Introduction
The greatest saint ever born in the
history of mankind, the sage Shankara probably lived around 800 A.D. His
teachings can be summed up in half a verse: “Brahma Satyam Jagan
Mithya Jivo Brahmaiva Na Aparah—Brahman (the Absolute) is alone real; this
world is unreal; and the Jiva or the individual soul is non-different from
Brahman.” This is the quintessence of his philosophy.
The Advaita taught by Sri Sankara is a rigorous, absolute one. According to Sri Sankara, whatever is, is Brahman. Brahman Itself is absolutely homogeneous. All difference and plurality are illusory.
Brahman—The One Without A Second
The Atman is
self-evident (Svatah-siddha). It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is
not possible to deny the Atman, because It is the very essence of the one who
denies It. The Atman is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions and
proofs. Self is within, Self is without; Self is before, Self
is behind; Self is on the right, Self is on the left; Self is above and Self is
below.
Brahman is not an object, as It is Adrisya, beyond the reach of the eyes. Hence the Upanishads declare: “Neti Neti—not this, not this….” This does not mean that Brahman is a negative concept, or a metaphysical abstraction, or a nonentity, or a void. It is not another. It is all-full, infinite, changeless, self-existent, self-delight, self-knowledge and self-bliss. It is Svarupa, essence. It is the essence of the knower. It is the Seer (Drashta), Transcendent (Turiya) and Silent Witness (Sakshi).
Sankara’s Supreme Brahman is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal and Akarta (non-agent). It is above all needs and desires. It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object as It is beyond the reach of the senses. Brahman is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other beside It. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal. Brahman cannot be described, because description implies distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In Brahman, there is not the distinction of substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constitute the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman, and not just Its attributes.
The Nirguna Brahman of Sankara is impersonal. It becomes a personal God or Saguna Brahman only through Its association with Maya.
Saguna Brahman and Nirguna Brahman are not two different Brahmans. Nirguna Brahman is not the contrast, antithesis or opposite of Saguna Brahman. The same Nirguna Brahman appears as Saguna Brahman for the pious worship of devotees. It is the same Truth from two different points of view. Nirguna Brahman is the higher Brahman, the Brahman from the transcendental viewpoint (Paramarthika); Saguna Brahman is the lower Brahman, the Brahman from the relative viewpoint (Vyavaharika).
The World—A Relative Reality
The world is not an illusion according to Sankara. The world is relatively real (Vyavaharika Satta), while Brahman is absolutely real (Paramarthika Satta). The world is the product of Maya or Avidya. The unchanging Brahman appears as the changing world through Maya. Maya is a mysterious indescribable power of the Lord which hides the real and manifests itself as the unreal: Maya is not real, because it vanishes when you attain knowledge of the Eternal. It is not unreal also, because it exists till knowledge dawns in you. The superimposition of the world on Brahman is due to Avidya or ignorance.
Nature Of The Jiva And The Means To Moksha
To Sankara, the Jiva or the individual soul is only relatively real. Its individuality lasts only so long as it is subject to unreal Upadhis or limiting conditions due to Avidya. The Jiva identifies itself with the body, mind and the senses, when it is deluded by Avidya or ignorance. It thinks, it acts and enjoys, on account of Avidya. In reality it is not different from Brahman or the Absolute. The Upanishads declare emphatically: “Tat Tvam ASI—That Thou Art.” Just as the bubble becomes one with the ocean when it bursts, just as the pot-ether becomes one with the universal ether when the pot is broken, so also the Jiva or the empirical self becomes one with Brahman when it gets knowledge of Brahman. When knowledge dawns in it through annihilation of Avidya, it is freed from its individuality and finitude and realises its essential Satchidananda nature. It merges itself in the ocean of bliss. The river of life joins the ocean of existence. This is the Truth.
The release from Samsara means, according to Sankara, the absolute merging of the individual soul in Brahman due to dismissal of the erroneous notion that the soul is distinct from Brahman. According to Sankara, Karma and Bhakti are means to Jnana which is Moksha.
Vivarta Vada Or The Theory Of Superimposition
To Sankara the world is only relatively real (Vyavaharika Satta). He advocated Vivarta-Vada or the theory of appearance or superimposition (Adhyasa). Just as snake is superimposed on the rope in twilight, this world and body are superimposed on Brahman or the Supreme Self. If you get knowledge of the rope, the illusion of snake in the rope will vanish. Even so, if you get knowledge of Brahman or the Imperishable, the illusion of body and world will disappear. In Vivarta-Vada, the cause produces the effect without undergoing any change in itself. Snake is only an appearance on the rope. The rope has not transformed itself into a snake, like milk into curd. Brahman is immutable and eternal. Therefore, It cannot change Itself into the world. Brahman becomes the cause of the world through Maya, which is Its inscrutable mysterious power or Sakti.
When you come to know that it is only a rope, your fear disappears. You do not run away from it. Even so, when you realise the eternal immutable Brahman, you are not affected by the phenomena or the names and forms of this world. When Avidya or the veil of ignorance is destroyed through knowledge of the Eternal, when Mithya Jnana or false knowledge is removed by real knowledge of the Imperishable or the living Reality, you shine in your true, pristine, divine splendour and glory.
The Advaita—A Philosophy Without A Parallel
The Advaita philosophy of Sri Sankaracharya is lofty, sublime and unique. It is a system of bold philosophy and logical subtlety. It is highly interesting, inspiring and elevating. No other philosophy can stand before it in boldness, depth and subtle thinking. Sankara’s philosophy is complete and perfect.
Sri Sankara was a mighty, marvellous genius. He was a master of logic. He was a profound thinker of the first rank. He was a sage of the highest realisation. He was an Avatara of Lord Siva. His philosophy has brought solace, peace and illumination to countless persons in the East and the West. The Western thinkers bow their heads at the lotus-feet of Sri Sankara. His philosophy has soothed the sorrows and afflictions of the most forlorn persons, and brought hope, joy, wisdom, perfection, freedom and calmness to many. His system of philosophy commands the admiration of the whole world. Says he in ‘Bhajgovindam’:
The company of the good weans one away from false attachments; when attachment is lost, delusion ends; when delusion ends; the mind becomes unwavering and steady. An unwavering and steady mind is merited for Jeevan Mukti (liberation even in this life).
Don’t identify with wealth, relatives, your youth or your physical beauty – all those can be lost in a second. Knowing that all those are maya, may you realize Brahman.
One may have bathed in the holy Ganges or even in the Ganga Sagar; he may have performed many charities and observed many vows; yet unless one has understood the Brahman (Truth), he will not gain Moksha even after a hundred lives.
Who can disturb the peace and happiness of a man, if he has the true spirit of renunciation and has controlled his desires, even if he be the poorest, sleeping only in the temple halls or under trees or on the bare ground and just with a deer skin to cover.
Summary of Shankara’s teachings
When Shankaracharya
decided to enter ‘samadhi,’ Sudhanva, the foremost disciple of Shankara,
requested that the essentials of his teaching may be summarized and given to
them. Shankaracharya then said the Dasa Shlokas, or Ten Verses, which elaborated
the omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence of Brahman – the core concept of
Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma).
1. The five elements do no express my real nature; I am changeless and persist forever.
2. I am above castes and creeds. I am seen when ‘maya’ is removed, and do not need concentration or worship as shown in Yoga Sutras.
3. I have no parents, I need no Vedas as proclaimed in the scriptures, no sacrifices, no pilgrimages. I am the eternal witness.
4. All the teachings of various religions and philosophies do no reveal my true nature and are but shallow views of my deep being.
5. I pervade the whole universe and am above, in the middle and below, in all directions.
6. I am colourless, formless, light being my form.
7. I have no teacher, scripture or any disciples, nor do I recognize Thou or I, or even the universe and am changeless and the absolute knowledge.
8. I am neither awake, in deep sleep nor dreaming, but above consciousness with which the three are associated. All these are due to ignorance and I am beyond that.
9. I pervade everything, everywhere and the eternal reality and self-existent. The whole universe depends on me and become nothing without me.
10. I cannot be called one, for that implies two, which is not. I am neither isolated nor non-isolated, neither am I empty or full.
Eckhart Tolle
One modern spiritual teacher whose
teachings echo Sankara’s is Eckhart Tolle. Eckhart Tolle is said to have
attained enlightenment at the age of 29 after suffering long periods of
depression, dissolving his old identity and radically changing the course of his
life. Tolle’s non-fiction bestseller, The Power of Now, emphasizes the
importance of being aware of the present moment as a way of not being lost in
thought. In Tolle’s view, the present is the gateway to a heightened sense of
peace and aliveness. “Being in the now” also brings about an awareness that is
beyond the mind. This awareness helps in transcending “the pain-body” that is
created by the identification of the mind and ego with the body. The aim of
Tolle’s teachings is the transformation of individual and collective human
consciousness–a global spiritual awakening.
Core teachings that arise from his works are:
1. You are
not your thoughts. You are the awareness behind the thoughts. Thoughts are often
negative and painful, yearning for or fearing something in the future,
complaining about something in the present or fearing a matter from the past.
However, the thoughts are not you; they are a construct of the ego. Awareness of
your thoughts without being caught up in them is the first step to freedom.
2. Only the present moment exists. That is where life is (indeed it is the only place life can truly be found). Becoming aware of the ‘now’ has the added benefit that it will draw your attention away from your (negative) thoughts. Use mindfulness techniques to fully appreciate your surroundings and everything you are experiencing. Look and listen intently. Give full attention to the smallest details.
3. Accept the present moment. It is resistance to the present moment that creates most of the difficulties in your life. However, acceptance does not mean that you cannot take action to rectify the situation you are in. What is important is to drop resistance so that you let the moment be, and that any action arises from deeper awareness rather than from resistance. The vast majority of pain in a person’s life comes from resistance to what is.
4. Observe the pain-body. Years of conditioned thought patterns, individually and collectively, have resulted in habitual emotional reactions with an apparent personality of their own. During ‘pain-body attacks’ we become completely identified with this ‘pain identity’ and respond from its agenda–which is to create more pain for ourselves and others. Observing the pain-body is awareness itself arising–as it allows humans to separate from this unconscious identification with pain.
5. Everything that exists has Being, has God essence, has some degree of
consciousness. Even a stone has a rudimentary consciousness; otherwise it would
not be, and its atoms and molecules would disperse. Everything is alive. The
sun, the earth, plants, animals, and humans – all are expressions of
consciousness in varying degrees, consciousness manifesting as form. The world
arises when consciousness takes on shapes and forms, thought forms and material
forms. The ancient seers of India saw the world as lila, a kind of game that God
is playing. You don’t truly know that until you realize your own God-essence as
pure consciousness. When we talk about watching the mind we are personalizing an
event that is truly of cosmic significance: through you, consciousness is
awakening out of the dream of identification with form and withdrawing from
form. This foreshadows, but is already part of, an event that is probably still
in the distant future as far as chronological time is concerned. That event is
called – the end of the world.
When consciousness frees itself from its
identification with physical and mental forms, it becomes what may be called
pure or enlightened consciousness or presence.
Conclusion
Is it practical for thr Hindu youth to try to
follow the philosophy of Shankara? Yes, it is a thing to be practised and not
only to be read as an intellectual exercise. This way of life is consistent with
our duties as citizens. Shankara enjoins that we discharge our duties as well
and cheerfully as we can. It is a way for the self-reliant and for the seekers.
Yet we should endeavour to realize the Supreme Being as he did: “My mind fell
like a hailstone into the vast expanse of Brahman’s ocean. Touching one drop of
it. I melted away and became one with Brahman. This is wonderful indeed! Here is
the ocean of Brahman, full of endless joy.”
God-Consciousness of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, by Mahendra Mathur
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[if !mso]> Ramakrishna Parmahansa is perhaps the best known saint of nineteenth century India. He was born in a poor Brahmin family in 1836, in a small town near Calcutta, West Bengal. He adopted the role of a renunciate and learned a no dualist form of Vedanta philosophy from his mentor Totapuri, a yogi. In this system, God is understood to be the formless unmanifest energy that supports the cosmos. Ramakrishna explained on different occasions that god is both formed and formless and can appear to the devotee either way. He died of cancer of the throat in 1886.
Guru of the famous Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishna represents the very core of the spiritual realizations of the seers and sages of India. His whole life was literally an uninterrupted contemplation of God. He reached a depth of God-consciousness that transcends all time and place and has a universal appeal. Seekers of God of all religions feel irresistibly drawn to his life and teachings.
Through his God-intoxicated life Sri Ramakrishna proved that the revelation of God takes place at all times and that God-realization is not the monopoly of any particular age, country, or people. In him, deepest spirituality and broadest catholicity stood side by side. The God-man of 19th century India did not found any cult, nor did he show a new path to salvation.
His message was his God-consciousness. When it falls short, traditions become dogmatic and oppressive and religious teachings lose their transforming power. At a time when the very foundation of religion, faith in God, was crumbling under the relentless blows of materialism and skepticism, Sri Ramakrishna, through his burning spiritual realizations, demonstrated beyond doubt the reality of God and the validity of the time-honored teachings of all the prophets and saviors of the past.
Drawn by the magnetism of Sri Ramakrishna’s divine personality, people flocked to him from far and near — men and women, young and old, philosophers and theologians, philanthropists and humanists, atheists and agnostics, Hindus and Brahmos, Christians and Muslims, seekers of truth of all races, creeds and castes. His small room in the Dakshineswar temple garden on the outskirts of the city of Calcutta became a veritable parliament of religions.
Everyone who came to him felt uplifted by his profound God-consciousness, boundless love, and universal outlook. Each seeker saw in him the highest manifestation of his own ideal. By coming near him the impure became pure, the pure became purer, and the sinner was transformed into a saint.
The greatest contribution of Sri Ramakrishna to the modern world is his message of the harmony of religions. To Sri Ramakrishna all religions are the revelation of God in his diverse aspects to satisfy the manifold demands of human minds. Like different photographs of a building taken from different angles, different religions give us the pictures of one truth from different standpoints. They are not contradictory but complementary.
Sri Ramakrishna faithfully practiced the spiritual disciplines of different religions and came to the realization that all of them lead to the same goal. Thus he declared, “As many faiths, so many paths.” The paths vary, but the goal remains the same. Harmony of religions is not uniformity; it is unity in diversity. It is not a fusion of religions, but a fellowship of religions based on their common goal — communion with God. This harmony is to be realized by deepening our individual God-consciousness. In the present-day world, threatened by nuclear war and torn by religious intolerance, Sri Ramakrishna’s message of harmony gives us hope and shows the way.
Following are ten quotes by Sri Ramakrishna:
God is Love. If you must be mad, be it not for the things of the world. Be mad
with the love of God. Many good sayings are to be found in holy books, but
merely reading them will not make one religious. One must practice the virtues
taught in such books in order to acquire love of God.
God is True Knowledge. If you first fortify yourself with the true knowledge of the Universal Self, and then live in the midst of wealth and worldliness, surely they will in no way affect you. When the divine vision is attained, all appear equal; and there remains no distinction of good and bad, or of high and low. Good and evil cannot bind him who has realized the oneness of Nature and his own self with Brahman.
God is in Your Heart. Because of the screen of Maya (illusion) that shuts off God from human view; one cannot see Him playing in one’s heart. After installing the Deity on the lotus of your heart, you must keep the lamp of remembering God ever burning. While engaged in the affairs of the world, you should constantly turn your gaze inwards and see whether the lamp is burning or not.
God is in All People. God is in all men, but all men are not in God; that is why we suffer.
God is Our Father. As a nurse in a wealthy family brings up her master’s child, loving it as if it were her own; yet knowing well that she has no claim upon it, so you also think that you are but trustee and guardians of your children whose real father is the Lord himself.
God is Infinite. Many are the names of God and infinite the forms through which He may be approached.
God is Truth. Unless one always speaks the truth; one cannot find God Who is the soul of truth. One must be very particular about telling the truth. Through truth one can realize God.
God is above all Arguments. If you desire to be pure, have firm faith, and slowly go on with your devotional practices without wasting your energy in useless scriptural discussions and arguments. Your little brain will otherwise be muddled.
God is Work. Work, apart from devotion or love of God, is helpless and cannot stand alone.
God is the End. To work without attachment is to work without the expectation of reward or fear of any punishment in this world or the next. Work so done is a means to the end, and God is the end.
What follows is the writing of Jean Pierre Camus, 17th Century French
fiction and Spiritual Writer, which is almost in the same vein:
Francois de Sales, Bishop of Geneva in the early 17th Century, used to say, “I
hear of nothing but perfection on every side; but I see very few people who
really practice it. Every body has his own notion of perfection. One man thinks
it lies in the cut of his clothes, another in fasting, a third in almsgiving,
or in frequenting the Sacraments, in meditation, in some special gifts of
contemplation – but they are all mistaken, as it seems to me, because they
confuse the means, or the results, with the end and cause.
For my part the only perfection I know of is a hearty love of God, and to love
one’s neighbour as oneself. Charity is the only virtue which rightly unites us
with to God and man. Such union is our final aim and end, and all the rest is
mere delusion.”
‘That’ of the Upanishadic teaching ‘That Thou Art’ has been indeed beautifully explained by the life of Ramakrishna Paramhansa.
Life and Teachings of Swami Chinmayananda, by Mahendra Mathur
Need of the Hour
Today, as I ponder over the selective killings of Hindus, Jews, and foreigners
in Mumbai (mainly Christians) on 26-28 November 2008, I cannot help revisiting
Swami Ramakrishna’s message which I quote from the last month’s issue of
Tattva:
The greatest contribution of Sri Ramakrishna to the modern world is his
message of the harmony of religions. To Sri Ramakrishna all religions are the
revelation of God in his diverse aspects to satisfy the manifold demands of
human minds. Like different photographs of a building taken from different
angles, different religions give us the pictures of one truth from different
standpoints. They are not contradictory but complementary.
By no standards can any of the following verses from Quran (and there are
dozens more like that) be said to give us a picture of ‘one truth.’
47.Muhammad (Muhammad)
[47:4] If you encounter (in war) those who disbelieve, you may strike the necks. If you take them as captives you may set them free or ransom them, until the war ends. Had GOD willed, He could have granted you victory, without war. But He thus tests you by one another. As for those who get killed in the cause of GOD, He will never put their sacrifice to waste. [47:5] He will guide them, and bless them with contentment. [47:6] He will admit them into Paradise that He described to them. [47:34] Those who disbelieve and repel from the path of GOD, then die as disbelievers, GOD will never forgive them. 50- (Qaf) [50:24] Throw into Gehenna every stubborn disbeliever.
Even our philosopher president Doctor Radhakrishnan proclaimed, “If you believe in absurdities, you commit atrocities”. My personal view is that such verses should be considered for deletion from Quran. It needs to be noted that a Government Minister of Netherlands, Geert Wilders, has said, “Send a signal … to Islamists that the Koran can never, ever be used in our country as an excuse or inspiration for violence.”
The need of the hour is to get the concept of God right. Aldous Huxley, the noted English spiritual writer, said that if we approach God with the preconceived idea that He is exclusively the personal transcendental, all-powerful ruler of the world, it improves our conduct but it does little, however, to alter character and nothing to modify consciousness. Things are a great deal better when the personal God is regarded as also a loving Father. The sincere worship of such a God changes character as well as conduct, and does something to modify consciousness. But the complete transformation of consciousness, which is “enlightenment,” “salvation,” comes only when God is thought of as the Gita affirms Him to be – immanent as well as transcendent, supra personal as well as personal – and when religious practices are adopted to this conception.
Those people who are not too stubborn in their ready-made beliefs, if they submit with docility to what happens to them in the process of worshipping, the God who is immanent and transcendent, personal and more than personal, may reveal Himself to them in his fullness. Nevertheless, the fact remains that it is easier for us to reach our goal if we are not handicapped by a set of erroneous or inadequate beliefs about the right way to go there and the nature of what we are looking for. Swami Chinmayanand said it best when he said that the one Reality is the supreme cause from which the entire universe has emerged out.
Life of Swami Chinmayananda
Known as Balakrishnan, he was born at Ernakulam (Kerala) on the 8th of May,
1917. Right from young age he had an inquiring mind which critically questioned
everything. He was brilliant in his studies and emerged out of the Lucknow University as a Master of Arts. Like
many of the highly learned youths who find themselves in a dilemma as to what
to do with life when they come out of the universities, Balakrishnan too was
assailed by doubts with conflicting ideologies. But providence guided him
properly; he studied the great works of Swami Vivekananda, Aurobindo and
others, and found his way to his Master, Swami Sivananda.
He was ordained into Sannyasa by Sri Gurudev on 25th February, 1949 to pursue
further studies of scriptures under Swami Tapovanamji Maharaj, in Uttarakashi
where he stayed with the great Master studying Vedanta Texts as well as
Upanishads. Having mastered these texts, Swami Chinmayananda started his own
Jnana Yajna Mission and moved from corner to corner of India conducting Gita
Yajna classes, Upanishad classes and discourses on the scriptures (I had the
privilege of hearing his discourses at Bangalore in 1958), which earned him
great reputation as an extraordinary orator and a masterly exponent of India’s
culture, its literary heritage and scriptural lore. Swami Chinmayananda also
travelled to the West many a time. He established Centres at various places in India and
abroad. He is one of the world-figures who have hoisted the flag of India’s
spiritual heritage in several countries of the world.
Swami Chinmayananda merged with Supreme Consciousness on August 3, 1993.
Swami Chinmayananda’s Teachings on Supreme Consciousness
The supreme Consciousness, which created the entire universe, sustains it
too. Consciousness in every living creature is the vital life in each, and
since Consciousness is one everywhere in every creature, it is the sole
Reality. It is the substratum at once for the whole universe.
To illustrate that this Reality is one and the same in all forms, Lord Krishna,
in the Bhagwat Gita, states that It is the common factor in all forms in the
universe: It holds all intact just as the string holds all the pearls in a
necklace. The pearls are homogeneous, the thread, which is generally
unseen passes through the central core of every pearl, the large and the
small, to hold them in a harmonious ornament of beauty.
The substance of the pearls is totally different from the material of the thread. Similarly, the world is constituted of an infinite variety of names and forms that are held together by the spiritual Reality into a perfect whole. Even within an individual, the body, the mind, and the intellect – each different from the other – can work together to give the melody of life because the same conscious principle works through all those different and varying matter envelopes.
In the following two verses, Lord Krishna explains how the supreme Reality can be thread upon which the pearls of the individual elements of plurality are strung together to become the necklace of the harmonious universe.
I am the sapidity in water; I am the light in the moon and sun; I am the
syllable OM in all the Vedas, sound in ether, and virility in men; I am the
sweet fragrance in earth and the brilliance in fire, the life in all beings,
and I am austerity in the austere.
Ch VII: Verse 8, 9
All the above examples clearly indicate that the divine Self is that which gives each individual phenomenon its own existence. The Lord indicates the same truth through a set of more obvious examples.
Know Me as the eternal seed of all beings; I am the intelligence of the intelligent beings; the splendor of the splendid things am I Ch VII Verse 10
Here Lord Krishna gives three beautiful examples by which we can get an insight into the relationship between the gross, perceivable matter and the subtle, imperceptible Spirit. The Supreme Reality is the one source from which all names and forms have emerged. The world of forms is inherent in the Self. Just as a giant banyan tree is present in unmanifest form in the banyan seed, the sprouting of the eternal seed constitutes the expression of different personalities.
Wherever one sees something of splendid beauty in any form of creation, he knows that the divine Self is there. In fact all objects have their splendor only because of the life force within them. As a comparison we could say that electricity is the “light in the bulb”, the “heat in the heater”, and the “music in the radio”.
The Self is one in all beings; the same conscious principle illumines the emotions in the bosoms of all living creatures. The same sun illumines all the different types of objects of the world. However, it is true that the quality and nature of the reflecting surface will determine the clarity and intensity of the light reflected. On a dull, rough stone there will be the least amount of light reflected, while on a bright polished facet of a jewel there will be maximum reflection. The sun cannot be accused of having special love for the jewel, or disgust for the rough stone.
The same analogy can be applied to the subjective life. It is only a natural phenomenon that the spiritual strength and beauty get reflected from the golden-hearts of the rare few and not at all from the iron hearts of the many and not because of any preference for any prejudice against anyone.
Kahlil Gibran
Almost identical philosophy is echoed in the poem Perfection by 20th Century
Lebanese Poet and Philosopher Kahlil Gibran.
You ask me, my brother, when will man reach perfection.
Hear my answer:
Man approaches perfection when he feels that he is an infinite space
and a sea without a shore,
An everlasting fire, an unquenchable light,
A calm wind or a raging tempest,
A thundering sky or a rainy heaven,
A singing brook or a wailing rivulet,
A tree abloom in Spring, or a naked sapling in Autumn,
A rising mountain or a descending valley,
A fertile plain or a desert.
When a man feels all these, he has already reached halfway to
perfection.
To attain his goal he must then perceive
that he is a child dependent upon his mother,
A father responsible for his family,
A youth lost in love,
An ancient wrestling against his past,
A worshipper in his temple,
A criminal in his prison,
A scholar amid his parchments,
An ignorant soul stumbling between the darkness of his night and obscurity
of his day,
A nun suffering between the flowers of her faith and the thistles of her
loneliness,
A prostitute caught between the fangs of her weakness and the claws of her
needs,
A poor man trapped between his bitterness and his submission,
A rich man between his greed and conscience,
A poet between the mist of his twilight and the rays of his dawn.
Who can experience, see, and understand these things can reach perfection and become a shadow of God’s shadow.
Richard Wagner, in his prize essay, “On the Foundation of Morality”, wrote: This doctrine, that plurality is merely illusory, and that in all the individuals of the world – no matter how great their number, as they appear beside each other in space and after each other in time – there is made manifest only one, single, truly existent Being, present and ever the same in all, was known to the world, even ages before Kant. In fact it can be said to have been with us through all time. For, in the first place it is the chief and fundamental teaching of the oldest books in the world, the sacred Vedas, the dogmatic portion – or better, esoteric meaning – of which is preserved for us in the Upanishads, throughout which the same great teaching is to be found tirelessly restated in endless variation on practically every page, as well as allegorized in multitude of similies and figures. That it was basic, also, to the wisdom of Pythagoras, there can be no doubt. The Neoplatonists were literally soaked in it: ‘Through the unity of all’, they wrote, “all souls are one”. Spinoza’s name is identified with it. The same perception is restated in the eclectic philosophy of Schelling (1775-1854).
How wonderful this world would become if such words of Swami Chinmayananda, Aldous Huxley, Khalil Gibran and Richard Wagner are imbibed by all people in the world.
Colonel Mahendra Mathur prematurely retired from the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army in 1975 to build a highway in Tobago. Subsequently he was appointed Director of National Emergency Management Agency of Trinidad and Tobago before retiring in 1998. You can contact him at mmathur@tstt.net.tt.
2 Responses to “Life and Teachings of Swami Chinmayananda, by Mahendra Mathur”
- MuraleeDharan Raghavan
January 1st, 2009 11:18
1
Dear Colonel Mahendra MathurNamaskaram.
Gone through the article. Yes. I felt it is need of the hour!
Is to possible for your goodselves to allow THE INDEPENDENT MEDIA OF INDIA, MUMBAI to reprint the article without any editing in its weekly tabloid THE VERDICT. Please confirm asap.
With respects
MURALEEDHARAN RAGHAVAN
The Great Guru Maharishi Ramana, by Mahendra Mathur
The Self
That in which all these worlds seem to exist steadily, that of which all
these worlds are a possession, that from which all these worlds rise, that for
which all these exist, that by which all these worlds come into existence and
that which is indeed all these - that alone is the existing reality. Let us
cherish that Self, which is the reality, in the Heart.
The essence of Sri Ramana’s teachings is conveyed in his frequent assertions that there is a single immanent reality, directly experienced by everyone, which is simultaneously the source, the substance and the real nature of everything that exists.
His Life
Sri Ramana Maharshi was born to a Tamil Hindu Brahmin family in Tiruchuzhi,
Tamil Nadu on December 30, 1879. After attaining liberation at the age of 16,
he left home for Arunachala, a mountain considered sacred by Hindus, at
Tiruvannamalai, and lived there for the rest of his life. Arunachala is located
in Tamil Nadu, South India. Although born a
Brahmin, after having attained moksha he declared himself an “Atiasrami,” a
Sastraic state of unattachment to anything in life and beyond all caste restrictions.
Sri Ramana maintained that the purest form of his teachings was the powerful
silence which radiated from his presence and quieted the minds of those attuned
to it. He gave verbal teachings only for the benefit of those who could not
understand his silence. His verbal teachings were said to flow from his direct
experience of Consciousness as the only existing reality. When asked for
advice, he recommended self-enquiry as the fastest path to moksha. Though his
primary teaching is associated with Non-dualism, Advaita Vedanta, and Jnana
yoga, he highly recommended Bhakti, and gave his approval to a variety of paths
and practices.
The Single Immanent Reality
He gave it a number of different names, each one signifying a different aspect
of the same indivisible reality. What follows is the explanation of the three
terms that he frequently used.
1. The Self. This is his most used term. He defined it by saying that the real Self or real`I’ is, contrary to perceptible experience, not an experience of individuality but a non-personal, all-inclusive awareness. It is not to be confused with the individual self which he said was essentially non-existent, being a fabrication of the mind which obscures the true experience of the real Self. He maintained that the real Self is always present and always experienced but he emphasized that one is only consciously aware of it as it really is when the self-limiting tendencies of the mind have ceased. Permanent and continuous Self-awareness is known as Self-realization.
2. Sat-chit-ananda. This is a Sanskrit term which translates as being-consciousness-bliss. Sri Ramana taught that the Self is pure being, a subjective awareness of `I am’ which is completely devoid of the feeling `I am this’ or `I am that.’ There are no subjects or objects in the Self, there is only an awareness of being. Because this awareness is conscious it is also known as consciousness. The direct experience of this consciousness is, according to Sri Ramana, a state of unbroken happiness and so the term ananda or bliss is also used to describe it. These three aspects, being, consciousness and bliss, are experienced as a unitary whole and not as separate attributes of the Self. They are inseparable in the same way that wetness, transparency and liquidity are inseparable properties of water.
3. God. Sri Ramana maintained that the universe is sustained by the power of the Self. Since theists normally attribute this power to God he often used the word God as a synonym for the Self. He also used the words Brahman, the supreme being of Hinduism, and Siva, a Hindu name for God, in the same way. Sri Ramana’s God is not a personal God; he is the formless being which sustains the universe. He is not the creator of the universe, the universe is merely a manifestation of his inherent power; he is inseparable from it, but he is not affected by its appearance or its disappearance.
God in Quran
There is a wide spread notion that God means the same entity in all religions.
Time has come to categorically state that it is not so. What follow are some
verses from Chapter II of Quran which prove that the concept of God and His
message is quite different in that book, if not contrarory to that of Maharishi
Ramana.
161. Verily, those who disbelieve, and die while they are disbelievers, it is
they on whom is the Curse of Allâh and of the angels and of mankind, combined.
162. They will abide therein (under the curse in Hell), their punishment will
neither be lightened, nor will they be reprieved.
190. And fight in the Way of Allâh those who fight you, but transgress not the
limits. Truly, Allâh likes not the transgressors. [This Verse is the first one
that was revealed in connection with Jihâd, but it was supplemented by another
(V.9:36)].
191. And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they
have turned you out. And Al-Fitnah is worse than killing. And fight not with
them at Al-Masjid-al-Harâm (the sanctuary at Makkah), unless they (first) fight
you there. But if they attack you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of
the disbelievers.
192. But if they cease, then Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
193. And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and worshipping of
others along with Allâh) and (all and every kind of) worship is for Allâh (Alone).
But if they cease, let there be no transgression except against Az-Zâlimûn (the
polytheists, and wrong-doers, etc.)
Once such qualities are attributed to God and are imbibed by ignorant youths, events like killings in Mumbai on 26/11 follow. Somebody has to begin thinking of reformation of Islam by deleting such verses from Quran, however out of context they may be.
‘To be unselfish is every thing, most of all in love and friendship,’ says
Goethe, ‘was my highest pleasure, my rule of life, my exercise.’ In the last
part of the Ethics treating of ‘the way which leads to liberty’ Spinoza seems
to have ascended beyond this village of affections to the level where amor and
intellectus are one act. Here ‘the human mind knows itself and its body under
the species of eternity, and thus far necessarily has knowledge of God and
knows it exists in God and is conceived through God.’
Eighteenth Century German philosopher, Gotthold Lessing’s views on religion are not very different from that of Ramana Maharishi. The Philosopher thought of God as the inner spirit of reality, causing development and itself developing. This world will become peaceful and happy only when the humankind understands God or Self as Ramana Maharishi taught. He proclaimed, “The world is so unhappy because it is ignorant of the true Self. Man’s real nature is happiness. Happiness is inborn in the true Self. Man’s search for happiness is an unconscious search for his true Self.”
February 11th, 2009 12:16
Does Shankara himself use the terms ‘Vyavaharika Satta’ and ‘Paramarthika Satta’? - if so, can someone please tell me somewhere in his writings I can find these terms. Thank you.
June 9th, 2009 10:22
[...] Here is the original post: The Life and Teachings of Adi Shankaracharya, by Mahendra Mathur [...]
July 10th, 2009 20:11
Swami Shivananda used the terms mentioned by Ju, while explaining Shankara’s philosophy as follows:
The world is relatively real (Vyavaharika Satta), while Brahman is absolutely real (Paramarthika Satta).
July 22nd, 2009 09:32
He is great man.
July 22nd, 2009 09:36
A person like a man not ever seen in the world.
August 18th, 2009 15:15
I always feel that an Atman like Adi Sankara should be reborn again in today’s times to revive the Dharma which is again showing signs of a decline and to also be a guiding light to help us resolve all the conflicts we have in our minds regarding the problems we have in our daily life.
July 29th, 2010 18:42
I completely go with Vishwanath’s view. Especially after reading blogs like http://aimlessandabstract.blogspot.com/ by my intelligent friend! Many girls today think this way I guess. It probably really became a very male dominated society and stuff but I don’t see abandoning our religion as a solution. I really pray for divine guidance for the world including me. Yearning to see the wonderful society and culture that was in place before all this so called ‘advancement’.
August 1st, 2010 21:46
The whole Hindudom is yearning for reincarnation of Sankara, till such time that happens we should endeavour to take the messages of Swamis like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Chidanand Saraswati to the masses.
November 15th, 2010 07:24
Dear sir,
You explanation is very much good please send me any of your articles which is in simple English to understand better. (I am Civil engineer by profession not able to understand depth of English)
thanks
asha
December 2nd, 2010 18:57
You may like to read the article ‘The Bhagavad Gita Part 2: The Seeker and the Sought, by Mahendra Mathur’ published in Tattva magzine on line on thursday, November 1st, 2007. Should you have difficulty in accessing it please do not hesitate to contact me directly at mmathur@tstt.net.tt
I shall be very happy to send you this - and other articles on the Gita and Great Gurus. Wishing you all the best in your spiritual journey.
February 25th, 2011 14:38
thanks sir,
it is considerably clear.
Please help me get an answer to one of my confusions.
I sincerely believe in the lila concept, and also believe i am god myself playing lila, is not the manifestation of maya important for the original concept of lila itself. Is it not right to engage in maya without being attached to it, just for the sake of engagement, as may be what god intended it to be like. The lila.
I begin to realise that my mind a part of my body is trained to work out of habits, while engaging in maya there is a tendency from the mind to re-engage , is that some kind of a trap set by the creator, to keep the maya alive?
February 25th, 2011 22:44
Namaste Dinesh,
Th e answer is in your own comment. It is only by the habits created by your mind and body that you remain immersed in Maya. You can yourself change your habits by constantly reminding yourself that the Maya is separate from your Self. The Self only witnesses what your ego experiences. By regular meditation and constant reflection on your real Self, and by Lord Shiva’ blessings you will succeed in your endeavours.
February 26th, 2011 03:42
namaste guruji,
i am seeking knowledge and hence love to address you as a teacher.
Is not looking at maya seprate from myself, trying to create a dualstic approach, a conflict?
While maya is a creation of the creator himself.Is it not neccesary to accept maya as a reason for my material existance and use it to realise the greater myself?
If the mind and body works out of habits, from your quote, i realise that the same mind and body can be used to possitive effect by creating habits that can produce more love and lead me away from my ego center.
Is the ego my intellect? a part of my body acquired from genetic continuation or is it some spiritual continuation? Is my ego on some kind of a spiritual journey from restlessness to rest spiritually.
Or is it subject to the nueral scheme i recieve in each birth?
Do i have to defeat the choices of my body /mind complex to realise my self?
Where are the seeds of selfishness, jealosy,envy,greed embedded? are they in the body or in the soul?
Is there something as good souls and bad souls?
February 27th, 2011 02:15
Namaste Dinesh,
I can hardly qualify to be a Guru. In fact you are more of a guru to me in the sense that your questions make me think on the points raised by you and clarify my own convictions.
In answer to your first two questions I understand that Maya denotes divine veil and it has no absolute existence.
Next three questions may be answered thus: This finite, mortal, ever-changing world that we see around us is born out of Maya alone. Due to non-apprehension of Reality man recognizes the world of objects, emotions and thoughts. Through the body, mind and intellect (one might call it ego) man gains for himself the sense of a separate individuality. This avidya of all individuals put together is called Maya. God is cause of it and the world the effect. Maya is also called a delusion. By realization of the pure non-dual Brahma, Maya can be destroyed. Yes, I do believe that the process is unbroken by death and birth.
Your next question is exactly right. Body/mind/intellect complex create more and more vasanas which lead to avidya and then on to suffering. When I think rightly - and I have to constantly remind myself of the Self - all misery ends.
Certainly selfishness, jealousy, envy and greed are embedded only in body, mind and intellect and can be removed by right knowledge and endeavour - I can vouch for it. The soul is like the other bird watching but not tasting the fruits.
No, there are no good or bad souls. Soul - atma - is same as Brahma. In fact, I remember reading words of Adi Shankaracharya somewhwre that any soul can become self-realized by knowledge and wisdom alone!
I am aware that this note may raise more questions than give answers. What I have written is what I believe and it may be in variance with established theories. But it works for me. You are free to decide what works for you and reject what you think to be bunkum.
March 17th, 2011 14:46
If the soul is only the other bird watching but not tasting the fruits then why does the soul have to pay for the karmas of the body,mind and intellect, over whose action it has no control? If there are no good or bad souls why are there good and bad karmas and good or bad effects of karmas.
March 18th, 2011 16:34
Soul does not pay for karmas - the ego does. Man possesses a double nature, a phenomenal ego and an eternal Self, which is the inner man, the spirit, the spark of divinity within the soul. It is possible for a man, if he so desires, to identify himself with the spirit. The ego does the good and bad karmas and experiences their results.