Just like the Panchadasi, there is another gem in vedanta called the Drig-Drishya viveka. Or in simple terms Seer-Seen discrimination. It was probably written by the teacher of vidyarani swami, Bharati tirtha. It is a short treatise on specific aspects of vedanta using very tight logical thinking.
The first verse essentially says
"Different forms are perceived by the eyes
Eyes are perceived by the mind
Mind is perceived by the consciousness
It is not perceived by anything".
Forms stands for all objects that we perceive. It may stand for people, flowers, the sky , stars etc etc. Anything which has a name and a form is perceived by us by the sense organs. Here even though the eye is mentioned it means all the sensory organs.
Forms may be different in that the attributes are different. Colors and shapes are different . All these forms are varied . But the eyes are the same which perceives all of them. So in this chain , we see that the objects are many the subject eye is the same.
But the verse says the eyes are also not the subject. Because blindness , blurred , clear vision etc are perceived by the mind. So even the subject eye is not actually the subject. It is only the subject with respect to the forms. For the mind it is an object of perception . The same mind can perceive the changing states of the eye. So the mind is the subject here.
But the verse says even the mind is not unchanging. Thoughts come and go and the state of the mind is also changing.
So these changing aspects of the mind is observed by the pure consciousness or the true witness which is the true subject in this case.
So we have so many objects like the names and forms , the eyes , even the mind . All the subjects in a situation are only relative ( eye is subject relative to form ) . The true subject is the awareness which is not perceived by anything and is unchanging.
So you can see we are trying to discriminate between what is changing and what does not. This is the meaning of the term vivekam.. or discrimination.
We see another interesting aspect here.
Change is possible only if there is a common substratum of un-changeability. So that which is truly doesn't change is the absolute reality from which the changing relative forms arise.
So it is from the pure consciousness the mind arises, the different names and forms arises. It is intimately connected with the truth of existence.
In vedanta we call the objects as insentient or jada prakriti. While the subject is the sentient reality.
A doubt here may arise. The mind is capable of cognition which is an aspect of consciousness . How is this possible if it is insentient.
The answer is given in this . The faculty called mind is actually made of budhi or the intellect and mind or manas. Both of them reflect the true consciousness. A reflection is always not as true as the original. Hence its imperfection. The ego is the reflection by the mind of the pure consciousness.
It is because of the reflective nature that the faculty mind acquires cognition . However since it is only a reflection, the cognition is flawed.
Each experience is interpreted , twisted and projected by the imperfections in the mind.
Ramana maharshi gives this example.
Imagine a dark room where there is no light source. A mirror is placed outside which reflects the sun shining outside into the room. It is possible to see objects in the room using the reflection from the mirror . For the room it looks like the light source, however it is not as brilliant as the sunlight itself. The person unless inquires about the real light source may be happy living inside using reflected light. The mind is the mirror here while the sunlight is the pure consciousness which illumines all and is not reflected and is unchanging.
So a truly spiritual person always tries to find the true unchanging reality underneath the cloud of relative changes and illusion . His gaze would be fixed on the sun and nothing else.
The first verse essentially says
"Different forms are perceived by the eyes
Eyes are perceived by the mind
Mind is perceived by the consciousness
It is not perceived by anything".
Forms stands for all objects that we perceive. It may stand for people, flowers, the sky , stars etc etc. Anything which has a name and a form is perceived by us by the sense organs. Here even though the eye is mentioned it means all the sensory organs.
Forms may be different in that the attributes are different. Colors and shapes are different . All these forms are varied . But the eyes are the same which perceives all of them. So in this chain , we see that the objects are many the subject eye is the same.
But the verse says the eyes are also not the subject. Because blindness , blurred , clear vision etc are perceived by the mind. So even the subject eye is not actually the subject. It is only the subject with respect to the forms. For the mind it is an object of perception . The same mind can perceive the changing states of the eye. So the mind is the subject here.
But the verse says even the mind is not unchanging. Thoughts come and go and the state of the mind is also changing.
So these changing aspects of the mind is observed by the pure consciousness or the true witness which is the true subject in this case.
So we have so many objects like the names and forms , the eyes , even the mind . All the subjects in a situation are only relative ( eye is subject relative to form ) . The true subject is the awareness which is not perceived by anything and is unchanging.
So you can see we are trying to discriminate between what is changing and what does not. This is the meaning of the term vivekam.. or discrimination.
We see another interesting aspect here.
Change is possible only if there is a common substratum of un-changeability. So that which is truly doesn't change is the absolute reality from which the changing relative forms arise.
So it is from the pure consciousness the mind arises, the different names and forms arises. It is intimately connected with the truth of existence.
In vedanta we call the objects as insentient or jada prakriti. While the subject is the sentient reality.
A doubt here may arise. The mind is capable of cognition which is an aspect of consciousness . How is this possible if it is insentient.
The answer is given in this . The faculty called mind is actually made of budhi or the intellect and mind or manas. Both of them reflect the true consciousness. A reflection is always not as true as the original. Hence its imperfection. The ego is the reflection by the mind of the pure consciousness.
It is because of the reflective nature that the faculty mind acquires cognition . However since it is only a reflection, the cognition is flawed.
Each experience is interpreted , twisted and projected by the imperfections in the mind.
Ramana maharshi gives this example.
Imagine a dark room where there is no light source. A mirror is placed outside which reflects the sun shining outside into the room. It is possible to see objects in the room using the reflection from the mirror . For the room it looks like the light source, however it is not as brilliant as the sunlight itself. The person unless inquires about the real light source may be happy living inside using reflected light. The mind is the mirror here while the sunlight is the pure consciousness which illumines all and is not reflected and is unchanging.
So a truly spiritual person always tries to find the true unchanging reality underneath the cloud of relative changes and illusion . His gaze would be fixed on the sun and nothing else.
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