Mind Alone Is Bondage And Liberation

Acharya Prashant: I’ll begin with the explanation. So, we’ll have this session in two parts. In the first part, we’ll cover some fundamentals of Advait Vedanta. I’ll try to take it up in a way that one single shloka verse unfolds to reveal us the complete essence of Vedanta. So, the verse we are beginning with is...I suppose all of us are carrying a pen and a sheet of paper, right?

So, this comes from the Upanishads, as we know Vedanta is synonymous with Upanishads. Though if you ask technically Vedanta comprises of not just the Upanishads, but also the Bhagavad Gita and the Vedanta Sutra or Brahma Sutra of Badrayan or Ved Vyas. So, what we are taking up is this —

Mana eva manushyanam karanam bandhmokshyoh

And this comes from the Brahmabindu Upanishad.

Translated it would read —

The mind alone is the cause of both bondage and liberation.

##Bondage and liberation!

Starting from here we’ll venture deeper.

Whose bondage, who’s Liberation? This question is extremely important in Vedanta. And the one who is at the center of attention is nobody else but the self, ‘I,’ ‘me,’ ‘the questioner,’ ‘the seeker.’ So, Vedanta begins with an admission of one’s suffering. One feels suffocated, one feels hurt, wounded, betrayed and all these are cumulatively termed as bondages, bondages. So, freedom from the usual state of the self, the I, the ego is the ultimate objective of Vedanta. So, Liberation is the goal. Liberation of the ego, the little self, the me, the I from its usual state. My usual state is not something I can be contended with. Therefore, I seek change. Change not just nominal, superficial, but very fundamental.

I just don’t want to dress up to please or deceive myself. I don’t want a little bit of cosmetic shift in the way I am or in the way I experience. I want my very foundation to be different, I want my deepest center to change, I want to be a different existence all together, a different being. That is the purpose of Vedanta. Right?

So, little bit of change, cosmetic change can be brought about by things as frivolous as entertainment. In fact, that’s a good definition of entertainment — Something that brings about a temporal, superficial, frivolous change in the state of consciousness, that’s entertainment. So had we been targeting just a nominal change, any kind of entertainment would have sufficed. But that’s not what Vedanta is shooting at. Vedanta is very ambitious in that regard. If I’m suffering, I want to go to the very core of my suffering. I want to understand its genesis and I want to be completely liberated from suffering. That’s what Vedanta targets.

So, bandhmokshyoh, bandhan, bondage, my bondage, it all begins with me, so basics. Vedanta is about me and this question Vedanta will keep throwing at us. Just when we are about to unconsciously slip into the sensual world, Vedanta will just shake us up and ask, “Well! who is the one who is slipping? Who is the one getting entertained? Who is the one talking about all the things that have become so important to you?” And then, we’ll find ourself with a look aghast. We had come up with a matter that we termed as important. Vedanta turns around and asks, “To whom is it important? To whom is it important? And if the important thing is important to you, aren’t you more important than even the most important thing that’s important to you?”

That’s a very fundamental question — ‘Koham,’ who am I? Who is the one at the center of all the activity? You’ll go to a seer, a sage with some important matter and the first thing the sage would ask is, “To whom is the matter important?” Don’t say, “The matter is important. There is no objective truth.” What is important to one person is totally unimportant to another. So, it’s not that the matter in itself intrinsically holds some importance. Had the matter had some innate importance, the importance would have been universal and common to all experiencers. Not just all human beings but also the other animate beings. But that’s not how we see. Right? What is very important to one, is a trivial thing to the other.

So, Vedanta keeps the center right at the center. It never forgets who you are. In fact, forgetfulness of who you are is the very cause of suffering. So, do not forget who you are. So, when we talk of all these big things, the mind, the world, the entire expanse of spiritual jargon, Vedanta says, “Well keep one very little thing, that small letter right at the center ‘I.’ It’s all for me. It’s all for me.”

I am suffering hence there is Vedanta. And whether or not Vedanta has succeeded on me will be decided by only one criteria, “Am I still the same person? Is my vision still clouded? Am I cluttered or clear? Can I see things clearly? And can I see myself very, very clearly?” That’s the question Vedanta poses.

So, Mana eva manushyanam karanam bandhmokshyoh

What is the mind? If it’s all about the ‘I’, what is the mind then? Vedanta will not allow us to proceed with common and pedestrian notions or definitions. Definition by definition must be very sharp and precise. So, what is the mind? If it’s all about me, what is the mind then? Vedanta gives a very sharp definition.

The mind is the entire set, the whole universe of objects that the ‘I’ has a relationship with.

Not the entire set of everything that is there in the universe. One does not have a relationship with everything. But whatsoever one develops a relationship with becomes mind. Objects in general are called ‘vastu', just ‘vastu'. But the object becoming the mind is called ‘vishay'. So, an object untouched by the self, the ego is just an object. But the moment the object is touched by ‘I’, it becomes vishay or mind.

And, mind is an accumulation, a congregation of objects that it is in relationship with.

So, there is the object, there is me, there’s a relationship in between and the complete set of all such objects is called the mind.

I’m fond of saying that the mind is the whole society, the entire locality, the whole population around the center called ‘I'. The neighborhood of ‘I’ is called the mind. ‘I’ is at the center and it has managed to settle an entire neighborhood around itself, that neighborhood is called the mind. Now the conscious entity is ‘I', irrespective of the degree of consciousness it has. If I were to be fully conscious, it would be the liberated self. But the ‘I’ cannot manage to be totally unconscious. Even if we want to, we cannot afford to be totally unconscious ever. Even the most unconscious person retains a modicum of consciousness. That’s a liability we carry. That’s an existential obligation. As long as you are, you can never be fully unconscious.

So, there is the ‘I’ and there is the entire universe and the ‘I’ wants to strike a relationship with certain objects in the universe. The objects that it manages to have a relationship with, constitute the mind. You would ask, “Why at all, must the ‘I’ have a relationship with stuff?” Because the ‘I', the ego, which is at the center of all enquiry and all seeking, is by definition an incomplete entity. It’s called aham. Vedanta calls it as aham.

Aham denotes the sense of self defined by constant unease and therefore a constant striving — I’m not well, I’m not at ease, I’m not well, I’m not complete, I’m not secure. That’s what the ‘I’ is. And since this is the way the ‘I’ is, hence Vedanta, else there was no need to explore and look for a treatment. The ‘I’ says, “I’m not well,” therefore there is a need to seek something that would treat it and restore health to it. So, the ‘I’ says, “I’m not all right, I’m not satisfied, I’m not well, I’m not home. Therefore, something must happen. Since I’m not complete therefore something must be added to me. The status quo won’t do. Because the status quo is suffering. Things as they are right now, cannot be allowed to continue because I don’t feel well.”

The ego is something that never feels quite well about itself. They don’t feel well. Something ought to change. And how can I bring about change? By relating with the universe. What is my universe? Largely, it is defined by the scope of my senses. But because the senses will not suffice therefore the sixth sense comes into question which is the ability to imagine, picturize and conceptualize. So, I can see things and have a relationship with them in order to feel better. And if I cannot see things or hold them or touch them, I proceed to imagine things in order to feel better. But I must feel better. My present state is of distinct unease. Something needs to be done. I’m suffering. I need to add something to myself or I need to subtract something from myself. I need to paint myself in another color. I need to become somebody else. That’s how the ego keeps uttering.

So, the ego says, “You know, I don’t feel secure, can I add a little house to myself? You see I don’t feel secure, can I add a partner to myself? Oh! I don’t feel complete, can I add a few members to my family? I don’t feel sufficient, can I add a few zeros to my bank balance?” That’s how the ego operates and in all matters of operation of the ego an object is related to, an object is clutched. That clutching is called the mind.

The ego is sticky like a child afraid. Once it gets hold of something it won’t loosen the grip. All the things that the ego grips together constitute the mind. And the ego in its own view has a valid reason to clutch at things. The valid reason is — I am insufficient, incomplete. Obviously, I cannot continue the way I am, therefore, I must take help of the world. There are then two worlds. There is the universe of objects and there is a universe of relationships. For the ego it is the world of objects, that constantly keeps becoming the world of relationships. The ego cannot afford to let objects continue as objects. If there is an object for the ego it must be my object. The ego is not at peace letting the world of objects be. The ego says, “Oh! that thing in the window of the shop means nothing. It must turn into my thing.” The ego will look at a beautiful flower and pluck it and say, “It must become my flower.”

The ego is incapable of remaining aloof and detached and just appreciating from a distance. It is so insecure, it wants to pluck all the flowers and store them somewhere in its own custody, in its own power and possession. That’s how the ego is. Do we see what then the mind is? All the flowers that the ego has managed to pluck and salt and secure.

Also, the ego being afraid, wants to keep certain things at bay. The objects that the ego does not like, they too constitute the mind because dislike is as much of a relationship as like. So, both these relationships exist. There is something that is in the mind because it is pleasant and there is something there is in the mind because it is very unpleasant, rather threatening. So, these two become the basic instincts — Greed and fear. I remember something because it was very pleasant, I also remember something because it was very unpleasant. Both these things become the Mind. What’s common is that the ego has a stake in remembering both those things.

Mana eva manushyanam karanam bandhmokshyoh

The ego is in a state of bondage. That’s how it looks at itself. In its own view that’s how it is, ‘I am’ and ‘I am not well.’ You ask ego, “Who are you? And how are you?” It will say, “I do exist, I’m not fictional. I am and I am not well. I am and I’m not well.” So, wellness has to be achieved. How is wellness to be achieved? There is only one way, the world of objects. Once you are born you are born into a world of objects. Right? There are these senses and these senses are always perceiving objects. So that, gladly or sadly is the only way, then to proceed. It’s like being born in a jungle. Even if you want to get out of the Jungle, you will have to navigate through the jungle. So, there is this jungle of objects all around us. Even as we are born, the kid opens her eyes and sees things, so there are things. How then must we tackle this very important and very serious question? The question of bondage and suffering.

Vedanta says, “The answer lies in right relationship, right relationship.”

Mana eva

There is no answer except right relationship. ‘Eva’ means he. Exclusively the mind. Nothing else but the mind. That is what ‘eva’ denotes. Nothing else but the mind will bring you to bondage, deeper bondage or to liberation. Nothing but the mind. What is implied?

The implication is, there is the world and you exist in it. At least that’s how you perceive your situation. You better have the discretion, ‘vivek', to choose the right objects to associate with. How is a right object chosen? First of all, all rightness is with respect to myself. I’m not well, therefore, that lack of wellness will decide the rightness of the object. The attractiveness of the object will not decide its rightness. The usefulness of the object will decide its rightness.

The Upanishads put it this way, not 'preya' but 'shreya'. Do not go by what is pleasant to you, go by what is helpful to you. Never forget that you are diseased. You do not need to titillate your taste buds, you need to restore your health. 'Preya' means that which is pleasant or attractive. 'Shreya' means that which is helpful. And it is very difficult because the ego by its very constitution is drawn toward stuff that it likes. The ego lacks self-knowledge, it does not know who it is, but it feels that it suffers. You understand, it happens with most of us.

You have something in your stomach, a little ulcer let’s say, a bit of a tumor, something. You don’t know what exactly is the ailment is but you experience the suffering. Right? So that’s how the ego is. It experiences suffering without knowing why it suffers. Therefore, it gives false treatments to its suffering. All that which appears pleasant to us is actually a case of false treatment that the ego wants to give itself. And false treatments are known to fatally aggravate the disease.

Please understand, the ego feels, experiences something is wrong with me, something is wrong with me. We all do that. But it requires a certain effort and a certain expertise, to know what actually is wrong and with whom is the problem. The ego has neither that expertise nor usually the inclination, therefore it just experiences a certain unease without knowing what the unease is about and to whom is the unease. Therefore, driven by the unease, without knowing the unease, it proceeds towards things that it just likes. That’s called 'preya'. It’s called 'preya'.

So, the usual relationship of the ego is a relationship in blindness. I’m not okay, I don’t feel okay, therefore, I rush towards something that I feel will be good for me, I feel will be good for me. And when you do not know what the disease is, then it’s very likely that you will pop up pills that are either totally irrelevant or even quite dangerous. All the methods that the ego adopts to treat its own condition are known to prove ineffective, irrelevant and generally exercises in self-deception. And with time, the ego becomes a master at self-deception. I don’t feel well, I pop a pill. I don’t feel well, I go and buy something. I don’t feel well, I pick up the phone and indulge in gossip. I don’t feel well, I offer myself some kind of distraction, some method to escape from my state, I’ll proceed on a vacation, I’ll go and enjoy some kind of culinary or physical pleasure, I’ll not want to investigate into what really the problem is about.

So, the usual relationship is a relationship of unconscious blindness, instinctive compulsiveness. I don’t know what I want yet I experience, I feel that I want something, so I just almost randomly pick up something. If not randomly, then by looking at others. That is the logic. If such a thing can be called logic at all. “Why are you according this kind of treatment to yourself?” “Because that’s what everybody else is doing.” “Why do you binge shop on weekends?” “Because there’s nothing else to do.” “Why are you taking this decision?” “Well, I don’t know but you know isn’t it obvious?” “It’s not obvious. Kindly explain, why have you taken the decisions that you have.” “No, it’s an absurd question.” “No, it’s not an absurd question. Kindly explain.” “I don’t mean to jettison common sense altogether. I stop this conversation here.”

So, all these things, all these tricks that the ego employs, common sense, obviousness, these are nothing but tropes to hide the lack of self-awareness. Since we do not know what we are doing therefore, we hide behind these comfortable words. We say, “Well, you know, what else, yes obviously.” Those things. That’s wrong relationship.

Any relationship that is formed without knowing who is the one entering that relationship and for what reason is a wrong relationship. The mind is typically an aggregation of the fruits of our wrong relationships. Hope you understand the word relationship. Relationship does not just mean the thing that happens between a man and a woman, as is usually taken. I buy mobile phone, that’s a relationship. I buy a new shirt, that’s a relationship, go to watch a movie that’s a relationship. What does the paint on that wall mean to me, that’s a relationship. There’s the pet that I have, that’s a relationship. I have memories from the past, that’s a relationship. I have hopes for the future, that’s a relationship.

So, typically the mind is full of wrong relationships; because the one forming relationship has no self- knowledge, but it has a lot of unease. Like a man with his body on fire. His capacity to clearly think, clearly see has been paralyzed. He’s on fire, but he’s experiencing extreme pain. That’s the condition of the ego. It experiences but does not know. So, what will the man do? The man will just run about with all the energy possible, in any given direction.

We very well know that when buildings are on fire people often jump from the seventh floor, tenth floor, sixtieth floor. When the WTC (World Trade Centre) was hit 9/11, one of the frames that has become tragically immortalized is that of a man jumping to his death from one of the burning towers. What else can be done?

The mind has lost its capacity to understand. The ego rarely understands but it feels, it feels. And in the rush of that feeling it forms relationships. “I’m off. The mood is bad. What do I do? Well, give me something spicy to eat. Offer me a few drinks.” That’s far easier than venturing into oneself and investigating why exactly is the mood off. That seems like an easier option to just drown oneself in a few drinks. So that a relationship is formed. Now this relationship is not the right relationship. Therefore, the Upanishad is saying that the mind itself is the cause of bondage.

We start with bondages and if we do not know that we are in bondage then every new bonding that we enter into, is actually a new bondage. Bonding is relationship. Right? What we call as bonding is actually bondage. Please understand.

The initial state, the state we start with; as we are born, is that of ignorance. We do not know who we are. Look at the helpless state of a newborn. What does it know? It only feels. What does it understand? It only has instincts and from that state we can either proceed towards understanding, which is liberation or we could simply operate from the state of bondage itself and consequently deepen the bondage. If we form wrong relationships then the state of bondage is deepened. What is a right relationship then?

A right relationship is a product of self-reflection and self- knowledge.

I am seeing what ails me therefore I’m seeing what is it that I must connect to, relate to, what is it that I must bring into my life and what is it that I must expunge from my life. That’s right relationship. Right relationship is a product of self-knowledge. Therefore, when we say that the mind is the cause of bondage and liberation, what we are saying actually is that self- knowledge is the cause of liberation and lack of self- knowledge is the cause of bondage. That’s how the whole shloka translates. That’s Upanishadic wisdom. If you know who you are, you will become much, much better than who you are.

Knowing is radical transformation. Whereas without knowing, it does not matter how much you strive for change, the change will remain superficial. If without striving for change, without desiring for change, you just know what your situation is like, you will find that radical change is happening by itself. That’s the approach of Vedanta. Know and be liberated. Not, do and be liberated. No. Know and be liberated.

You see in the Bhagavad Gita it’s a beautiful thing, chapter one is about the travails of Arjun, he is in a miserable state. Chapter one captures that. Then, chapter two is about knowing Sankhya Yog which is the way of knowledge. Knowing. Chapter three is Karma Yog, action. The message cannot be missed if you know action follows. Chapter 3 follows chapter 2. Right action can come only from understanding. If you understand, right action becomes inevitable. You don’t need to think about it. Understanding is sufficient.

You cannot understand and not act rightly. If you understand, right action will just spontaneously happen. That’s Vedanta. If you understand, right relationships will get formed. You don’t have to strive for the right relationships. But you do have to strive for something.

Please understand. If you are in the maze of wrong relationship, then the wrong relationship itself becomes a barrier against understanding. That’s where dedicated effort is needed. If I have surrounded myself with all kinds of intoxicating objects, that environment will prevent me from self-observation. This is where I’ll need to put an effort.

That brings us to another aspect of Vedanta. The approach of Vedanta, step by step is of negation. Negation. Right things, well they, need not be done. Right things will happen on their own. There is something that does need to be done. What is it? Stopping the wrong things. The approaches of negation classically called as 'Neti-Neti' . Stop all the nonsense. Then the right flowers will bloom by themselves. Clear the clutter and in that pure space something beautiful will happen on its own. You don’t have to create beauty. You have to just clear the ugliness. That’s Vedanta. Beauty is not man-made. Beauty is not something that the ego can create. But there is something indeed that the ego can do, which is to get rid of ugliness. Getting rid of the wrong relationship is the way of Vedanta. Get rid of nonsense and be patient with the virtuous emptiness that is created. Fall in love with that aloneness. In that aloneness the virtue of liberation blooms.

You see that aloneness looks terrifying only to the one who is currently in wrong relationship. If you say aloneness is a terrible thing, Vedanta will again shoot back the same question. To whom aloneness is terrible, well, to whom? To the one who has become accustomed to crutches, mental crutches. You get rid of mental crutches, aloneness is beautiful. And in that aloneness, you get the power, the authority, the capability to strike right relationships. Only when you are comfortable with your aloneness, can right relationship happen. One who is not all right with himself can never be all right with five or ten other objects, irrespective of the number and nature of objects.

Your task is not to find the right one, your task is to get rid of the wrong ones. There is nothing called the right one. If at all there is somebody called the right one it is nobody else but you. You have to become the right one. And who is the right one? The one who has shown the guts and the gumption to get rid of the wrong ones. Get rid of the wrong ones, you yourself are the right one. Then you don’t have to wait for an external right one. You are the right one. That’s Vedanta. Aham Brahmasmi. You are the right one. No right one will come from any external place. If you are right, you are right. If you are wrong, no right one can salvage.

Getting it?

When it is said, 'Mana eva manushyanam karanam bandhmokshyoh'

What is said is actually know yourself. Know thyself. That’s the central message. When you know yourself, you know what’s blocking you. You look at yourself and all you find is a clutter of needless objects, get rid of those objects. Get rid of those objects and remain peacefully in your kaivalya, in that pristine aloneness. That pristine aloneness in Vedanta is known by the great and final name of Atman. Great self, Atman. Atman which is truth.

Vedanta is quite counterintuitive. That’s the reason there is so much importance of that little ‘Eva’. Eva excludes all that we are instinctively drawn to. We think the cause of bondage is situation. No, it’s not the situation. The one in bondage is the cause of the bondage. Nothing outside of you is the cause of your inner situation. Things that are external, external to the body that is, can only affect the body. You are not your body. You cannot be affected by anything except that which you choose to be affected by.

And why do we choose to be affected by something? We think it would be a profitable deal to get affected. You know something is tempting me, I decide to yield to the temptation, decide to get affected. Why? Because there has been some inner calculation that says, “If you yield to the temptation you will benefit.” So, it’s not the thing that I have yielded to. I have yield it to my own inner calculation. Vedanta is trying to exclude that thing from having any power over you.

Vedanta is saying, “No, that thing has no power at all. You are the master of your fate. You are the owner of your life.” Irrespective of what the world is doing to your physical existence you can still be ruler within. And that’s how one has to live. Otherwise, there is no point in living. Living is then a miserable exercise.

Internally one must have his/her own kingdom. As for the outside, well, nobody can determine or predict that. Anything can happen anytime. An earthquake can strike right now. Even as we talk, we do not know how many of us might be having diseases slowly developing within our bodies. All that is external. Not only is the world external, even this body is external. One has no control over that. One must have control over oneself. I cannot determine all the things that will happen to me but I can determine how I will respond to anything that happens. And I can also determine whether or not I will respond and I can determine that in the middle of all that is happening to me I will remain the unaffected, silent, peaceful monarch. Being in all the dignity and all the assurance. That’s the approach of Vedanta.

Mana eva manushyanam karanam bandhmokshyoh

Do not blame the world. Do not play the victim. Do not think that situations can mean anything to you beyond a point. Own up responsibility. Accept the driver’s seat, your own life. Don’t allow the drift to carry you away.

Vedanta is the philosophy of total empowerment. 'Aham brahmasmi', I am highest that there can be. And as long as I’m not that I’ll keep striving. Keep striving by the way of negation, by the way of Neti- Neti. I’ll keep dropping everything that keeps me down. There is no power outside of me, that can have any say over my absolute sovereignty, Aham Brahmasmi, I am the one and I am the only one.

When it comes to the body and the physical existence obviously there are limits and I understand those limits, I respect those limits. I’m not stupid enough to quarrel with that. When it comes to the one that I am the ‘I’, ‘I’, the ‘I’ must be unconditionally free. The ‘I’ is not born unconditionally free. The way for ‘I’ to gain that unconditional freedom is through self-knowledge. I’ll keep observing myself, I’ll watch my tendencies, I’ll see how the body operates, I’ll see what is it commonly called as the thoughts and the feelings, how they arise and fall. Watch all those things and that’s called self-knowledge. Observing myself to come to know who I am and from that knowledge all that is needless is dropped. Once the needless is dropped, find that there is freedom.

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