Vivekachudamani - Post 1

Introduction to Vivekachudamani

 

as written by Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

Every being in the world yearns to be always happy and free from the taint of sorrow, and desires to get rid of bodily ailments, etc., which are not of its true nature.

 

Further, everyone cherishes the greatest love for himself, and this love is not possible in the absence of happiness.

 

In deep sleep, though devoid of everything, one has the experience of being happy. Yet, due to the ignorance of the real nature of one’s own being, which is happiness itself, people flounder in the vast ocean of material existence, forsaking the right path that leads to happiness, and act under the mistaken belief that the way to be happy consists in obtaining the pleasures of this and the other world.

 

Unfortunately, however, there is no such happiness which has not the taint of sorrow. It is precisely for the purpose of pointing out the straight path to true happiness that Lord Shiva, taking on the guise of Sri Shankaracharya, wrote the commentaries on the triple canon Prasthana Traya of the Vedanta, which extols the excellence of this bliss; and that he demonstrated it by his own example in life.

 

These commentaries, however, are of little use to those ardent seekers who are intent upon realising the bliss of liberation but have not the scholarship necessary for studying them. It is for such as these that Sri Sankara revealed the essence of the commentaries in this short treatise, The Crown Gem of Discrimination Vivekachudamani, explaining in detail the points that have to be grasped by those who seek liberation, and thereby directing them to the true and direct path. Sri Sankara begins by observing that it is hard indeed to attain human birth, and that, having attained it, one should strive to achieve the bliss of liberation, which is really only the nature of one’s being.

 

By jnana or spiritual knowledge alone is this bliss to be realised, and jnana is achieved only through vichara or steady enquiry. In order to learn this method of enquiry, says Sri Shankara, one should seek the Grace of a Guru; and he then proceeds to describe the qualities of the Guru and his disciple and how the latter should approach and serve his master.

 

He further emphasises that in order to realise the bliss of liberation one’s own individual effort is an essential factor. Mere book learning never yields this bliss; it can be realised only through Self-enquiry or vichara, which consists of sravana or devoted attention to the precepts of the Guru, manana or deep contemplation and nidhidhyasana or the cultivation of equanimity in the Self.

 

Continued……

 

Love.