REASONING

Reasoning is key to investigating the nature of Atman, or Self, with a serene mind that can resolve the sufferings of the Samsara Chakra, or the cycle of birth and death. The reasoning of the investigation is to find ways to unshackle from worldly bondage and ignorance to experience Atma-jnana, or Self-knowledge, to realise Atman, or Self, an inseparable essence of Brahman, or Cosmic Self. That is the way one sets oneself free from ignorance of the ephemeralism of psychophysical and mental chains, restraints, or limitations and restrictions. It describes someone or something that is liberated, uncontrolled, or unburdened, allowing one to act or function without hindrance to become Self-conscious. Reasoning, or 'Vichara', in the Upanishadic language is a mode of contemplation to become Self-conscious of Brahman, or the increate, or the Ultimate Truth. Reasoning encourages Self-enquiry into the nature of Atman by contemplating what Sri Ramana Maharshi used to delve upon: 'Who am I?' or 'Nān Yār' is a core practice of Atma-vichara, or Self-enquiry aiming at discovering one’s true nature by tracing the 'I-thought' to its source, 'Who Am I?’ (David Godman: Sri Ramana Maharshi’s teachings on how to realise the Self). The "I" thought involves moving inward to the quiescence of the mind, negating identification with the body-mind complex to experience the eternal bliss of infinitude and the underlying, Self-awareness. All of your thoughts, perceptions, memories, and ideas, Sri Ramana Maharshi accentuates, are derived from or predicated on a single primal thought that he referred to as the "I" thought. This "I" is comparable to a necklace's string. This "I" thought serves as the thread that permeates all your thoughts, ideas, and perceptions. According to Sri Ramana Maharshi, the subject is represented by this "I". It is your identity and essence. Every thought, perception, and experience that the "I" has is an object. "I" is the subject and the tree is the object when I say, "I see a tree." " When I say, "I feel angry,", anger is the experienced object and "I" is the subject. According to Sri Ramana Maharshi, your focus is always on the things that you, as the subject "I," are feeling, seeing, and perceiving. He claimed that you never realise the true nature of a subject because your focus is always on experienced objects rather than the subject. Interestingly, he asserts that the topic of "I," which you rarely consider, is actually a fabrication. By affixing itself to objects that are not itself, it seems to exist, leading to the illusion of a separate self that is distinct from the true nature of reality. It results from the false belief that "I am a person". "I'm intelligent. I inhabit a specific body. I take action. I have memories of things. This notion is wholly incorrect, as Sri Ramana Maharshi teaches. This belief is what makes you suffer, he says. It causes you to have false beliefs about the world and about yourself. He contends that the belief that you are a human being with a body and a mind is the source of all your false beliefs about God, the world, and yourself. According to Ramana Maharshi, this sense of Self, which he refers to as the "I" thought, must be constantly, consistently, and moment-by-moment questioned. He says you never notice what thinks your thoughts and perceives your perceptions because you're always focused on things that aren't the "I," like your memories, beliefs, and perceptions. Sri Ramana Maharshi says you should concentrate on this topic, the 'I' thought. You're not looking at things you want to learn or study when you do this. In reality, you're looking at the part of yourself that perceives your perceptions and thinks your thoughts.

1. Outline

Reasoning is through contemplation and meditation and experienced by direct Self-experience rather than logical debate. It is reflected on truths already intuitively in perception or revelation based on Self-experience that follows Sravana, or listening to the scriptures; Manana, or reasoning/reflection; and Nididhyasana, or meditation/contemplation (Swami Sivananda, Methods of Vedantic Sadhana, Divine Life Society, Rishikesh). Swami Sivananda says if the Ahankara-Mala, or the impurity of egoism, is destroyed, the other two impurities, viz., the Kama-Mala (impurity of desires) and the Karma-Mala (impurity of action), will be destroyed by themselves. How, then, can there be Prarabdha, or destiny, for a Jivanmukta or the liberated sage? He is one with the Supreme Absolute. Reasoning is synchronous with Vedantic texts to understand the underlying, unchanging Self. It often works by comparing intuitions and experiences, allowing for a gradual progression towards higher levels of understanding. It aims to establish that consciousness is Brahmān, or Cosmic Self, or Absolute Existence. That which is Absolute, that which occupies all space, that which is complete in itself, that to which there is no second, and that which is ever-present in everything, from the highest to the lowest of existence, is known as Brahmān. It signifies that the universe is a unified, conscious whole, as proclaimed aphoristically in Mahāvākyas, or Great Sayings: “Ayam Ātmā Brahma,” Mandukya Upanishad (1.2), Atharva Veda, signifies "This Self, or  (Atman) is Brahman"; “Aham Brahmāsmi,” Brihadāranyaka Upanishad (1.4.10), Śukla Yajur Veda, means “I am Brahmān"; “Prajñānam Brahma,” Aitareya Upanishad (3.3), Rig Veda, connotes "Consciousness is Brahmān"; and “Tat Tvam Asi,” Chāndogya Upanishad (6.8.7), Sāma Veda, denotes "Thou art That." These perspicacious statements encapsulate the essence of non-dualism in Vedanta, which can be "Ayam Atmā Brahma", "Tat Tvam Asi", "Prajñānam Brahma", or "Aham Brahmāsmi". " They succinctly explore the interconnectedness of Atman, or Self, and Brahman, or Cosmic Self, or Absolute Existence. Through reasoning based on contemplation and meditation, one can begin to grasp the deeper meaning behind these teachings. The Upanishads (e.g., yyy Upanishad, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Aitareya Upanishad, Mandukya Upanishad Katha Upanishad indicates that knowledge cannot be reached through sheer logic alone, as it can lead to erratic conclusions; it must be tempered with spiritual discipline. Yoga-Vasistha (2.14.1-54) teaches that the central theme of reasoning is Atma-Vicara, or Self-enquiry, i.e., incessantly introspecting "Who am I?" to overcome the deep-rooted ignorance and analysing the nature of Reality and Atman, or Self. Secondly, reasoning is Śāstrāvabodhāmalayā dhiyā, or intellect purified by Scripture; that enquiry is not merely an idle thought, and the mind must first be purified through the study of scriptures to ensure the enquiry is to experience Reality, or Truth. Thirdly, Dīrghasaṃsārarogasya, or disease of long-lasting worldliness of the Samsara characterised by cycle of birth, death, and mundane existence, is a chronic disease that can be overcome by a tranquil mind of reasoning. Fourthly, reasoning is mahauṣadham, or great medicine that can cure the disease emerging from the Samsara Chakra, or the wheel of birth and death. Finally, when reason becomes sharp through incessant Self-enquiry, it awakens its consciousness to realise Paraṃ Padaṃ of Brahman, or the Supreme State of Cosmic Self of eternal bliss.

2. Scriptures

Yoga-Vasistha (2.14.1-54) asserts that liberation is achieved through rational enquiry, Self-reasoning, and the discarding of unreasonable beliefs. It advises calibrating the intellect to discriminate between Real and unreal, eternal and transience, and bliss and sensual pleasures so as to remove the veil of ignorance to understand the true nature of the phenomenal world of bondages, sufferings, miseries, diseases, birth, growth, decay and death. Yoga-Vasistha (2.14.2-3) contends that understanding, when sharpened by reasoning, comes to view the transcendent state. Reasoning is the best companion and the only best medicine for the chronic disease of worldliness. By reasoning through all these, one can contemplate and meditate upon the Self to realise Self-knowledge for eternal bliss and liberation. Yoga-Vasistha describes reason as the "divine eyesight" that allows individuals to see truth, preventing them from falling into the dark pits of ignorance. It calls for discarding unreasonableness and irrational beliefs, which are described as the abode of dangers and calamities. It proclaims that Truth can be ascertained based on True knowledge and enquiry of Self.  It urges control of the mind through reasoning, freeing it from the "mirage of the world". Reason is likened to a traveller who knows the way, enabling them to escape the sufferings and miseries of the Samsara Chakra, or the cycle of birth and death. There is no expedient for the learned and wise except reason, affirms Yoga-Vasistha (2.14.5-9); it is by means of reason that the minds of virtuous people can avoid evil and secure their well-being All our strength and understanding, our valour and renown, and the ends of our actions result from our reasoning with the intelligent. If ignorant men have ever achieved a better state in life, it is solely due to the illumination provided by their reasoning. Reason is the lamp to show us the right and wrong and the instrument for the accomplishment of our desires. The man of right judgement is not liable to fall into the long and dangerous maze of error but remains as a blaze of light amidst the gloom of ignorance. According to Yoga-Vasistha (2.14.23–26), man's capacity for reasoning, along with the silvery flapper of excellent understanding and the flag of divine knowledge, shines like moonlight in the night. Men with the beneficial grace of reason dispel the gloom of worldliness and cast a sun-like radiance around them. Reasoning destroys the false apparitions of mistakes that appear in boys' minds like ghosts in the night sky. Everything in the world seems real, but it's not; it's like the clods of earth broken by the hammering stone of reason.

3. Remarks 

In Yoga-Vasistha, reasoning is a perspicacious process of self-enquiry and discrimination used to ascertain the true nature of Reality, dismantle the ego emanating from the psycho-physical structure, and liberate the mind to comprehend the unmanifest dimension underlying the manifest one. It is illustrated as the "second gatekeeper" to freedom and a crucial tool to discern Reality, Truth and Existence. It analyses all these to remove the suffering caused by ignorance in the objective dimension. The neglect of reasoning, according to Yoga-Vasistha, is compared to putting black powder in one's eyes. It blinds the individual, preventing them from seeing the truth (reality) and making them see the world as dark, hopeless, and illusory, similar to how one might misperceive objects in the dark. Lack of reasoning-based Self-enquiry acts like intoxication. It confuses the intellect, creates illusions, and makes the mind irrational and unstable, just as a drunken person cannot distinguish between right and wrong. According to Yoga-Vasistha (2.14.27), men torment themselves through the false imaginations of their own minds; only reason has the power to banish this persistent ghost from their thoughts. Yoga-Vasistha (2.14.52–53) proclaims the wise who cling to the truth and reject all untruth in this world are still unable to recognise their true selves without the use of reason. Reason leads to the discovery of truth, and truth leads to mental tranquillity, which eliminates human suffering.

-Asutosh Satpathy