Drg Drsya Viveka | The Seer and the Seen

Verses: 43, 44, 45
- The reality/unreality of dreams.
- What is Pratibhasika reality?
- 'Turiya' is present in all the three states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep, but also transcends them all.
- Existence, Consciousness and Bliss, which are the natural characteristics ‘swarupa-lakshana’ (‘स्वरूप-लक्षण’) of the 'Sakshi ('साक्षी) or Brahman appear to inhere in the 'Vyavaharika Jiva' and the 'Pratibhasika Jiva'.

Verses: 32, 33, 35, 40, 41
- Psychological problems can have no permanent solutions at the psychological level.
- They can have permanent solutions only at the spiritual level.
- Ascent in self-identity: Contrasting examples of Fyodor Dostoevsky and Valmiki, the great Sanskrit poet of India and the author of the ancient classic 'Ramayana'.
- Only the non-participating Witness ( the 'Self' - साक्षी) is Absolutely Real because it is unchanging.
- The appearance of 'Jiva' is only because of the association of 'Upadhis'.
- The two powers in Maya:
- The power of false projection (vikshepa-sakti)
- The power of concealing the true nature of the reality (avarana-sakti).
- 'Maya' is neither Absolutely Real, Nor Absolutely Unreal.
- अवछ्छेदवाद, आभासवाद, and प्रतिबिम्बवाद further elaborated. (verse: 33)
- Who is the highest devotee of God? How to reach that level?
- The three levels of Reality in Advaita Vedanta explained.

Verses: 27, 28, 30

- 'Madhyama samadhi' explained.
- The great statement ('Mahavakya'): 'TATTWVAMASI' ( तत्त्वमसि )explained .
- Analysis of the two 'padarthas': 'tat' and 'tvam' .
- Importance of ' Śraddhā (श्रद्धा) for the student/ spiritual aspirant.
- Link to the transcendental: its usefulness in everyday life.
- Constant, natural effortless, spontaneous contemplation on Brahman.
- Highest devotion (भक्ति), and the highest knowledge ( ज्ञानं ) are the same at the experience level.
- Natural state of a 'Jivanmukta' ('liberated-in-life'):
- How all delusions vanish with the dawn of Advaitic experience: the fetters of the heart are broken, all doubts and negativity disappear.
- Every activity becomes an act of worship, every word becomes a sacred 'mantra', every thought becomes a meditation, the secular merges with the spiritual, and the whole life becomes spiritualized.

Verses: 20, 26, 27
- Everything in this world has five aspects, ie, the permanent, unchanging substratum consisting of Existence- Consciousness - Bliss ( सत्- चित् - आनन्द ), and the impermanent changing aspect, consisting of names and forms,
(nama-rupa ) which constitute 'Maya'.

- The Absolute Reality, Existence- Consciousness - Bliss (सत्- चित् - आनन्द) is beyond the five conditions of verbalization ( beyond the five categories of definitions, descriptions etc. (sabda-pravritti-nimitta).

- Nirvikalpa-samadhi explained:

- The mind of a person who has attained 'Nirvikalpa Samadhi' compared to a lamp kept in sheltered, windless place- it never flickers; it is always steady.

- The five states of mind according to Yoga psychology explained:
Ksipta, Mudha, Viksipta, Ekagra, Niruddha

- Different forms of 'Samadhi': (a) with the help of an external object and,
(b) with the help of an internal object.

Verses: 16, 17, 37, 38, 31

- Jiva, The embodied Self , freed from the veiling and projecting powers of Maya, discovers its true identity with the non-participating Witness (साक्षी) .

- Then we realize that all 'vikaras' (changes) belong to the world only.
- What is 'Prarabdha-Karma '? How does it operate in our everyday life?
- Shankaracharya's rejection of the Mimamsakas' obsession with Vedic ritualism.
- Three approaches to Reality in Advaita: Paramarthika, Vyavaharika and Pratibhasika
- अवछ्छेद वाद, आभासवाद, and प्रतिबिम्बवा: more details.

- Constant contemplation, unbroken flow of awareness
- The different schools of Advaita Vedanta: 'Bhamati', 'Vivarana' and 'Vartika'

- The illustration from the Chandogya Upanishad: Spiritual awakening and the role of an 'Acharya' or a 'Guru".

Verses: 10 - 14

- Waking (जाग्रत), Dreaming (स्वप्न), Deep Sleep (सुषुप्ति) and beyond: Turiya (तुरिय)
- The 'I' consciousness in the three states of consciousness: 'THE WITNESS'.
-The psychological and spiritual dynamics of ' AVASTHATRAYA '
-'Avasthatraya- saakshi'.
- The mechanism of Maya and 'adhyasa' (अध्यास:)
- The mystery of Maya and how does it work in our life?
- Concealment of our true nature and false projection.
- The two functions of 'Maya' elaborated: the power of veiling the Reality and the power of projection, causing the expansive manifestations of the manifold creation.
- The way out of Maya: Sadhana-chatushtaya (the four spiritual disciplines: Ref: class:2).
- Shravana, manana, nididhyasana & devotion- (bhakti) eventually, through Moksha.
- Atman, the non-participating witness.
- अवछ्छेद वाद, आभासवाद, and प्रतिबिम्बवाद elaborated.
- The spiritual aspect of perfect health.
- The mystery of creation - in Advaita Vedanta.

Verses 1, 2, 3, 5

A brief overview of the text and the topics discussed:
-The eternal conflict: What we want and what our mind is willing to do.
-The cause of problems in our everyday life: forgetting the impermanence of the worldly experiences.
-The subject and the objects, the seer ('drashta') and the seen ('drshya'), the perceiver and the perceived, the witness and the witnessed
-A phenomenological approach
-The form is the seen and objectified.
-Worldly objects and experiences change every moment.
-Atman is the unchanging seer and the eternal witness (साक्षी), which is beyond immanence and transcendence.
-Atman, the eternal, unchanging revealer of all, the 'light of all lights'.

- 'Drg-Drsya-Viveka' is an introductory book on Advaita Vedanta, technically called a 'Prakarana Grantha (प्रकरण ग्रंथ),
which teaches the identity and oneness of the individual Jiva and Paramatman.

- Vedanta is not a new knowledge; it reminds us of our true reality; it is the re-discovery of our own true nature.

- Atman (knowledge of Atman) is not something that could be produced or transformed or attained or purified.
- (" न उत्पाद्यं, न विकार्यम्, न आप्यं, न संस्कार्यं " - Shankaracharya’s commentary on the Ishavasya Upanishad).

Some important topics discussed are:
-Spiritual sleep and awakening
-The laws of karma and re-incarnation
-The wheel of karma - vrtti - samskara - vasana - samkalpa and again karma...
-The importance of Sadhana Chatushtaya (साधनचतुष्टय)
-Different forms of 'samadhi'.