Jaao Re Jogi: Part 4

 Jaao Re Jogi

Part 4:

Wisdom/ Knowledge/ Dnyaan 

Gyaan ki kaisi seema gyani?

Gagar mein sagar ka pani!

Amrapali challenges a yogi about his claim to gyaan( used synonymously for spiritual knowledge, wisdom. Also referred to as dnyaan in Sanskrit and Marathi). 

Although the term is often used in a very broad manner, one must try to understand the context each time it is used. Medical gyaan refers to everything there is to learn about the field of medical science. Gyaan about mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, refers to everything that comes under each of those subjects. Gyaan can be about practical skills such as carpentry, plumbing, electrician, gardening, painting walls, construction and what not. Amrapali is right when she says how can there be any limits to knowledge? Pick any subject. The study of rocks. Study of insects or birds. Study of planets. It will take you on an endless adventure. You find one detail and there will be a new doubt in your mind that will lead you to explore more detail. Thus you will find yourself with a little pot in the hand trying to fit into it all the water of the ocean until you realize the madness of what you are trying to do. That pot may be your own intellectual capacity or your limited lifespan or your resources to acquire more knowledge.

But it is a slightly different story when it comes to spiritual knowledge. When spiritual endeavor culminates in the immediate experience of the oneness of all creation including yourself that is considered a specific point where you get gyaan. It is a paradox in many ways. It is a finite point where human intellect comprehends and becomes one with the infinite. When such real experience arrives, there remains no experiencer. Everything is homogenized. The experiencer, the experienced and the experience. Knower, known and knowledge become one entity. Such a phenomenon does not happen when you are acquiring knowledge of material things like rocks, or insects or planets. An ornithologist doesn’t become a bird, nor does ornithology become the ornithologist or a bird. 

So the more apt question would be gyaan ka kaisa gyaani? Spiritual gyaan has seema but no gyaani. The gyaani disappears into the gyaan. Or gyaani learns to see himself in every piece of creation as the essence of it. “Another” is no longer superior or inferior to himself. It is himself. He learns to treat it with kindness and respect. 

In the modern world people market everything. They bottle spring water and even are able to sell fresh air. When there are buyers, anything sells. Even spiritual knowledge sells. And it can sell for huge amounts of money. Spiritual gurus can lead a life of luxury by marketing their knowledge. Their descendants can cash in on the legacy for several generations. Alas! There is no bigger fraud and hypocrisy than this. To recognize who you are and charge a fee to tell you who you are is absurd. But absurdity has a market in the world of intelligent humans. In fact anything that has money attached to it is valued. And conversely, that which is free is not valued.

Thus, where spiritual wisdom is concerned:

Gyaan has seema but no gyaani.

Agyaan has gyaanis but no seema.

True wisdom has no wise knower to claim it but it is a real and finite thing to be known.

Fake knowledge has plenty of gurus and no limits. 

Anyone is free to go out and buy what you like and what you can afford. It is an open market.

True spiritual knowledge comes with a price. The price is however not in money. The price is vairagya. Sacrifice of every personal interest in matter. Including in your own flesh, and name or legacy. If you can afford the price, definite and lasting gyaan can be yours.

It is intriguing to find out what is it that makes spiritual knowledge feel so mysterious or exotic. Ironically it is matter that makes the spirit appear mysterious. The lure of matter overpowers the human mind. It is funny to see how the cycle works. Matter attracts mind, spirit begins to appear like a dark mystery, you are willing to shell out any amount of money to get to the bottom of this mystery but you are not willing to let go of matter. And no matter how much money you spend the spirit remains a mystery until you finally agree to part with the last piece of matter on which you have claimed ownership. The minute you reclaim the ownership on matter, you get matter back but you lose the spirit. And also lose the trust between you and the spirit. And no money in the world can buy the trust or the spirit. It is this choice before the human that makes it difficult. The actual search is not that difficult.