Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

and now wants to find itself. It has reached maturity and wants to come into its Divine
heritage. Ordinary Viveka is merely a symptom of these changes which are taking
place in the recesses of the soul.
Now, the point to be noted here is that this kind of Viveka is only a reflection of
the spiritual consciousness into the lower mind, a sensing, as it were, of the Reality
hidden within us. It is not an actual awareness of Reality. Viveka-Khyati is an actual
awareness of Reality, a direct, immediate contact with the innermost spiritual con-
sciousness, Pratyaksa knowledge of Reality. What the sense of touch is to the sense of
sight that is Viveka to Viveka-Khyati. In the case of the former we merely sense the
Reality within us more or less dimly. In the case of the latter we are in direct contact
with it though in different degrees.
The awareness of Reality or Viveka-Khyati is the opposite of Avidya—lack of
awareness of Reality, the two being related to each other as light and darkness. When
the Purusa is fully aware of Reality he is out of the dominion of Avidya. When he
loses this awareness he relapses into Avidya and the other Klesas. It will be seen that
real discrimination between the Real and the unreal is possible only when we have ex-
perienced Reality and know both the Real and the unreal. When a beginner is asked to
discriminate between the Real and the unreal what is really meant is that he should
learn to discriminate between the things of permanent value in life and those which are
transitory.
In the light of what has been said above the meaning of the Sutra we are dealing
with should become clear. Since Avidya can be overcome only by the awareness of
Reality the cultivation of the latter obviously is the only means whereby release from
bondage can be achieved. The significance of the word Aviplava is, of course, appar-
ent. The awareness must be continuous, undisturbed. It is only then that Kaivalya may
be considered to be attained. A mere glimpse of Reality does not constitute Kaivalya
although it certainly shows that the goal is near. The Purusa must have reached the
stage where this awareness can no longer be obscured even temporarily by Avidya.
This point is developed more fully in the last Section.