The Four Preliminary Qualifications for Self-Inquiry

In the Advaita Vedanta framework, there are four qualifications that needs to be earned and developed proficiently within before one can have a successful inquiry into Brahman. This is explained in Adi Shankara’s works of Aparokshanubhuti and Vivekachudamani which expounds the means to the attainment of higher knowledge through samadhi (self-realization). Per Shankara, only through samadhi and effort in maintaining it can liberation be produced.

Verse 125, 131, 132 in Shankara’s Aparokshanubhuti and verse 481 in Shankara’s Vivekachudamani:

Shankara explains how one attains higher knowledge in samadhi:

“The complete forgetfulness of all thought by first making it changeless and then identifying it with Brahman is called Samadhi known also as Knowledge (jnanam).”

He then explains that one should hold on to samadhi when it first comes:

“Blessed indeed are those virtuous persons who at first have this consciousness of Reality and then develop it more and more. They are respected everywhere.”

Finally he explains that only after you hold on to it for a while with effort, does it then become natural on its own to produce liberation:

“Only those in whom this consciousness (of Brahman) being ever present grows into maturity, attain to the state of ever-existent Brahman…”

Full maturity, i.e. the sahaj state is when there is no longer any effort in maintaining samadhi nor feeling or knowing that you’re in samadhi since it has completely dissolved the mind:

”My mind has vanished, and all its activities have melted, by realising the identity of the Self and Brahman; I do not know either this or not-this; nor what or how much the boundless Bliss (of Samadhi) is.”

Per Shankara, “one can continue to quote the scriptures or perform rituals, but without realization of one’s identity with Brahman, there is no liberation, not even in the lifetime of 100 Brahmas put together.” Just to give you perspective on this, Brahma (the function of creation) lasts for 100 years. One day of Brahma however is equivalent to 4.32 billion human years. This is just one day of one Brahma! You do the math for 100 Brahmas put together each with a lifespan of 100 years. This is why one must put intellectual knowledge into practical use in order to develop higher knowledge. Being obsessed with scriptural knowledge and having arguments all day while uttering the word Brahman will not give you knowledge of Brahman. Developing these qualifications therefore is of upmost importance before self-inquiry (nididhyasana) can be executed with successful results. We should all strive for higher knowledge by always practicing what we’ve learned no matter what it is. As the Gods have said: A human birth should not be wasted.

In this article, I will explain these preliminary qualifications in great detail with examples for each one. Please note: Jnana Yoga is a systematic path. Traditionally, these qualifications should be proficient before one starts studying Vedanta or one will not be able to fully grasp the teachings since it will be corrupted with egoism. However, since we live in an era where information is readily available at our fingertips and the guru-disciple relationship is pretty much non-existent, you should develop these qualifications in parallel with your self-study. It is strongly encouraged that if you do not have a sufficient level of concentration yet, you should continue to contemplate on the knowledge of Vedanta more firmly and apply them constantly to your waking experiences. Otherwise, you will not be able to turn the mind inward during wakeful meditation.

Shankara’s Vivekachudamani verse 18 and 19:

“Regarding this, sages have spoken of four means of attainment, which alone being present, the devotion to Brahman succeeds, and in the absence of which, it fails.”

“First is enumerated discrimination between the real and the unreal; next comes aversion to the enjoyment of fruits (of one’s actions) here and hereafter; (next is) the group of six attributes, viz. calmness and the rest; and (last) is clearly the yearning for Liberation.”

Traditionally, the Four Qualifications are as follows:

(1) Viveka (discrimination between the real and unreal)

(2) Vairagya (i.e. dispassion, indifference, renunciation, detachment)

(3) Six disciplines of:

-Sama (internal restraint)

-Dama (external restraint)

-Uparati (self-withdrawal)

-Titiksha (forbearance)

-Sraddha (faith)

-Samadhana (mental concentration on the self)

(4) Mumuksutva (yearning for liberation)

Viveka: Discrimination between the real and unreal

When most people hear of viveka, they automatically assume that anything unreal is not Brahman. For example, they will think that a table is unreal because it’s subject to change and therefore not Brahman since Brahman is changeless. While this can be a beginner’s view of truth, it is a very superficial understanding of viveka. Viveka is the ability to differentiate what is changeless from what is misleading. It is the power to shift your attention from the perception of objects to the power of perception. This can only be done by turning inward or pulling your attention within away from thoughts and objects. If you pull attention away from empirical phenomena, and you keep reversing it, it will eventually reach its source, i.e. where attention originally resides (on its own point of origin). This is what viveka is used for in terms of producing moksha. However, viveka is something that develops over time with spiritual maturity. At first, it may be an intellectual exercise of dismissing external objects as something that is not considered your real nature. This practice of non-attachment however, is leveraged with the body and mind so it is similar to being non-attached to things while you are inside a dream. The highest level of viveka however, is to transcend the dream by negating all that is non-self until you negate the very ego that allows you to negate! Developing viveka is therefore a journey in itself, but it starts with understanding the nature of transient objects and what Brahman really is. This differentiation will start from an intellectual exercise and then will eventually become intuitive as the knowledge deepens, especially during deep meditative inquiry.

Vairagya: Dispassion

Vairagya or dispassion is when one is detached, indifferent and have renounced the world at the level of the mind. When one is identified with the body-mind, they give certain things higher value than others and pursue them according to the value they give it. While all objects are fundamentally value-neutral (meaningless), they are given different values and meaning because they are perceived to be separate and real due to vasanas (causal tendencies). With vairagya, objects are seen at their true face value because one recognizes their impermanence and the impossibility of them providing permanent happiness. When objects are given the same value, there is an attitude of indifference, detachment and equinimity. One is neutral, treating in equal measure, happiness and distress, loss and gain, success and failure. This doesn’t mean one is cold, emotionless or dead inside. They simply know that it is only a dream unfolding and therefore do not let emotions control them. The dispassion they have will lead to a selfless attitude without having any hard judgements or placed conditions towards anything. They thus perform their actions unconditionally and selflessly like a dream character who is free and fully awake in the dream, knowing they are not the dream character and truly invincible in nature. Though they may seem attached from the outside, they are completely detached on the inside. They have completely renounced the transient world. When dispassion is cultivated, you neither firmly accept nor reject experiences but act accordingly with the extremely clear understanding that everything in life is but a temporary appearance no different than the dreams we have every night. This means one can be in any place and still treat it the same as any other place. When one sees that everything is made up of the same dream substance, dispassion arises. How can one have attachment if they are no longer fooled by the trick of maya? Every object in the dream is the same but only appear to be different under delusion! They therefore look at all things indifferently. The more dispassion arises, the more you rest in your inner peace, where desires begin to crumble. The deeper the dispassion, the less you gravitate towards externalities, and begin to attend your own source of stillness.

The 6 disciplines| Note: These all aim at turning the mind away from objects and towards the self.

Sama is the abandonment of desires. To build up sama, you must first learn how to control desires. As soon as a desire pops up, that desire should not be entertained. For example, if you get a thought about your favorite food and want to indulge in that very moment, you are succumbing to desire. Instead of giving in to that desire, pause and retrace that thought back to the space where it didn’t exist. Keep it there and forget about the desire all-together. The more this is done, the more likely thoughts (the ones that would normally bring desire), rolls off and does not affect you in any way. This doesn’t mean you can’t eat. You can certainly eat but without having the desire to eat in the name of pleasure and satisfaction. Doing so will only strengthen the desires more. Rather, you eat to live, not live to eat. You eat knowing it must be done to sustain the human body and because it is used as a tool to understand the self. Entertaining desires means giving in to the play of maya. Sama is therefore controlling thoughts and desires from flourishing into unnecessary attached actions. By performing sama, it will help in eradicating the vasanas or the un-manifested thoughts that eventually lead to manifested actions. Sama is therefore controlling the mind internally. Note: This doesn’t mean one should not perform actions as that would be impossible. It means that one should practice this until actions are performed with discernment and detachment (i.e. with viveka and vairagya). When this is done, actions can be performed without the desire to perform them. When you perform actions out of desire, there is attachment to the results and therefore one is not in control of their mind and will be subject to karma. This also applies to dama.
Dama is controlling the mind externally. It’s the restraint of external functions. It means looking at an external object and not giving in to the desires that arise from that object. For example, if someone sees a pretty girl, that itself may lead to all sorts of desires that causes one to behave a certain way. They get influenced by her looks. They take her looks to be real and to be something of substance. This makes them feel a certain way and forces them to act on those feelings. This is giving in to a desire that arose because of the perception of an object (women are not objects!) Dama means controlling this by not entertaining them. Entertaining them will only reinforce the vasanas by imprinting them in the subconscious mind. These deep impressions will then lead to more vasanas that arise as manifested thoughts which you will then have to control again through Sama. Sama and Dama therefore go hand in hand. Both should be done together. You cannot control one without the other since karma is a vicious cycle.
Uprati is a type of self-withdrawal or cessation of worldly action where thoughts are free from the influences of external and internal objects. This is the height of Sama and Dama when one has total control over both without any mental effort needed. Uprati prevents thought flow from taking support from the outside world. This means one can look at any object or be flooded with any thought, yet remain unaffected by not attaching, attending, entertaining or giving in to whatever it is that arises. They remain neutral to all thoughts, giving them neither good nor bad value.
Tititksha is forbearance or the endurance to overcome challenges in life. It means being indifferent to the pairs of opposites so one’s life does not result in suffering. This means accepting outcomes in life and flowing through it without any resistance to change. It’s knowing that deep down, things are unfolding exactly as it should as it all fulfills a greater divine purpose. By having this knowledge stable, one can overcome all sorrows. Tititksha will naturally cultivate if the above qualities become more firm.
Sraddha is the faith or the firm acceptance of the truth behind the indirect knowledge of the scriptures and/or the teachings from the teacher. This doesn’t mean having blind or careless faith but faith derived from clear judgement and understanding. Following misinterpreted teachings that fit a certain narrative and a false teacher who claims to be a self-proclaimed realized guru will only be a hindrance.
Samadhana is the state of mind which one has when there is a single goal in sight (Brahman) and no longer a desire for the world. This means having the mental effort to keep the mind on Brahman at all times (Note: this will first be an objective thought about Brahman until subjective meditation on Brahman is done in the actual inquiry to perfect this quality). This superficial concentration at first will ultimately help the mind become one-pointed before the actual inquiry can take place. The mind becomes tranquil when it is trained to see Brahman in everything and as everything at all times.

Mumuksutva: The yearning for freedom and is the burning desire to free oneself from body-mind limitation by realizing one's true nature through self-experience.

Mumuksutva is the extreme desire for enlightenment because you no longer have the desire to be caught up in the mundane worldly activities of duality. Note: Desiring enlightenment while being attached to actions is a play of the ego and will be a blocker for self-inquiry. One must be honest with themselves and assess themselves appropriately to move forward with improving all of the qualities mentioned above before inquiry can take place or it will not work.

So there you have it, the four pre-qualifications necessary before the actual inquiry into Brahman can take place. As you can see from this list, if any qualification is improved, it also improves the others automatically. For example, when discrimination is cultivated, then dispassion arises. If dispassion arises, then you will naturally control the mind through sama and dama. Having control of the mind, means the senses are naturally withdrawn. When all senses are withdrawn, then suffering will not be an experience and you will naturally gravitate towards liberation. You can see how they are all interlinked.

How much work is needed for each depends on how purified the mind is. If purification is still desperately needed, then you still see separation and therefore still identify with body-mind even if you know that there is only Brahman at an intellectual level. You therefore give value to objects, still give in to desires, still have challenges with life and therefore still experience suffering. If you still suffer, there is no moksha. And without the yearning for freedom from one’s individuality or the faith in vedic knowledge, the other practices will be swept away to desires and human impulses.

It’s important to note that all of these qualifications do not need to be perfected before self-inquiry. They only need to be sufficient to a great degree where self-inquiry can be possible. If you cannot keep the inquiry in stable motion without being distracted and swept away due to thoughts, impulses and desires, then you need to develop these qualifications some more until inquiry can be stable. When one has developed and enhanced their spiritual power of viveka, only then can one truly separate/isolate the self from the non-self and become detached awareness, where all bodily and mental sensations does not reach or touch it. Therefore, all qualifications should be practiced until one can use this power to expose the self. When the self is exposed, the vasanas that keeps you entangled with the false self and objective world will eventually deplete. As vasanas deplete, your qualifications will increase proportionately until you remain fixed in the self, at which point everything is defaulted back to source. This means, if you can expose the self at least intermittently, all that needs to be done is to enhance viveka, until the self is permanently exposed throughout all experiences.

If your qualifications are perfected, then you are already liberated. In other words, if viveka is perfected, then at that point, there is only Brahman and there is nothing left to be said. I will also mention that while having these qualities to a high degree is a great feat, it is nowhere near as to how one embodies them when samadhi is in motion. You will see just how intense the power of viveka becomes or just how crazy it is to control the mind through sama and dama with very little effort when higher knowledge arises from samadhi. It puts a whole new meaning to these qualifications as compared with the basic skillset one can have when still identified with body-mind while trying to better these qualities. It will then become perfectly clear to you as to why this higher knowledge through samadhi is absolutely necessary and must be maintained before one can “merge” in with Brahman, or in other words, simply remain as Brahman without any obstructions of the mind.

When this higher knowledge arises, this is when you know you are closer to the goal. It is only through higher knowledge that these qualities can become totally perfected. Therefore, when higher knowledge arises, we must hold on to it at all costs until there is nothing left to hold on to.

Swami Vimuktananda who translated Shankara’s Aparoksanubhuti in the early 1900s:

”Everybody has some knowledge of this Atman or Self, for, to deny the Self is to deny one’s own existence. But at first its real nature is not known. Later on, when the mind becomes purer through Upasana and Tapas, the veil of ignorance is gradually withdrawn and the Self begins to reveal its real nature. A higher knowledge follows at an advanced stage, when the knowledge of the ‘Self as mere witness’ is seen as absorbing all other thoughts. But the end is not yet reached. The idea of duality, such as ‘I am the witness’ (‘I* and the ‘witness’), is still persisting. It is only at the last stage when the knower and the known merge in the Self-effulgent Atman, which alone ever is, and besides which nothing else exists, that the culmination is reached. This realization of the non-dual is the consummation of Aparokshanubhuti.”

The following questions are answered in this article:

What are the four preliminary qualifications for self-inquiry?
What is viveka?
What is vairagya?
What is sama?
What is dama?
What is uparati?
What is titiksha?
What is sraddha?
What is samadhana?
What is mumuksutva?