“I am neither this body nor this mind” — this is a phrase that perhaps every individual in a Hindu family has heard since birth. It represents the highest knowledge of the Vedas and Upanishads, a knowledge that promises to free you from all suffering. Yet, despite hearing this, why does humanity continue to struggle? Why can’t we find liberation? Why can’t we escape the clutches of greed, attachment, fear, desire, and anger?

The simple answer is that merely knowing this knowledge does not make one wise. To attain permanent freedom from suffering, one must have a direct, non-indirect experience of this truth. It must be made a living reality. And for this, self-effort (Purushartha) and spiritual practice (Sadhana) are required.

For seekers who walk the path of Jnana Yoga (the Path of Knowledge), the most important tools are Viveka (discernment) and Vichara (inquiry). However, this Viveka is different from the conventional sense of right and wrong used in the practical world. To live an ordinary life in the transactional world, a sense of right and wrong is necessary, and one must use it appropriately.

But to embark on the quest for Truth, one must transcend this ordinary discernment, because the definitions of right and wrong are dependent on time and place. A few centuries ago, practices like Sati and monarchy were considered right, but in today’s time, they are wrong. What is considered right today might become wrong 100 years from now. That is why Adi Shankaracharya taught humanity a form of discernment that is immutable.

1. Nitya-Anitya Viveka (Discernment between the Eternal and the Transient)

That which is eternal (Nitya) is the only truth (Satya). That which is constantly changing is merely an appearance; it has no independent existence. Let’s understand this with an example. In the ocean, waves are constantly being born and dying away. These changing waves are given a name and a form, but they have no independent existence of their own. Their only reality is water, which is permanent and eternal.

Based on this discernment, Shankaracharya advised seekers to inquire into their own body and mind. Is the existence that I call “I” unchangeable? From our own experience, we know that from childhood to old age, the entity called “I” does not change. It never feels as if the one who was a youth is a different person from the one who is now old. Therefore, the entity called “I” is the truth.

However, this body is changing every moment. It grows, it diminishes, it breaks, it heals. And the mind — it has no stability at all. One moment it is here, the next it is on another planet. Thus, this transient body and mind are, like the waves, merely appearances with name and form. Through inquiry, how can the “I,” which I have found to be unchangeable, possibly be this momentary body and mind?

Not only that, but this body and mind cannot even be “mine.” Otherwise, they would have obeyed me at all times. If I told the mind to sit still here, it would have remained there until told otherwise. But in reality, the body and mind function according to their own nature and processes, which are governed by Prakriti (nature).

Thus, humanity lives under the greatest illusion: that “I am this body, and this body is mine.” This very ignorance is the seed of suffering. That is why in Sanatana Dharma, Buddhism, and Jainism, ignorance (Ajnana) is said to be the cause of bondage. And the person who becomes free — and everyone can, for it is the birthright of every living being — is one who, with the help of any suitable spiritual practice, ignites the light of knowledge and completely dispels the darkness of ignorance (Avidya).

2. Drig-Drishya Viveka (Discernment between the Seer and the Seen)

Similarly, Shankaracharya gave another tool of discernment. Whatever object you can experience, you can never be that object. This is very simple logic. You can see a pen, you can touch it, and you can experience it through other senses as well. But you would never mistakenly believe that the knower, who is gaining all this knowledge, can be the pen itself. There is a clear distinction between the knower (subject) and the object.

Now, with the help of this discernment, inquire into your own body and mind. Can you experience this body? Can you experience the thoughts, anxieties, etc., running through your mind? If so, then all these are objects providing knowledge to that knower or subject.

How can the knower and the objects be the same? Therefore, you are neither this body nor this mind.

3. Avastha Traya Viveka (Discernment through the Three States of Consciousness)

The Jagadguru has left us with yet another method of discernment for our inquiry. In the waking state (Jagrat), both the body and the mind are present. In the dream state (Svapna), there is no awareness of the physical body; only the mind is active. And in the deep sleep state (Sushupti), there is awareness of neither the body nor the mind. However, you are present in all three states. There is not even a moment when you can say, “I am not.”

Even in the state of deep sleep, when there are no physical or mental experiences, the entity “I” still exists. Otherwise, upon waking, you would not have the memory or feeling that “I slept peacefully.” Deep sleep is not the absence of consciousness, but rather the consciousness of the absence of physical and mental objects.

So, how can the entity “I,” which is ever-present, be this body and mind, which exist in one state but are absent in another?

So, if you are not this body and mind, then who are you? Stay with the question and progressively sharpen your mind through meditative practices. Sooner or later, you are bound to be answered.

Auspicious wishes.