November 2005 Retreat
Introspection, Discrimination and Self-Analysis

In his opening remarks on the subject, Introspection, Discrimination and Self-Analysis, Swami noted that for any civilized man the important thing is freedom from the senses, not freedom of the senses; that self-restraint, not indiscriminate enjoyment, marks the difference between a civilized and an uncivilized man; that civilization is not possible without self-restraint of sense enjoyments by individuals of a society. He noted that the downfalls of many great civilizations were largely proceeded by moral and physical weakness, as these societies engaged in indiscriminate pursuit of sensual enjoyment.

Swami said the higher purpose of life is getting knowledge, wisdom, peace and joy; finally, attaining truth and true freedom. The three things necessary to channel the energy and to practice the restraint necessary to fulfill this higher purpose are introspection, discrimination and self-analysis. These three can be applied to various aspects of our personalities and existence; our physical, intellectual, mental, moral and spiritual lives.

As examples of how we consciously or unconsciously practice introspection, discrimination and self-analysis in daily life, he said we practice: Introspection, when personal tragedy strikes and we wonder of the purpose of life; Discrimination, at the marketplace, balancing what we would like with what we can afford; and Self-analysis, when we decide to control our temper.

In illustrating these concepts for better understanding, the swami noted that introspection is more than mere observation, since analysis of thoughts, feelings and motives regarding one's body, mind, existence, family, friends, work and environment are necessary. Our thoughts are at conscious, sub-conscious and supra-conscious levels of the mind; with our conscious thoughts just the tip of the iceberg. We must become aware of the depth of the mind and our thoughts; some beautiful, some hideous, through introspection.

Ordinary purposes for introspection are; to become aware of the present condition of our minds; to become are of the mind's strengths and weaknesses; it's dark and light sides. This awareness is necessary to cleanse our thoughts, feelings and motives for peace and joy. Another ordinary purpose of introspection is to establish harmony between body, mind, speech and action. In establishing this harmony we find disharmony at various levels of existence; mind, body, family, work, etc., and a higher type of introspection is needed. And what is this higher type of introspection?

"First of all, who am I? To enquire as to the serious questions related to our life. Very important questions relevant for our own existence. Who am I? Am I just this body and mind? What is my real nature? How can I realize my real nature? What was my state before my birth? And what will happen to me after death? Is there is a Self? Does it continue to exist even after death? What is rebirth? Who is reborn? What is freedom? I mean spiritual freedom. What is the purpose of this life? Is it just to earn money? To lead a comfortable life with family and friends? How am I connected with my friends and family? What is the basis of our relationship? Is there anything permanent in these relationships? What purpose is fulfilled by these relationships? What is this universe? What is the basis of this universe? What is God? How am I connected with God? How can I get eternal peace and joy and strength and knowledge?"

"The purpose of this higher type of introspection is to solve the problems of life and death; of pain and suffering; of finding Eternal Life" said the swami. "Higher discrimination is understanding the difference between Self and non-self, the real and the unreal, of truth and falsehood; the difference between Brahman and maya."

"First, I said to understand the difference," he continued. "Then to understand that all goodness, holiness, joy, peace, wisdom and freedom flow from the Self. And suffering, peacelessness, ignorance, bondage flow from the non-Self. Now in our present condition the Self and the non-self have been mixed up within us. Subject and object, God and maya are mixed up. An example of this is when it is said, that the hot water burnt his hand. When we make this statement, actually what burnt the hand? Has the water burnt it or the heat which is in that water? We have Self and non-self mixed up in our existence. In us, the Self, the real thing, is our soul; and the non-self are the other things - body, mind, intelligence, senses. Now the Self and non-self, coexist in our being."

"Naturally to practise this higher type of discrimination, we have to understand the difference between the Self and non-self, eternal and non-eternal, temporary and permanent, Brahman and maya. We must try to understand and practise it accordingly. Once Sri Ramakrishna was visiting Calcultta with his nephew Hriday in a horse carriage. Then it was British India and Hriday drew Sri Ramakrishna's attention of to a magnificient palace where the British Governor General live. 'Oh, uncle see what a magnificient palace this is.' When Sri Ramakrishna looked at it, he told Hriday that building was just bricks upon bricks, nothing more than that. So at the back of every beautiful edifice or garment, either there is steel or there are bricks or there is cotton."

"Sri Ramakrishna taught discrimination about money by saying that one should not hanker too much after earning money. Because after all, one should know the purpose of earning money. What does money do? Well, it helps you to get the basic necessities of life for yourself and your family, but money cannot give peace. You cannot purchase peace and you cannot realize God with the help of money. Money cannot help you in realizing God, in realizing the Self. So you should know the limitations of money."

"Then how temporary and fragile is name and fame. The same person who praises me today, will criticise me tomorrow. I am always amused to read reports in newspapers about the performance of a player. Suppose a player plays very well; soccer or cricket or baseball; the newspaper reporter is full of praise for that player. But the next day if the player plays badly, then that same newspaper is full of criticism. So you see, the same newspaper and the same sports journalist. So fragile and short lived is this type of name and fame."

"Sri Ramakrishna said in the Gospel again and again; try to discriminate that only the magician is real, and not his magic. His magic is unreal. So don't be charmed by the magic of the magician. Don't be overwhelmed, moved; don't be cheated by the magic of the magician. He gives as one example: a magician appeared before a king and wanted to perform. The king agreed. The next moment, everyone saw, including the king, that a person in the dress of a soldier with weapons appeared on horseback. Of course this was just magic. Now, that king belonged to a class of Jnani, a follower of the path of Jnana, or knowledge. So he started discriminating. After all what is the truth in it. What is the real thing in this performance. Is this horse true? No. Are these weapons true? No. Is the dress of the soldier true? No. And when he started discriminating in this way, finally he saw only the magician standing there, and all else had vanished. All his magic vanished. So Sri Ramakrishna remarked that only Brahman is true, Brahman is the magician. All these manifestation of God as the universe, these are all his magic. All this splendour, the universe with all its attractions is but the magic of the magician. And these are all short lived, temporary, non eternal and non permanent. So don't be moved, don't be cheated, don't be overwhelmed, don't be misguided by these manifestations, by this magic of that greatest magician, God. This is how to discriminate, as Sri Ramakrishna taught."

"Then there is another type of discrimination; regarding our agency. The discrimination that - O God, you are the doer. I do and you make me do. You are the doer, I am the agent. You are the operator, I am the machine. You are the indweller, I am the house. You are the charioteer, I am the chariot. Then who is the real doer? It is God who is the real doer. I am just the instrument. This is another very, very important aspect of discrimination."

"You see one of the most important problems of spiritual life is the ego, our vanity. Now how to eliminate that ego? By thinking that we are really the agent, and God is really the doer, we can eliminate our ego. And the elimination of ego is very important for the building of our moral and spiritual life. So, this type of discrimination is also very important."

Swami discussed the practice of introspection, discrimination and self-analysis. Introspection as often as possible, but discrimination and self-analysis must be practiced everyday. "For example," said Swami, "Am I following the ideal of my life? Have I hurt anyone? Have I told a lie? Have I become greedy? Have I passed my time in an idle way? Have I followed my daily routine sincerely? This is how we should do our self analysis every day. And for that you should devote some time. The best thing is this, either in the morning or in the evening, we should sit at a fixed time and then we should make this sort of self-analysis."

The swami said that this practice requires the help of our intelligence and our conscience. We can help our secular intelligence become a higher intelligence by listening to spiritual talks, praying sincerely and intensely, the company of the holy, visiting holy places and being selective in our study of spiritual books, such as the Bible, Vedas or Upanishads; books written by realized souls, like Swami Vivekananda.

Again, the swami pointed out that there are no instruments to measure self-analysis and discrimination and we measure others because it appears to be more interesting. We shouldn't fall to temptations and provocations and then justify them, but see them as failings or deviations and struggle to rectify them.

"By struggling and by devotion to God, we will be established in discrimination. As, again, Swami Vivekananda gave the example of a cow that does not commit any mistake, but a cow remains a cow. We commit mistakes, but we also become realized souls.

"Finally, my last point is that we should combine both our head and our heart. While all these things; introspection, discrimination and self-analysis we do by our head, so to say, at the same time we have to manifest our heart. We should take the help of our heart. That is devotion to God and love for others. We have to combine our head and heart. We have to combine our power of reasoning and at the same time our devotion to God and love for others. This is the royal road of realization of God, realization of Self. The royal road for attaining the highest truth."

- Contributed by Ashish Gupta