Vedanta and a cup of beverage
Disclaimer: This is a little thought experiment. All mistakes are mine, The goal is explain teachings of vedanta in somewhat of a subjective interpretation so a beginner is able to appreciate some of the technicalities in layman terms. So, a reader can imagine, I am still a layman ! To be honest, I am not very technical. So, this essay will continue to have its "modifications" and will be the result of modifications undergone of different forms. I do not expect everything to exactly fall to the core logic. Found that part quite challenging. Nevertheless, we continue to experiment and have fun. -This is version 2, modified on August 23, 2020, based on early feedback by Swami Shantananda, the gracious and ever knowledgeable resident Swamiji at Chinmaya Mission, New jersey. I have also benefited from my study group friends who have been wonderful the past few months since this started.
How can we understand Vedanta with a cup of beverage? More importantly,
why should we learn Vedanta, and the broader concept that Hinduism tries to
promote in a cup of beverage. Clearly, every one of us drinks a cup of coffee
or Tea, and it’s the most precious time of the day in the morning. For some,
its how our day unfolds. So it is a simple analogy that we can use to
understand some of the technical concepts in the teachings. An alternative, and
simpler question is how can I enjoy my cup of coffee to the fullest --
knowing that every drink is a unique experience, and make my day absolutely the
best it can be ? Here a simple drink is a unit of analysis.
Introduction
Let us imagine you are having a cup of coffee. The best coffee in the world, most flavorful, and aromatic. Our goal is to enjoy the senses. have our senses are gratified as you drink, and you are craving for another one. However, you say, for now, one is enough. Nevertheless, at the end of the coffee and we feel very content with the drink, but leave it there, with some last few sips left, and we do not know how to wash it. Remember, washing a simple cup is a "learned" skill. We take so many things for granted daily, that there is little value for learned skills. The cup clearly will have some modifications. These modifications within the cup will tend to stay.
Now you return to it the next day for the second cup. But the problem here is that you did not know the cup was supposed to be washed. Can you imagine what the base would look like? (remember you do not know it is supposed to be washed). The residue of the coffee is stuck in its bottom -- not the easiest one to remove. Just try it.
Next day, we pour another cup of the same aromatic coffee. Maybe the taste is a little dull, nevertheless the cup is still enjoyable. The senses are still gratified. The left over can build. Technically, it does not build at the same rate as the first one, since there is some degree of weakening of the residue naturally, and then rebuilding. Let us repeat the cycle. The cup is the same, unwashed, and uncleared ! But the coffee enjoyed, and senses are gratified. Our ears get to hear us talk about what a great coffee that we enjoyed, the eyes, see a wonderful gleaming coffee being poured into the cup, and the mouth tastes the wonderful coffee, and we have a "nose" to smell coffee. After all, the cup is supposed to be enjoyed.
Over time, the residue on the cup is now quite strong (remember, we do not know it). We do not know how deep the residue runs. After several days, maybe years, decades, or centuries, the cup is unrecognizable -- the real taste of the coffee is gone. Yet, we continue to drink the cup trying to enjoy the coffee. Clearly, it is the residue that brings the variability in the taste of the coffee. The patron frequently feels satisfied/or dissatisfied with the taste of the coffee. Experiments with different types of coffee to make the “taste” more consistent. This starts creating love for one flavor of coffee (Raaga), hatred for another flavor of coffee (Dvesha), and even “fear” of the coffee tasting not appropriate (Abhinivesha), and the morning routines going haywire because of that. This takes the patron on a quest. How can I enjoy my coffee, just as it is? – maybe towards approaches to change the residue at the bottom of the cup.
The permutations of the act of making the coffee
Some patrons take different approaches to the coffee. There are a number of permutations here. First, the patron does not recognize how deep the residue is, and thinks that it is a normal state of affairs, continues to enjoy whatever is poured inside. Feels lazy that they realize all the vagaries and variation in the taste of coffee. Here the premium is on drinking the coffee, taking whatever that comes with it. There is no attempt to think why there is variability in the taste of the coffee. There is a sense of "after all, I want to enjoy whatever it is there and move on."
Second thing that can happen is that the focus is on making the coffee, and the experiment with the art of drinking coffee, everything except washing the cup back to its clear form. This focus on the activity can deter from the understanding of washing of the cup. In these settings, the individual may be so invested in making the coffee, that they can even pretend to enjoy it, because they have invested so much effort into it. This push to act is symbiotic of Rajas. They know the coffee does not taste right, but yet do not know the cup has to be washed! (Remember we only know what we have experienced -- have to keep repeating this :)).
A third nuance is that the individual takes their time to prepare the coffee, savor the coffee carefully, yet is trying to figure out what the property of the coffee is and how it impacts the cup, and has the "tendency" to think about the nature of the residue. This tendency to be broadly thoughtful is symbolic of Sattava behavior -- a thoughtful approach. These are the individuals that can ultimately figure out the residue.
Why is it difficult to get the residue out ?
As you very well know, removing the coffee residue after a while is a non-trivial task. It requires someone to finish the coffee, and start soaking the cup in soap water, or more hardened chemicals depending on how bad the coffee is (truly, try a cheap coffee from the market, and an expensive variety, you will see the difference). It can take multiple days, or sometimes chemical treatment to clear the cup. We have had many such burned vessels in our office :).
In Vedantic terms, this residue is what we call a vasana! The act of drinking the cup is the action, the cup itself is your subtle body (the one who attributes the experience of drinking the coffee to itself) or the mind- intellect-vasana combination – that performs the act of drinking, and the reaction we are feeling towards the act of drinking the cup. What you drink? How you Drink? Who is the Drinker, ultimately determines how Drunk you are :) (we are all drunk to some level). The key here is not the drink itself, but our attributions of the enjoyments coming from the drink. The ultimate dirt on the cup is a ball of thought called the "individualized Ego" -- the greatest Vasana. The pure (washed and pristine) cup here is symbolic of your individual soul, the jivatma, that is the enjoyer of the beverage.
Just as, every time we finish a drink, it carries impressions on the cup. The modification to the cup is the modification to the mind, even when we get away from it. There is no choice -- no shortcut not to have this modification. Remember those dark layers of black coffee in a white coffee cup? Some even choose to have a black cup not wanting to see the color. It turns out that many of these cups become unrecognizable, so badly coated by residue of all the past drinks and the impressions – maybe in the millions of births we have come and gone in this world. The cup itself has no idea of what happened, caught in the loop off action, reaction, and impressions.
Just as the coffee leaves impressions in the cup, some impressions are left behind from every action that we perform. Recall that experience of drinking here is our unit of analysis. For the statisticians, this is like the "epsilon" that we do not care for, that gets left behind. Every time we do act, there is some modification, that leaves behind an impression. What is seen is just the collective. One cannot isolate the residue of a specific drink. Rather, we only identify the collective. Some impressions are from your past birth (you must believe this logic by negation, if not experience – will take another essay). As an example, just think about what happened to the actions you performed as a child. Some remain in memory -- the somewhat known epsilon because you have associated some deep life experiences with it. Your body gets older, yet there is something that remains. Some experiences are subtle, they are gone from the traces of your memory. The residue is not forgotten, though – if the cup is not washed ! If we are not diligent about washing the cup everyday (with soap, and offer the gentle caring it deserves), it can be quite dirty very fast.
The key difficulty in removing the residual comes from the fact that Vedanta argues that the non-apprehension of reality is the primary reason behind the mis-apprehension of reality. When we do not realize the cup is supposed to be washed, there is a non-apprehension of reality that one is drinking from the dirty cup. This leads us to have different taste for the beverage, some good, some bad, and attribute the source of variability in taste of the same coffee to sources other than the clean up itself (mis-apprehension). We will deal with this later ! So in technical terms, the difficulty stems from our cognitive misunderstanding of not being able to experience what we do not know. Imagine running experiments on the system, while being a part of the system. The observer and the observed continue to think they are different, yet continue to study the properties of the system, even though, in reality they are the same.
Scaling the cup logic, and extending coffee to other beverages
Let us put the cup logic to the scale test. Let us imagine there are as many cups in the world, as there are people – possibly 7+ billion. Each cup is made of a certain grade of porcelain – a form of clay. They have different designs, and more-or-less have a different ring to them, for an average watcher.
If we relax the coffee assumption for now, lets now generalize this to the broader realm of any beverage. A glass of milk on the more sattvic side, and a peg of Whiskey on the more tamasic side. There are various shades of grey in between. Every individual that owns the cup has a different experience of the beverage. This experience is completely driven by their own usage of the cup, the kind of beverages they have had, and the nature and degree of residue they have left on their cup. This residue causes them to like, dislike, or fear their drink. Of course, beverages also can leave differential layers of residue. Beverages can be classified as acidic, alkaline or neutral. Remember we defined the beverage itself as part of the action, and also defined actions as three types, tamasic (a lazy unthoughtful approach), rajasic (intense activity) and sattvic (a considerate and reflective approach). Beverages can also be reflective of this. Acidic beverages have a corrosive effect on the cup. Some cups that have been loaded with acidic beverages time and again, have trouble getting anything out, in any short period of time. Sometimes, we use the same cup for mixing the different beverages, and don’t even realize how the other one tasted. Residual of water may evaporate and still leave traces behind, although minute. Remember a cup never knows how it looks, it just knows how it is !
Just as different beverages cause different residue on individual psyche, every individual in this world has the residue of their actions left over. They alone can clean their cup. But they must realize that they need to clean it first, and the benefits of cleaning the cup. The long and short of this is that beverages come and go, the cup somewhat remains as a temporary entity trying to remove the residue changing beverages, tasting all that comes along the way. The question is, how to keep the cup pristine? It is likely that every cup needs a different treatment approach. This is where the vedantic and hindu philosophy gains power for a seeker of freedom.
The relationship between the cup and the clay
At more subtle glance, an astute observer can understand that all those cups are made of the same clay. Had there been no clay, there would be no cup. The clay that under-pins all the cups and is the fundamental to the existence of the cup, but the clay is not truly the cup. The cup itself is the sum of the modifications that were made to the original clay in its pristine form. It could be that the same clay can also be seen as a nice sculpture or any other form, that can be seen and perceived. It turns out if the clay did not exist in the form that we can recognize, there would be no value for it ! – Hence, Clay itself is a valuable precious commodity that enables enjoyment of the beverage experience in the cup for the individual. The clay is equivalent to the Param-atma in the Vedantic sense.
To enjoy the cup of beverage, we need to realize, that its only the residue that needs to be removed. The clay itself has no role to play (assuming the quality is high). The clay cannot contribute to the taste and is independent of the cup. Yet, the clay aids in us tasting the cup of beverage to the fullest. The cup itself, when in its pristine form, reflects the underlying beauty of the clay. When one is drinking the beverage, we not only have to realize the clay that “facilitates” the experience of the beverage, through the cup. This is what Vedanta defines as “complete” experience. This experience, when had, puts not only value on the beverage, but also the maintenance of the clay, and an appreciation for the clay in the entire realm of experience. This appreciation can come if the cup is clean.
PS: The last few lines of logic are slightly flimsy, so please take them with a grain of sale. I realize this can be contested depending on how we look at some of the aspects of this set up, with my own misunderstandings :)
Yoga and cleaning of the cup
As we drool in the tasty beverage, or lack there of – more of the latter, one day your "friend" comes and shows you how dirty the cup is. In Vedantic terms, you could think of Adi Shankara, or our favorite Guru, Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda, as your next door neighbor that is whispering in your ears "Are you enjoying your coffee?" Suddenly you realize that – you are stuck with your constant variation in every drink, even if the drink turns out to be the same. What you are looking for is the same standardized joy in every cup of beverage you drink. Your teacher says your cup needs washing. Then the process begins. More generally the art of cleaning the cup in the Hindu tradition is called "yoga." Making the individual realize that the cup is also the clay, and it’s the clay, in the form of the cup, that facilitates enjoyment of the beverage. This “washing” is somewhat the process of cleaning your mind of all these residues so you can truly realize the clay, the cup, and the beverage as one whole unit, that facilitates joy in every sip ! As patanjali defines, Yoga is essentially "chitta vritti nirodha" -- cessation of modifications of your internal psyche. In beverage terms, it is the cessation of modification of your view of the cup itself, that not only has NO residues left at the end of the drink, but also realizes the wonderful clay that facilitated the drink.
The washing process, in Indian tradition, starts from the kind of beverages you pour into the cup. As you change the nature of beverages poured into the cup (replacing the cup with beverages that are sattvic, and non-corrosive, slowly makes the cup come into shape). At a more subtle level, we also must reflect on the clay, cup and beverage as an entire system, and learn the art of cleaning the cup. Of course, every cup is different depending on the beverage it has been used for. In Vedantic jargon, we call this the different paths to self-realization – Bhakti yoga (developing love for the beverage), Gnana Yoga (learning technical understanding of the beverage), and karma Yoga (drinking the beverage with no sense of like or dislike for the taste that comes, ready to experiment – just for the love of it).
However, our own ability to understand how to wash the cup and enjoy it can be different. Keeping the cup constantly washed, in the subtle realm can be even harder. Patanjali allows us a way out by detailing the process of ashtanga yoga – Yama (self-restraint – non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, moderation, and no greed), Niyama (cleanliness, contentment, austerities, self-study and surrender), Asana (physical regimen), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (withdrawal of senses), dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (bliss).
Lets translate this to the beverage realm – Yama would mean taking care of the cup from physical damage, mixing with other beverages and having other forms of residues contaminate the cup – as a wine connoisseur). Niyama are the rules of effective cleaning, and what needs to be done once the beverage is poured into the cup. Asana – the right way of drinking and positioning the cup, pranayama – the amount of air that needs to be in the beverage, or not. An alternative way is to think of how the beverage is connected to its environment, Pratyahara – withdrawing the taste buds from other beverages – to get the full unadulterated taste of one beverage, dharana – concentration and “feeling” of the taste of the beverage, dhayana -- meditating on the taste of the beverage, and samadhi – internalizing the taste, and the entire system that allowed you the taste. When finally, all the residue comes off, after all the coffee should taste exactly the way it should be. Some of you who have done wine and tequila tasting may understand these attributes well. Unfortunately, too much wine and tequila tasting brings other residues :D.
The ultimate outcome – pure joy of the beverage
A steady practice of all the rules is necessary for a continuous enjoyment of every beverage. That is a high bar for enjoyment ! There is another subtle point. While Yoga is the process of cleaning the cup, that is not enough, we need Vedanta to realize that the cup is also coming from pristine clay. The art of Yoga - when coupled with Vedanta is to let you taste every beverage you drink to the optimal ! Exactly as it should be. It turns out that’s pure Joy, that allows you to reflect on nature as a system ! The real coffee, real taste, but with no residue.
Of course, the last few parts are a little bit of a stretch, yet, for the sake of having some serious fun with this and explaining my elementary understanding of vedanta 101!
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