EXISTENCE AND VALUE

Existence has value as It is the infinity of the infinitude, absolute, imperishable, and beyond comprehension of the finite mind. Nothing is absolute in the cosmic order except Absolute Existence, which is Non-Relative. In the cobwebs of cosmic order, everything is relational, limited, and transitory. That way, the conception of value is also relational if it is related to something else other than Absolute Existence. Value is limited, ascribed, derivative, relational, and graded. It gets its valuation in relation to its existence. Further, the relative qualities are limited to space-time-causation. It can never be Absolute nor ever was it. At any time, it is tied up to a situation with other limited adjuncts. For example, gold or a currency note has a certain relational, or empirical value at a certain time or in a certain situation, as long as it is generally accepted as a medium of exchange. But air and water have intrinsic value beyond certain situational adjuncts but are subject to time-space-causation. According to Swami Krishnananda, the daily life of a person is a manifestation of the kind of existence that is embodied in that personality, and the value of that existence of the individual depends upon the extent of knowledge that is connected with it. The wider the insight and the greater the knowledge, the more secure its existence is. Value is conscious knowledge that reflects existence, consciousness, and bliss in one's self, way of life, thought, and action. It needs to imbibe the principles of detachment, equanimity, forbearance, humility, truthfulness, and the conscious realisation of one indivisible whole. Value is elevating one's self in the life journey process to realise Sat-Chit-Anand, or Existence-Consciousness-Bliss towards the ultimate value of moksha, or liberation from the relational life of samsāra chakra, the wheel of birth and death. The way that an external existence becomes the content of an internal consciousness is known as value, and it is the essence of existence as it relates to a perceiving subject. Therefore, an object as it is perceived or observed is a value rather than an actual thing. However, the object's existence—as opposed to its relationship to a cogniser—is its real essence.

1. Outline

Life is a journey as one portrays it in the outward or inward context to realise the goal, or its approximation to some extent. It never paused and moved ahead, taking a straight, turn, up, or down as and when the situation demanded. The outward movement in the world of phenomena is to value the perceived dualities of pleasure and pain, concubines self-ego, bondage, prejudice, and attachments as derivatives of the body-mind-intellect system into a threshold cycle of insatiable desires. The sense-perceived feeling of existence is to approximate the evanescent valuation arising through sense perception to relish the sensation from the objectified dimension, thus getting into the entrapment of dualities of pleasure-pain, happiness-distress, joy-sorrow, pacification-inflammation, birth-death, young-old, attachments-jealousy, inward-outward, satisfaction-thirst, rage-calm, etc. Whereas the inward movement, to realise the inner Self, is imbibed with self-control, detachment, forbearance, equanimity, clairvoyance, righteousness, truthfulness, virtue, honesty, asceticism, forbearance, humility, purity, chastity, steady demeanour, freedom from bondage, and non-duality in thought and action. The Self is bright and self-fulfilling, an extension of the Cosmic Self, of Absolute Existence. Every being's ultimate goal is to become conscious of who they are. That way, a perceiver can cognise the value and its authencity by uncovering the ignorance that clouds his self. Value that is valued has to become part of life and part of daily existence. In the expanded form of daily existence, desire gradually moves towards the desireless in the aroma of Sat-Chit-Anand, or Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. The more one realises Bliss, the desire becomes evanescent and ultimately desireless. The more one moves towards the phenomenon world, the pang of desires becomes more acute of insatiable nature. Existence is consciousness, and value has a meaning only in so far as it exists in relation to Absolute Existence. Existence is consciousness, and value has a meaning only in so far as it exists in relation to Absolute Existence. A value does not have an inherent valuation, and to have that, it has to exist. If it does not, it cannot be assigned any valuation. A transitory and ephemeral value is non-existent and has no value as such. Value has to exist if it is to be validated. Value can exist only if it is part of existence. Existence is the only Reality, Truth, Consciousness, and Bliss. The value is in relation to the Absoluteness of Existence, not the other way around. Value is relative and dependent on Existence for valuation. The true identification of value is the capacity of the perceiver to perceive it through the level of his consciousness. Self-consciousness is a pivot for inculcating Self-knowledge to discriminate between real and unreal value as far as it is in relation to Self-realisation.

Swami Krishnananda, in his commentary on the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, highlights this aspect by affirming that just as lightning outside dispels darkness caused by the clouds or by the absence of the sun in the darkness of the night, so this lightning or flash of consciousness within, in meditation, dispels ignorance in respect of oneself as well as in respect of others. He says that there are two kinds of ignorance: Sthūla-Avidyā, or the external ignorance, and Mula-Avidyā, or the internal ignorance that covers every aspect on account of which we cannot perceive them. The flash of an external light allows one to perceive an external thing, but until the root ignorance, or Mula-Avidyā, is removed, one cannot perceive an internal entity in that way. Deep meditation is the only way to do it. Therefore, lightning, both inside and outside, has the same ability to banish darkness. One might focus on the flash of lightning by keeping this similarity in mind. Vidyud Brahmeti: 'Where lightning is Brahmān.'

 2. Scriptures

Sri Krishna reveals which of these is responsible for their actions in the Srimad Bhagavad Gita. Furthermore, who is in control of cause and effect spanning the entire universe? The ones who perceive the ultimate truth and are positioned in knowledge are those who comprehend these distinctions and recognise the proper causes of acts. They recognise the presence of the Supreme Self in all that exists and do not denigrate themselves due to mental delusions. They recognise a wide range of beings that are of the same material nature and perceive all existence as having a shared spiritual basis. They attain Brahmān consciousness, or the realisation of the Cosmic Self, with the application of this knowledge. In the Bhagavad Gita (13.8–13.12), He emphasises that knowledge constitutes the true value. Humbleness, freedom from hypocrisy, non-violence, forgiveness, simplicity, service to the Guru, cleanliness of body and mind, steadfastness, and self-control, dispassion towards the objects of the senses, absence of egotism, recognising the evils of birth, disease, old age, and death, non-attachment, absence of clinging to spouse, children, home, and so forth, even-mindedness amidst desired and undesired events in life, constant and exclusive devotion towards Me, a preference for solitary places and aversion for mundane society, constancy in spiritual knowledge, and philosophical pursuit of the Absolute Truth—all these I declare to be knowledge, and what is contrary to that, ignorance.

3. Remarks

However, a different kind of value becomes possible, based not on the effort to achieve objective interlinkage but on a commitment to subjective centrality. Perception through sense organs might be deceptive or illusory, like a mirage in a desert. It blurs the distinction between the perceptive object and the object as such. Its because objects by very nature are transitory, and object-based sensory perception derived from another object-based body-mind-intellect system may come out to be fallacious. It involves uplifting the consciousness of the subject to uncover the veil of ignorance that clouds it and realise the true nature of knowledge and value. Swami Krishnananda aphoristically says that the mind of man cannot think of anything independent of objectivity. This is a fundamental error in human perception. God transcends space, time, and causation. In order to think of God, we have to transcend these limiting factors. And we cannot do that. The moment we try to avoid these things, we avoid our own existence. The thinker ceases to exist in the attempt to transcend the relativity of perception and experience.

-Asutosh Satpathy