Part II - The Four Qualities of a Seeker

In order to embark on any course of study, or in fact any activity at all, participants must meet certain basic requirements. In order to perform at a music festival, one must have a certain level of talent as a singer or with an instrument, coupled with the creativity to produce original music and the personality to get the audience involved and interested. A student entering a Master's program in mechanical engineering must have first gone through high school and a four year undergraduate program in either mechanical engineering or some closely related field. In order to run the 100 metres in the Olympics, a person must be very fit physically, have strong legs, be a fast runner capable of instant acceleration, not have taken drugs, etc.
If one who lacks these qualities attempts to participate, it can only end in utter tragedy for them and perhaps total comedy for others.
So too, on the spiritual path, there are some basic qualities required in the seeker of truth, to ensure that she can successfully complete the journey and attain the highest state.
There are, to those who care to look deeply, hundreds of qualities that characterize the true seeker. Truthfulness, nonviolence, selflessness, humility, intelligence, inspiration, love, equanimity... the list is endless.
However, the Hindu masters went further and analysed these qualities and came up with a list of four essential characteristics for the student. These are the basic qualities, possessing which a student can be said to have all the other countless virtues that characterize the fit student.
Although we will discuss each in detail later on, I will give here a brief list of the four qualities:

1. Discrimination (viveka) - The ability to tell the real from the undreal, the true from the false, the good from the pleasant, the goal from the means, etc.
2. Dispassion (vairagya) - Freedom from craving for objects of the world, be they on the physical, emotional or intellectual level.
3. The Six Treasures (shat-sampatti) - These are particular personality traits that determine the quality of a person's interaction with the world.
4. Yearning for Liberation (mumukshutva) - An acute sense of the limitations sorrows of the present experience of life and the urgent, pressing need to transcend them.

 

In their experience of guiding disciples along the road of meditation to the temple the truth, the Vedantic masters found that those students who had these qualities in full measure instantly understood the teaching and were enlightened. Those in whom the qualities were in lesser intensity required more guidance and preparation.
Please do not fall into the error of thinking that only those with these four qualities alone are fit to begin the pilgrimage to the truth. If that were the case, almost all spiritual teachers would be jobless. Indeed, the majority of the teacher's task is to cultivate these noble characteristics in the student's bosom and thus prepare them for the final experience of truth.
Almost the entire distance covered in the spiritual path involves this process of cultivating the right qualities of head and heart. Once that is done, everything else is simple.

 

Ummm..

How are we supposed to yearn for liberation, whilst being dispassionate about it?

Ummm... Dis nou 'n blaps oubok.

Ommmm.

 

Dispassion is towards material pleasure and the accumulation of objects and experiences that are temporary. Yearning is for transcending that ephemeral plane of existence to reach the higher. You are not expected to have dispassion towards that, obviously.

 

without meaning to be disrespectful and this after all a teaching environment rather than a discussion environment.....

considering that india for example is a shining light in hindu tradition and culture, does it not say that the problem of endless self examination leads to a chaotic state of affairs? india has the "untouchables" and many social,medical and environmental problems (the thugees used to wander the country practicing sacrificial killings).

the theory about how we should live and the practicalities are in reality separate.

as i said this post is not meant to demean your teaching, it is only a footnote of curiousity.

 

Even in India, or in Tibet, which had an even greater concentration on spirituality, those who actually practice and live up to the teachings are very very very rare. The numbers of those who misappropriate, misunderstand and misinterpret the teachings to suit their own narrow ends are many.
The problem is not due to too much introspection, it is due to not enough introspection. A lack of sincerity in life in general and spirituality in specific is the source of almost all the social issues you have put forth. In fact even a cursory glance at the scriptures will give a very different picture of the teaching that what is seen in common practice.

This is not the case in India alone, but all over the world, the pure and sacred teachings have been bastardized in the marketplace - be it the extremists of the middle east or the fundamentalist Christians of America. The only way to protect the teachings from such molestation is to make them secret and hide them away from the public. The problem here is that the tradition would die out in time. Even with open propagation of the teachings it is a rare few who come to the spiritual path, so hidden away many seekers woul dbe denied the opportunity to learn and evolve.

So really the only solution is for every one of us, who are sincere in our hearts, who wish to see a strong spiritual community blossom around the world, to take back our traditions. To study our ancient teachings, to meditate upon to see how a common, silent truth throbs behind the teachings of all the different spiritual traditions, and then to share those insights and practices with others, would be the only way to save reclaim the sanctity of the spiritual traditions of our world. In a small way, that is what I hope to contribute to through these writings also.

 

Also, while this is a teaching environment, as guy mentioned, I do welcome questions and doubts, so long as they com from a sincere effort to understand. Such questions are very important as they help bring clarity and open new avenues of thought for all of us and help the learning process.
Thank you, guy.

 

Thank-you. Nice answer.

And just to point out, India has a wonderful cricket team, they are always the best team to have as guests, they are competitive, and have the best spirit of fair play. Every other team loves to play against them.

 

i suppose there are many ways to truth

 

Indian cricket, sadly, has gone so horribly commercial in the last decade or so that I can't bear watching it anymore.

 

That 20/20 nonsense is unbearable.
But the tests are always great.

btw, Bhaskar,

What do you think of my idea, 'under a blue sun swims a golden sea'.

It would make sense that under a blue sun, people would have blue skin, like Krishna, and it appears that there is a blue sun on the Indian flag.

Please don't say 'coincidence'.

 

Pretty thought, but the Indian flag does not have a blue sun, it has a black wheel. The wheel represents the cotton spinning wheel of Gandhi and is a symbol of the working man.

 

http://www.mapsofworld.com/flags/india-flag.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka_Chakra

Aah, it used to be the way you described it. They changed it sometime.

Sorry to be pedantic. The origins of the symbol, dissappear into our ancient history.

 

You're right, the Ashoka chakra is a national symbol. My bad. I guess we Indians arent that great at civics either.

 

Can you please elaborate on what these personality traits are? Thank you.

 

I will elaborate in coming lessons.

 

i have this friend joseph hunn and he lives in the astral plane...and i am studying wicca and my pantheon is vedic...i was wondering who has teachings about what western culture would describe as astral...would it be dream yoga...except a vedic translation?

 

blue as depends on astral radiance, no...it may and Bhaskar would know, be that it depends on the color frequency of the moon as well...?

 

civics...um...Oldest Religion, no....
what if you were born (gestorben=to birth) in the warring states period of history....?

 

i believe atheism needs a guiding mythic...what is a theism but a theism of modern animalia..