Preparing the Mind for Vedanta

For knowledge of any kind to take place, three factors are required:

the knower,

the object of knowledge,

the means of knowledge.

That these three factors must be present for any knowledge to take place can be seen by looking at everyday experiences.  To be adequate for obtaining knowledge of a given object, not only the appropriate, capable sense organ for the particular perception (eyes for vision; ears for sound; tongue for taste, etc.) be available but also an attentive, capable mind must be behind that sense organ.  So, for simple perceptual knowledge, the sense organs by themselves are not the pramana, the means of knowledge.   The sense organs along with the mind are the pramana.  When all factors, including the mind, are present, knowledge takes place.

When all factors, including an attentive mind, are present does knowledge always take place? The mind, at least in some instance, must not only be capable and attentive but also must be prepared.  For simple perceptual knowledge no particular preparation may be necessary other than, perhaps, calling the mind to attention.  When the object is there, when the eyes are open, when the mind is behind the eyes, the object is seen and visual knowledge of that object obtains without any special preparation.  However, even when you have both a qualified teacher of Vedanta, learned in the methodology of teaching, one who knows how to unfold the precise meaning of the words used, and a dedicated student who is seeking the knowledge of the Self, the knowledge that is Vedanta cannot take place unless the student's mind is prepared.  For the one with an unprepared mind, Vedanta becomes like calculus for a person still working on his multiplication tables.   This does not mean that calculus or Vedanta  cannot be understood.    It simply means the preparation of the mind is required.

What prepares the mind for the knowledge that is Vedanta?  Practice, such as pranayama (certain breathing exercises) and asanas (certain postures) , may be useful in quieting a restless mind but they do not prepare the mind for Self-knowledge. In the thirteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, there are a few verses which deal with what we may call 'values'.  The Gita calls these values jnanam, which means knowledge. However, jnanam, used in this sense as values, is not the knowledge of self which is both the means and end of the teaching of Vedanta. Jnanam according  to the Gita, prepares the mind for Vedanta. Jnanam can be defined as the state of mind which reflects certain universal values and ethical attitudes.  Other practices may bring about a mental quietude in which the necessary values are more readily established, but only discovery and assimilation of the values themselves constitute preparation of the mind.  Values alone prepare the mind - all else is secondary.  Therefore, the Gita raises the appropriate values to the status of knowledge, terming them Jnanam, a word that means knowledge.  The Jnanam of values is preparation for the gaining of Self-knowledge.  It is not that when the mind enjoys the appropriate values, knowledge of Self occurs, but that it then can occur; without appropriate values it cannot occur:

appropriate values present, Self-knowledge may or may not be present;

appropriate values present, Self-knowledge can be gained;

appropriate values absent, Self-knowledge cannot be gained.

-Swami Dayananda Saraswati

Excerpted from "The Value of Values" by Swami Dayananda

Published: 10/07/98