Shastra and the Teacher-A Few More Thoughts
I wish to add a few lines to the brilliantly written blog by Peter Bonnici on shAstra and about the need for a qualified teacher.
As a person conditioned by traditional way of learning, I may have a tendency to quote from texts, but I will try to restrain myself.
ShAstra is a term which originally referred to Vedas and Vedanta in the Vedic literature, as seen in the commentaries on the Upanishads. Later, it came to include the commentaries also on the above two. Much later, it came to include allied subjects like mImAmsa shAstra, vyAkarana shAstra and so on. But in the context of Vedantic study we can safely confine the word to the Veda and the commentaries on the Upanishads.
There are two derivations for the word shAstram: one referring to the directing nature of veda, and the other referring to the commending aspect of veda. The first derivation is ‘shAsti iti shAstram’, which means that shAstram is something which directs, i.e. directs a person to do or refrain from doing an action. This we find in the first part of the veda which deals with various rituals, propitiation of gods and meditations on gods. A clear example of this is seen in the eleventh passage of the first part of Taittiriya Upanishad where the teacher reiterates the instructions- anushAsti, the scripture says. These are all the preparatory or purifying stages, as the seeker has to first cleanse his mind from the impurities like desire, hate and anger. This is a prerequisite for self-knowledge, as this knowledge has to ultimately equate him with Brahman, which is attributeless and devoid of all qualities, good or bad.
The second derivation is: shamsati iti shAstram, i.e. that which commends. It recommends, in a dispassionate manner the sAdhana (practice) methods for the speaker, of course, with logical reasoning. It does not dictate, because Vedanta is not a belief system but a process of self enquiry. The text and also the commentaries guide the seeker to understand his self, encourage him to think, and slowly make him realize his nature. ‘TapasA brahma vijijnAsasva’, (think for yourself and know the truth, meditate on the self), says the father to the son who approaches him for the knowledge of Brahman (TaittirIya Upanishad). The subject is such that even the father cannot directly reveal to his son, the son has to toil and realize. There are no shortcuts. Incidentally, all the Vedanta gurus whom I know have discounted ideas like shakti-pAta, transfer of power about which some gurus claim. It may be true of some occult power, but not in the case of self-realization.
Nor can there be faking, for, the faking person knows within himself that he is deceiving himself. Sage Vidyaranya gave a punching example of this in the Panchadasi. He says that it is like that of a person seeing the image of a ripe fruit in water and feeling elated that he is savouring it. Sometimes it is self-delusion and sometimes it can be faking. The example holds good in both cases.
Shankara often makes an important statement: ShAstram tu jnApakam, na kArakam. Shastram is something like an aide memoire, a reminding agency, but it is not a creator of jnAnis or realized persons. (JnAna is not a thing that is created, for, anything that is created is impermanent). It is something like a catalyst, not a reacting agent. It reminds a person what he actually is, if all the delimiting factors and attributions are shed in the process of self-enquiry.
We may recall the oft repeated example of the person who, sent on an errand by his master along with nine others, suddenly wants to know whether all the team members are there. Here, somehow, he does not count himself and bemoans the loss of one team member. When a passerby points out that he has not counted himself, he realizes that he is the tenth person. Shastram and guru, the interpreter of shastram are like this benevolent passerby.
A teacher is like a signpost, says Swami Tattvavidanda in his lectures. The student takes his help and moves on. He does not linger on to the teacher howsoever good the teacher may be. A teacher helps the seeker to think, and for this he may take the help of shastra, either the text or the commentary as the case may be. Even when he does not take the help of any text, he is telling from his anubhava or experience which is based on the text only. His task is two-fold. He interprets the logic in the text. He also prepares the mind of the student to receive the instruction because a disturbed or distracted mind cannot contemplate.
Two things are required in self-enquiry. The first is a ‘pure’ mind, and then a ‘competent’ teacher. ShAstra insists on the purity of mind because as we noted above, ‘the knower of Brahman becomes brahman’, as per the text. Purity of mind is achieved only by gradual subduing of desires, and cessation of all passions. This is easier said than done. Only a competent teacher can grade his student and guide him.
A competent teacher is one who is himself a realized person. Swayam tIrNah parAn tArayati, one who has crossed (the river) can make others cross. To say that everything around is Brahman is easy, but it takes only a great jnAni to convince the student about it. The words of the shAstra should meaningfully sink into the mind, which is possible only when these concepts are first of all clear in the teacher’s mind.
My Vedanta teacher Sri Pullela Sriramachandrudu has an interesting way of explaining this. When a teacher teaches literature, the student and the teacher share the joy of understanding the text. In a mathematics session the teacher is clear but the student may or may not understand and hence the joy of understanding may not be there. In the case of Vedanta, it is possible that neither the teacher nor the student understands the import but both make some parrot-like repetitions and be happy about it. We have again come to the problem of faking the enlightenment.
There is a story of a teacher who taught a mantra to his disciple- a mantra which would enable a person to walk on the water. When they came to cross a river, the disciple meditated on the mantra and walked over the surface of water, while the teacher could not do so. This was due to implicit trust and positive meditation. In Vedanta there can be similar situations and we should be lucky to get a competent guru.
There is also a theory that a guru appears when the student is ripe. It means that a seeker should come on to that frequency to detect a good teacher. So we have to hope and move on.
