Ted Schmidt - Self-Knowledge: The King of Secrets

THE KING OF SECRETS

THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE self that is revealed through the systematic teaching methodology of Vedantic self-inquiry, as set forth in this book, is different from any other type of knowledge. Because this knowledge essentially renders all else as good as known, it marks the end of the quest for knowledge. More important, it alone puts an end to suffering.

Just as a king has final authority among the many inhabitants of his kingdom, so too is this knowledge king among the various disciplines of knowledge . In Sanskrit, the word for king is raja , which is derived from the root raj , to shine. The king is the one who shines on his own, who does not depend upon anything else. Similarly, the limitless eternal self is the sole being who is self-effulgent.

Self-knowledge is the king of knowledge because all other forms of knowledge depend upon the self, the limitless field of illumination in which all objects appear. While all relative, informational knowledge is revealed by the light of the intellect, the self stands revealed by its own autonomous luminosity.

Whats more, there is no other knowledge that, once known, renders everything else as good as known. All relative knowledge, by definition, leaves behind a bit of ignorance (i.e., the more we know, the more we know what we dont know) because knowledge without the vision of the whole is never complete. The secret is that, despite all appearances to the contrary, the whole happens to be the self. In other words, you are both whole and the whole. To know that you are limitless awareness, the light by which all that is and is not is known, from whose illumination nothing remains excluded, is therefore to have complete knowledge.

The self is the very essence of your being, that which would seemingly be the most familiar aspect of you. Nevertheless, Lord Krishna, speaking as the self in the Bhagavad Gita, refers to self-knowledge as the king of secrets. Why?

While any secret can be stumbled upon and virtually all conundrums can be worked out if given due consideration, the self can seem a virtually uncrackable code. Any other secret is available for disclosure because as a knower you have the means by which to know it. In other words, your senses and intellect are sufficient instruments by which to understand any object. The self, however, is the essence of the knower. It is, we might say, knowing itself. As such, it is not available for objectification. That is, it cannot be known by the means of knowledge with which you have been equipped perception and inferencewhich only work with regard to objects.

About the knower who goes about unraveling all secrets, then, there is a great secret. The knower is what is to be known. What you seek is what you are. Due to the inherent limitations of your investigative instrument, however, you are not going to figure it out on your own. The secret needs be revealed by some other source.

It is like wanting to see your eyesit is impossible by your own efforts; a mirror is the only viable means. Similarly, that you exist and are aware is obvious, but to see (i.e., understand) the true nature of that awareness, you need a word mirror. This is what Vedanta provides. This word mirror can reflect your limitless, attributeless, non-objectifiable nature. Ironically, until this fact is known, your very own self remains the king of secrets.

Invocation

Om saha navavatu

Saha nau bhunaktu

Saha viryam karavavahai

Tejasvi navadhitam astu

Ma vidvisavahai

Om. May we, teacher and student, be protected together.

May we enjoy the fruits of our actions together.

May we achieve strength together.

May our knowledge be full of light.

May we never have enmity for one another.

Om shanti shanti shanti

Om. Peace! Peace! Peace!