Viveka – The ability to discriminate what is good for one’s spiritual progress as opposed to that which will stand in his way. Right discrimination. Right discernment. The power of separating the invisible Spirit from the visible world. A Sanskrit word usually written in the Devangari script – 
What is discernment or discrimination? In this case, racial, gender or age discrimination is not meant. Instead the definition I intend is the ability to determine how the effects of choices will affect he who made them. The ability to discriminate between choices that will inevitably stand in your way is of paramount importance. It is a quality that is needed constantly in every area of life, in both the inner and the outer aspects of awareness. Simply put, it is the ability to look at a thing and to know that it is true, or is lacking thereof. From that one can know if it is a worthy desire, or an unworthy one, and often the true motivation at the outset provides the clearest explanation as to how it will play out after the choice has been made. Whether it will bring good or negative situations into one’s life.
The ability to know and identify the one from its opposite is a thing of great value, regardless of one’s station in life, and it gives the individual the option of being the cause in their life rather than the effects of other people’s causes. For example, one can want money, and being that it has value and is able to pay for many goods and services that are necessary, it certainly can serve a positive purpose, however, if one attaches a greater meaning or value to it due to a desire, this forms attachment born of illusion which will bring undesirable experiences. Such experiences bring an expansion of learning and awareness about that choice.
As this discrimination becomes ever more able to separate the positive motivations from the negative, it becomes ever more useful in knowing what the choices one makes in life will truly bring to them which is if it wasn’t already obvious, the Law of Karma. Right discernment enables one to see what any set of choices are tied to as outcomes. As one learns to make the better choices, they are rewarded more and punished less often by the outcomes.
The point is learning to discriminate the positive from the negative so as to make ever better choices and changes in life, that will ultimately bring one forward in the spiritual sense. It also helps one avoid “standing in their own way,” which is to make a choice that puts roadblocks on the path towards the goal chosen, whether spiritual, mental, emotional or physical. It seems obviously not a wise thing to do, however this isn’t always obvious at first. That makes the experiences necessary to teach the individual the way to the positive choices that will remove those roadblocks and speed bumps that slow our progress, that we all put in our own way at some point in life.
Discernment is an extremely useful quality in the life of anyone, but particularly in the life of an ECKist. We refer to it in Eckankar as right discernment because it can be a difficult concept to become familiar with, especially without having the direct experience of applying it in the wrong ways. It is only through such direct experiences that an individual is able to learn to recognize right discernment or discrimination as something apart from wrongful discernment, whether it be wrongful based upon the way it is applied, or an erroneous view or judgment of it in one’s own life experience.
This discernment or discrimination can be found throughout many of the world’s religious paths. Most often it is referred to as true or right discernment or discrimination, which also indicates that it can be used or perceived in a wrong way that will serve the individual no benefit. When fully unfolded however, it becomes a trait that frees one from the chains of illusion within the lower planes.
The quality of discrimination becomes important the instant a person realizes that when speaking to or hearing from a disembodied entity, regardless of one’s ability to see or hear them, one cannot know if this entity is true and accurate without the use of right discernment. They are not necessarily the person they claim to be, whether still living or already deceased. This factor is also always present when the entity in question appears as an ECK Master. Many are the times a lesser negative entity will attempt to impersonate a spiritual figure that an individual recognizes for the purpose of misleading. Sri Harold Klemp has spoken about such issues. For this reason I would suggest that a person always challenge a Master as a way of making certain of their identity.
A good example that demonstrates the importance of learning to tell which is which can be found in the Bible where St. Paul writes, “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” 1 Where the Bible speaks of Satan, as having been made an angel but then having been cast down, can be somewhat different than in the Quran, depending upon the interpretation looked at. Some consider Iblis (as Satan is called in the Quran)an angel whereas others will say that he is a jinn while within Kabbalah, the negative pole is called the demiurge . Regardless of the particularities between one religious interpretation and another, the negative intent remains a constant, although in some traditions the negative merely does a job arranged for it by God. The same applies within Sikhism, Sant Mat and Eckankar where Satan is considered as the ruler of the lower dual planes, and is thereby a dual god equally as capable of anger judgment and revenge as he is of love, mercy and forgiveness. In these religions he is named Kal Niranjan and rules the lower planes where he takes the role of a sort of drill Sergeant for the training of Soul, while the first manifestation of Sugmad is Sat Nam on the Soul Plane. In every case, the ability to discern is important to the human that is learning to know the differences between one and the other.
True discrimination is best applied along side of surrender to the Divine Will, thus allowing the ECK to lead one to the right discernment of a person, thing, or idea. There are a great many ways of applying it. As stated before, in Eckankar we use it in the sense of being able to see clearly enough to avoid making choices that will put further road blocks in our way to spiritual development and ultimately God-Realization.
Shams-i Tabrizi comments on this subject in the Maqalat-i Shams-i Tabrizi, where he states, “They say that the Antichrist will kill goats and sheep. He will kill birds, pulling off their feathers and wings, then he will rub them with his hands and they will be put aright and come to life. He will place hands on a dry goat, and it will give birth. He will cut a goat in half, rub it with his hands, and it will be put aright. The servants of the Real and the followers of Muhammed will not be deceived by that, though he brings what is similar to a miracle.
This fellow is an imitator. However, he is imitating a belief that is the solicitude of the Guardian. When on occassion the trace of that solicitude reaches his Soul in a concealed and hidden way, his imitation becomes so strong that he wouldn’t give away that report if he saw with his own eyes a thousand things like this from the Antichrist.
Now, when someone has that state continually, it is never cut off from him — not at the time of eating, nor the time of sleeping, nor in the toilet. He is seated in the toilet and that state is established. What is his state like? After all, he’s mounted on the toilet.
Of course, his beard is the right size of a beard. Say that you will show him sincere disciples in the measure of his beard. Since they don’t have the inward, let them at least do the outward.” (213- 14)2
The imitator is the one masquerading as something he is not, whether a Saint, Guru, or Master of any degree or in any religion. While such a one may do things that appear impossible or miraculous, one that has any ability to discern its reality will not be fooled by it. And discrimination is a great importance because it differs from judgment, which is another of the lower dualities that are illusion. Good or evil, beauty or ugliness, right or wrong, are all dual perceptions that the mind makes, almost habitually. The true inner quality that is the Soul perceiving is the ability to discern rightly, the one from its opposite. Which is why that figures so heavily in dealing with an imposter who pretends to be a familiar ECK Master. The difference between the imposter and the true Vairagi is the ability to discern the false from the Real, those actions which will aid spiritual growth as opposed to those that merely waste one’s time.
A true Vairagi Adept has no problem with, and will never become impatient or angry when a chela challenges them. If anything they will smile as they conquer the challenge to prove that they are real. They are well aware how often negative entities try to pose as one of them so as to mislead a person. Singing HU for a period is one useful way of determining the identity, however, it must also be stated that a negative entity will attempt to withstand the HU. So one must always spend several minutes challenging because a negative entity cannot withstand prolonged exposure to the HU, whereas a true Master will simply sing HU along with the person challenging them as a means of proving the identity. Patience and forbearance are prerequisites when challenging the identity of an entity, Master, or even a deceased relative.
One must always accept the responsibility for themselves to determine what any entity is, and whether or not they are who and what they claim to be. There is no more direct way that to know that imposters exist and will certainly attempt to be accepted as a familiar entity of any sort, whether deceased family, a famous Saint, or a Guru or Master.
1 – 2nd Corinthians 11:13-14 in the New International Version of the Bible.
2 – pgs. 213-14 of the Maqalat, as found in part 2, verse 39 on pages 58-9 of Me & Rumi: The Autobiography of Shams-t Tabrizi © 2004 – William C. Chittick
© 2012 – 2017 Pavitr Dhvani Publishing
All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, at “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below:
Email – pavitrdhvanipublishing@gmail.com
Or write: Pavitr Dhvani Publishing
c/o Matt Sharpe
3126 Simpson rd.
Fort Gratiot, MI 48059
