Understanding the Layers of Knowing
Location: A quiet Ashram in Rishikesh, where Shri Shivanand Maharaj is meeting with a group of young students from different parts of India.
Student: Gurudev, you often speak about “understanding” in different ways. But what does it truly mean to understand something?
Shri Shivanand Maharaj: Good question, my child. There are three kinds of understanding:
Intellectual Understanding
Experiential Understanding
Existential Realization
Let me explain with a simple example: imagine fire.
When someone tells you that fire is hot, you nod your head. This is intellectual understanding — your mind agrees. You’ve accepted a concept based on logic, language, or hearing from others.
But when you touch the fire and feel the burn, that’s experiential understanding. It’s no longer just theory. You feel it — in your body and your being.
Finally, existential realization is when the truth of fire becomes so deeply embedded in you that even in your dreams, your hand wouldn’t move toward it. You have become that knowledge. There is no “you” and the idea separately — the truth is lived, not learned.
Student 2: Maharaj, so many of us are reading books, attending seminars, and watching motivational videos. Are we stuck at the intellectual level?
Shri Shivanand Maharaj: Precisely. Our current education system — after Independence — focused heavily on the intellect, not the inner experience. Even theology students, who study religion deeply, often stay stuck in the head. They can quote the Upanishads, but they haven't experienced even a drop of it in their hearts.
That’s why Sanatan Dharma emphasizes Sadhana — daily discipline. Without it, the knowledge doesn’t soak in. It’s like pouring water on a rock.
The Mundaka Upanishad speaks of this clearly:
Parīkṣya lokān karmachitān brāhmaṇo nirvedam āyāt “The wise one, after careful reflection on the world and its rituals, turns inward.”
Meaning, the seeker begins with outer knowledge but must evolve to inner experience.
Student 3: But Gurudev, what brings about this shift? How do I move from just understanding to experiencing?
Shri Shivanand Maharaj: When the fruit ripens, it falls on its own.
There is no shortcut. But there is a journey.
Practice. Silence. Seva. Company of the wise. Gradually, the walls of intellect break. Your heart opens. You begin to feel the truth. In the Bhagavad Gita, Bhagwan Krishna says:
Shraddhāvān labhate jñānam – “Only one with faith and devotion gains true knowledge.”
Not the one with arguments. Not the one with pride. But the one with openness.
Student 4: So, are feelings more important than knowledge?
Shri Shivanand Maharaj: Both are important — but only when integrated.
You may know that you are “hollow and empty,” as the scriptures say. But unless you feel it, sit with it in silence, and allow that inner emptiness to become your space of transformation, you remain unchanged.
From Experience to Realization
Student 5: Gurudev, earlier you mentioned “existential realization.” Could you explain how that’s different from experience?
Shri Shivanand Maharaj: Of course. Experiential understanding happens when something touches your senses and emotions. It is powerful, but it still comes and goes.
But existential realization is a transformation of your very being.
It is like knowing you are a wave in the ocean. First, intellectually — you learn it. Then, you feel it — you have moments when you feel one with life. But finally, you become the ocean itself. There’s no going back. That’s existential realization — it is not borrowed, not emotional. It is you.
This is the realization of the Mahāvākyas of the Upanishads:
Tat Tvam Asi – You are That. Aham Brahmasmi – I am Brahman.
You don’t just chant them; you become the truth they carry.
Student 6: Maharaj, is this realization sudden? Or gradual?
Shri Shivanand Maharaj: It is both. For many, it ripens over years of sadhana — like the mango on the tree. For some, in a moment of grace, it bursts forth like lightning.
But remember what Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras say:
Abhyāsa vairāgyābhyāṁ tannirodhaḥ – “Through consistent practice and detachment, the mind is stilled.”
That stillness is the doorway to realization. You prepare the ground — and one day, the flower blooms.
Student 7: Gurudev, what stops us from reaching this state?
Shri Shivanand Maharaj: Doubt. Inner conflict.
As the Kena Upanishad says:
“That which cannot be spoken by speech, but by which speech is spoken — know that alone to be Brahman.”
This is not easy for the mind to accept. So, doubt creeps in.
Student 8: Then what is doubt exactly?
Shri Shivanand Maharaj: Doubt is one part of the mind challenging the other part.
When your heart says “Yes, this feels true,” the intellect says, “Prove it.”
It’s like trying to taste honey while wearing gloves. Unless you remove the barrier — the restless questioning — you will never taste its sweetness.
But doubt is not your enemy. It is a tool. It pushes you to inquire deeper.
Student 9: Then how do we resolve our doubts, Maharaj?
Shri Shivanand Maharaj: Not by answers — but by direct experience.
As Swami Vivekananda said, “Religion is realization.” You must walk the path, not just read about it. That is why Sadhana (spiritual practice) and Seva (selfless action) are key.
They purify the mind and prepare the heart for the moment of realization.
Student 10: But we are busy with studies, jobs, responsibilities… How do we find time for all this?
Shri Shivanand Maharaj: You don’t need hours of meditation. You need awareness in action. While working, ask: Am I doing this with love, with dharma, with attention?
Sanatan Dharma was never about renouncing life — it’s about realizing the truth in life.
Start where you are. Be sincere. Even one moment of real connection to the truth can transform you.
As Tulsidas wrote in the Ramcharitmanas:
“Tulsi jo tu ek baar Hari ko smaran kare, to jeevan safal ho jaye.”
Remember the Divine with sincerity, even once — your life is fulfilled.
Your Journey Begins Now
Dear reader, now you know the difference between knowing something in your head… and becoming it in your life.
Move beyond information. Seek experience. And let that grow into realization.
May your journey lead you from the head, to the heart… and finally, to your being.
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Good karma. You are taking the pain to explain traditional Hinduism. Now, we must discuss the concept of spiritual stages and cosmic time in Sanatana Dharma. Kali Yuga is a new age, and the Kali Yuga Dharma is characterized by a jnana-oriented approach. One has to transcend the level of devatas (Trimurti) and reach the position of Rishis in Kali Yuga. The stage of devatas is 6th in the spiritual hierarchy. The next level is the stage of Brahm Jnani Rishi (7th stage). Only those with Brahm Gyan can be born in the next Satya Yuga, after this age of Kali. Those who follow the old system prevalent in Treta and Dwapara in Kali Yuga, how can they evolve to the stage of Rishi? This part of Sanatana Dharma is missing in the discourses on Hinduism.