Adi Shankaracharya: notes

http://realizedone.com/adi%20shankara/?p=5

"Brahmacharya or spotless chastity is the best of all penances; a celibate of such spotless chastity is not a human being, but a god indeed... To the celibate who conserves the semen with great efforts, what is there unattainable in this world ? By the power of the composure of the semen, one will become just like Myself."
What is the obstacle to spiritual growth ?

Laziness.

What causes the bondage of worldly desire ?

Thirst to enjoy these objects.

What is the first and most important duty for a man of right understanding?

To cut through the bonds of worldly desire.

There are good souls, calm and magnanimous, who do good to others as does the spring, and who, having themselves crossed this dreadful ocean of birth and death, help others also to cross the same, without any motive whatsoever.

VIVEKACHUDAMANI

Among things conducive to liberation, devotion alone holds the supreme place; (and) the search for one’s real nature is designated as devotion.

ATMA BODHA

VERSES 16-30

16. Just as husking the paddy exposes the grain within (the rice), so also should one judiciously separate the pure Atman from the sheaths covering it.

17. Though always and everywhere present, the Self does not shine forth in all places. Just as light is reflected only in a transparent medium, so also the Self is clearly seen in the intellect only.

18. The Self is realized in the intellect as the witness of the activities of, and yet separate from the body, the senses, the mind, intellect and gross nature (prakriti) as is a king in relation to his subjects.

19. Just as the moon seems to move when the clouds around her move, so also the Self seems to the indiscriminating to be active, when actually, the senses are active.

20. Just as men do their duties in the light of the sun (but the sun does not participate in them), so also the body, senses, etc., function in the light of the Self without its participating in them.

21. The characteristics (birth, death, etc.) of the body and the senses are superimposed on the Being- Consciousness-Bliss as is the blue in the sky by those who do not discriminate.

22. So also the characteristics of the mind, such as agency,etc., are by ignorance superimposed on the Atman, as are the movements of water on the moon reflected in it.

23. Only when the intellect is manifested, likes and dislikes,pleasure and pain are felt. In deep sleep, the intellect remaining latent, they are not felt. Therefore, they are of the intellect and not of the Atman (the Self). Here is the real nature of the Atman.

24. As light is the very sun, coldness the water, heat the fire, so also the eternal, pure Being-Consciousness-Bliss is the very Self.

25. Being-Consciousness is of the Self; the `I' mode or modification is of the intellect; these are distinctly two. However, owing to ignorance, the individual mixes them together and thinks `I know' and acts accordingly.

26. Never is there any change (or action) in Atman nor knowledge in the intellect. Only the jiva is deluded into thinking itself to be the knower, doer and seer.

27. Like the snake in the rope, mistaking the jiva for the Self, one is subject to fear. If, on the other hand, one knows oneself not as a jiva but as the supreme Self, one is altogether free from fear.

28. The Self alone illumines the senses, intellect, etc., as a lamp does objects such as pots. The Self is not illumined by them as they are inert.

29. To see a light, no other light is needed. So also, the Self being self-effulgent, needs no other means of knowledge. It shines of itself.

30. On the strength of the Vedic teaching, `Not this, not this', eliminate all the adjuncts (upadhis) and with the help of the mahavakyas, realize the identity of the jivatman (individual self) with the paramatman (the supreme Self).

Stop thinking about anything which is not your true self, for that is degrading and productive of pain, and instead think about your true nature, which is bliss itself and productive of liberation.

ATMA BODHAM
By Adi Shankaracharya

2. Of all the means to liberation,
Knowledge is the only direct one.
As essential as fire to cooking, without it,
Liberation cannot be gained.

3. Not being opposed to ignorance,
Karma does not destroy it.
On the other hand, knowledge destroys ignorance,
As surely as light does darkness.

5. The jiva is mixed up with ignorance.
By constant practice of knowledge, the jiva becomes pure,
Because knowledge disappears (along with ignorance)
As the cleansing nut with the impurities in the water.

6. Samsara is full of likes and dislikes and other opposites. Like
A dream, it seems real for the time being; but, on waking, it
Vanishes because it is unreal.

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.

Give up identification with this mass of flesh as well as with what thinks it a mass. Both are intellectual imaginations. Recognise your true self as undifferentiated awareness, unaffected by time, past, present or future, and enter Peace.

If one doesn’t heed the message “ Be A Master ” that’s one’s own choice. One has to bear the consequence , to be born again and again. The two routes are crystal clear. 

One can either postpone spirituality and come back again and again, or take up spirituality and make the current birth the final birth. The choice is crystal clear.

 There is no ambiguity whatsoever ! 

If we want to be a ‘ Disciple ’ or a ‘ Devotee ’ we have to come back again and again ! But if we choose to be a Master, this would be the last birth ! The two ways are crystal clear !

A master is such a pleasure to see, to hear, to be with ! A master is one with Everybody and Everybody is one with the Master !



teachers and scriptures can stimulate spiritual awareness. but the wise disciple overcomes ignorance by direct illumination, through the grace of God

when the vision of Reality comes, the veil of ignorance is completely removed. when our false perception is corrected, misery ends