higher mind has to come into operation. How it comes into operation, we cannot say.
Sometimes it comes like a flash and opens up the inner vision, and tells us that there
is a faculty in us which is superior to ordinary intellect. It is this inward faculty in us
that tells us the distinction that exists between the permanent and the impermanent,
and the proper relationship between the not-Self and the Self.
If we properly contemplate the implications of what we do from morning to night
every day, we will realise that everything that we do is nothing but feeding this
ignorance and acting according to its dictates, because what is it that we do except to
confirm the fact that there is a not-Self outside? Our thought, our feeling, our speech,
our action, our attitude, our duty, whatever it is—is a confirmation that there is a not-
Self. Unless our activities take a different turn altogether in the direction of the
remedying of this wrong notion of the presence of a real not-Self, mere hectic activity
will not help, as it can only be the fulfilment of the requirements of ignorance.
Who in this world does not believe the reality of a not-Self, or an object of sense? Is
there anyone in this world who does not have the conviction that what he sees, or she
sees, is real in itself? And, is there any activity which is not based on this notion? So,
we can imagine what will be the outcome of all these activities. They will be only
adding fuel to the fire that is already blazing due to the action of this ignorance. But,
when this endeavour on the part of the perceiving consciousness in respect of the
objects of sense gets re-evaluated and takes a new turn altogether, then this binding
activity can become a liberating activity. That is the subtle difference between
discriminative perception of an object and emotional perception of an object. The
scientific observation of a thing is different from an observation that is coupled with
attachment—like, dislike, etc. Gradually the mind has to be disentangled from its
obsessions in respect of things, and the perceptions should become detached
observations for the purpose of the complete extrication of the mind from its
emotional relationships.
Anitya aśuci duḥkha anātmasu nitya śuci sukha ātma khyātiḥ avidyā (II.5). To sum up
what this sutra tells us, while it is true that ignorance is the breeding ground for all
the effects thereof—like, dislike, and so on—this ignorance has a fourfold prong with
which it moves into action. These four manifestations, which have been mentioned,
are: the appearing of the not-Self as the Self, the regarding of impermanent things as
permanent, painful experiences as pleasures, and impure things as pure. This is a
frightening disclosure, indeed, of the facts of our experiences in this world, because
there is no experience which is free from these defects. We cannot humanly imagine
a kind of experience which is not involved in these defects. It means to say that
ignorance rules the world and, therefore, pain cannot be avoided. Where erroneous
perception is present, a sort of sorrow naturally should follow.
Every one of these effects of avidya is properly being described. While the nature of
ignorance is of this particular feature mentioned, its immediate progeny, which is
asmita, or the self-affirming faculty which becomes egoism later on, is again a kind
of mix-up of values between the perceiver and what is perceived. This is what is
known in Vedanta as adhyasa—the character of the Self getting transferred to the
object and, vice versa, the character of the object getting transferred to the Self. The
confirmation that one exists as an individual—the rootedness of oneself in the feeling
‘I am’ as a separate individual—is called asmita. This feeling that you exist, or I exist,
is also a mistake. It is not wisdom, because the affirmation ‘I am’ is the outcome of a