Gita 15.11 What we see depends on what we want to see

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
tanto yogi nishchainam pashyantyatmanya vasthitam tanto apyakrtatmano nainam pashyantyachetasaha bhagavad gita 15.11 tanto yogi nishchainam the yogi’s endeavor pashyantyatmanya vasthitam they are able to see when they are situated on the spiritual platform tanto apyakrtatmano however akrtatmano if they are not spiritually situated then tanto apyakrtatmano even if they endeavor nainam pashyantyachetasaha they are not able to perceive spiritual reality so the previous verse 15.10 stated that the soul situation in the world can be perceived through jnana chakshu through the eyes of knowledge this verse is stating who all have the jnana chakshu and who all don’t have the jnana chakshu so endeavor is important but it is said that both both the categories of people that I mentioned in 15.11 both of them endeavor one of them is able to see and one of them know that’s because they are both differently situated our vision doesn’t just depend on our intention it also depends on our education our predisposition our qualification that means say if a person hasn’t got medical training even if they look at the x-ray which is supposed to indicate tuberculosis they will not be able to spot anything over there they will not be able to make sense of what they are seeing this is true with respect to education but here we are going deeper and we are looking not at so much at the theoretical knowledge or the informational knowledge but also at the emotional inclination it is the innate human tendency to see what we want to see and to not see that which we don’t want to see much of our perceptions are self-reinforcing we look at the world with particular world views in mind and when we see certain things that don’t fit into that world view then we actually just put it aside we try to move it out of our perception or don’t let the perception register within us and we move on with life and this is at one level understandable from a practical perspective the world is very complicated and we can’t possibly know the whole world we have to function in life and for the purpose of functioning in life whatever is required we do that so if it means that we need to not see certain things then even we see we don’t see for example if there is a person who is slaughtering animals or a person who is trading in animals then that person in animal flesh that person will not want to see actually the immense horrible misery the animals go through as they live and die in factory farms it is said that if slaughterhouses are glass walls then everybody would become a vegetarian now this is of course case of people not having information but people if they do not have the qualification they cannot see the qualification in terms of not some academic qualification but the desire to want to know so if somebody is color blind then no matter how much they want to see they can’t see particular colors to which they are blind it’s just an innate physical disqualification that they have biological disqualification similarly with respect to our spiritual growth or with respect to perceiving spiritual reality all of us have certain things which we can if we do not have the adhikar if we do not have the right qualification no matter how much we endeavor we will not be able to perceive it so perception is as much a function of understanding making sense it’s not just a matter of what we see but what we want to see and what we are equipped or qualified to see so as long as we are overwhelmed by material desires we can see only material reality we can see only sensual pleasures we can see only the overwhelming worldly desires it will drag us here, there and everywhere and it will leave us with practically nothing to do as we get overwhelmed by our particular predispositions so we need at our level, at a practical level to recognize that as spiritual beings we need to spiritualize to realize our desires there is a spiritual level of reality which is not perceivable to us right now but simple endeavor is not enough purification is required just as a person who is blind simply by endeavor you won’t be able to see colors they are colorblind, they need to take some proper treatment so without the treatment, endeavor is not enough similarly we are we could say spirit blind right now some people may be colorblind, we are spirit blind and to rise from the colorblind, the spirit blind stage to the spirit seeing stage it requires that we practice the process of yoga especially bhakti yoga, subsequent verses will talk about how we can, using our contemplation see the hand of god in the world around us and by seeing that hand, gradually move towards elevating ourselves spiritually, towards raising our consciousness so that we can see the spiritual reality so our life or our lifestyle is to indicate that we really want to see spiritual reality that categorical intention is not there just the attempt to see spiritual reality won’t reveal that reality to us it’s only the attempt coupled with the serious intention in terms of the serious application to the process of purification that will enable us to pursue spiritual reality so for spiritual perception it’s not just a matter of spiritual knowledge and education it’s a matter of spiritual living or at least a living that is more conducive to spiritualization of consciousness that is required it’s not just a matter of gaining information by which we can make sense of certain observation it’s a matter of redirection of desires by which we can perceive a level of reality to which we are otherwise normally blind