Neither by knowledge, nor by intelligence, nor by virtue or austerity

Vasiṣṭha enumerates the four classical paths —jñāna (knowledge), medhā (intelligence, memory), śīla (ethical virtue), tapas (austerity)— only to declare their insufficiency. Not that they are useless: each one purifies an aspect of the mind. Knowledge dissolves conceptual errors, intelligence sharpens discrimination, virtue harmonizes relationships, austerity strengthens the will. But none of them is upaśama —quietude— because they all operate within saṅkalpa, within the intention to improve, to attain, to purify. The jñāna that is sought is already vijñāna —dualistic knowledge— subject-object. The medhā that discriminates presupposes a discriminator. The śīla that is practiced requires a practitioner. The tapas that is accumulated also accumulates an accumulator.

Quietude does not reject these paths: it passes through them as one walks across a bridge and then leaves it behind. One does not linger on the bridge admiring it, nor does one destroy it after crossing. One simply no longer needs it. The Aṣṭāvakra Gītā (II.21) says: muktābhimānī muktas tu viṣṭabhyātmānam ātmanā —“He who considers himself liberated is liberated”— but adds the condition: having abandoned even the consideration. Quietude is not the possession of knowledge, the display of intelligence, the ostentation of virtue, nor ascetic heroism: it is the cessation of all this as identity.

Vasiṣṭha enumerates the four classical paths —jñāna (knowledge), medhā (intelligence, memory), śīla (ethical virtue), tapas (austerity)— only to declare their insufficiency. Not that they are useless: each one purifies an aspect of the mind. Knowledge dissolves conceptual errors, intelligence sharpens discrimination, virtue harmonizes relationships, austerity strengthens the will. But none of them is upaśama —quietude— because they all operate within saṅkalpa, within the intention to improve, to attain, to purify. The jñāna that seeks is already vijñāna —dualistic knowledge— subject-object. The medhā that discriminates presupposes a discriminator. The śīla that is practiced requires a practitioner. The tapas that is accumulated also accumulates an accumulator.

Quietude does not reject these paths: it passes through them as one walks across a bridge and then leaves it behind. One does not remain on the bridge admiring it, nor does one destroy it after crossing. One simply no longer needs it. The Aṣṭāvakra Gītā (II.21) says: muktābhimānī muktas tu viṣṭabhyātmānam ātmanā —“He who considers himself liberated is liberated”— but adds the condition: having abandoned even that consideration. Quietude is not the possession of knowledge, the display of intelligence, the ostentation of virtue, nor ascetic heroism: it is the cessation of all this as identity.