That which we actually seek

There is in the Upanishads, a way of teaching, which is very close to Zen, where the questions are not posed to get ready-made answers. The questions are made to sink into the very consciousness of the person, so that the answers come out by themselves. 

According to Vedanta, the Truth can be experienced only by the person himself. It has to come by one’s own realisation. 

The rishis declare that it is not through any verbal knowledge or understanding, but only through deep intuitive understanding, that transcends the working of the brain, that one can realise the Self.

So, the Upanishads say, we are looking for something that the usual instruments for obtaining knowledge cannot reveal. Therefore, when the ‘limited mind’ settles down, when the mind becomes free and the ego is surrendered and finished with, then what remains is the Supreme Being.

The mind seeks because it sees sorrow and pain. The seeker, the ‘ limited self ‘, is a part of this cycle of pain and pleasure. When that seeker, himself, ceases to exist, when the ego is finished, he discovers that the seeking of the Supreme Being cannot be done by reaching out, but by settling down.

What holds the mind is mainly desire by the senses to possess sensual objects desired by the imagination. When the anchor of the mind’s desire is shaken up and loosened, the mind becomes free. What remains is the Supreme Being. 

One cannot become the Supreme Being. In the Vedantic process of learning, chipping away is important. Removing the veils, rubbing out what is not necessary and getting to what remains. What remains is what we are seeking.

From high philosophy and abstract metaphysics, one comes  down to actuality, the ego.  But it comes down so gradually and so imperceptibly that one has to catch it. The knowledge of the Upanishads is very subtle.

The Gayatri Mantra requests the Lord, “ Stimulate my intellect; make my intellect so subtle that I may understand the supreme wisdom of the Upanishads’. 

To attain this, the essence of all knowledge, one has to approach it with great attention and immense humility. This humility and attention is also a kind of affection, a love for knowledge and the desire to understand. When that kind of all consuming love comes, then one is not distracted by anything else. Whole hearted attention is given because
the importance of the problem is realised and all other desires are dropped.