Vivekachudamani-Post 71

 

Verse 65 continued....

Brahmavidopadesa; the first stage is bramavidya upadesah. So a trustworthy guru has to convince me through his teaching that he is in Me; security is in Me, he has to convince; this process is called bramavidya upadesaḥ; otherwise called śravaṇam. On the part of the teacher it is upadesah; on the part of the student, it is śravaṇam.

And after receiving the teaching from the teacher, and what is the next stage, mananam; I should touch my heart and ask, am I convinced that I am free here and now; and mind will never say Yes; it will come up with so many excuses.

I should understand that atma, anatmanayoho itareshaḥ adyasaha is the problem; and thus,  each knot, I have to unwind. 

Then finally dhyanadhibihi; dhyanam means nidhidhyasanam; nidhidhyasanam is not thinking process; the difference between mananam and nidhidhyasanam; in mananam, logical thinking is involved; rationalization is involved; in nidhidhyasanam; there is no rationalization. No thinking is involved. Then what? It is seeing the fact or remaining in the fact for a length of time.

In other words, in the spiritual treasure hunt, the endeavor of digging is  made with the pickaxe of thought and the spade of discrimination.  

With these, we remove the earth - the attachments with the body, mind and intellect, which are the effects of the ignorance of the  Self. Avidya creates in us various misunderstandings and it is these agitations of the mind and negative thought veilings of the  intellect that conceal the Treasure Divine, the Self. These can be removed by reflection and meditation. 

Faithful to his arguments, honest in his convictions and obedient to his experiences, Acarya Sankara cries out that this is  the only path for complete and permanent Liberation from the  chaotic confusions created by our ignorance of the underlying  divinity in ourselves. 

Naturally, he points out the hollowness of all other methods and the immaturity of all other techniques which  are, according to him, putrefied logic, soured reason, distorted  vision and false assertion compared with the perfect philosophy  and detailed practicality of Vedanta.

Love

Post - Patanjali Yoga Sutra- Verse 1-26

Dear All,

A satsangh talk on chapter 1, verse 26, Yoga sutra is sharted 

The verse goes like this 

स पूर्वेषामपि गुरुः कालेनानवच्छेदात् ॥ १.२६॥

sa pūrveṣāmapi guruḥ kālenānavacchedāt 

He is the Teacher of even the ancient teachers, being to limited by time.

 

Love

Vivekachudamani- Post 70

A treasure hidden deep below under the earth can be found only when the exact site is known, excavations carried out and the earth, stones and so  on, hiding it are removed; never can it come out if merely called by name. 

Similarly , the pure truth of the Self which lies hidden beneath our delusion  and its effects can be attained through the instructions of one who is a knower  of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so on. But never can the  Self emerge and manifest itself as a result of repeating perverted arguments. (65)

In the course of the last several verses, Sankara has been trying  to bring home to us the utter necessity and urgency for self effort  undertaken in the right direction. 

That no amount of study and  philosophical dialectics can take one, even by a fraction of an  inch, nearer to the divine experience which is life's fulfillment,  has already been elaborately discussed. 

The same idea has been  brought out here which, we may consider, is the summary of a  library of books on spiritual literature. 

In order to explain this idea, Sankara paints the picture of  one digging for a treasure. One may wonder how the treasure  hunter's activities can be a theme by which spiritual technique can  be explained but a poet always sees much more meaning in a factual  happening than an ordinary matter-of-fact observer does. 

Sankara  says, three stages are required to own up the richness. Three stages are required to own up the richness; the wealth; the first stage is somebody must come and tell that the treasure is underneath; and he should give enough proof and enough data to convince me that there is treasure. 

Otherwise initially I will say you are bluffing; you are pacifying; how can there be treasure what is the source; I will ask umpteen questions; so the first stage is somebody should inform that there is a treasure and not only inform, convince also; this is called aptoktih; or apta vachanam; statement of a reliable person; a trust worthy person.

And what is next stage required? Now I know that there is treasure. So, I need not beg from anyone; I need not work to get money; it is already mine; and what is required; I have to acquire it; therefore what is the second stage; khananam; khananam means what digging; to remove all the earth which is covering the treasure. 

So, the earth is the obstacle, and therefore the earth has to be removed. So previously lack of information or ignorance was the obstacle; now the ignorance- obstacle is gone; because I know there is treasure; but the obstacle is now what? mud is there; therefore, I should go on removing the mud and after removing the mud, the job is called khananaṁ.

Then there is a third stage involved; what is that? When the actual treasure comes; for further protection lot of rocks are placed; protect it; and therefore final stage is removal of the rock covering the treasure; siladi utkarshanam; sila means rock; which are solid; previous obstacle was mud; which can be removed; relatively easily but later pratibandas are solid rock; 

once you remove the rocks also; then the wealth is in your hands; all the ornaments and diamonds jewels you can put on yourselves; all the money you can use for buying food and you can eat sumptuously.

So what are the three stages; removal of the ignorance regarding the treasure, removal of the mud and removal of rock??

Continued...

Love