Trev Light Bown : - Can you post some reading by Sankara?
SK: - Without Sage, Sri, Sankara there is no Advaita (non-duality). Sage Sri, Sankara's rational Advaita is the greatest gift to the humanity. Since it was mixed up with orthodoxy there is
a lot of confusion. I am highlighting all the obstacles, which is blocking one
from realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman. There are so many non-dualistic
masters of the east and also from the west
who expound Advaitic or non-dualistic knowledge but none of them are
helpful to reach the ultimate end.
Swami Vivekananda aptly
described Sankara’s Advaita as the fairest flower of philosophy that any
country in any age has produced.
Most of the pundits are egoic and they try to snub others who question them. They think they are unquestionable authority. They quote the citation from the scripture as proof without verifying the validity. All punditry is a great obstacle in realizing the Advaitic truth expounded by the Sri, Sankara and Sage Sri, Gaudapada.
One finds lots of differences between Advaita preaching and
practice. There is a need to bifurcate religion, the concept of god and scriptures
from Advaitic philosophy to assimilate the essence of Advaita.
Sri, Sankara says in Brahma Sutras: that Brahman is the cause of
the world, whereas in Mandukya he denies it. This is because he says that at
the lower stage of understanding, the former teaching must be given, for people
will get frightened as they cannot understand how the world can be without a
cause, but to those in a higher stage, the truth of non-causality can be
revealed.
Sage Sri, Sankara himself has warned us not to use ambiguous words,
and to practice semantic analysis in his book "Definition of one's own
Self. (" Page 199, v. 24 of "Sankara's Selected Works)
Sri, Sankara founded his Advaita
Vedanta either on reason independent of sruti or on sruti confirmed by
reason." Sri, Sankara's commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad,
II, 1: This (the unreality of duality) is borne out by the Srutis
... But it is possible also to show the unreality of the object world even from
pure reasoning, and this second chapter is undertaken for that purpose.
Sri, Sankara himself
had often said that his philosophy was based on Sruti, or revealed
scripture. This may be because Sri, Sankara addressed the ordinary man,
who finds security in the idea of causality and thus with the idea of God—and
Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter. He believed that those
of superior intelligence, have no need of this idea of divine causality, and
can therefore dispense with Sruti and arrive at the truth of
Non-Dualism by pure reason.
When Sri, Sankara says clearly, the universe is not real. He says that
Brahman and Atman are one. The ultimate and the Absolute Truth is the Self,
which is one though appearing as many different individuals. The individual
has no reality. Only the Self is Real; the rest, mental and physical are but passing
appearances, then it indicates the form (waking/duality/mind) is unreal the formless is real (soul/spirit/self/FW). Therefore, only Atman is
real because there is no second thing other than Atman.
When sage Sri, Sankara says: world is unreal. He never said body
is unreal. He would have said only birth and death is unreal but he did not say that, he said the
world is unreal. He meant the world including the body, because the
body and the world appear together and disappear together (waking/dream). Then we have to think, what remain without
the body and the world as reality. How can the birth, life, death, rebirth, and
reincarnation, which take place in an unreal world (waking/dream), can be true. The one, which is aware of the birth, life
death, rebirth and reincarnation (illusion/unreal), is formless reality, which
is the true self/true identity. The
formless self is your true identity, which is birthless and deathless but it is
the witness of the birth, life and death and rebirth (illusion/unreal).
On the standpoint of
identity the birth, life, death, rebirth and reincarnation theory is part of
the illusion. The body cannot
reincarnate, the body and the world are created out of the same formless stuff.
Until one views and judges on the base of flesh, bone and blood (five
elements), he will not be able to grasp the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth. Thus, one must know on what standpoint we are
not born and we do not die thoroughly, just by hearsay views, it will not lead
anyone to the non-dual destination.
The Seeker has to learn to view and judge on the standpoint of
Formless witness (or soul or consciousness). Then he will be never having any
confusion. When one thinks deeply then
only the inner revelation starts and start burning the dross
(confusion/doubts). A well-directed inquiry and sound reasoning will lead one
towards non-dual destination and it will start yielding fruit and start
revealing, when he starts thinking very deeply.
This is the inner process every serious seeker experiences. The inner dialogue will start and one will
start getting answers from the inner core of his existence, and he becomes aware of
the fact of what is real and what is unreal and he will be able to mentally
reject the unreal nature of the self in the midst of duality.
He also clearly mentions that:
The path of religion, theory of karma, the path of yoga and the path of
wisdom were intended for different classes of people. The wisdom is for the
advanced seekers of truth. It deals with the nature of the ultimate Truth and
Reality. It is meant for superior aspirants who have an inner urge to know the
truth and it is not for those who are immersed in earthly desires.
Thus we have to know the fact that the Buddha, Goudpada and Sri, Sankara are
not only reformers but also the greatest scientists. From there
original thesis has been lost in the labyrinths of philosophy and
mutilated by pundits and orthodoxy, it becomes very difficult to understand and
assimilate the wisdom expounded by the great masters. In addition, the
conservativeness of the orthodox scholars will not allow any research other
than playing with the words, which suits the mass mind sets, because of their
egocentric outlook.
Sage Sri, Sankara says in Vivekachudamani:- 56.
Neither by Yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by work, nor by learning, but by the
realization of one's identity with Brahman is Liberation possible, and by no
other means.
58. Loud
speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures,
and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to
the scholar, but are no good for Liberation.
59. The
study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and
it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.
60. The
Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest which merely causes the
mind to ramble. Hence men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true
nature of the Self.
61. For
one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the
knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures,
Mantras (sacred formulae) and medicines to such a one?
62. A
disease does not leave off if one simply utters the name of the medicine,
without taking it; (similarly) without direct realization one cannot be liberated
by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.
63.
Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth
of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word
Brahman ? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.
64.
Without killing one’s enemies, and possessing oneself of the splendor of the
entire surrounding region, one cannot claim to be an emperor by merely saying,
‘I am an emperor’.
65. As a
treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent
instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying
above it and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called
out by name, so the transparent Truth of the self, which is hidden by Maya and
its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman,
followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted
arguments.
66.
Therefore the wise should, as in the case of disease and the like, personally
strive by all the means in their power to be free from the bondage of repeated
births and deaths.
67. The
question that thou hast asked today is excellent, approved by those versed in
the Scriptures, aphoristic, pregnant with meaning and fit to be known by the
seekers after Liberation.
People who are yearning for spiritual truth will not find it through
intellectualism. Intellectual truth is individual truth. Love implies duality
and love is individual feelings within the falsehood. Love is necessary and
valuable in the States of ignorance but it is not the means to acquire
wisdom. Love is a religious tool to lead
life in practical world. And Religious
truth is individual truth and it is not a universal truth because the religion is
based on individuality.
The karma theory is reality only for those who believe their
present physical identity (ego) as real, and world as reality. When the Sri,
Sankara declares the world itself is an illusion, and Brahman is real, then what
value the karma theory has when the world is an illusion, because man is part and
parcel of the illusory world. Therefore, one has to view and judge the three
states on the standpoint of the formless soul, the innermost self in order to
overcome the duality, which he is experiencing it as reality. The individuality is the reality within the
illusory world. Therefore, all the theories created within the illusion on the
base of false entity, within the false experience, has to be the part and
parcel of the illusion. Thus it is necessary
to realize the fact that Atman is the true self and all else is illusion, to
overcome the illusory concept of the cycle of birth, life and death. Thus to understand and assimilate Sri, Sankara’s Advaitic truth, the seeker has to do his own homework soulcentric reasoning without mixing religion, scriptures, the theories, concept of god and yoga.
Sage Sri Sankara says in Aparokshanubhuti:- 88.
When the whole universe, movable and immovable, is known to be Atman, and thus
the existence of everything else is negated, where is then any room to say that
the body is Atman?
89. O enlightened one, pass your time always contemplating on Atman while you are experiencing all the results of Prarabdha; for it ill becomes you to feel distressed.
90. The theory one hears of from the scripture, that Prarabdha does not lose its hold upon one even after the origination of the knowledge of Atman, is now being refuted.
91. After the origination of the knowledge of Reality, Prarabdha verily ceases to exist, inasmuch as the body and the like become non-existent; just as a dream does not exist in waking.
92. That Karma which is done in a previous life is known as Prarabdha (which produces the present life). But such Karma cannot take the place of Prarabdha (for a man of knowledge), as he has no other birth (being free from ego).
93. Just as the body in a dream is superimposed (and therefore illusory), so is also this body. How could there be any birth of the superimposed (body), and in the absence of birth (of the body) where is the room for that (i.e., Prarabdha) at all ?
94. The Vedanta texts declare ignorance to be verily the material (cause) of the phenomenal world just as earth is of a jar. That (ignorance) being destroyed, where can the universe subsist ?
95. Just as a person out of confusion perceives only the snake leaving aside the rope, so does an ignorant person see only the phenomenal world without knowing the reality?
96. The real nature of the rope being known, the appearance of the snake no longer persists; so the substratum being known, the phenomenal world disappears completely.
97. The body also being within the phenomenal world (and therefore unreal), how could Prarabdha exist ? It is, therefore, for the understanding of the ignorant alone that the Shruti speaks of Prarabdha.
98. “And all the actions of a man perish when he realizes that (Atman) which is both the higher and the lower”. Here the clear use of the plural by the Shruti is to negate Prarabdha as well.
99. If the ignorant still arbitrarily maintain this, they will not only involve themselves into two absurdities but will also run the risk of forgoing the Vedantic conclusion. So one should accept those Shrutis alone from which proceeds true knowledge.
The above proves
that the karma is reality only on the base of false self, where one thinks body
and the universes as reality. When one becomes aware of the fact that, the true
self is formless soul, then the karma becomes part and parcel of
illusion. My point is that, if one accepts the karma theory as
reality, he will never be able to come out of the ignorance. And ignorance
makes him believe the cycle of birth, life and death as
reality. Thus the freedom which one is seeking will remain distant
dream. For the one who accepts the birth life and death as reality,
Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is impossible.
Sage Sri Sankara endeavored
towards establishing Vedic religion overthrowing Buddhism. But even he was not
able to avoid the influence of Buddhism. The influence of the revolutionary
atmosphere of Buddhism has reappeared in the Advaita of Sage Sri, Sankara.
His inability to revive Vedic religion that flourished before the Buddhist
revolution in its pure form is discernible
.
Many thinkers since his time have
said about sage Sri Sankara that he made use of many important tenets of
Buddhism and presented to the people the very Buddhism in the guise of Vedic
religion. Though the Vedic religion represented by Sri Sage Sankara is like a
conglomeration of many things he deserves the credit of having turned the Hindu
mind which was once averse to Vedas -the root of Hinduism, towards the Vedas
once again. For this the followers of Vedic religion should be grateful to Sage
Sri Sankara.
The brilliance shown by Sage Sri
Sankara, a man of wonderful genius, a matchless speaker and an extra-ordinary
dialectician is really a great spectacle in history.
