VICHAAR - SPIRITUAL INQUIRY

That person is a companion, a friend, and a beloved of mine, who
engages in Vichaar of God's Name, in the company of the Sat —
Truth (sggs 108). The Gurmukh inquires into the essence of Reality
(sggs 119). The Divine Light has dawned, and darkness has been
dispelled. By practicing Vichaar, I have obtained the Jewel of the Divine
Name (sggs 1349). Through the Shabad-Vichaar, the Name abides
within the mind (sggs 158). One is not liberated by merely seeing;
he must practice Shabad-Vichaar (sggs 594).
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At the entrance to the Realm of the Truth, there are four guards; one of them is Spiritual-inquiry or Vichaar. The other three are physical and mental control, contentment in all situations, and association of the Sat (Truth). In order to get to the Essence of Reality, one sincerely needs to make friendship with them. If we succeed in cultivating friendship with one of these, the other three will follow spontaneously and naturally.

What is Vichaar? Everything is within the body, including the Truth. The Divine Teaching reveals how we all are One with this Truth — That which is Absolute, eternal and infinite, formless, indestructible, illimitable and complete. Vichaar enables one to experience and realize this. Therefore, the spiritual practice of Vichaar, quest of his True Self (Self-inquiry: ਆਤਮਕ ਜੀਵਨ ਦੀ ਪੜਤਾਲ) is the introspective meditation that yields Self-knowledge (Aatam-Giaan: ਆਤਮਕ ਜੀਵਨ ਦੀ ਸੂਝ).

Thus, Vichaar is to constantly inquire, reflect, contemplate, investigate, or directly look into: "Who am I? How can I know where I came from? Where did I originate, and where will I go and merge? How am I bound, and how do I obtain liberation? How do I merge with intuitive ease (Sahaj) into the Eternal? What is this world: the place of repeated birth and death? How I have come into being in this temporal and transient state? What is mind? Who is the sufferer? What is the Truth?", and so on. As the spiritual Vichaar relates to Giaan (or Giyan), the Self-knowledge arises with the aid and practice of such inner inquiry, followed by Sahaj Avasthaa (natural state of Being), intuitive Peace, true Understanding, pure Love or Devotion (Bhagti), unselfishness, and ending of all material suffering. The Gurbani (Sri Guru Granth Sahib, SGGS) declares:

Self-inquiry (Shabad-Vichaar, Aatam-Vichaar, etc.) leads to Self-realization. Those who have realized the True Nature of their Real Self emphasize the fact that it is impossible to communicate the experience of the True Self to others. One must experience it for himself. To do that they urge us to undertake Vichaar. Through this process one reaches the subtlest level of one's True Self, losing his body-consciousness (egoism or Haume) in the process. The mind by nature is outgoing as the senses and the intellect force the mind to seek the world of objects. By engaging the mind in repeated Vichaar, it acquires the purity to return to its Source. It is like a salt candy when thrown in water it loses its identity; similarly, the mind plunged in the Self loses its false identity and attains its true identity as Pure Awareness.

As stated in the the scriptures, human beings are only animals unless they are Self-realized. This leads to the following question: What is it that prevents us from becoming realized? It's the ego-mind — the sense of "I, me, mine, your" — which veils the Truth, preventing us from seeing the Reality of it. Since our own mind is the troublemaker, the scriptures urge us to "kill" it. The death of ego-mind in essence is linking (Yoga) with God within. When the physical ego dies, the Truth shines forth from behind the mind.

How can the false ego be killed? Depending on the psychological types of spiritual aspirants, the enlightened men and the scriptures have suggested processes of Nishakaam Karma (selfless service or Sevaa), Bhagti (love and devotion), Giaan (knowledge), and meditation (Simran). According to the Gurbani, all these methods are interlocked. Because all individuals to some degree are blend of physically active being, emotional being, intellectual being, and meditative being; hence each method blends into the next; each method balances and strengthens the others. Therefore, as far as spiritual practice of seeking the Ultimate Reality goes, the ideal situation would be to cultivate a balance of these processes as indicated throughout the Gurbani (sggs). For example, the aids and interrelationship of different methods in the practice for reaching the Self is indicated in the following verse of the Gurbani.

The aids thus offered by different methods is not contradictory but complementary to each other. The practice of Vichaar in particular relates to Giaan or knowledge — not knowledge in the intellectual sense — but the knowledge of Aatamaan and Parmaatamaan and the realization of their Oneness. Therefore, Vichaar, then, is the search for Self-knowledge as well as the search for Formless Truth (also called God, Self, Satguru, etc.). Knowledge of the Self reveals the Truth to be of the nature of Being-Awareness-Bliss: eternal, infinite, formless, imperishable, limitless, perfect, full-and-filling. What is the Truth? The Truth which is omnipotent, omnipresent, and which is Pure Awareness devoid of any change is referred to by various names as God, Self, Light, Infinite Consciousness, Existence, Knowledge, Bliss, Absolute Reality, Parmaatamaan, Ishwara, Allah, Waheguru, Raam, Satguru, Shabad, Naam, and so on. It is expressed in the inner silence of Pure mind (Sunn Smaadhi). This is the only eternal Reality there is; everything else indicates to It. As man (man's True Self) is made in Divine Image (Joti-Svaroop); he is identical with this Reality. That is our True Nature.

This leads to the following question: If Jeeva's Real Nature is Joti-Svaroop or Divine, why then are we so appallingly unaware of it? What does impede us from knowing our Real Nature and the nature of the world around us? It is the veil of false ego (Maya) or Vaasnaas (psychological conditioning, latent memories, past impressions and predisposition) that have intervened!

If we want to rediscover our True Nature, or if we are serious to know what we truly are, then first we need to know what we are not. After discarding all that we are not, only one thing will remain; the Real Self. However, under the spell of ignorance and delusion, one entertains the wrong notion that the material body is the Real Self. This  false or mistaken identity is the seed of egoism or mind, whose nature is conceptualization, which is the cause of sorrow. The trunk of a tree that grows out of this ego-seed is body. The branches of this tree are limited senses that reach out in every direction seeking for sensual pleasures. They are of the nature of material conditioning, false concepts and precepts. It is when we entertain desires and fear that this world illusion begins to expand and spread out. This tree bears the fruit of duality — likes and dislikes. Out of this perverse thinking comes an arrogant sense of doership and enjoyership (egoism). Both these doership and enjoyership create in us the misapprehension that we are limited entities. This is what we are not! How can we uproot this tree of illusion? One way to abandon this tree is through the aid of unbroken Vichaar or inquiry as revealed in the Gurbani. This inquiry of the Self is to be conducted with the intellect that has been purified by the diligent study of the scriptures. In the light of  this Self-inquiry, the confused mind (ego-sense) is abandoned, and the Truth is realized within at once. Thus, in the spirit of Vichaar there is Realization of the eternal and Timeless Reality, the Supreme Truth. As affirmed in the Gurbani, if we must do any action, then engage in the spirit of unbroken Shabad-Vichaar. Why? Intuitive Shabad-Vichaar cleanses one's mind by removing desires and doubts, thereby, making it fit for receiving Spiritual Wisdom and intuitive Understanding of the scriptures. Therefore, engaging in Self-inquiry while keeping Spiritual Company (Satsang) within and without are aids in the practice required for knowing the Essence of Divinity. The basis of all scriptures is the rise of phantom called mind (egoism or sense of individuality). Consequently, the purpose of all scriptures is none other than elimination of this phantom. It is the deluded mind which is the root cause of distress, misery, and the ignorant cycle of repeated pain and suffering. The Gurbani affirms that, until this phantom is killed, the Truth will not dawn upon us. One of the aids available to us for the mind's elimination is to directly inquire into its nature: what is this mind? How does it come into being? Upon investigation, we will find that there is no such thing as mind! Only the Pure Self exists, the Substratum (Adhaar) of all. The nature of mind is Vaasnaas — conditioning, latent memories, and subtle impressions of the past. It exists in the consciousness, not the other way around. Without the consciousness, it is inert; hence not a real entity. Any entity that depends on something else for its existence is unreal (ephemeral). Mind comes into being through ignorance and delusion (egoism). Also known as false "I", it arises in the absence of Self-knowledge (Aatam-Giaan). The pastime of our mind is conceptualization (notion or Phurne), which gives rise to this world of names, forms, and quality.

Where does the "I" thought come from? What is the source of this "I" thought? The "I" thought comes from the the ego-sense (the notion of doership and enjoyership — "I am the doer" or "I am the enjoyer"). If we take our Spiritual-inquiry a step further and ask: From where does the ego-sense come from? It comes from the ignorance of the Self or not knowing we are "Joti-Svaroop". By removing the ignorance of the Self, the ego-sense or Ahankaar is destroyed. Destruction of the ego-sense is the same as the destruction of the confused mind. Thus, when the substratum or the support of the mind is inquired into, the superimposition (false "I") gets destroyed and the support (Pure Self) remains alone.

By not inquiring, we keep living in the world, rather than the world living in us. The goblin of mind exists only as long as one does not inquire into its nature. Thus, for the attainment of the true Knowledge, Vichaar is an important aid in Spiritual practice (Shabad-Kamaaee). An investigation into the impermanent nature of the phenomenal world makes one to think about his foolishness, which  leads one to practice sincere dispassion or non-attachment (Bairaag). Vichaar is the universal solvent that helps dissolve the bondage of Maya (ignorance, delusion). Our fear and desires condition the consciousness by creating division in it. Does this conditioning effect our Real Self, the Substratum of everything? Upon Vichaar, we will find that the Real Self ever remains unchanged or unaffected by any external modifications. For example, we can see countless specks of dust in the sunbeam, however, the light neither knows them are depends upon them. Similarly, in the Supreme Self (sunbeam) there are countless individualities or worlds (dust specks), however, the Absolute Reality ever remains unchanged!

To look at it from an another angle, imagine entering into a dark room where you cannot see things or their shape and color. As soon as the window opens, the room becomes flooded with light enabling you to see things with their color and shape. Is the window the source of light? No, it is only the giver of light as the source is the sun. Similarly, the world is like a dark room; our individual consciousness is the window which floods the world of objects, emotions and thoughts. The Supreme Reality (sun) is the source of this light as well as the matter. Whether we close off our window (ego-mind) or not, the sun (Supreme Reality) always shines all the time. It makes all the difference to the room (our world of names and forms), but none to the sun (Reality)! This is the power of Vichaar.

It is only the untruth or ignorance that is always afraid and devoid of Inner-inquiry. As a result, it becomes the source of our troubles — bondage and suffering. Untruth depends upon external things; for it is unreal. Only that which exists on its own can only be called Real and True. For example, the Gurbani affirms that only Divine Name is the real Nectar or Amrit (Immortality), nothing else. Why? By engaging in Vichaar as taught by the Gurbani (sggs), we will find that when one perishable object depends on other perishable object(s) for its sustenance, then they cannot be the source of Immortality because they in themselves are unreal, impermanent and mortal. The only entity that is Real is the Truth, because it is self-existence (Saibhang); one without beginning, middle or end. This is the reason the Gurbani makes the declaration that the Divine Name is the Truth, the only real Nectar or Amrit, in which we are to be perpetually immersed (Self-realization). Constantly drinking in this Rreal Amrit of the Naam gives one Real Immortality.

However, under the spell of untruth or absence of wisdom for sincere Vichaar, we take unreal worldly objects as eternal Truth or the source of Immortality. This deluded behavior of mortals is not the fault of Spiritual Masters or the scriptures; for their only function is to point us toward the Truth. That's all. The fault lies with our corrupt senses, particularly the tongue, that desire to taste external objects in a futile bid to satisfy its unceasing thirst and hunger. For example, spectacles and the sun cannot see for us! Can they? Similarly, if we want to realize the Truth, it's our job to get to it by a diligent Spiritual practice. The fool takes the world and its objects to be real; whereas the wise (Gurmukh or Giaanee) sees them as the manifestation of the false ego. Being wise, the Gurmukh goes for the Real Thing; which is beyond mind, time, and space! Whilst the Manmukh (material beings) goes for the unreal thing!

The mortals are tortured by the fear of death. We are asked by the Gurbani to inquire into this death and find out what it is. If we follow the Gurbani's instructions and inquire: "To whom is this death?". Then we will find that which dies is not real us! What actually dies is the body which depends on the movement of the Praana or life-breadth. The body never has its independent existence, hence, as discussed before, any thing that depends on some thing else must decay and end. With the death of the body, dies the world of names and shapes. God dwells within the cave our Heart as the Divine Self or Aatamaan. The Aatamaan is never born nor will it ever die. Unaffected by the movements of the body or mind, the Aatamaan is not subject to our grief, despair, disease or ignorance. The Gurbani declares that the Pure, Perfect, free from limitations or conditioning, the Aatamaan is one with the Infinite Consciousness. However, as the body is made of five elements, it is bound in the framework of time and space. Upon its destruction, the elements go back to their respective source — the earth merges with earth, the air merges with air, the fire merges with fire, the water merges with water, and the space merges with space. Only the Real Self (Joti-Svaroopa, Pure Awareness, etc.) remains. The aid provided by the practice of Inner-inquiry strengthens dispassion or non-attachment, an essential element for developing true love and devotion for Waheguru. These two, and Self-realization (Realization of one's Joti-Svaroopa) are interdependent and intimate friends, for they always exist together just as the ocean and clouds. With their aid, we recollect the Truth that we are the Self which is omnipresent and omniscient, in which there is no conceptualization or modification. The ephemeral nature of this material world and its objects can thus clearly be seen in the light of Spiritual-inquiry. Its persistent practice is sure to keep one's inner light of knowledge alive, which alone is the means of freedom from the darkness of inertia. Vichaar is the ax with which one can cut the head of ego-snake. As revealed by the Gurbani, this process of Vichaar uses our considerable mental powers to end the duping process, to know that we are the Joti-Svaroopa — always liberated, perfect, limitless, and immortal. Upon realizing That Truth, we also recognize in others the same Essence of Divinity, the same Pure Awareness and Perfection. No longer then we remain confined to the painful limitations imposed by the false ego. As a result, we see the same One Reality everywhere and in everything. Thus, the aim of Vichaar or Spiritual-inquiry is to find the True Nature of our True Self as Pure Consciousness (Joti-Svaroopa). The Gurbani urges its unbroken practice until the false ego-sense (Haume) disappears; and the Eternal Inner Self is realized to be the only Absolute Truth. If once the Self-realization arises, both the inquiry and inquirer will also disappear!

Clearly there is huge emphasis on Vichaar in the SGGS (ਸਿਖੀ ਸਿਖਿਆ ਗੁਰ ਵੀਚਾਰਿ ॥: Sikhee Sikhiaa Gur Veechaar, sggs 465). Clearly, Spiritual quest significantly rests on Vichaar, which goes beyond dogmas, empty rituals, traditions and religion. Vichaar is not just collecting information. Neither it is reading and memorizing scriptures nor philosophies, etc. It is Spiritual surgery. It is real learning that has to change us, transform us, and make us Grow, spiritually.

— T. Singh
www.gurbani.org

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Updated on Monday, July 20, 2009 10:56 AM (PST)

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