciousness. You have failed to discover the truth that the
consciousness which is your essential nature is utterly unaffected by the
problems of your body and even unaffected by the problems of your mind.
Atma consciousness being utterly unchanging,which will be a
major topic perhaps later. My guru liked the expression self non-recognition to
describe this problem. Your failure
to recognize your true self as such ananda -he called it self
nonrecognition which is a very precise way of talking about a particular kind
of ignorance. Ignorance of your true nature as atma.
And here we can finally go a step further and observe that
due to self-non-recognition you suffer. Self non-recognition is ignorance. Ignorance
is in your mind. And to get rid of that ignorance in your mind, we
require self-knowledge. We require the discovery of your true self as satcitananda.
Gaining self-knowledge, atma-jnanam. That self-knowledge removes ignorance.
The particular kind of ignorance that causes suffering.
So who is Vedanta for? Vedanta is for the one who says I
suffer. And that person says I suffer because of self non-recognition because
of ignorance and that particular ignorance is what is addressed in the
teachings of Advaita Vedanta.
