Merely possessing all the knowledge about Vedanta available in the world is insufficient unless one puts in the effort to realise what Vedanta teaches. While knowledge is important, it serves only as a guide towards real experience. Realisation is experiential, and knowledge alone cannot lead to it.
The Initial Steps:
The recommended initial steps in Vedantic practice are:
· Shravana (listening to the teachings)
· Manana (contemplating on what has been heard)
· Nidhidhyasana (internalising and experiencing the teachings through meditation)
However, these practices are not possible with an impure mind. Therefore, the purification of the mind is a prerequisite before one can progress on this path.
The Fourfold Sadhana for Purification
Vedanta prescribes a four-step process called Sadhana Chathusthaya for the purification of the mind:
1. Viveka (Discernment)
2. Vairagya (Dispassion)
3. Shatsampathi (Six-fold qualifications)
4. Mumukshatva (Intense desire for liberation)
Without following these preliminary steps, progress in Vedanta is not possible. The realisation of their importance often comes only after years of studying or listening to Vedanta, when one realises that knowledge alone is not enough, and significant progress in embodying the truth has not been made.
Viveka: Discernment Between the Real and the Unreal
Viveka is the foundational step. It involves distinguishing between what is real and what is unreal. The clearest explanation is found in Verse 16 of Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita: “The unreal never is and the real is never not.” This means that whatever changes is not real, and only that which is eternal is truly real. Applying this insight, one observes that all things and experiences that change are unreal, while the only reality is the sense of “I AM”. This understanding forms the bedrock of further spiritual practice.
Vairagya: The Challenge of Dispassion
Vairagya, or dispassion, is more challenging than Viveka. Knowing intellectually that things and experiences are unreal is one thing, but actually disassociating from them is quite another. Deep-rooted impressions, formed over years or even lifetimes, make it difficult to let go. This process requires repeated efforts and patience over a long period.
Effort alone has its limitations, as it often involves forcefully resisting desires. Such resistance may temporarily work, but eventually, one may succumb to temptation, leading to a loss of confidence in the ability to control desires. Thus, sustained and continuous attempts are necessary to let go of actions, experiences, and thoughts deeply ingrained in us.
The Role of Knowledge in Achieving Vairagya
An alternative approach to Vairagya is through pure understanding. Once it is firmly established in the mind that something is unreal and unnecessary, it naturally becomes easier to relinquish it without resistance. However, this understanding cannot arise through a demand for change internally, due to a regret about everything that one has been till then and a belief that one has to change to become something else. Such striving to “become” something different is actually a hindrance, as it is based on the unknown. Instead, the correct starting point is accepting oneself as one is at the present moment.
Recognising and accepting one’s imperfections allows the mind to observe them objectively and without prejudice. These imperfections — desires, likes, dislikes, anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, lust, fear, and so on — are not innate but accumulated over time. By objectively assessing these feelings and their causes, one can question whether they are truly necessary for inner peace in the present moment.
Once it is clear that these obstacles hinder internal peace, it becomes easier and faster to detach from the objects and thoughts responsible for negative emotions. In this way, the problems are addressed at their very root, facilitating genuine progress on the spiritual path.
