Viveka (Discrimination)

Viveka is one of the great qualities that a seeker develops on the spiritual path. In the traditional teachings, Viveka is closely associated with Vairagya, or non attachment. Viveka gives us the ability to distinguish and see clearly, while Vairagya gives us the ability to remain free from unnecessary attachment to what we see. Together they become an important foundation for spiritual life.

The word Viveka is usually translated as discrimination or discernment. In Yoga and Vedanta, however, it has a much deeper meaning than simply deciding whether something is right or wrong. Viveka is the ability to distinguish between what is temporary and what is lasting, between appearance and reality, between what leads towards greater awareness and what takes us deeper into confusion and bondage. It also means being able to see a situation without immediately allowing our personal likes, dislikes, attractions and prejudices to interfere with what we are actually seeing.

This is not an easy faculty to develop. From the moment we are born, our understanding of the world is shaped by our parents, family, culture, education, society and personal experiences. We are taught what is good and bad, what is desirable and undesirable, whom we should like and whom we should avoid. As we grow older, these impressions become part of our personality and gradually influence the way we see almost everything around us.

Because of this conditioning, what we think is discrimination is often nothing more than preference.

We like something, therefore we believe it is good. We dislike something, therefore we decide that it is bad. We agree with somebody and consider that person wise, while somebody who disagrees with us is immediately considered ignorant. The mind makes these judgements so quickly that we rarely notice that we are doing it.

The development of Viveka begins when we become aware of this process.

Seeing Beyond the Surface

Life is rarely as simple as the mind would like it to be. We often want clear categories and definite answers, but human life is made up of an extraordinary mixture of circumstances, causes, experiences and consequences.

Think of an iceberg. What we see above the water is only a small part of what actually exists beneath the surface. In much the same way, what we see in a person or a situation is usually only a fraction of the complete picture.

A person's behaviour today may have been influenced by years of experiences that we know nothing about. A particular reaction may have its roots in childhood, relationships, fear, insecurity, social conditioning or previous experiences. Even our own behaviour is often the result of many causes that we do not fully recognise.

This is why true discrimination requires more than a quick reaction.

One situation may be the result of many previous situations, and the present situation may itself become the cause of many future events. Life is a continuous chain of causes and effects, and our ability to see those connections depends upon the clarity of our awareness.

The surface of life can therefore be very misleading.

Viveka allows us to look deeper.

Viveka Is Not Judgement

One of the most important things to understand about Viveka is that discrimination should not be confused with judgement.

Judgement is usually a narrow interpretation of a person or situation. We see one aspect of somebody and immediately create an entire identity around it. We may see a person who drinks too much and call him an alcoholic. We may see somebody living on the street and call him a beggar. We may see somebody behaving strangely and decide that he is mad. We may see a person struggling with addiction and conclude that he is simply a bad person.

Perhaps the behaviour is genuinely harmful. That does not mean that we understand the whole human being.

We do not know the person's complete history. We do not know what experiences brought him to that point, what suffering he has gone through, what choices were made before we met him or what circumstances may have contributed to his present condition.

This does not mean that we should say that addiction, dishonesty, violence or destructive behaviour are good. Discrimination must still recognise consequences and distinguish what is beneficial from what is harmful. But there is a great difference between recognising that an action is harmful and condemning the entire person.

This is where compassion becomes an important companion to Viveka.

A person can be responsible for his actions and still deserve compassion. We can recognise that something is wrong without reducing a human being to that one aspect of his life.

Judgement wants to reach a conclusion quickly because a conclusion makes the mind feel secure. Viveka is willing to remain with the question until there is sufficient understanding.

This is much harder.

The Problem of the First Impression

We make judgements about people almost constantly. Sometimes we do it consciously, but very often it happens automatically. A person's appearance, clothes, manner of speaking, profession, behaviour or social position can create an immediate impression.

There is nothing wrong with observing. Observation is necessary. The difficulty begins when an observation becomes a conclusion.

We see one part and imagine that we know the whole.

Viveka creates a little space between what we observe and what we conclude. It allows us to say, “This is what I am seeing at the moment, but I may not yet understand the complete situation.”

That small pause is extremely valuable.

The same principle can be applied to our own mind. During meditation, thoughts, memories, emotions and reactions appear continuously. Normally we identify with them and immediately follow them. Through practice, we begin to observe them without becoming involved in every movement.

The more we learn to observe our own mind, the more capable we become of observing life without immediately reacting to it.

This is one of the reasons meditation is such an important part of Yoga.

Viveka and the Guru

Traditionally, the development of Viveka is closely connected with the Guru and with Satsang, the association with people who are sincerely walking the spiritual path.

The Guru does not simply give information. In the traditional understanding, the Guru helps the disciple to see what the disciple is unable to see independently. The Guru can become a mirror in which our own patterns, attachments and limitations become visible.

This is one reason the traditional relationship between Guru and disciple has always been treated with such importance.

There is also a practical truth here. The people with whom we spend our time influence our understanding of life. If we constantly surround ourselves with confusion, negativity, competition and unconscious behaviour, these qualities can gradually become normal to us. If we spend time with people who value awareness, discipline, truth, compassion and Sadhana, our own understanding can also begin to change.

At the same time, Viveka must be applied even here. Spirituality does not mean blindly accepting everything said by somebody who presents himself as a teacher. The seeker must learn to distinguish genuine wisdom from personality, charisma, manipulation and spiritual pretension.

A genuine spiritual relationship should gradually increase awareness and responsibility, not reduce them.

How Viveka Develops

Viveka does not develop simply by reading about Viveka. It has to be cultivated through living, observation and Sadhana.

The traditional practices of Yoga provide many different ways of preparing the mind for this development. Mantra helps to give the mind a steady focus, while practices such as Nadi Shodhana Pranayama can help to quiet and balance the mental state. The Gayatri Mantra has traditionally been associated with illumination of the intellect and the awakening of higher understanding, while an Ishta Mantra can provide a personal focus for devotion and meditation.

Hatha Yoga also has an important place in this preparation. Traditionally, Hatha Yoga was not intended merely as physical exercise. Through Asana, Pranayama, Shatkarma and other practices, the body, breath and mind are gradually prepared for deeper practices of Yoga. The classical relationship between Hatha Yoga and Raja Yoga is important here: the refinement of the body and Prana supports the refinement of the mind and the development of concentration.

Meditation then gives us the opportunity to observe the movements of the mind directly. Over time, we begin to recognise how quickly thoughts arise, how memories influence reactions and how personal identification changes our perception.

This is where practice becomes experience.

Viveka in Everyday Life

The real test of Viveka is not what happens when we are sitting peacefully in meditation. It is what happens when life does not go according to our expectations.

Somebody insults us. A relationship becomes difficult. Somebody disagrees with us. A plan fails. We lose something we value. Someone behaves in a way that we consider completely unacceptable.

The immediate reaction is usually very strong.

The mind creates its story, the emotions follow, and we become convinced that our interpretation is the only possible interpretation of what has happened.

Viveka gives us the possibility of stepping back for a moment and looking again. What actually happened? What part of my reaction belongs to the present situation, and what part belongs to my own conditioning? Am I seeing clearly, or am I simply defending my identity? Is my response going to create greater clarity or greater conflict?

These questions are not theoretical. They are part of everyday Sadhana.

A person may practise meditation for an hour every morning and still spend the rest of the day reacting unconsciously to everything around him. The purpose of spiritual practice is gradually to bring awareness into ordinary life.

This is where Viveka becomes real.

The Need for Viveka Today

The need for discrimination is perhaps even greater today because we live in a world of enormous amounts of information.

We have access to teachings, teachers, philosophies and practices from almost every tradition. Yoga has travelled across the world and millions of people now have access to practices that were once available only within particular traditions and lineages. This is a wonderful development, but it also creates another challenge.

How do we know what is authentic?

How do we distinguish a genuine teaching from something that has simply been packaged attractively?

How do we know whether a practice is actually helping us develop awareness or merely giving us another identity to wear?

These questions are particularly relevant to Yoga today. Yoga can be approached as physical exercise, as a method of relaxation, as a spiritual discipline or as a complete way of understanding human existence. There is nothing wrong with beginning with physical practice, but the seeker who wants to explore Yoga deeply eventually has to ask what lies beyond the physical form of the practice.

Viveka helps us ask those questions without becoming trapped by either blind acceptance or automatic rejection.

The modern world does not necessarily need more information.

It needs greater clarity.

From Discrimination to Wisdom

Viveka is ultimately not about becoming clever, critical or intellectually superior. It is about seeing more clearly.

As our awareness develops, we begin to recognise our own conditioning. We become less certain that our first reaction is always correct. We become more willing to listen, to observe and to understand.

This does not mean becoming incapable of making decisions. Quite the opposite. True discrimination allows us to make decisions with greater clarity because those decisions are no longer based entirely upon attraction, fear, prejudice or personal preference.

Viveka and Vairagya therefore support one another. Viveka allows us to see what is happening, while Vairagya allows us not to become unnecessarily entangled in it.

The seeker gradually learns to distinguish between what is essential and what is superficial, between what is permanent and what is changing, and between what genuinely contributes to freedom and what merely creates another form of bondage.

The process takes time. It requires Sadhana, experience, self observation, guidance and an honest willingness to examine ourselves.

Perhaps the development of Viveka begins with something very simple: learning to pause before we decide that we already know.

When we meet a person, we can look a little deeper. When a situation arises, we can wait before reacting. When a thought appears, we can observe it rather than immediately believing it. When we encounter a teaching, we can examine it carefully rather than accepting or rejecting it simply because it agrees or disagrees with what we already believe.

Gradually, the mind becomes clearer.

And as the mind becomes clearer, we begin to see life with greater depth.

That is the beginning of Viveka.