Spark 54
Thursday, January 30, 2020
THIS BUSINESS OF BEING A DOER
At its dizzy height, the Vedānta reveals that we are not doers at all. “Neither doing anything nor causing any action,” says 1 the Geetā, throwing precious light on our true nature. The source of the wisdom of the Geetā, as we know it, is the Upanishads. The Self being untouched by any doership (kartritva) is implied when, for example, the Mundaka Upanishad declares2 that the ātmā is devoid of eyes, ears, hands, feet, mind or vital air! While these organs or constituents of the personality act, the Self simply illumines.
Maharshi Ramana calls the notion of being a doer the very basis of all bondage. “A man is subject to (enjoying or suffering) the results of action when, in the first place, he thinks3 he is a doer!” The liberating insight of there being no doer reveals the freedom which always was! Thus not only our bondage is false but the entity to whom the bondage applies is also false. “I am” is the truth; both the ideas, “I am bound” and “I will get liberated” are false!
To say this entire universe and our entire life in it are a mere appearance certainly looks too far-fetched. Please note that Adviata Vedānta says all this universe and all our life are Brahman itself. The entire snake that appears upon the rope is no doubt dismissed but the reality of the rope is upheld, going by the well-known metaphor. The rainbow is an optic illusion but the water drops are real. The water drops too are an appearance but the molecules of water are real; going further, the subatomic particles are real; delving deeper, the dance of energy is real. All else is how the ‘ultimate stuff’ appears to be!
In the Vedānta, the breaking point is when duality (dvaita) makes way for the nondual truth (advaita). There is no plurality whatsoever here, declares4 the Kathopanishad. In the domain of error (avidyā), the ONE appears to be many. The false ego, the seer of the plurality, and the world of names and forms, the seen, together is the appearance. In this frame of reference (avidyā-bhoomi), we have the duality of the observer and the observed. When the truth is known, this duality vanishes5.
A thief was running away, trying to avoid arrest. For two minutes, he stopped by a place where a Vedānta discourse was going on. He heard from a revered master, “Nobody is a doer; the body does things, the soul is not a doer.” After a short while, the police managed to capture him. He said to them, “I did not steal; this body stole.” The police were smart too. They said to him, “We respect the words of the revered teacher over there. He is right. You are the soul and therefore did not steal. There is no dealership in you. If anybody committed the theft, it was this body that did it. We, therefore, arrest this body and let you go!”
The matter of reality and illusion has to be dealt with very carefully, with guidance from a competent teacher. Then he who sees6 indeed sees!
Swāmi Chidānanda
Notes:
1 naiva kurvan na kārayan – Geetā 5.13
2 achakshus-shrotram, tad-apānipādam (Mundaka Upanishad 1.1.6) and aprāno hyamanāh (Mu. Up. 2.1.2)
3 karomi karma + iti naro vijānan – Saddarshanam, verse 40
4 neha nānāsti kinchana – Katha Upanishad 2.1.10
5 jnāte dvaitam na vidyate – Māndukya Kārikā 1.18
6 yah pashyati sa pashyati.