Drg Drsya Viveka Diaries

Hello folks, 

As I sit here to write this piece, I can clearly see my fingers trembling, and I am finding it increasingly difficult to focus on something else at the moment, even though I am in the middle of work. I don’t quite know if this is justified, but I get this immaculate light feeling in me, as if a huge burden has been lifted off my shoulders. 

Is this for real? Does this sound familiar? That too in such tumultuous times like these, when the entire world, especially my country India is battling the pandemic. As most of you would know in my previous blogs, I had mentioned my recent interest in Indian philosophy, and currently am focusing on the text called Drg Drsya Viveka, a text on Advaita Vedanta. 

For today’s text, we learnt about the various forms of meditation practices. Normally in meditation, there are different forms like Yogic meditation that requires one to contrate on one object, Buddhistic form of meditation that just requires watching the thought process, with the mind focusing on one object. 

In today’s session, Swamiji mentions the non-dualistic form of meditation where one doesn’t have to withdraw from the world, and can continue doing their actions exactly as they were doing previously, and how they were communicating with the world. Though the entire concept is quite intense, I’ll try to explain it from my perspective. 

When a thought does strike, instead of getting bugged or worked up, we have to realise that we are that one consciousness and all the thoughts appearing out of it belong to that consciousness. Secondly, the consciousness is detached, self-luminous, existence, consciousness, bliss and entirely non-dual. And, when you do reach that state you have to drop off these thoughts too. 

Nirvikalpa Samadhi cannot be achieved with effort, the process has to be effortless. 

Swamiji says that for those that are initiated, they must follow their mentor’s instructions, and may try out this perspective sometimes if they deem it necessary. 

For me, I’d say that these few days of practising meditation and being involved in the scriptures has made me realise that everything in this universe is ever-changing, and this consciousness is one that doesn’t change, it was never born and shall never die. 

Being hit strongly by the Vedanta bug, I try to take refuge in Swami Vivekananda’s Complete works, where he mentions that person as an atheist that doesn’t believe in himself, and to him, the only sin is to think yourself to be weak and incapable. 

A thought that I am still pondering on...

Image courtesy: Freepik