1080. Negation and Transcending....!

A psychology professor came up with a unique question for his students at the time of final exams. The students were ready to leave the class and the professor requested for their attention and picked up his chair, dumped it on top of the desk and wrote on the board:
 

“Using all the knowledge you have gained from the semester, prove that this chair does not exist. You have ten minutes.”

All of a sudden there was silence in the class. Some studious students pulled out their project books and started writing. Some reached out to their texts and guides to look into them for anything substantial. Some started to have discussions among others. But there was this fellow sitting in the last bench who took out a sheet of paper and scribbled something and folded it into half wrote his name and handed over it to the professor. Not only the professor but the entire class was astonished by the young man’s act.

When the whole class insisted to know what the young man had written, the psychology professor revealed his answer sheet which had just “WHAT CHAIR?” written in the middle of the sheet.

There was a concert at an old temple and elderly people had gathered in the hall. Everyone had sat down and one middle aged person was sitting near a pillar. A young man requested him to relocate himself so that his grandpa could rest his back to the pillar and sit. The middle aged man was adamant to shift place, staring at the young man he said, “Do you know whom you are talking to; I am a Tarka Praveena (Proficient of Logic) I can argue that this pillar does not exist at all.”  

The young boy looked at the pillar and then at the Tarkashastradnya (Professor of Logic) and said, “Revered sir, could you please head butt this pillar hard before you prove with all your knowledge that this pillar does not exist?”     

Vedanta talks about Nakara (Negation) and also about Ativarthata (Transcending). Negation is easy compared to Transcending. In negation one stays where he is but puts the object in question away from him while in transcending the individual surpasses it. 

In the two analogies above the student had transcended and looked beyond the chair and hence he did not find it and also there was no ego to fan him. In the case of the Tarka expert he just wanted to show off his knowledge by using words to negate the pillar, which he had already mentioned to the young man while boasting about his credentials with his ego was inflated.

In negation there is still an iota of Ajnana (Ignorance), likewise if a seeker can realize that sorrow is just the result of ignorance then he will be asking “WHAT SORROW?” And further realization of the truth makes him realize the illusionary and dream-like nature of the world, and then he will be in a position to ask “WHAT WORLD?” “WHAT PAIN?” “WHAT LOSS?” “WHAT GAIN?”

Delight or grief does not exist in reality since they do not appear on their own; they are temporary flip flop emotions that sprout in our mind as the stream of thoughts flow if we are sceptical. This is the reason Sri Krishna tells Arjuna that with no desires in the mind, if the lower self is satisfied with the higher Self then the seeker is steadfast and rock solid in making decisions. This is not mere negation but definite transcending.....What say???