Consciousness and Conscience🔗

13.4 Understand my summary of this field of activity and how it is constituted; what its changes are, how it is produced,

Who that knower of the field of activities is, and what his influences are.

13.5 That knowledge of the field of activities and of the knower of activities is described by various sages in the scriptures.

It is presented with all reasoning as to cause and effect.

13.6,7 The field of activities and its interactions are said to be: the five elements of nature, false ego, intelligence, the mind, the formless, the ten senses of perception and action, as well as

The five objects of senses and desire, hatred, happiness, distress, the aggregate, the life symptoms, and convictions.

Krishna asks Arjuna to listen carefully to His explanation of what constitutes kṣetra - body-mind, and its activities, its changes, and how they are produced. These truths have been explained by many ṛṣis, sages, from time to time. The vedic scriptures, the Brahma Sutras for example, express these truths with clarity, using sharp reasoning.

Thousands of years of research done by millions of inner scientists, ṛṣis, in millions of inner science laboratories have led to the same truth: The true nature of man is pure consciousness, kṣetrajñya, and man is the knower or witness of the field, kṣetra, the body-mind.

Again and again throughout this chapter, Krishna cautions Arjuna not to confuse the body with the knower of the body and not to confuse the mind with the knower of the mind. The whole problem arises when we mix the knower of the field with the field itself.

We have forgotten that we have taken this body and mind for a purpose and that is to live our desires, saṁskāras. We have forgotten that we have only rented this body-mind costume for this birth and we gradually associate ourselves with it! After a while, this costume becomes more important and dear to us than anything else. Once the costume begins to wear out, we start to worry.

Actually it is not our fault. Society has applied layers of conditioning on us and has fooled us into believing that we are this body and mind. From childhood, we are told that we are this body-mind entity. This body and mind is given a name also. After a few years, we start to relate with that name as well. We identify ourselves with that name, with our profession, with our friends and with our relatives, ‘My name is so-and-so, I am the son of so-and-so, and I am a doctor.’

It is like a parcel with many stamps on it. If I send a parcel from here to Tiruvannamalai, a town in South India, it gets stamped at the post office before it is sent out. Similarly, it gets a stamp at all the stops along the way. By the time it reaches Tiruvannamalai it is full of these stamps. Now the parcel thinks it is the stamps on the outside cover. It has forgotten that it is the stuff inside!

This is what happens when we associate ourselves with the body and mind, instead of associating with the consciousness that runs it. We have forgotten that we are the stuff, kṣetrajña. We are not the stamps, kṣetra. We confuse kṣetrajña with kṣetra. Naturally, all the problems that arise at the body-mind level start to affect us. The activities that happen to the body-mind appear to be having a direct influence on our lives.

In the next few verses, Krishna takes Arjuna step-by-step into what these activities are and how they interact with each other.

Krishna talks about the five great elements, the false ego, the intelligence or the mind that makes decisions and all ten senses. Please understand, He says, ‘ten senses,’ indriyāṇi daśakaṁ ca. We think we have five senses. No. We have five karmendriya and five jñānendriya. karmendriya are the senses or organs responsible for actions such as talking, walking etc and they are the mouth, hands and feet, organs of excretion and reproduction. jñānendriya are our five senses that receive knowledge such as smell, taste, sight, touch, and hearing and they are the nose, tongue, eyes, skin and ear. So, all the ten senses, plus attachment, aversion, joy, sorrow, the body, mutual attraction and the consciousness contribute to the field of activities.

Actually the word ‘consciousness’ cannot be used. When our consciousness becomes rigid, it becomes conscience. There’s a difference between conscience and consciousness.

For example, we do something based upon what we think is right or wrong according to our conscience. If we give these same teachings to the next generation, it will not work because something else may be right or wrong for them. When we force them to follow the same thing that we did, we are giving it as just a morality, as just a conscience. We are giving them a law without the spirit. On the other hand, when we give them understanding about life, when we give our next generation an understanding about life, we give them consciousness.

Please be very clear that a person with only conscience always suffers. He can never be happy, whether he enjoys or renounces. If he enjoys, he suffers from guilt. If he renounces, he feels the lack of it. He suffers either way. Never give conscience to the next generation. Always give them an understanding about life, what I call consciousness. Let them experience and explore.

I do not believe in morality. I believe in conscious experience.

I do not believe in conscientiousness. I believe in consciousness.

Conscience is given to us by society. Consciousness is given to us by God.

Conscience is social conditioning. Consciousness is our very nature.

Conscience naturally makes our whole life into a ritual. We should know what we are doing before doing anything. Only then will we do it intensely. If we do not know the logic behind what we are doing, we will not put ourselves completely into it and dedicate ourselves to it.

Krishna says that the rigid sense of conscience, all the rules that form the kṣetra, are also the field. They are matter. They are not energy. They are not your being. They are not you. Whatever is mentioned here is not you. We should understand we are liberated the moment we know what we are not. We are liberated even if we live with what is not us. Even if we live with our body-mind, if we know that we are not the body and the mind, then we are not their slaves to it!

Please understand that the word ‘slavery’ can be used as long as something goes against your will. With awareness, even if you live with the body-mind, you are not their slave.

Let me tell you a small story about the life of a Greek sage named Diogenes.

Diogenes was an enlightened master. A group of people plotted against him and attacked him. He did not react as they had expected. They went prepared to capture him and expected him to retaliate. They were shocked at his response.

He maintained his composure and asked his attackers, ‘What do you want?’ He asked them like a master.

The attackers were shaken. One of them said that they wanted to capture him and sell him in the slave market.

Diogenes replied, ‘Oh, you should have told me that straightaway. Why did you waste your time making plans and discussing? Come, put on the handcuffs. Where are they?’

The attackers were completely taken aback. For the first time they saw a man ordering them to handcuff him! He spoke like a master when he asked them to put the handcuffs on. Finally, they somehow took out the handcuffs, cuffed his wrist on one side, and locked their own hands on the other side.

Diogenes said, ‘Fools, why are you tying up yourselves? Don’t you believe me? I was the one who gave the order to handcuff me. Come, let us go wherever you want to take me and sell me. But be very clear, don’t run away from me.’

The people who caught him were now slightly frightened. They couldn’t understand what was going on. Slowly, they started feeling small and inadequate themselves. Diogenes said, ‘Fools, I know the technique of freedom. I know the basic rules of freedom. I constantly experience tremendous inner freedom. Nothing can bind me. Try your best to play your game and let’s see where it leads.’

Saying thus, he walked onto the road like a king. His captors followed behind like slaves.

He told the people who were standing on the road and looking at the curious sight, ‘They are my slaves because they cannot leave me.’ They retorted that Diogenes was the slave.

He replied, ‘See, even now if you leave me, I will run away. But now I am letting you go. Can you run away? I am setting you free from this handcuff. Will you run away?’ He continued, ‘You won’t. You need something from me and that makes you my slaves, whereas I want nothing from you. Therefore, I am the master! I am liberated.’

You may not be handcuffed physically but still you can be a slave by attitude. Slavery is related to the being and not the body.

They took him to the market. Straightaway, he walked to the table where slaves are sold. The auction began. The auctioneer called out, ‘Here is a slave. Bidders are welcome and the highest bidder can claim him.’

Diogenes at that point said, ‘Stop! Don’t say, Here is a slave. Say instead, Here is a master. If you can afford to bid on him, come.’ Nobody dared to bid for a master and therefore nobody bought him. After three days his captors felt burdened that they had to unnecessarily feed him, knowing that nobody would buy him. They felt, ‘If we continue to sit here he may sell us. We don’t know what he is capable of.’

So they set him free.

This may be a story. Yet the truth behind the story is that nothing can enslave us once we understand that we are not body and mind. We can never become a slave to anything. Even slavery cannot enslave us. Slavery can enslave us as long as we are not ready to cooperate with slavery. This is a subtle point. When we understand that we are beyond body and mind, we will feel no need to resist when somebody tries to enslave us. We know that we can never be slaves.

Only that which goes against our will can enslave us. Here we are in a totally different space, a totally different consciousness, and nothing can go against our will. And we will never have a will that would make us feel like a slave. We will be flowing with the river, flowing with the current. We will disappear into the Divine. So slavery cannot happen to us. Our consciousness is beyond any form of slavery.

That is why Krishna teaches the secret of understanding the body-mind and consciousness, kṣetra and kṣetrajña. In ancient times, man was only subjected to physical slavery. In the present day, man is subjected to psychological slavery. Understand, we are the psychological slaves of countless things.

When some product is advertised on television, straightaway it sits in our head. Within a few days, we somehow get money and buy that product. We live in a world of psychological slavery. Once we understand that we are not the body-mind, that we are beyond it, we will be totally free from physical and psychological slavery.

See, it is like this. When we badly want a particular object or event to happen, our happiness is in the hands of that object or event. That external object or event has the power to control our happiness. We feel depressed when things turn out other than the way we desired. We feel the world is unfair. Many people ask me, ‘Why has God been so unfair to me? Why is it that only I face these difficulties?’ Please understand, the moment you place your happiness in the hands of something or someone, you have become their slave. They can exploit you.

One more thing is that even the thought of wanting freedom can exploit us if we allow it. Many times we chase freedom in the name of spiritual seeking. Freedom happens only when we realize that there is no need to chase. We must drop the idea of wanting freedom and just trust the freedom. We will then experience it. Otherwise, craving for freedom can enslave us. We realize the futility of this struggle and experience freedom only when we become aware that we are already free.

The minute we accept whatever we have, we start flowing and stop resisting. We stop giving someone or something the power to control our happiness. Nothing will enslave us. We will experience the consciousness of freedom.

Q: Swamiji, is the difference between religion and spirituality the difference between conscience and consciousness?

You have got it! That is exactly it!

Please understand that when Moses met his master, the Ten Commandments came out as the metaphorical explanation of his spiritual experience. With his spiritual transformation, he became aware of nonviolence, non-covetousness, and the other points of the commandments. They were not mere words or instructions; they were the beautiful outpouring and expression of how an enlightened being lives. These became his consciousness as a result of merging with his master.

Because these truths became his conviction following his experience, Moses could follow them. A few people close to him understood what he had experienced and were also able to follow these truths. Therefore, for them as well, these were expressions of their consciousness.

Until the experience happens, the expressions remain mere rules. Instead of being liberating truths that they had been for the one who expressed them, they become bondages for those who follow them. They become rules of conscience. They degenerate from spiritual truths to religious dogma.

The Hindu culture, Sanātana dharma, the eternal path of righteousness, clearly differentiates between expressions of spirituality and the rules and regulations of religion and society. Truths are the śruti and rules are smṛti. Śruti are experienced truths of great masters and smṛti are the regulators of conscience. There is a clear injunction that smṛti can be changed based upon time and space.

Krishna tells Arjuna elsewhere in the Bhagavad Gita that the mere reading of the scriptures does not lead to Him, i.e., to enlightenment. The scriptures, the Vedas, Upaniṣads and Gita need to be experienced in the inner space. They need to become the truths of the individual. Then and only then, can they become your consciousness, your own spiritual truths.

Otherwise they remain no better than any other rule and regulation. Men and women are conditioned to break rules and regulations. They will break rules whenever they get the chance. However, when it becomes a part of one's experience, one's inner spiritual experience, living by these truths will become blissful.