Right Discrimination on the Path of Light

At a basic level, discrimination means that we have accepted the goal of liberation as our own, and that we are prepared to evaluate experiences according to the criterion: ‘Is it helpful to my path towards my goal? Will it take me a step forward, or throw me back?’ Once we get a feeling for this sort of interior assessment, we are practising discrimination.

On a deeper level, discrimination denotes our inner search to discover the changeless centre of our being, and to be able to say: ‘Not this, not this’ to all that is passing and, therefore, unreliable. Behind the stream of thoughts and emotions is the eternal Self, ever at peace, and this is to be uncovered with the help of our discrimination.

Imagine a bag of powdered materials brought up from a gold mine. Within this mixture there is fine gold of a high quality, but there has to be careful sifting in order to get rid of the worthless dust and grit which cling to the gold, and even hide it. In our inner world, there is the gold of spiritual awareness, which is our underlying consciousness. All mental operations take place within its revealing light. The fine spiritual discrimination can be made only in reverent quietude— in inner silence when our attention is not lost in thought. This acute self-awareness will show that mental movement and stress are separate from the changeless Self and do not touch it. The Self, as the pure witnessing Consciousness, is ever free, infinite and transcendent.