September 14, 2023
Jnana is considered to be of two distinct types. One is known as paroksha jnana and the other is aparoksha jnana. Paroksha literally means 'somebody else's eyes'. So paroksha jnana is wisdom which belongs to other people's eyes, it is not yours! What the teacher says is true to him, not to you, it is of no relevance whatsoever to you — but people foolishly believe that it is some kind of wisdom which is of great use. I don't know if you've seen this phenomenon: supposing you phone someone in Bombay: "Hello. The sky is very clear here. How is it there?" He answers "It is raining." "Oh, I see." You see nothing! The sky is clear here. What you mean by saying that you see it is raining? It is merely a figure of speech, a bunch of words that mean nothing. That is paroksha jnana.
‘Aparoksha jnana’ is a fantastic word. It is merely 'not someone else's vision'. They do not say it is your vision, that that which you see with your own eyes is jnana. No, that which you see with your own eyes is not jnana; that what you hear with your own ears is not jnana; that which you ‘cook up’ with your own brain is not jnana. What is jnana? Keep quiet! You will understand. So, someone else’s point of view is useless to you and it is quite possible that your point of view is equally useless to him.
‘Sat’ is the reality. Sattva is the characteristic of that reality. It is not the true reality itself, because reality cannot be grasped — but it is that which is very close to reality. In terms of the example of colored lenses, it is the ultraviolet lens. It is clear. There is no tint, no coloring. It is transparent. whatever is sattva is transparent, it doesn't distort. There is no distortion of the truth, but it is not the total reality, it is only one point of view.
Scriptures like The Bhagavad Gita give a graphic description of the conflict between Good (Love) and Evil (Veil). They also suggest possible solutions. The problem is essentially the same today and so is the solution, too. On the other hand, unless you see the problem, unless you sense the danger, the problem is neither real nor urgent to you. Therefore the solution — the scripture- does not apply to you.