Vipassana : The meditation technique of Gautama Buddha

Vipassana : The meditation technique of Gautama Buddha

Vipassana is the technique of lord Gautama Buddha .  The path of Buddha is considered as Golden Mean because he teaches that  there in no need to go to any extreme – neither in indulgence nor in abstinence. His path is a Golden path, which does not demand  affiliation to any idea, belief or dogma. Even after the lapse of more than 2500 years since he walked on this earth, there is no decline in his teaching or in the relevance of his  miraculous and amazingly simple meditation technique ‘Vipassana’.  In fact this meditation technique is often considered as the technique of the future because of its extremely simple yet very powerful method. For the busy and extremely complicated life of 21st century, Vipassana is the kind of friendly meditation which can be done by anybody, anywhere and at any time.

What and why of Vipassana

Vipassana means ‘to come and see‘. To be more precise – to come inward and see. It is the way of the Buddha. He do not give sermons on reality. He only says ‘ “come and see – ‘Eehee Pissico‘. Just come inward and see for yourself the reality. 

In a single sentence :What is Vipassana ? 

Vipassana is : 

                 “To watch your breath with awareness. “

That’s all ! It is just simple . To be watchful of your breath as it comes and go. It is Vipassana. The easiest meditation technique of all time. 

Breathing is the most of important life process of our body. Nobody can exist without breath even for a single moment. In fact breathing is so important that nature has made it automatic in all living being. Nobody has to remember to breath. Just like internal vital process of our body like pumping of heart, circulation of blood, digestion of food etc, the breathing also happens on its own. Numerous meditation techniques are centered around breath. Almost all spiritual schools has developed a majority of their meditation techniques around breath. The reason for such infatuation with breathing is that it (breathing) is not merely a process of inhaling oxygen and exhaling Carbon Dioxide. Breathing, in reality, is a bridge between our body and our self. 

From the moment we come into this world – till the moment we die, we continue taking breath. Breathing is a link between our soul and our body. So when one meditates on breathing, invariably, he gets connected with his self. As already described in ‘What is meditation‘ (that all meditation techniques are the methods through which our true self is revealed to us), when you  mediate in Vipassana , you will realize your real identity – Self.

In Vipassana you have to be just aware of your breath. A simple rule is that no matter what you do, no matter in whichever action you indulged in – just be aware of your breathing process. Be watchful of breath as it comes inside your body and goes outside. Don’t try to control your breath.  Vipassana is not ‘Pranayam ( the yogic exercise in which one control various movements of breath). If your breath is deep let it be, if it is shallow let it be. Just let your breathing in its natural rhythm.  

Understand this by this analogy: Just imagine that a river is flowing. Now the flow of the river may be fast or slow. What you have to do is to sit on its bank Just watch the river as it flows. Don’t try to create ripples in it. Don’t do anything that affects its flow. Just be a watcher.  This river is your breath.  The breathing process is going on. Just be a watcher of this process. Slowly slowly as you watch your breathing, your mind will start calming own. You will see that all thoughts are disappearing on their own. Eventually as you keep practicing, such moment will start coming  when you see that everything has come to a standstill. There will be no thoughts, there will be no emotions. However, there will be full awareness. The state of choiceless awareness. In this state you will know the real you. 

Some important things about Vipassana: 

(1) Though this extremely easy meditation can be done anytime, anywhere, initially it is strongly advised that you allocate some fixed time for it on daily basis. Choose a separate room and sit in a comfortable position. Them meditate by watching your breathing. 

(2)  The real success will come when you can be aware of your breath while doing all kind of daily activities like reading, playing, driving, swimming, or doing any domestic task. However this stage will come after a  regular practice for a considerable amount of time. At that point there will be two aspects of your existence – doing and being. You will be doing everything, fully involved in your tasks, yet inside there will be a center of awareness in you undisturbed by outer circumstances. That will be the true state of a meditator – the one who will be creative outside and meditative inside. 

The Heart Sutra

The Heart Sutra

Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, meditating deeply on Perfection of Wisdom, saw clearly that the five aspects of human existence are empty*, and so released himself from suffering.  Answering the monk Sariputra, he said this:

Body is nothing more than emptiness,

emptiness is nothing more than body.

The body is exactly empty,

and emptiness is exactly body.

The other four aspects of human existence —

feeling, thought, will, and consciousness —

are likewise nothing more than emptiness,

and emptiness nothing more than they.

All things are empty:

Nothing is born, nothing dies,

nothing is pure, nothing is stained,

nothing increases and nothing decreases.

So, in emptiness, there is no body,

no feeling, no thought,

no will, no consciousness.

There are no eyes, no ears,

no nose, no tongue,

no body, no mind.

There is no seeing, no hearing,

no smelling, no tasting,

no touching, no imagining.

There is nothing seen, nor heard,

nor smelled, nor tasted,

nor touched, nor imagined.

There is no ignorance,

and no end to ignorance.

There is no old age and death,

and no end to old age and death.

There is no suffering, no cause of suffering,

no end to suffering, no path to follow.

There is no attainment of wisdom,

and no wisdom to attain.

The Bodhisattvas rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,

and so with no delusions,

they feel no fear,

and have Nirvana here and now.

All the Buddhas,

past, present, and future,

rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,

and live in full enlightenment.

The Perfection of Wisdom is the greatest mantra.

It is the clearest mantra,

the highest mantra,

the mantra that removes all suffering.

This is truth that cannot be doubted.

Say it so:

Gaté,

gaté,

paragaté,

parasamgaté.

Bodhi!

Svaha!

Which means…

Gone,

gone,

gone over,

gone fully over.

Awakened!

So be it!

via The Heart Sutra.

The Radiance Sutras

The Radiance Sutras

a version of the vijnana bhairava tantra

by Lorin Roche

One day The Goddess sang to her lover Bhairava,

Beloved and radiant Lord of the space before birth,

Revealer of essence,

Slayer of the ignorance that binds us,

You, who in play have created this universe

and permeated all forms in it with never-ending truth.

I have been wondering . . .

I have been listening to the songs of creation,

I have heard the sacred sutras being sung,

and yet still I am curious.

What is this delight-filled universe

into which we find ourselves born?

. . .

The One Who is Intimate to All Beings replied,

Beloved, your questions require the answers that come

through direct living experience.

The way of experience begins with a breath

such as the breath you are breathing now.

Awakening into the luminous reality

may dawn in the momentary throb

between any two breaths.

The breath flows in and just before it turns

to flow out,

there is a flash of pure joy –

life is renewed.

Awaken into that.

As the breath is released and flows out,

there is a pulse as it turns to flow in.

In that turn, you are empty.

Enter that emptiness as the source of all life.

via The Radiance Sutras.

The Kwan Um School of Zen

The Human Route

Coming empty-handed, going empty-handed — that is human.
When you are born, where do you come from?
When you die, where do you go?
Life is like a floating cloud which appears.
Death is like a floating cloud which disappears.
The floating cloud itself originally does not exist.
Life and death, coming and going, are also like that.
But there is one thing which always remains clear.
It is pure and clear, not depending on life and death.

Then what is the one pure and clear thing?

Oneness

Here are a few quotes from Headless way.

Oneness

A sudden perception that Subject and object are one will lead to a deeply mysterious wordless understanding–you will waken to the truth of Zen.  Huang-po

The inward and the outward are become as one sky, the Infinite and the finite are united: I am drunken with the sight of this All!  Kabir

In this world of Suchness there is neither self nor other-than-self.  Sen-t’san

Behold but One in all things; it is the second that leads you astray.  Kabir

When the Ten Thousand things are viewed in their oneness, we return to the Origin and remain where we have always been.  Sen t’san

Thou must love God as not-God, not-Spirit, not-person, not-image, but as He is, a sheer, pure absolute One, sundered from all two-ness, and in whom we must eternally sink from nothingness to nothingness.  Meister Eckhart

Let subject and object be so oned that the wind cannot pass between them.  Wu-men

As waves, foam and bubbles are not different from water, so in the light of true knowledge, the Universe, born of the Self, is not different from the Self.  Ashtavakra gita

But here the mind of Christ is the mind of the soul, natural and habitual to it, as something no longer distinct from itself, but as its own being and its own life.  Madame Guyon

In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.  Jesus

When the mind becomes tranquillized and concentrated into perfect unity, then all things will be seen, not in their separateness, but in their unity.  Surangama Sutra

A tenth of an inch difference, and heaven and earth are set apart.  Hsin-hsin Ming

via Oneness.

Shiva Tandava Stotram

shivatANDavastotram

by ERNEST WOOD, 1931

	O prosper us, Auspicious Lord,
		Performer of the frantic dance,
	O Bearer of the little drum
		Sounding damad, damad, damad;
	As through the forest of Thy hair,
		Descends the purifying stream
	About Thy neck, from which depends
		Thy garland made of serpent-kings.

	O may’st Thou be my constant joy,
		Who dost the young moon crest employ;
	Whose breadth of brow supports the fire
		Blazing dhagad, dhagad, dhagad;
	The river of the holy ones,
		Revolving in Thy mound of hair,
	Like wind-tossed creepers, waves upthrows
		And glory on Thy head bestows.

	May I find bliss within Thy being
		O Thou, enrobed in space alone;
	Whose mind is gladdened by the glance,
		Side-long and constant, love-entranced,
	Of Parvati, sweet daughter of
		The Lord of Mountains, Himavat;
	Whose eyes compassionful, dispel
		Our miseries insuff’rable.

	In Thee, O Master of all Life,
		My heart ecstatic joy may feed;
	O Thou, with upper garment smooth,
		The passion-blinded demon’s skin.
	The tawny serpents in Thy hair
		Upon the face of Nature paint
	Light from the jewels of their hoods-
		A radiance, like to saffron spread.

	O Great One, Bearer of a skull,
		May we be prosperous in Thee;
	On whose broad brow blazes the fire
		That with its flame consumed the god
	Of flower love; who art obeyed
		By all the leaders of the gods;
	Among whose hair the Ganges plays;
		Whose crest-jewel gleams with moon-like rays.

	May’st Thou, O Moon-Tiaraed One,
		To us eternal riches be;
	O Thou, the foot stool of whose throne
		Is carpeted with pollen strewn
	From flowers that deck the jeweled crowns
		Of all the gods, from Indra down;
	Whose twisted hair in coils is bound
		The King of serpents girdled round.

	Thou Three-Eyed One, be my delight;
		O Thou, who form’st, with highest skill,
	Rare figures on the breast of her
		Descended from the hard of Hills.
	Upon the tablet of Thy brow
		Blazes dhagad, dhagad, dhagad,
	The fire in which was sacrificed
		The fell five-arrowed God of Love.

	O Thou, Upholder of the Worlds,
		Extend to us Thy blessings rich;
	O skin-adorned, Moon beams-graced;
		Thou bearer of the holy flood;
	Whose neck, enwrapped in darkness thick
		As moonless midnight, flashes forth
	Amidst the ring of gathered clouds
		Its shining light unconq’rable.

	I worship Thee, destroyer of
		Death, passion and blind ignorance,
	The castles three, the elephant,
		The sacrifice and birth and death;
	Whose graceful plantain-stem-like throat
		Sheds radiance all about Thy neck,
	Resembling with its splendour dark
		The fully-blossomed lotus blue.

	I worship Thee, destroyer of
		Death, passion, and blind ignorance,
	The castles three, the elephant,
		The sacrifice, and birth and death.
	The arts of her who blesses all
		Are like the blossoms of a tree,
	From which the honeyed essence flows
		To Thee, the bee that in them joys.

	O Shiva, Thou art conqueror;
		Performer of the frantic dance,
	Which joins the beating of the drum,
		Sounding dhimin, dhimin, dhimin,
	With melody sublime and grand;
		While on Thy awful brow the fire
	Flares with the fanning of the breath
		Of serpents whirling rapidly.

	O Shiva, when shall I with true
		Adorning equally accept
	A hard stone and the softest bed,
		A serpent and a string of pearls,
	A priceless diamond and a clod
		Of earth, a friend and enemy,
	Mere grass and women lotus-eyed,
		His subjects and a mighty king?

	O when shall I be always glad,
		Dwelling in holy Ganges’ bower,
	From evil thoughts my mind released,
		My hands before my forehead joined,
	Repeating ever and again
		The chant of “Shiva, Shiva” writ
	Upon the forehead of her grace
		The best of women, Parvati?

	Extend to us our hearts’ delight,
		O Thou, joy-giving day and night;
	O Shining Presence, Lord Supreme
		To Parvati, of women queen,
	In Indra’s land the maidens fair
		Wear jasmine clusters in their hair;
	From these the pollen dropping free,
		Exudes a salve which graceth Thee.

 	O may the world be conquered by
		Thy marriage – music benison,
	With “Shiva, Shiva” as its theme,
		When sweet-eyed Parvati is bride;
	The sound of which melodious,
		By highly-gifted women sung,
	Destroys all evils, be they dire
		As the sub-ocean blazing fire.

Nisargadatta Maharaj

 

Nisargadatta Maharaj: Next to Ramana Maharshi,Nisargadatta is the most popular of twentieth century sage in the West,

Born in 1897, on the same birthday as the Puranic monkey diety, Hanuman, Nisargadatta was a contemporary guru belonging to the Ichegeri branch of the Navnath Sampradaya and a major exponent of Advaita Vedanta (nondual knowledge).

His teacher, Siddharameshwar Maharaj, told him:

“ You are not what you take yourself to be.” He gave him a simple set of instructions:

“My Guru ordered me to attend to the sense ‘I am’ and to give attention to nothing else. I just obeyed. I did not follow any particular course of breathing, or meditation, or study of scriptures. Whatever happened, I would turn away my attention from it and remain with the sense ‘I am’. It may look too simple, even crude. My only reason for doing it was that my Guru told me so. Yet it worked!”

“My teacher told me to hold on to the sense ‘I am’ tenaciously and not to swerve from it even for a moment. I did my best to follow his advice and in a comparatively short time I realized within myself the truth of his teaching. All I did was to remember his teaching, his face, his words constantly. This brought an end to the mind; in the stillness of the mind I saw myself as I am — unbound.”

“I simply followed (my teacher’s) instruction which was to focus the mind on pure being ‘I am’, and stay in it. I used to sit for hours together, with nothing but the ‘I am’ in my mind and soon peace and joy and a deep all-embracing love became my normal state. In it all disappeared — myself, my Guru, the life I lived, the world around me. Only peace remained and unfathomable silence.”

It should be noted that Nisargadatta’s unfolding took only three years. He became a saddhu, walking the Himalayas before returning home to Mumbai. Most renowned for his contemporary classic book of dialogues, I am That, Nisargadatta attracted many Western devotees to his humble apartment in Mumbai.

Sri Nisargadatta passed away at 84 in 1981

Kanchi Paramacharya-omniscience of God

Even telling God of our sorrows is tantamount to thinking that He is not aware of them. In other words we are truncating His omniscience. ‘Oh God, remove this difficulty for me, remove that sorrow for me,. Or at least change my attitude towards them so that they do not upset my equanimity’ –when we pray like this to God, we presume that God has to be told what we want so that He may come to our rescue. This again truncates the quality of God known as avyAja-karuNA – He showers Grace without reason, without being prompted. bhakti is not true bhakti as long as it underrates the omniscience of God, or His Grace. However, even this kind of prayer does, though temporarily, lighten the heaviness of our hearts and there is some taste of mental peace. It is good to the extent that we adopt an attitude of humility towards God and entreat His succour, renouncing the arrogance of the thought that we can ourselves accomplish everything.

Q & A with Sri Ramana Maharishi

1. What are the marks of a real teacher (Sadguru)? 

Steady abidance in the Self, looking at all with an equal eye, unshakeable courage at all times, in all places and circumstances, etc. 

2. What are the marks of an earnest disciple (sadsisya)? 

An intense longing for the removal of sorrow and attainment of joy and an intense aversion for all kinds of mundane pleasure. 

3. What are the characteristics of instruction (upadesa)? 

The word ‘upadesa’ means : ‘near the place or seat’ (upa – near, desa – place or seat). The Guru who is the embodiment of that which is indicated by the terms sat, chit, and ananda (existence, consciousness and bliss), prevents the disciple who, on account of his acceptance of the forms of the objects of the senses, has swerved from his true state and is consequently distressed and buffeted by joys and sorrows, from continuing so and establishes him in his own real nature without differentiation. 

Upadesa also means showing a distant object quite near. It is brought home to the disciple that the Brahman which he believes to be distant and different from himself is near and not different from himself. 

4. If it be true that the Guru is one’s own Self (atman), what is the principle underlying the doctrine which says that, however learned a disciple may be or whatever occult powers he may possess, he cannot attain self-realization (atma-siddhi) without the grace of the Guru? 

Although in absolute truth the state of the Guru is that of oneself it is very hard for the Self which has become the individual soul (jiva) through ignorance to realize its true state or nature without the grace of the Guru. 

All mental concepts are controlled by the mere presence of the real Guru. If he were to say to one who arrogantly claims that he has seen the further shore of the ocean of learning or one who claims arrogantly that he can perform deeds which are well-nigh impossible, “Yes, you learnt all that is to be learnt, but have you learnt (to know) yourself? And you who are capable of performing deeds which are almost impossible, have you seen yourself?”, they will bow their heads (in shame) and remain silent. Thus it is evident that only by the grace of the Guru and by no other accomplishment is it possible to know oneself. 

5. What are the marks of the Guru’s grace? 

It is beyond words or thoughts. 

6. If that is so, how is it that it is said that the disciple realizes his true state by the Guru’s grace? 

It is like the elephant which wakes up on seeing a lion in its dream. Even as the elephant wakes up at the mere sight of the lion, so too is it certain that the disciple wakes up from the sleep of ignorance into the wakefulness of true knowledge through the Guru’s benevolent look of grace. 

7. What is the significance of the saying that the nature of the real Guru is that of the Supreme Lord (Sarvesvara)?

In the case of the individual soul which desires to attain the state of true knowledge or the state of Godhood (Isvara) and with that object always practises devotion, when the individual’s devotion has reached a mature stage, the Lord who is the witness of that individual soul and identical with it, comes forth in human form with the help of sat-chit-ananda, His three natural features, and form and name which he also graciously assumes, and in the guise of blessing the disciple, absorbs him in Himself. According to this doctrine the Guru can truly be called the Lord. 

8. How then did some great persons attain knowledge without a Guru? 

To a few mature persons the Lord shines as the light of knowledge and imparts awareness of the truth. 

9. What is the end of devotion (bhakti) and the path of Siddhanta (i.e., Saiva Siddhanta)? 

It is to learn the truth that all one’s actions performed with unselfish devotion, with the aid of the three purified instruments (body, speech and mind), in the capacity of the servant of the Lord, become the Lord’s actions, and to stand forth free from the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. This is also the truth of what the Saiva-Siddhantins call para-bhakti (supreme devotion) or living in the service of God (irai-pani-nittral). 

10. What is the end of the path of knowledge (jnana) or Vedanta? 

It is to know the truth that the ‘I’ is not different from the Lord (Isvara) and to be free from the feeling of being the doer (kartrtva, ahamkara). 

11. How can it be said that the end of both these paths is the same? 

Whatever the means, the destruction of the sense ‘I’ and ‘mine’ is the goal, and as these are interdependent, the destruction of either of them causes the destruction of the other; therefore in order to achieve that state of Silence which is beyond thought and word, either the path of knowledge which removes the sense of ‘I’ or the path of devotion which removes the sense of ‘mine’, will suffice. So there is no doubt that the end of the paths of devotion and knowledge is one and the same. 

NOTE: So long as the ‘I’ exists it is necessary to accept the Lord also. If any one wishes to regain easily the supreme state of identity (sayujya) now lost to him, it is only proper that he should accept this conclusion. 

12. What is the mark of the ego? 

The individual soul of the form of ‘I’ is the ego The Self which is of the nature of intelligence (chit) has no sense of ‘I’. Nor does the insentient body possess a sense of ‘I’. The mysterious appearance of a delusive ego between the intelligent and the insentient, being the root cause of all these troubles, upon its destruction by whatever means, that which really exists will be seen as it is. This is called Liberation (moksha).

Atma Bodha 61-68

61. That by the light of which the luminous, orbs like the Sun and the Moon are illuminated, but which is not illumined by their light, realise that to be Brahman.

62. Pervading the entire universe outwardly and inwardly the Supreme Brahman shines of Itself like the fire that permeates a red-hot iron-ball and glows by itself.

63. Brahman is other than this, the universe. There exists nothing that is not Brahman. If any object other than Brahman appears to exist, it is unreal like the mirage.

64. All that is perceived, or heard, is Brahman and nothing else. Attaining the knowledge of the Reality, one sees the Universe as the non-dual Brahman, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss-Absolute.

65. Though Atman is Pure Consciousness and ever present everywhere, yet It is perceived by the eye-of-wisdom alone: but one whose vision is obscured by ignorance he does not see It; as the blind do not see the resplendent Sun.

66. The ‘Jiva’ free from impurities, being heated in the fire of knowledge kindled by hearing and so on, shines of itself like gold.

67. The Atman, the Sun of Knowledge that rises in the sky of the heart, destroys the darkness of the ignorance, pervades and sustains all and shines and makes everything to shine.

68. He who renouncing all activities, who is free of all the limitations of time, space and direction, worships his own Atman which is present everywhere, which is the destroyer of heat and cold, which is Bliss-Eternal and stainless, becomes All-knowing and All-pervading and attains thereafter Immortality.

Thus concludes Atma-Bodha. 

Atma Bodha 51-60

51. The self-abiding Jivan Mukta, relinquishing all his attachments to the illusory external happiness and satisfied with the bliss derived from the Atman, shines inwardly like a lamp placed inside a jar.

52. Though he lives in the conditionings (Upadhis), he, the contemplative one, remains ever unconcerned with anything or he may move about like the wind, perfectly unattached.

53. On the destruction of the Upadhis, the contemplative one is totally absorbed in ‘Vishnu’, the All-pervading Spirit, like water into water, space into space and light into light.

54. Realise That to be Brahman, the attainment of which leaves nothing more to be attained, the blessedness of which leaves no other blessing to be desired and the knowledge of which leaves nothing more to be known.

55. Realise that to be Brahman which, when seen, leaves nothing more to be seen, which having become one is not born again in this world and which, when knowing leaves nothing else to be known.

56. Realise that to be Brahman which is Existence-Knowledge-Bliss-Absolute, which is Non-dual, Infinite, Eternal and One and which fills all the quarters – above and below and all that exists between.

57. Realise that to be Brahman which is Non-dual, Indivisible, One and Blissful and which is indicated in Vedanta as the Immutable Substratum, realised after the negation of all tangible objects.

58. Deities like Brahma and others taste only a particle, of the unlimited Bliss of Brahman and enjoy in proportion their share of that particle.

59. All objects are pervaded by Brahman. All actions are possible because of Brahman: therefore Brahman permeates everything as butter permeates milk.

60. Realise that to be Brahman which is neither subtle nor gross: neither short nor long: without birth or change: without form, qualities, colour and name.

Atma Bodha 41-50

41. There are no distinctions such as “Knower”, the “Knowledge” and the “Object of Knowledge” in the Supreme Self. On account of Its being of the nature of endless Bliss, It does not admit of such distinctions within Itself. It alone shines by Itself.

42. When this the lower and the higher aspects of the Self are well churned together, the fire of knowledge is born from it, which in its mighty conflagration shall burn down all the fuel of ignorance in us.

43. The Lord of the early dawn (Aruna) himself has already looted away the thick darkness, when soon the sun rises. The Divine Consciousness of the Self rises when the right knowledge has already killed the darkness in the bosom.

44. Atman is an ever-present Reality. Yet, because of ignorance it is not realised. On the destruction of ignorance Atman is realised. It is like the missing ornament of one’s neck.

45. Brahman appears to be a ‘Jiva’ because of ignorance, just as a post appears to be a ghost. The ego-centric-individuality is destroyed when the real nature of the ‘Jiva’ is realised as the Self.

46. The ignorance characterised by the notions ‘I’ and ‘Mine’ is destroyed by the knowledge produced by the realisation of the true nature of the Self, just as right information removes the wrong notion about the directions.

47. The Yogi of perfect realisation and enlightenment sees through his “eye of wisdom” (Gyana Chakshush) the entire universe in his own Self and regards everything else as his own Self and nothing else.

48. Nothing whatever exists other than the Atman: the tangible universe is verily Atman. As pots and jars are verily made of clay and cannot be said to be anything but clay, so too, to the enlightened soul and that is perceived is the Self.

49. A liberated one, endowed with Self-knowledge, gives up the traits of his previously explained equipments (Upadhis) and because of his nature of Sat-chit-ananda, he verily becomes Brahman like (the worm that grows to be) a wasp.

50. After crossing the ocean of delusion and killing the monsters of likes and dislikes, the Yogi who is united with peace dwells in the glory of his own realised Self – as an Atmaram.

Atma Bodha- 31-40 Shankaracharya

31. The body, etc., up to the “Causal Body” – Ignorance – which are objects perceived, are as perishable as bubbles. Realise through discrimination that I am the ‘Pure Brahman’ ever completely separate from all these.

32. I am other than the body and so I am free from changes such as birth, wrinkling, senility, death, etc. I have nothing to do with the sense objects such as sound and taste, for I am without the sense-organs.

33. I am other than the mind and hence, I am free from sorrow, attachment, malice and fear, for “HE is without breath and without mind, Pure, etc.”, is the Commandment of the great scripture, the Upanishads.

34. I am without attributes and actions; Eternal (Nitya) without any desire and thought (Nirvikalpa), without any dirt (Niranjana), without any change (Nirvikara), without form (Nirakara), ever-liberated (Nitya Mukta) ever-pure (Nirmala).

35. Like the space I fill all things within and without. Changeless and the same in all, at all times I am pure, unattached, stainless and motionless.

36. I am verily that Supreme Brahman alone which is Eternal, Pure and Free, One, indivisible and non-dual and of the nature of Changeless-Knowledge-Infinite.

37. The impression “I am Brahman” thus created by constant practice destroys ignorance and the agitation caused by it, just as medicine or Rasayana destroys disease.

38. Sitting in a solitary place, freeing the mind from desires and controlling the senses, meditate with unswerving attention on the Atman which is One without-a-second.

39. The wise one should intelligently merge the entire world-of-objects in the Atman alone and constantly think of the Self ever as contaminated by anything as the sky.

40. He who has realised the Supreme, discards all his identification with the objects of names and forms. (Thereafter) he dwells as an embodiment of the Infinite Consciousness and Bliss. He becomes the Self.

Atma Bodha 21-30 Shankaracharya

21. Fools, because they lack in their powers of discrimination superimpose on the Atman, the Absolute-Existence-Knowledge (Sat-Chit), all the varied functions of the body and the senses, just as they attribute blue colour and the like to the sky.

22. The tremblings that belong to the waters are attributed through ignorance to the reflected moon dancing on it: likewise agency of action, of enjoyment and of other limitations (which really belong to the mind) are delusively understood as the nature of the Self (Atman).

23. Attachment, desire, pleasure, pain, etc., are perceived to exist so long as Buddhi or mind functions. They are not perceived in deep sleep when the mind ceases to exist. Therefore they belong to the mind alone and not to the Atman.

24. Just as luminosity is the nature of the Sun, coolness of water and heat of fire, so too the nature of the Atman is Eternity, Purity, Reality, Consciousness and Bliss.

25. By the indiscriminate blending of the two – the Existence-Knowledge-aspect of the Self and the thought-wave of the intellect – there arises the notion of “I know”.

26. Atman never does anything and the intellect of its own accord has no capacity to experience ‘I know’. But the individuality in us delusorily thinks he is himself the seer and the knower.

27. Just as the person who regards a rope as a snake is overcome by fear, so also one considering oneself as the ego (Jiva) is overcome by fear. The ego-centric individuality in us regains fearlessness by realising that It is not a Jiva but is Itself the Supreme Soul.

28. Just as a lamp illumines a jar or a pot, so also the Atman illumines the mind and the sense organs, etc. These material-objects by themselves cannot illumine themselves because they are inert.

29. A lighted-lamp does not need another lamp to illumine its light. So too, Atman which is Knowledge itself needs no other knowledge to know it.

30. By a process of negation of the conditionings (Upadhis) through the help of the scriptural statement ‘It is not this, It is not this’, the oneness of the individual soul and the Supreme Soul, as indicated by the great Mahavakyas, has to be realised.

Atma Bodha- 11-20 Shankaracharya

11. Because of Its association with different conditionings (Upadhis) such ideas as caste, colour and position are super-imposed upon the Atman, as flavour, colour, etc., are super-imposed on water.

12. Determined for each individual by his own past actions and made up of the Five elements – that have gone through the process of “five-fold self-division and mutual combination” (Pancheekarana) – are born the gross-body, the medium through which pleasure and pain are experienced, the tent-of-experiences.

13. The five Pranas, the ten organs and the Manas and the Buddhi, formed from the rudimentary elements (Tanmatras) before their “five-fold division and mutual combination with one another” (Pancheekarana) and this is the subtle body, the instruments-of-experience (of the individual).

14. Avidya which is indescribable and beginningless is the Causal Body. Know for certain that the Atman is other than these three conditioning bodies (Upadhis).

15. In its identification with the five-sheaths the Immaculate Atman appears to have borrowed their qualities upon Itself; as in the case of a crystal which appears to gather unto itself colour of its vicinity (blue cloth, etc.,).

16. Through discriminative self-analysis and logical thinking one should separate the Pure self within from the sheaths as one separates the rice from the husk, bran, etc., that are covering it.

17. The Atman does not shine in everything although He is All-pervading. He is manifest only in the inner equipment, the intellect (Buddhi): just as the reflection in a clean mirror.

18. One should understand that the Atman is always like the King, distinct from the body, senses, mind and intellect, all of which constitute the matter (Prakriti); and is the witness of their functions.

19. The moon appears to be running when the clouds move in the sky. Likewise to the non-discriminating person the Atman appears to be active when It is observed through the functions of the sense-organs.

20. Depending upon the energy of vitality of Consciousness (Atma Chaitanya) the body, senses, mind and intellect engage themselves in their respective activities, just as men work depending upon the light of the Sun.

Atma Bodha- By Shankaracharya

Atma Bodha

By Adi Sankaracharya,  Translated by Swami Chinmayananda
Published by Chinmaya Mission, Mumbai 

1. I am composing the ATMA-BODHA, this treatise of the Knowledge of the Self, for those who have purified themselves by austerities and are peaceful in heart and calm, who are free from cravings and are desirous of liberation.

2. Just as the fire is the direct cause for cooking, so without Knowledge no emancipation can be had. Compared with all other forms of discipline Knowledge of the Self is the one direct means for liberation.

3. Action cannot destroy ignorance, for it is not in conflict with or opposed to ignorance. Knowledge does verily destroy ignorance as light destroys deep darkness.

4. The Soul appears to be finite because of ignorance. When ignorance is destroyed the Self which does not admit of any multiplicity truly reveals itself by itself: like the Sun when the clouds pass away.

5. Constant practice of knowledge purifies the Self (‘Jivatman’), stained by ignorance and then disappears itself – as the powder of the ‘Kataka-nut’ settles down after it has cleansed the muddy water.

6. The world which is full of attachments, aversions, etc., is like a dream. It appears to be real, as long as it continues but appears to be unreal when one is awake (i.e., when true wisdom dawns).

7. The Jagat appears to be true (Satyam) so long as Brahman, the substratum, the basis of all this creation, is not realised. It is like the illusion of silver in the mother-of pearl.

8. Like bubbles in the water, the worlds rise, exist and dissolve in the Supreme Self, which is the material cause and the prop of everything.

9. All the manifested world of things and beings are projected by imagination upon the substratum which is the Eternal All-pervading Vishnu, whose nature is Existence-Intelligence; just as the different ornaments are all made out of the same gold.

10. The All-pervading Akasa appears to be diverse on account of its association with various conditionings (Upadhis) which are different from each other. Space becomes one on the destruction of these limiting adjuncts: So also the Omnipresent Truth appears to be diverse on account of Its association with the various Upadhis and becomes one on the destruction of these Upadhis.

Ramana Maharshi

Place your burden

at the feet of the Lord of the Universe

who accomplishes everything.

Remain all the time steadfast in the heart,

in the Transcendental Absolute.

God knows the past, present and future.

He will determine the future for you

and accomplish the work.

What is to be done will be done

at the proper time. Don’t worry.

Abide in the heart and surrender your acts

to the divine.

— Ramana Maharshi

 

Doughlas harding- A man with no head

.The best day of my life—my rebirthday, so to speak—was when I found I had no head. This is not a literary gambit, a witticism designed to arouse interest at any cost. I mean it in all seriousness: I have no head.
It was eighteen years ago, when I was thirty-three, that I made the discovery. Though it certainly came out of the blue, it did so in response to an urgent enquiry; I had for several months been absorbed in the question: what am I? The fact that I happened to be walking in the Himalayas at the time probably had little to do with it; though in that country unusual states of mind are said to come more easily. However that may be, a very still clear day, and a view from the ridge where I stood, over misty blue valleys to the highest mountain range in the world, with Kangchenjunga and Everest unprominent among its snow-peaks, made a setting worthy of the grandest vision.

What actually happened was something absurdly simple and unspectacular: I stopped thinking. A peculiar quiet, an odd kind of alert limpness or numbness, came over me. Reason and imagination and all mental chatter died down. For once, words really failed me. Past and future dropped away. I forgot who and what I was, my name, manhood, animalhood, all that could be called mine. It was as if I had been born that instant, brand new, mindless, innocent of all memories. There existed only the Now, that present moment and what was clearly given in it. To look was enough. And what I found was khaki trouserlegs terminating downwards in a pair of brown shoes, khaki sleeves terminating sideways in a pair of pink hands, and a khaki shirtfront terminating upwards in—absolutely nothing whatever! Certainly not in a head.

It took me no time at all to notice that this nothing, this hole where a head should have been was no ordinary vacancy, no mere nothing. On the contrary, it was very much occupied. It was a vast emptiness vastly filled, a nothing that found room for everything—room for grass, trees, shadowy distant hills, and far above them snowpeaks like a row of angular clouds riding the blue sky. I had lost a head and gained a world.

It was all, quite literally, breathtaking. I seemed to stop breathing altogether, absorbed in the Given. Here it was, this superb scene, brightly shining in the clear air, alone and unsupported, mysteriously suspended in the void, and (and this was the real miracle, the wonder and delight) utterly free of “me”, unstained by any observer. Its total presence was my total absence, body and soul. Lighter than air, clearer than glass, altogether released from myself, I was nowhere around.

Yet in spite of the magical and uncanny quality of this vision, it was no dream, no esoteric revelation. Quite the reverse: it felt like a sudden waking from the sleep of ordinary life, an end to dreaming. It was self-luminous reality for once swept clean of all obscuring mind. It was the revelation, at long last, of the perfectly obvious. It was a lucid moment in a confused life-history. It was a ceasing to ignore something which (since early childhood at any rate) I had always been too busy or too clever to see. It was naked, uncritical attention to what had all along been staring me in the face – my utter facelessness. In short, it was all perfectly simple and plain and straightforward, beyond argument, thought, and words. There arose no questions, no reference beyond the experience itself, but only peace and a quiet joy, and the sensation of having dropped an intolerable burden.

Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra

(this is an excerpts from Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, where Avalokiteshvara talks to Sariputra about the nature of form and formlessness, about buddhahood)

O Shariputra, a son or daughter of noble family who wishes to practice the profound prajnaparamita should see in this way: seeing the five skandhas to be empty of nature. Form is emptiness; emptiness also is form. Emptiness is no other than form; form is no other than emptiness. In the same way, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness are emptiness.

Thus, Shariputra, all dharmas are emptiness. There are no characteristics. There is no birth and no cessation. There is no impurity and no purity. There is no decrease and no increase. Therefore, Shariputra, in emptiness, there is no form, no feeling, no perception, no formation, no consciousness; no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no appearance, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no dharmas, no eye dhatu up to no mind dhatu, no dhatu of dharmas, no mind consciousness dhatu; no ignorance, no end of ignorance up to no old age and death, no end of old age and death; no suffering, no origin of suffering, no cessation of suffering, no path, no wisdom, no attainment, and no non-attainment.

Therefore, Shariputra, since the bodhisattvas have no attainment, they abide by means of prajnaparamita.

Since there is no obscuration of mind, there is no fear. They transcend falsity and attain complete nirvana. All the buddhas of the three times, by means of prajnaparamita, fully awaken to unsurpassable, true, complete enlightenment. Therefore, the great mantra of prajnaparamita, the mantra of great insight, the unsurpassed mantra, the unequaled mantra, the mantra that calms all suffering, should be known as truth, since there is no deception. The prajnaparamita mantra is said in this way:

Swami Vivekananda

It is said that when Swami Vivekananda toured the US, his friends and co-disciples of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa were very unhappy with his teachings, as he taught only advaita and he never mentioned his Guru, much to the displeasure of those in India.

As we all know Ramakrishna paramahamsa was a great devotee of mother Kai and a great Bhakta. Where as Vivekananda taught the Jnana Marga and not Bhakti Marga.

Once he was asked by a disciple why he never spoke about his Guru, it is said that Swami choked up unable to answer the question as he was on the verge of shedding tears. Once he got back to his normal self he said that just hearing the name “ramakrishna” would make his body shiver and eyes well up.

Though he taught advaita and Jnana Yoga to the west, Young Vivekananda himself was a great Bhakta.

Though Outwardly he was a jnani, within he was a great Bhakta and Paramahamsa though all his life he lived at the feet of Kali and lived like a bhakta, he was a true jnani.

This was a great demonstration by both Guru-disciple about the oneness of all paths. That truth is one, regardless of your method of teaching or being.