What is Spiritual Knowledge?

In the last couple of blog postings, we had looked into what it means to be spiritual and what virtues one needs to develop to be ready for receiving spiritual knowledge. Let's now take a quick overview of what,  according to Upanishads, is the spiritual knowledge.

Vedanta primarily uses three popular sanskrit synonyms for spiritual knowledge. They are Aatma Vidya (Knowledge of the personal self), Brahma Vidya (Knowledge of Brahman, the cosmic being) and Paraa Vidya (Transcendental knowledge). The spiritual knowledge is also sometimes referenced simply as 'Vidya' to indicate that it is the only true knowledge. Here are few references from vedantic texts about the importance of spiritual knowledge.  In the tenth chapter of Bhagawad Gita, when Sri Krishna lists a series of examples of his glory available for human perception ,  he says 'I am Adhyatma Vidya among all knowledge'. In the Isaavasya Upanishad, the Rishi extolls on the nature of 'Vidya' as the only knowledge that produces non-perishing results (sambhudhi) and says all other knowledge create only perishable results (vinaasam). And, he continues to say that a seeker must understand both these types of  knowledge for his benefit. (sambhudhim cha vinaasam cha yastad etho ubhayam sahah).

The knowledge pertaining to objects  and experiences of the world are called 'Aparaa vidya' (Non-transcendental knowledge), 'bhautika gnana' (knowledge of objects) or simply as 'Avidya' (False knowledge). Before looking into what contrasts these two knowledge, Vidya and Avidya, let's examine the process of knowledge itself.

Knowledge, as we generally understand, essentially involves three components; the object of knowledge, the means of knowledge and the knower who is the subject gaining the knowledge.  The Indian philosophical systems categorizes the means of knowledge into six:

1. Sabda pramana : Verbal or textual knowledge
2. Upamana pramana: Knowledge by comparison; using reference to an already available knowledge.
3. Anupalabdhi pramana: Knowledge by deduction through reference to absence of a known effect.  e.g. "I don't feel heat. The fire must have died"
4. Anumana pramana: deductive knowledge; establishing presence of a likely cause from its known effect that is seen e.g. "I can see smoke; there must be a fire"
5. Arthapathi pramana: postulation or inductive knowledge; a logical hypothesis that must be true in the absence of a better explanation
6. Pratyaksha pramana: direct perception

(Please see the website vmission.org.in/Vedanta/articles/pramanas.htm for detailed information on the pramanas. A previous blog post on "Music takes you to heights that words cannot' also has a discussion on four of these six pramanas)

 All scientific, artistic and ritualistic knowledge are considered 'Avidya' and use one or more of the above means for knowledge. And, please note that this type of knowledge is within the constraints of time as there is a time period when the knowledge was not possessed by the knower as well as there is a point of time at which the knowledge was gained. Also, the results produced by this knowledge are nor permanent and ultimately perish.

The subject of perception of Aatma Vidya is not any external object but the knower himself and the subject-object distinction is absent in it. The only question to answer is, who is this one who is able to know? The Kena upanishad puts this inquiry as "who is the eye of the eye, ear of the ear and mind of the mind?" . And Sri Raman Maharshi famously reduced the entire vedanta inquiry into one question: "who am I?".  In the  13th chapter of Bhagawad Gita, Sri Krishna calls the Atma vidya as 'keshtranja gnana', or 'knowledge of the knower of field' and all other knowledge as 'Kshetra gnana' or ' knowledge of the field of experience'. 

Due to the absence of the subject-object distinction, the six pramanas listed earlier do not directly apply to Aatma Vidya. They can be enablers but not the primary means. Also, the Aatma Vidya is not constrained by time as there is no time when the knowledge was not possessed by the knower. However, there is the time when the knowledge is not available to the knower which is called as 'ignorance'. Removal of this ignorance, or apparent absence of knowledge,  is called self-realization. Atma Vidya is therefore not a new knowledge gained.

The nature of the Aatman or self is defined in Vedanta as 'sat-chit-aanandam' meaning 'existence- awareness- bliss'. Being not constrained by time and devoid of all modifications, Aaatman has no states of past or future and remains in a continuous present state and hence is described as pure existence. The Atman is the one principle that enables all perceptions and is a witness to all knowledge being itself unaffected. Hence it is identified as pure awareness. Aatman, being the single source of all joy experienced by an individual self, is also described as pure bliss.

How could one realize this true nature of one's own self? The method prescribed is simple, though hard to execute: suppress all noise from worldly perceptions, quieten the mind and the glow of Aatman will become visible just as some stars become visible in the night sky when we move to a spot where there is no city light interfering. Sage Patanjali describes this right at the beginning of Yoga sutra where he says, Yoga is the arresting of all movements in consciousness (chitta vritti nirodha) so that the self will abide totally in its own awareness (drashtu swarupe avastaanam) since otherwise the self identifies itself with its means and acts of perception (vritti saarupyam itaratra).  There are many intermediate steps and means to get to this final state that includes control of breath, mental focus, meditation etc. Again, to reiterate, all steps and action are to remove the obstructions to true knowledge revealing itself in the self and not to gain a new knowledge.

Why should one try to gain Aatma vidya ? The best answer to this question is found in the Kathopanishad where lord Yama, the God of Death, tells Nachiketas :

"asabdam asparsam aroopam avyayam thadaa arasam nithyam agandhavacha yad

Anaadyantam mahata param dhruvam nichaapya thanmruthyumukhaad pramuchyate"

" One becomes freed from the jaws of death by knowing That which is soundless, touchless, colorless, undiminishing, tasteless, eternal, odorless, without beginning and without end, distinct from Mahat and ever constant" ( Kathopanishad, Part 1, Canto 3, Sloka 15. Translation from "Eight Upanishads" by Swami Gambhirannanda, published by Advaita Ashrama)

Here is the assurance from God of Death that Aatma vidya frees one from his inescapable jaws. What better motivation could there be!

This in a nut shell is Spiritual knowledge explained as 'Aatma Vidya'. There is a different approach that can be taken from a cosmic point of view, 'Brahma Vidya', that again converges with 'Aatma vidya'. Will keep that topic for a future discussion.