Viveka talks – exercise 15. What is lakshana? Categoric and conceptual constructions, and correct viveka answer.
Remember: this article/chapter is tokenized, and you may buy it as “writer’s NFT!”
Points to consider
One sutra in Vivekachudamani (247) comes closest to the direct description of the viveka method. That description is hidden inside the context of discerning between the one consciousness (ishwara) and different vantage points created in the first wave of creation (atman). Nevertheless, that instruction is valid for any and all viveka procedures aimed at a correct understanding of the universe of ideas (the world, reality).
Hence, the two terms are to be correctly understood through their discerning characteristic so that the absolute identity between them may be established. Neither the method of accepting all meanings nor rejecting them all will suffice. One must discover the truth through the process which combines the two. (Vivekachudamani, 247)
Buddhi can apply viveka to any word (idea), using language as the operational field. The task is to discriminate between different words (ideas) and to establish the firm identity of that idea in comparison with any other. To do that, buddhi must find a factor of differentiation, a quality that signifies that by which something is recognized. That quality is called lakshana.
The search for a lakshana – a discerning quality of an idea that makes it unique compared to any other idea – is the process of purification of the mind required for unveiling the truth and showing Maya her place in the order of things.
In practice, that means that every thought (idea, word you use) has to have a lakshana known to you. Please note that in ordinary thinking or speaking (that is what you do every day) rarely or seldom lakshana is clearly known to people. They think (and speak, and make conclusions and decisions) based on unclear ideas which are viveka unacceptable, meaning the ideas without clear lakshana. Those ideas can be systematized into three major categories:
- Allegorical (implied, shared, and double meanings)
- Conceptual constructions
- Categorical construction
There is no point in repeating a detailed explanation (please read the chapter “Searching for Lakshana”). It may sound complicated at first, but once you get the grip, you’ll quickly see that most of our thoughts are at least in one of the viveka unacceptable categories. That means, basically, most of our thoughts are worth nothing.
That conclusion may sound drastic, but if you want to get rid of an illusion, drastic is a way to go.
On the other hand, it may seem all ideas are categoric or conceptual constructions, but that is incorrect. Further, there are certain levels of precision applicable to different categories of objects. That means the minimal usage of construction is sometimes allowed, not by rules, but by the nature of the idea we want to deconstruct.
And, you should know, some ideas are very near to being pure and undividable. And some are literarily undividable because they are the essential elements – real atoms – of our reality.
Questions for thinking
For this exercise, I would like you to solve one puzzle.
There is a picture in the Chapter “Searching for Lakshana”. It is an example of deconstructing the idea of “the car”. The process of deconstructing should be clear (read and reread the chapter), but there is one thing I left out of the book.
Look at the graph.
At the bottom, you’ll see an arrow pointing down from basic ideas like “time”, “space”, and “matter”. Then, below them, you’ll find “reality” and “existence”. And there is one last arrow pointing down to… what?
Can you guess or consciously deconstruct those basic ideas with one more at the bottom of all of them?
What is there at the base of our reality?
It is your turn now. Write your thoughts, comments, or questions.
