Myswizard

INTRODUCTION

Jnana is knowledge. To know Brahman as one’s own Self is Jnana. To say, “I am Brahman, the pure, all-pervading Consciousness, the non-enjoyer, non-doer and silent witness,” is Jnana. To behold the one Self everywhere is Jnana.

Ajnana is ignorance. To identify oneself with the illusory vehicles of body, mind, Prana and the senses is Ajnana. To say, ” I am the doer, the enjoyer, I am a Brahmin, a Brahmachari, this is mine, he is my son,” is Ajnana. Jnana alone can destroy Ajnana, even as light alone can remove darkness.

Brahman, the Supreme Self, is neither the doer of actions nor the enjoyer of the fruits of actions. The creation, preservation and destruction of the world are not due to Him. They are due to the action of Maya, the Lord’s energy manifesting itself as the world-process.

Just as space appears to be of three kinds - absolute space, space limited by a jar, and space reflected in the water of a jar, - so also there are three kinds of intelligence. They are absolute intelligence, intelligence reflected in Maya, and intelligence reflected in the Jiva (the individual soul). The notion of the doer is the function of intelligence as reflected in the intellect. This, together with the notion of Jiva, is superimposed by the ignorant on the pure and limitless Brahman, the silent witness.

The illustration of space absolute, space limited by a jar and space reflected in water of a jar, is given to convey the idea that in reality Brahman alone is. Because of Maya, however, It appears as three.

The notion that the reflection of intelligence is real, is erroneous, and is due to ignorance. Brahman is without limitation; limitation is a superimposition on Brahman.

The identity of the Supreme Self and the Jiva or reflected self is established through the statement of the Upanishad ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ - ‘That Thou Art’. When the knowledge of the identity of the two arises, then world problems and ignorance, with all their offshoots, are destroyed and all doubts disappear.

Self-realization or direct intuitive perception of the Supreme Self is necessary for attaining freedom and perfection. This Jnana Yoga or the path of Wisdom is, however, not meant for the masses whose hearts are not pure enough and whose intellects are not sharp enough to understand and practice this razor-edge path. Hence, Karma Yoga and Upasana (Bhakti) are to be practiced first, which will render the heart pure and make it fit for the reception of Knowledge.

BRAHMAN AND MAYA

Brahman is Sat, the Absolute, Reality. That which exists in the past, present and future; which has no beginning, middle and end; which is unchanging and not conditioned by time, space and causation; which exists during the waking, dream and deep sleep states; which is of the nature of one homogeneous essence, is Sat. This is found in Brahman, the Absolute. The scriptures emphatically declare: “Only Sat was prior to the evolution of this universe.”

This phenomenal universe is unreal. Isvara created this universe out of His own body (Maya), just as a spider creates a web from its own saliva. It is merely an appearance, like a snake in a rope or like silver in mother-of-pearl. It has no independent existence.

It is difficult to conceive how the Infinite comes out of Itself and becomes the finite. The magician can bring forth a rabbit out of a hat. We see it happening but we cannot explain it; so we call it Maya or illusion.

Maya is a strange phenomenon which cannot be accounted for by any law of Nature. It is incapable of being described. Its relation to Brahman is like that of heat to fire. The heat of fire is neither one with it nor different from it.

Does Maya really exist or not ? The Advaitin gives this reply: “This inscrutable Maya cannot be said either to exist or not to exist”.

If we know the nature of Brahman, then all names, forms and limitations fall away. The world is Maya because it is not the essential truth of the infinite Reality - Brahman. Somehow the world exists and its relation to Brahman is indescribable. The illusion vanishes through the attainment of knowledge of Brahman. Sages, Rishis and scriptures declare that Maya vanishes entirely as soon as knowledge of the Supreme Self dawns.

Brahman alone really exists. The Jiva, the world and this little “I” are false. Rise above names and forms and kill the false egoism. Go beyond Maya and annihilate ignorance. Constantly meditate on the Supreme Brahman, your divine nature.

The world is unreal when compared to Brahman. It is a solid reality to a worldly and passionate man only. To a realized sage it exists like a burnt cloth. To a Videhamukta (disembodied sage) it does not exist at all. To a man of discrimination it loses its charm and attraction.

Do not leave the world to enter a forest because you now read that the world is unreal. You will be utterly ruined if you do this without proper qualifications. Be first established in the conviction that the world is unreal and Brahman alone is real. This will help you to develop dispassion and a strong yearning for liberation. Stay in the world but be not worldly; strive for liberation by the practice of Sadhana Chatushtaya.

SADHANA CHATUSHTAYA

Jnana Yoga of Brahma Vidya or the science of the Self is not a subject that can be understood and realized through mere intellectual study, reasoning, ratiocination, discussion or arguments. It is the most difficult of all sciences.

A student who treads the path of Truth must, therefore, first equip himself with Sadhana Chatushtaya - the “four means of salvation”. They are discrimination, dispassion, the sixfold qualities of perfection, and intense longing for liberation - Viveka, Vairagya, Shad-Sampat and Mumukshutva. Then alone will he be able to march forward fearlessly on the path. Not an iota of spiritual progress is possible unless one is endowed with these four qualifications.

These four means are as old as the Vedas and this world itself. Every religion prescribes them; the names differ from path to path but this is immaterial. Only ignorant people have the undesirable habit of practicing lingual warfare and raising unnecessary questions. Pay no attention to them. It is your duty to try to eat the fruit instead of wasting time in counting the leaves of the tree. Try now to understand these four essential requisites for salvation.

Viveka is discrimination between the real and the unreal, between the permanent and the impermanent, between the Self and the non-Self. Viveka dawns in a man through the Grace of God. The Grace can come only after one has done unceasing selfless service in countless births with the feeling that he is an instrument of the Lord and that the work is an offering to the Lord. The door to the higher mind is flung open when there is an awakening of discrimination.

There is an eternal, changeless principle amidst the ever-changing phenomena of this vast universe and the fleeting movements and oscillations of the mind.

The aspirant should separate himself also from the six waves of the ocean of Samsara - birth and death, hunger and thirst, and exhilaration and grief. Birth and death belong to the physical body; hunger and thirst belong to Prana; exhilaration and grief are the attributes of the mind. The Soul is unattached. The six waves cannot touch Brahman which is as subtle as the all-pervading ether.

Association with saints and study of Vedantic literature will infuse discrimination in man. Viveka should be developed to the maximum degree. One should be well established in it.

Vairagya is dispassion for the pleasures of this world and of heaven. The Vairagya that is born of Viveka is enduring and lasting. It will not fail the aspirant. But the Vairagya that comes temporarily to a woman when she gives birth to a child or when one attends a funeral at a crematorium, is of no use. The view that everything in the world is unreal causes indifference to the enjoyments of this world and the heaven-world also. One has to return from heaven to this plane of existence when the fruits of good works are all exhausted. Hence they are not worth striving for.

Vairagya does not mean abandoning one’s social duties and responsibilities of life. It does not mean abandoning the world, for life in a solitary cave of the Himalayas. Vairagya is mental detachment from all worldly objects. One may remain in the world and discharge all duties with detachment. He may be a householder with a large family, yet at the same time he may have perfect mental detachment from everything. He can do spiritual Sadhana amidst his worldly activities. He who has perfect mental detachment in the world is a hero indeed. He is better than a Sadhu living in a Himalayan cave, for the former has to face innumerable temptations every moment of his life.

The third requisite is Shad-Sampat, the sixfold virtue. It consists of Sama, Dama, Uparati, Titiksha, Sraddha and Samadhana. All these six qualities are taken as one because they are calculated to bring about mental control and discipline, without which concentration and meditation are impossible.

Sama is serenity or tranquillity of mind which is brought about through the eradication of desires.
Dama is rational control of the senses.
Uparati is satiety; it is resolutely turning the mind away from desire for sensual enjoyment. This state of mind comes naturally when one has practiced Viveka, Vairagya, Sama and Dama.
Titiksha is the power of endurance. An aspirant should patiently bear the pairs of opposites such as heat and cold, pleasure and pain, etc.
Sraddha is intense faith in the word of the Guru, in Vedantic scriptures and, above all, in one’s own self. It is not blind faith but is based on accurate reasoning, evidence and experience. As such, it is lasting, perfect and unshakable. Such a faith is capable of achieving anything.
Samadhana is fixing the mind on Brahman or the Self, without allowing it to run towards objects. The mind is free from anxiety amid pains and troubles. There is stability, mental poise and indifference amid pleasures. The aspirant has neither like nor dislikes. He has great inner strength and enjoys unruffled peace of mind, due to the practices of Sama, Dama, Uparati, Titiksha and Sraddha.
Mumukshutva is intense desire for liberation or deliverance from the wheel of births and deaths with its concomitant evils of old age, disease, delusion and sorrow. If one is equipped with the previous three qualifications (Viveka, Vairagya and Shad-Sampat), then the intense desire for liberation will come without any difficulty. The mind moves towards the Source of its own accord when it has lost its charm for external objects. When purification of mind and mental discipline are achieved, the longing for liberation dawns by itself.

The aspirant who is endowed with all these four qualification should then approach the Guru who will instruct him on the knowledge of his real nature. The Guru is one who has a thorough knowledge of the scriptures and is also established in that knowledge in direct experience. He should then reflect and meditate on the inner Self and strive earnestly to attain the goal of Self-realization.

A Sadhaka should reflect and meditate. Sravana is hearing of Srutis, Manana is thinking and reflecting, Nididhyasana is constant and profound meditation. Then comes Atma-Sakshatkara or direct realization.

THE SEVEN STAGES OF JNANA

There are seven stages of Jnana or the seven Jnana Bhumikas. First, Jnana should be developed through a deep study of Atma Jnana Sastras and association with the wise and the performance of virtuous actions without any expectation of fruits. This is Subheccha or good desire, which forms the first Bhumika or stage of Jnana. This will irrigate the mind with the waters of discrimination and protect it. There will be non-attraction or indifference to sensual objects in this stage. The first stage is the substratum of the other stages. From it the next two stages, viz., Vicharana and Tanumanasi will be reached. Constant Atma Vichara (Atmic enquiry) forms the second stage. The third stage is Tanumanasi. This is attained through the cultivation of special indifference to objects. The mind becomes thin like a thread. Hence the name Tanumanasi. Tanu means thread - threadlike state of mind. The third stage is also known by the name Asanga Bhavana. In the third stage, the aspirant is free from all attractions. If any one dies in the third stage, he will remain in heaven for a long time and will reincarnate on earth again as a Jnani. The above three stages can be included under the Jagrat state. The fourth stage is Sattvapatti. This stage will destroy all Vasanas to the root. This can be included under the Svapana state. The world appears like a dream. Those who have reached the fourth stage will look upon all things of the universe with an equal eye. The fifth stage is Asamsakti. There is perfect non-attachment to the objects of the world. There is no Upadhi or waking or sleeping in this stage. This is the Jivanmukti stage in which there is the experience of Ananda Svaroopa (the Eternal Bliss of Brahman) replete with spotless Jnana. This will come under Sushupti. The sixth stage is Padartha Bhavana. There is knowledge of Truth. The seventh stage is Turiya, or the state of superconsciousness. This is Moksha. This is also known by the name Turiyatita. There are no Sankalpas. All the Gunas disappear. This is above the reach of mind and speech. Disembodied salvation (Videhamukti) is attained in the seventh stage.

Remaining in the certitude of Atma, without desires, and with an equal vision over all, having completely eradicated all complications of differentiations of ‘I’ or ‘he’, existence or non-existence, is Turiya.

PRACTICAL HINTS

Purify the Chitta by doing Nishkama Karma for twelve years. The effect of Chitta Suddhi is the attainment of Viveka and Vairagya. Acquire the four qualifications (Sadhana Chatushtaya), - Viveka, Vairagya, Shad Sampat and Mumukshuttva. Then approach a Guru. Have Sravana, Manana and Nididhyasana. Study carefully and constantly the twelve classical Upanishads and Yoga Vasishtha. Have a comprehensive and thorough understanding of the Lakshyartha or indicative (real) meaning of the Maha-Vakya ‘Tat Tvam Asi’. Then, constantly reflect over this real meaning throughout the twenty-four hours. This is Brahma-Chintana or Brahma-Vichara. Do not allow any worldly thoughts to enter the mind. Vedantic realization comes not through mere reasoning but through constant Nididhyasana, like the analogy of Brahmarakita Nyaya (caterpillar and wasp). You get Tadakara, Tadrupa, Tanmaya, Tadiyata, Talleenata (Oneness, identity).

Generate the Brahmakara Vritti from your Sattvic Antahkarana through the influence of reflection on the real meaning of the Maha-Vakyas, ‘Aham Brahma Asmi’ or ‘Tat Tvam Asi’. When you try to feel that you are infinity, this Brahmakara Vritti is produced. This Vritti destroys Avidya, induces Brahma Jnana and dies by itself eventually, like Nirmal seed which removes sediment in the water and itself settles down along with the mud and other dirty matter.

Retire into your meditation chamber. Sit on Padma, Siddha, Svastika or Sukha Asana to begin with. Relax the muscles. Close the eyes. Concentrate on or gaze at the Trikute, the space between the two eyebrows. Repeat ‘Om’ mentally with Brahma-Bhavana. This Bhavana is a sine qua non, very very important. Silence the conscious mind. Repeat mentally, feel constantly:

All-pervading ocean of Light I am OM OM OM
Infinity I am OM OM OM
All-pervading infinite Light I am OM OM OM
Vyapaka Paripoorna Jyotirmaya Brahman I am OM OM OM
Omnipotent I am OM OM OM
Omniscient I am OM OM OM
All Bliss I am OM OM OM
Satchidananda I am OM OM OM
All purity I am OM OM OM
All glory I am OM OM OM

All Upadhis (limiting adjuncts such as body, mind, etc.,) will be sublated. All Granthis (knots of heart, viz., Avidya, Kama and Karma - ignorance, desire and action) will be cut asunder. The thin veil, Avarana, will be pierced. The Pancha Kosha Adhyasa (superimposition) will be removed. You will rest doubtless in Satchidananda state. You will get highest Knowledge, highest Bliss, highest Realization and highest end of life. ‘Brahma Vit Brahmaiva Bhavati’. You will become Suddha Satchidananda Vyapaka Paripoorna Brahman. Nasti Atra Samsayah’, there is no doubt of that.

There is no difficulty at all in Atma-Darshan, in Self-Realization. You can have this within the twinkling of an eye as Raja Janaka had, before you can squeeze a flower with fingers, within the time taken for a grain to fall when rolled over a pot. You must do earnest, constant and intense practice. You are bound to succeed in two or three years.

Now-a-days there are plenty of ‘Talking Brahman’. No flowery talk or verbosity can make a man Brahman. It is constant, intense, earnest Sadhana and Sadhana alone can give a man direct Aparoksha Brahmic realization (Svanubhava or Sakshatkara) wherein he sees Brahman just as he sees the solid white wall in front of him and feels Brahman, just as he feels the table behind him. Practice, practice, practice and become established in Brahman.

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According to various esoteric, occult, and mystical teachings, the subtle body is a non-physical energy or psycho-spiritual body or bodies that all beings have. The concept of a subtle body is a common philosophical element in many traditions, including:

Vedanta (the five kosas)
Samkhya (the linga sarira or sukshma sarira)
Tantra (the yogic body)
Neoplatonism (the okhemas)
Sufism
Taoism
Spiritism
Surat Shabd Yoga
Hermeticism
Theosophy (the Septenary, inspired by the five koshas of Vedanta)
Anthroposophy (the etheric and astral bodies)
Rosicrucianism, in the Western Wisdom Teachings philosophy (a Seven-fold and a Ten-fold constitution of Man)
Thelemic mysticism
Various New Age practices
Spiritual science.
A detailed comparative study can be found in J.J. Poortman’s multivolume work Vehicles of Consciousness.

The Yogic body
The yogic-occult systems of India (e.g. Tantra) Tibet, China (Taoist alchemy) and Japan (Shingon) describe a subtle physiology or yogic anatonomy in terms of a series of channels (nadis, meridians) that convey life-force (prana, vayu, ch’i, ki) and have a number of focal points (chakras, acupuncture points). Through practice of various breathing and visualisation exercises one is able to manipulate and direct the flow of vital force, to achieve superhuman (e.g. in martial arts) or miraculous powers (”siddhis”), attain higher states of consciousness, immortality, or liberation. The various attributes of the yogic body are described in terms of often obscure symbolism (Tantra features references to the sun and the moon and various Indian rivers and deities, Taoist alchemy speaks of cauldrens, cinnibar fields, and so on).

The subtle bodies in Theosophy
Whilst the Eastern esoteric traditions emphasise a single subtle body (apart from the Vedantic concept of five koshas), in the West (beginning with Neoplatonism) the emphasis has often been on a series of subtle bodies or vehicles (okhema) of consciousness. This reached its most detailed and systematic account in the writings of C.W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant, who established the Adyar School of Theosophy. They described in detail the seven bodies, and established many of the themes that would be canonical in “new age” thought. The sequence of bodies or “vehicles” is as follows (from densest to most subtle):

Dense physical body
Etheric body
Astral or emotional body
Mental body (concrete mind)
Causal body (abstract mind)
Beyond the causal level are the atmic, buddhic, and monadic levels, but these pertain to the Soul or Spirit (”Higher Triad”, “Monad”) rather than the subtle body.

In this worldview, the physical body is the densest, with the various subtle bodies being progressively more refined or spiritual. The subtle bodies exist alongside or within or around the physical, and have various characteristics and attributes. Each “body” has its own aura and set of chakras, and corresponds to a particular plane of existence, as the individualisation so to speak of that plane. Thus the astral body is made up of the substance or matter of the astral plane, just as the physical body is made up of the elements of the physical plane, and so on with all the bodies. A detailed account of the various subtle bodies and the corresponding planes is provided in a series of books (The Etheric Body, The Astral Body, The Mental Body, and The Causal Body) by Arthur E Powell on the basis of material compiled from the writings of Leadbeater and Besant.

The human energy field
The Adyar arrangement seems also to have been one of the inspirations behind Barbara Brennan’s account of the subtle bodies by in her books Hands of Light and Light Ascending. She refers to the subtle bodies as “layers” in the “Human Energy Field” or aura, and presents the following sequence:

Physical body
Etheric body
Emotional body
Mental body
Astral body
Etheric template
Celestial body
Ketheric template
Causality proceeds from the Ketheric template downwards, and each of the layers has its own characteristics and can have its own expression of disease, requiring individual healing. As with the Adyar arrangement, each body or aura also has its own complement of chakras, which interrelate to the chakras in the other layers. The first four bodies correspond to the Physical plane, the Astral body to the Astral Plane, and the higher three bodies or layers to the Spiritual World. In Hands of Light two higher layers are also briefly referred to beyond the Ketheric Template.

The subtle bodies in Anthroposophy
This same theme (of dense to subtle Body and Plane/Universe) is also found in Rudolph Steiner’s Anthroposophical teachings, although it is simplified considerably in that only the Physical, Etheric, and Astral Bodies are referred to (beyond the Astral is the Ego which in Steiner’s system is the immortal soul or spiritual aspect of man.

According to both Blavatsky, Adyar Theosophy, Steiner, and some forms of Spiritualism, after physical death one lives in the subtle bodies until these too drop away and the Soul or Spirit returns to its true home to rest before reincarnating (however the details of the sequences vary).

Similar ideas to those of theosophy are found, but less systematically presented, in The Mother’s talks. And whilst Steiner did indeed draw a lot of his inspiration from Theosophy (one of his early books was even called Theosophy), The Mother’s occultism is based in large measure on the teachings of Max Theon.

The Adyar arrangement was taken up by Alice Bailey, and from there found its way (with variations) into the New Age worldview.

The subtle bodies in the Western Wisdom Teachings
Max Heindel’s Rosicrucian writings teach that man is a complex being who possesses:

A Dense Body, which is the visible instrument he uses here in this world to fetch and carry (the body we ordinarily think of as the whole man);

A Vital Body, which is made of Ether and pervades the visible body as ether permeates all other forms, except that human beings specialize a greater amount of the universal ether than other forms (that ethereal body is our instrument for specializing the vital energy of the sun and it is seen by clairvoyant vision to extend about an inch and a half outside our visible body); it is related to the Etheric Region of the Physical World.

A Desire body, which is our emotional nature and this finer vehicle pervades both the vital and dense bodies (it is seen by clairvoyant vision to extend about 16 inches outside our visible body, which is located in the center of this ovoid cloud as the yolk is in the center of an egg); it is related to the Desire World.

The Mind, which functions like a mirror, reflects the outer world and enables the Ego to transmit its commands as thought and word, and also to compel action; it is related to the lower region of the World of Thought, the Region of Concrete Thought.
On the other hand, Heindel also teaches the Ego is the threefold Spirit, the God Within, which uses these vehicles to gather experience in the school of life. The three aspects of the Spirit are:

The Human Spirit aspect, which has emanated from itself the desire body; it is related to the higher region of the World of Thought, the Region of Abstract Thought.

The Life Spirit aspect, which has emanated from itself the vital body; it is related to the “World of Life Spirit”.

The Divine Spirit aspect , which has emanated from itself the dense body; it is related to the “World of Divine Spirit”. [2]

The “Astral body” (Soul body)
According to the Western Wisdom Teachings, the term “Astral body” - a vehicle made of ether (from the Vital body), which is lighter than air and therefore capable of levitation - was employed by the mediaeval Alchemists, because of the ability it conferred upon the one who has it to traverse the “starry” regions. The Astral body should not to be confounded with the Desire body: during the soul flights the desire body molds itself readily into this prepared matrix; when the individual returns to the physical body, the effort of will whereby he enters it automatically dissolves the intimate connection between the desire body and the soul body. The Astral body is also known as the ‘Soul body’, the ‘Golden Wedding Garment’, the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’, or the ‘Living Stone’, spoken of in some of the ancient philosophies as the ‘Diamond Soul’ (”for it is luminous, lustrous, and sparkling–a priceless gem”), and will eventually be evolved by humanity as a whole.

The subtle body in Spiritual Science
According to the science of Spirituality, a human being has two bodies – the gross body and the subtle body. Along with this he has vital energy that links these two bodies together.

The subtle body continues to exist beyond our physical death, and comprises of the following:

The supracausal body or the subtle ego (the feeling that one is separate from God)
The causal body or the intellect (the decision making capacity and reasoning ability)
The soul (God within each human being), and
The mental body or the mind (feelings, emotions, desires) [3]

Other interpretations
An interesting variant on the concept of subtle bodies is found in both Alchemical Taoism and the “Fourth Way” teachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky, where it is said that one can create a subtle body, and hence achieve post-mortem immortality, through spiritual or yogic exercises.

Projection and exteriorisation
The practice of astral projection, as described in various literature, is supposed to involve the separation of the Astral body from the Physical. But according to The Mother, not only is it possible to go out from a denser to a more subtle body or self (she referred to this as exteriorisation), but if one has the right training this process can be repeated until one reaches the border of the infinite (or Absolute Reality).

Perceiving the subtle body
Clairvoyants say that they can see the subtle bodies in the aura. There are several books (Barbara Brennan’s Hands of Light being perhaps the most popular and influential) and websites which include paintings of subtle bodies, their colours and structure. And Kirlian and other forms of high voltage photography claim to be able to photograph the subtle body (or at least its densest member, the electromagnetic body, sometimes identified with the etheric), including what appear to be acupuncture meridians.

The existence of subtle bodies is unconfirmed by the scientific community.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “Subtle Body”.

Samkhya, also Sankhya, (Sanskrit: सांख्य - Enumeration) is one of the schools of Indian philosophy. It is one of the six astika (that which recognizes vedic authority) systems of Hindu philosophy. It is regarded as the oldest of the orthodox philosophical systems in Hinduism, predating Buddhism of circa 500 BCE. Its philosophy regards the universe as consisting of two eternal realities: Purusha and Prakrti; it is therefore a strongly dualist and enumerationist philosophy. The Purusha is the center of consciousness, whereas the Prakriti is the source of all material existence.

The Sankhya school has deeply influenced the Hindu Yoga school of philosophy. They are sometimes referred togeather as Samkhya - yoga school. Sage Kapila is traditionally considered to be the founder of the Sankhya school, although no historical verification is possible. The definitive text of classical Sankhya is the extant Sankhya Karika, written by Ishvara Krishna, circa 200 CE.

Epistemology of Sankhya
According to the Sankhya school, knowledge is possible through three pramanas or proofs -

Pratyaksha - direct sense perception
Anumana - logical inference
Sabda - Verbal testimony

Metaphysics of Samkhya
Metaphysically, Samkhya maintains a radical duality between spirit/consciousness (Purusha) and matter (Prakrti). All physical events are considered to be manifestations of the evolution of Prakrti, or primal Nature (from which all physical bodies are derived). Each sentient being is a Purusha, and is limitless and unrestricted by its physical body. Samsaara or bondage arises when the Purusha does not have the discriminate knowledge and so is misled as to its own identity, confusing itself with the physical body - which is actually an evolute of Prakriti. The spirit is liberated when the discriminate knowledge of the difference between conscious Purusha and unconscious Prakriti is realized.

The most notable feature of Sankhya is its unique theory of Cosmic evolution (not connected with Darwin’s evolution). Sankhya theorizes that Prakriti is the source of the world of becoming. It is pure potentiality that evolves itself successively into twenty four tattvas or principles. The evolution itself is possible because Prakriti is always in a state of tension among its constituent strands -

Satva - a template of balance or equilibrium;
Rajas - a template of expansion or activity;
Tamas - a template of inertia or resistance to action.

All macrocosmic and microcosmic creation uses these templates. The twenty four principles that evolves are -

Prakriti - The most subtle potentiality that is behind whatever that is created in the physical universe.
Mahat - first product of evolution from Prakriti, pure potentiality. Mahat is also considered to be the principle responsible for the rise of buddhi or intelligence in living beings.
Ahamkara or ego-sense - second product of evolution. It is responsible for the self-sense in living beings.
Manas or instinctive mind - evolves from the satva aspect of ahamkara.
Panch jnana indriya or five sense organs - also evolves from the satva aspect of Ahamkara.
Panch karma indriya or five organs of action - The organs of action are hands, legs, vocal apparatus, urino-genital organ and anus. They too evolve from the satva aspect of Ahamkara
Panch tanmatras or five subtle elements - evolves from the Tamas aspect of Ahamkara. The subtle elements are the root energies of sound, touch, sight, taste and sound.
Panch mahabhuta or five great substances - ether, air, fire, water and earth. This is the revealed aspect of the physical universe.

The evolution of primal Nature is also considered to be purposeful - Prakrti evolves for the spirit in bondage. The spirit who is always free is only a witness to the evolution, even though due to the absence of discriminate knowledge, he misidentifies himself with it.

The evolution obeys causality relationships, with primal Nature itself being the material cause of all physical creation. The cause and effect theory of Sankhya is called Satkaarya-vaada (theory of existent causes), and holds that nothing can really be created from or destroyed into nothingness - all evolution is simply the transformation of primal Nature from one form to another.

The evolution of matter occurs when the relative strengths of the attributes changes. The evolution ceases when the spirit realises that it is distinct from primal Nature and thus cannot evolve. This destroys the purpose of evolution, thus stopping Prakrti from evolving for Purusha.

This was a dualistic philosophy. But there are differences between the Samkhya and Western forms of dualism. In the West, the fundamental distinction is between mind and body. In Samkhya, however, it is between the self (purusha) and matter, and the latter incorporates what Westerners would normally refer to as “mind”. This means that the Self as the Samkhya understands it is more transcendent than “mind”.

Samkhyan cosmology describes how life emerges in the universe; the relationship between Purusha and Prakriti is crucial to Patanjali’s yoga system. The evolution of forms at the basis of Samkhya is quite unique. The strands of Sankhyan thought can be traced back to the Vedic speculation of creation. It is also frequently mentioned in the Mahabharata and Yogavasishta.

Sankhya also has a strong cognitive theory built into it; curiously, while consciousness/spirit is considered to be radically different from any physical entities, the mind (manas), ego (ahamkara) and intellect (buddhi) are all considered to be manifestations of Prakrti (physical entity).

There is no philosophical place for a creator God in the Sankhya philosophy; indeed, the concept of God was incorporated into the Sankhya viewpoint only after it became associated with the theistic Yoga system of philosophy.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “Samkhya”.

108 Names of Lord Shiva

1. AASHUTOSH One who fulfils wishes instantly
2. AJA Unborn
3. AKSHAYAGUNA God with limitless attributes
4. ANAGHA Without any fault
5. ANANTADRISHTI Of infinite vision
6. AUGADH One who revels all the time
7. AVYAYAPRABHU Imperishable lord
8. BHAIRAV Lord of terror
9. BHALANETRA One who has an eye on the forehead
10. BHOLENATH Kind hearted lord
11. BHOOTESHWARA Lord of ghosts and evil beings
12. BHUDEVA Lord of the earth
13. BHUTAPALA Protector of the ghosts
14. CHANDRAPAL Master of the moon
15. CHANDRAPRAKASH One who has moon as a crest
16. DAYALU Compassionate
17. DEVADEVA Lord of lords
18. DHANADEEPA Lord of wealth
19. DHYANADEEP Icon of meditation and concentration
20. DHYUTIDHARA Lord of brilliance
21. DIGAMBARA Asetic without any clothes
22. DURJANEEYA Difficult to be known
23. DURJAYA Unvanquished
24. GANGADHARA Lord of river ganga
25. GIRIJAPATI Consort of girija
26. GUNAGRAHIN Acceptor of gunas
27. GURUDEVA Master of all
28. HARA Remover of sins
29. JAGADISHA Master of the universe
30. JARADISHAMANA Redeemer from afflictions
31. JATIN One who has matted hair
32. KAILAS One who bestows peace
33. KAILASHADHIPATI Lord of mount kailash
34. KAILASHNATH Master of mount kailash
35. KAMALAKSHANA Lotus eyed lord
36. KANTHA Ever radiant
37. KAPALIN One who wears a necklace of skulls
38. KHATVANGIN One who has the missile khatvangin in his hand
39. KUNDALIN One who wears earings
40. LALATAKSHA One who has eye on his forehead
41. LINGADHYAKSHA Lord of the lingas
42. LINGARAJA Lord of the lingas
43. LOKANKARA Creator of the three worlds
44. LOKAPAL One who takes care of the world
45. MAHABUDDHI Extremely intelligent
46. MAHADEVA Greatest God
47. MAHAKALA Lord of all times
48. MAHAMAYA Of great illusions
49. MAHAMRITYUNJAYA Great victor of death
50. MAHANIDHI Great storehouse
51. MAHASHAKTIMAYA One who has boundless energies
52. MAHAYOGI Greatest of all gods
53. MAHESHA Supreme lord
54. MAHESHWARA lord of gods
55. NAGABHUSHANA One who has serpents as ornaments
56. NATARAJA King of the art of dancing
57. NILKANTHA Blue necked lord
58. NITYASUNDARA Ever beautiful
59. NRITYAPRIYA Lover of dance
60. OMKARA Creator of OM
61. PALANHAAR One who protects all
62. PARAMESHWARA First among all gods
63. PARAMJYOTI Greatest splendour
64. PASHUPATI Lord of all living things
65. PINAKIN One who has a bow in his hand
66. PRANAVA Originator of the syllable of OM
67. PRIYABHAKTA Favourite of the devotees
68. PRIYADARSHANA Of loving vision
69. PUSHKARA One who gives nourishment
70. PUSHPALOCHANA One who has eyes like flowers
71. RAVILOCHANA Having sun as the eye
72. RUDRA The terrible
73. RUDRAKSHA One who has eyes like rudra
74. SADASHIVA Eternal god
75. SANATANA Eternal lord
76. SARVACHARYA Preceptor of all
77. SARVASHIVA Always pure
78. SARVATAPANA Scorcher of all
79. SARVAYONI Source of everything
80. SARVESHWARA Lord of all gods
81. SHAMBHU One who bestows prosperity
82. SHANKARA One who gives happiness
83. SHIVA Always pure
84. SHOOLIN One who has a trident
85. SHRIKANTHA One who has a glorious neck
86. SHRUTIPRAKASHA Illuminator of the vedas
87. SHUDDHAVIGRAHA One who has a pure body
88. SKANDAGURU Preceptor of the skandas
89. SOMESHWARA Lord of all gods
90. SUKHADA Bestower of happiness
91. SUPRITA Well pleased
92. SURAGANA Having gods as attendants
93. SURESHWARA Lord of all gods
94. SWAYAMBHU Self manifested
95. TEJASWANI One who spreads illumination
96. TRILOCHANA Three eyed lord
97. TRILOKPATI Master of all the three worlds
98. TRIPURARI Enemy of tripura
99. TRISHOOLIN One who has a trident in his hand
100. UMAPATI Consort of uma
101. VACHASPATI Lord of speech
102. VAJRAHASTHA One who has thunderbolt in his hand
103. VARADA Grantor of boons
104. VEDAKARTA Originator of the vedas
105. VEERABHADRA Supreme lord of the nether world
106. VISHALAKSHA Wide eyed lord
107. VISHVESHWARA Lord of the universe
108. VRISHAVAHANA One who has the bull as his vehicle

Advaita Vedanta

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Advaita Vedanta (IAST advaita vedānta; Devanagari अद्वैत वेदान्त; IPA [ədvaitə vé:dα:ntə]) is probably the best known of all Vedanta schools of philosophy of Hinduism, the others being Dvaita and Vishishtadvaita (total six). “Advaita” literally means “not two”, and is often called a monistic or non-dualistic system which essentially refers to the indivisibility of the Self (Atman) from the Whole (Brahman). The key texts from which all Vedanta (lit., end or the goal of the Vedas) texts draw are the Upanishads (twelve or thirteen in particular), which are usually at the end of the Vedas, and the Brahma Sutras (also known as Vedanta Sutras), which in turn discuss the essence of the Upanishads.

Adi Sankara: The Pillar of Advaita

The first person to consolidate the principles of Advaita was Adi Sankara (आदि शंकर, pronounced as /α:di shənkərə, 788-820 CE, i.e., 788-820 AD). He is also known as Śankarāchārya (शंकराचार्य, pronounced as /shənkərα:chα:ryə/). Continuing the line of thought of some of the Upanishadic teachers, and also that of his own teacher’s teacher Gaudapada, (Ajativada). Sankara expounded the doctrine of Advaita — a nondualistic reality. According to Advaitins (followers of Advaita), Sankara exposed the relative nature of the world and established the supreme truth of the Advaita by analysing the three states of experience — being awake (vaishvanara), dreaming (swapna), and being in deep sleep (sushupti). The supreme truth of the Advaita is said to be the non-dual reality of Brahman, in which atman (the individual soul) and Brahman (the Supreme Consciousness) are identified absolutely. (Brahman is not to be confused with Brahma, the Creator and one-third of the Trimurti along with Shiva, the Destroyer and Vishnu, the Preserver.)

Adi Shankara, with his disciples. [1]Psychologically, Advaita is a state in which the subject and object lose their independent identities — in which one can no longer differentiate on the basis of any material characteristics. The three states mentioned earlier are said to be mere transformations of this (fourth) state of experience of non-duality turiya.

This idea of a fourth state of consciousness is borrowed from the Taittariya Upanishad, dating back to about 1000 BCE. It may be noted that another school of non-dual (but agnostic) thought, Buddhism, also talks of such a similar transcendental state (as vinnanam anidassanam, in the Brahmanimantanika Sutta (Majjhima-Nikaya)). The idea of such a state of enlightenment has been a favorite with ancient Indian philosophers, and still continues to be.

Sankara’s contributions to Advaita are crucial. His main works are the commentaries on the Prasthanatrayi and the Gaudapadiya karikas. Another treatise on Advaita, popularly attributed to him by the more enthusiastic followers of the system, is the Viveka Chudamani. Note that many other followers believe that this is not the work of Sankara, citing several differences in style and ideas. Many philosophers after Sankara have criticized him of being hypocritical or pracchanabauddha (Buddhist in disguise), mainly due to this work. This is because the Buddhist positions which Sankara refutes in the Brahma Sutra Bhashyas seem to be wholly advocated in the Viveka Chudamani.

Sankara is also well known for propounding a system of bhakti (selfless devotion) and composing several bhajans (devotional songs), which he believed brought one closer to God. Some of his well-known bhajans are Bhaja Govindam, Saundaryalahari and Śivānandalahari.

Salient Features of Advaitism

Indian philosophy
Hindu philosophy
Samkhya
Nyaya
Vaisheshika
Yoga
Purva Mimamsa
Uttara Mimamsa
Advaita Vedanta
Vishishtadvaita
Dvaita
Carvaka philosophy
Jain philosophy
Buddhist philosophy
Logic

Three levels of Truth

The transcendental or the Pāramārthika level in which Brahman is the only reality and nothing else;
The pragmatic or the Vyāvahārika level in which both Jiva (living creatures or individual souls) and Ishvara are true; here, the material world is completely true, and,
The apparent or the Prātibhāsika level in which even material world reality is actually false, like illusion of a snake over a rope or a dream.

Brahman

According to Sankara, God, the the Supreme Cosmic Spirit or Brahman (pronounced as /brəh mən/; nominative singular Brahma, pronounced as /brəh mə/) is the One, the whole and the only reality. Other than Brahman, everything else, including, universe, material objects and individuals are not true. Brahman is (at best) described as that infinite, omnipresent, omnipotent, incorporeal, impersonal, transcendent reality that is the divine ground of all Being. It (gramatically neutral, but exceptionally treated as masculine), though not a substance, is the basis of the material world, which in turn is its illusionary transformation. Brahman is not the effect of the world. Brahman is said to be the purest knowledge itself, and is illuminant like a source of infinite light.

Due to ignorance (avidyā), the Brahman is visible as the material world and its objects. The actual Brahman is attributeless and formless (see Nirguna Brahman). It is the Self-existent, the Absolute and the Imperishable (not generally the object of worship but rather of meditation). Brahman is actually indescribable. But Sankara says that Brahman cannot be identified with Shunya or zeroness of Buddhism. It is at best, “Sat” + “Chit” + “Ananda”, ie, Infinite Truth, Infinite Consciousness and Infinite Bliss. Also, Brahman is free from any kind of differences. It does not have any sajātīya (homogeneous) differences because there is no second Brahman. It does not have any vijātīya (heterogeneous) differences because there is nobody in reality existing other than Brahman. It has neither svagata (internal) differences, because Brahman is itself homogenous.

Though Brahman is self-proven, some logical proofs have also been proposed by Shankara:

Shruti—the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras describe Brahman in almost exact manner as Shankara. This is the testimonial proof of Brahman.
Psychological—every person experiences his soul, or atman. According to Shankara, atman = Brahman. This argument also proves Brahman.
Teliological—the world appears very well ordered; the reason for this cannot be an unconscious principle. The reason must be Brahman.
Essential—Brahman is the basis of this created world.
Perceptible Feeling—Many people, when they achieve the turīya state, claim that their soul has become one with eveything else. The feeling of this transcedental perception is regarded as the best proof for Brahman.

Māyā

Māyā (/mα: yα:/) is the most important contribution of Sankara. Māyā is that complex illusionary power of Brahman which causes the Brahman to be seen as the distinct material world. It has two main functions — one is to “cover up” Brahman from the human minds, and the other is to present the material world in its stead. Māyā is also indescribable. It is neither completely real nor completely unreal—hence indescribable. Its shelter is Brahman, but Brahman itself is untouched by the profanity of Māyā, just like a magician is not tricked by his own magic. Māyā is temporary and is destroyed with “true knowledge”. This Māyāvāda of Sankara was highly criticized and misunderstood. Bhaskaracharya, a Hindu mathematician, described Shankara to be indebted to the Buddhists for his concept of Māyā. But Guff, Cowell and other writers claim to find the concept of Māyā in a germinating form in the Vedas and the Upanishads. Shankara had used the terms Māyā and avidya (ignorance) in the same sense, but the later Advaitins called Māyā as the positive force of God and avidyā as a negetive knowledge.

The concept of Māyā seems to be a hypothesis. Since according to the Upanishads only Brahman is real, but we see the material world to be real, Shankara explained the anomaly by the concept of this illusionary power Māyā.

Ishvara

Ishvara (pronounced as /ī:sh vərə/, lit., the Supreme Lord) — when man tries to know the attributeless Brahman with his mind, under the influence of Maya, Brahman becomes the Lord. Ishvara is Brahman with Maya — the manifested form of Brahman. Shankara uses a metaphor that when the “reflection” of the Cosmic Spirit falls upon the mirror of Maya, it appears as the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is true only in the pragmatic level — his actual form in the transcendental level is the Cosmic Spirit.

Ishvara is Saguna Brahman or Brahman with innumerable auspicious qualities. He is all-perfect, omniscient, omnipresent, incorporeal, independent, Creator of the world, its ruler and also destroyer. He is causeless, eternal and unchangeable — and is yet the material and the efficient cause of the world. He is both immanent (like whiteness in milk) and transcendent (like a watch-maker independent of a watch). He may be even regarded to have a personality. He is the subject of worship. He is the basis of morality and giver of the fruits of one’s Karma. However, he himself is beyond sin and merit. He rules the world with his Maya — his divine power. This association with a “false” knowledge does not affect the perfection of Ishvara, in the same way as a magician is himself not tricked by his magic. However, while Isvara is the Lord of Maya and she (ie, Maya) is always under his control, the living beings (jīva, in the sense of humans) are the servants of Maya (in the form of ignorance). This ignorance is the cause of the unhappiness and sin in the mortal world. While Ishvara is Infinite Bliss, humans are miserable. Ishvara always knows the unity of the Brahman substance, and the Mayic nature of the world. There is no place of a Satan or devil in Hinduism, unlike Abrahamic religions. Advaitins explain the misery because of ignorance. Ishvara can also be visualized and worshipped in anthropomorphic form like Vishnu, Krishna or Shiva.

Now the question arises that why the Supreme Lord created the world. If one assumes that Ishvara creates the world for any incentive, this slanders the wholeness and perfection of Ishvara. For example, if one assumes that Ishvara creates the world for gaining something, it would be against his perfection. If we assume that He creates for compassion, it would be illogical, because the emotion of compassion cannot arise in a blank and void world in the beginning (when only Ishvara existed). So Shankara assumes that Creation is a sport of Ishvara. It is His nature, just as it is man’s nature to breathe.

The sole proof for Ishvara that Sankara gives is Shruti’s mentions about Ishvara, as Ishvara is beyond logic and thinking. This is similar to Kant ’s philosophy about Ishvara in which he says that “faith” is the basis of theism. However, Shankara has also given few other logical proofs for Ishvara, but warning us not to completely rely on them:

The world is a work, an effect, and so must have real cause. This cause must be Ishvara.
The world has a wonderful unity, coordination and order, so its creator must have been an intelligent being.
People do good and sinful work and get its fruits, either in this life or after. People themselves cannot be the giver of their fruits, as no one would give himself the fruit of his sin. Also, this giver cannot be an unconscious object. So the giver of the fruits of Karma is Ishvara.

Atman

The swan is an important motif in Advaitism. It symbolizes two things — firstly, the swan is called hamsah in Sanskrit (which becomes hamso if the first letter in the next word is /h/). Upon repeating this hamso indefinitely, it becomes so-aham, meaning, “I am That”. Secondly, just like a swan lives in water but its feathers are not soiled by water, similarly a liberated Advaitin lives in this world full of Maya but is untouched by its illusion.The soul or the self (Atman) is exactly equal to Brahman. It is not a part of Brahman that ultimately dissolves into Brahman, but the whole Brahman itself. Now the arguers ask that how can the individual soul, which is limited and one in each body, be the same as Brahman? Shankara explains that the soul is not an individual concept. Atman is only one and unique. It is a false concept that there are several Atmans. Shankara says that just as the same moon appears as several moons on its reflections on the surface of water covered with bubbles, the one Atman appears as multiple atmans in our bodies because of Maya. Atman it self-proven, however, some proofs are discussed—eg., a person says “I am blind”, “I am happy”, “I am fat” etc. So what is this ego here? Only that thing is the ego which is there in all the states of that person — this proves the existence of Atman, and that consciousness is its characteristic. Reality and Bliss are also its characteristics. By nature, Atman is free and beyond sin and merit. It does not experience happiness or pain. It does not do any Karma. It is incorporeal.

When the reflection of atman falls on Avidya (ignorance), atman becomes jīva — a living being with a body and senses. Each jiva feels as if he has his own, unique and distinct Atman, called jivatman. The concept of jiva is true only in the pragmatic level. In the transcendental level, only the one Atman, equal to Brahman, is true.

Salvation

Liberation or Moksha (akin to Nirvana of the Buddhists) — Advaitins also believe in the theory of reincarnation of souls (Atman) into plants, animals and humans according to their karma. They believe that suffering is due to Maya, and only true knowledge of the Brahman can destroy Maya. When Maya is removed, there exists ultimately no difference between the Jiva-Atman and the Brahman. Such a state of bliss called Moksha can even be achieved while living (jivana mukti). While one is in the pragmatic level, one can (and MUST) worship God in any way and in any form, like Krishna as he wishes. Sankara himself was a proponent of devotional worship or Bhakti. But Sankara believes that Vedic sacrifices, puja and devotional worship can lead man to true knowledge, however, they cannot lead him directly to Moksha. Moksha is the outcome solely of true knowledge.

Other points

The famous mantra of Shankara was “Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithyā, jīvo Brahmaiva nāparah”, ie, Brahman is the only truth, the world is unreal, and there is ultimately no difference between Brahman and individual self.
Shankara also explicitly condemned the caste or varna system of the Hindu society, calling it utterly foolish. This is in contrast to other schools like Vishishtadvata, Dvaita and Mimamsa who believe that since caste is based upon one’s karmas in previous life, it should be unscrupulously followed. Sankara also condemned many other superstitions.
Shankara established four monastries (mathas) in the four corners of Hinduism to guide the Hindu religion in the future. Each matha was assigned one Veda. The mathas are Jyothir Math at Badrinath in northern India with Atharva Veda; Sharada Math at Shringeri in southern India with Yajur Veda; Govardhan Math at Jagannath Puri in eastern India with Rig Veda and Kalikā Math at Dwarka in western India with Sama Veda. Each of the abbots of these four mathas also have the title of Jagadguru Shankaracharya — and are regarded as Patriarchs of Hinduism by many Hindus. Sometimes, the title of Shankaracharya is also applied to the abbot of the Kamakoti Math at Kanchi, the place where Adi Shankara reportedly passed away.

Are the world and God wholly false?
Status of the world

People often get confused by Advaita teachings that the universe is false. Shankara says that the world is not true, it is an illusion, but this is because of some logical reasons. Let us first analyse Shankara’s definition of Truth, and hence why the world is not considered true.

Shankara says that whatever thing remains eternal is true, and whatever is non-eternal is untrue. Since the world is created and destroyed, it is not true.
Truth is the thing which is unchanging. Since the world is changing, it is not true.
Whatever is independent of space and time is true, and whatever has space and time in itself is untrue.
Just as one sees dreams in sleep, he sees a kind of super-dream when he is waking.The world is compared to this conscious dream.
The world is believed to be a superimposition of the Brahman. Superimposition cannot be true.
On the other hand, Shankara claims that the world is not absolutely false. It appears false only when compared to Brahman. In the pragmatic state, the world is completely true—which occurs as long as we are under the influence of Maya. The world cannot be both true and false at the same time; hence Shankara has classified the world as indescribable. The following points suggest that according to Shankara, the world is not false (Shankara himself gave most of the arguments):

If the world were false, then with the liberation of the first human being, the world would have been annihilated. However, the world continues to exist even if a human attains liberation.
Shankara believes in Karma, or good actions. This is a feature of this world. So the world cannot be false.
The Supreme Reality Brahman is the basis of this world. The world is like its reflection. Hence the world cannot be totally false.
False is something which is ascribed to inexistent things, like Sky-lotus. The world is a logical thing which is perceived by our senses.
Consider a scientific logic. A pen is placed in front of a mirror. One can see its reflection. To our eyes, the image of the pen is perceived. Now, what should the image be called? It cannot be true, because it is an image. The truth is the pen. It cannot be false, because it is seen by our eyes.

Status of God

Some people claim that in Shankara’s philosophy, there is no place for a personal God (Ishvara), because Ishvara is also described as “false”. He appears as Ishvara because of the curtain of Maya. However, as described earlier, just as the world is true in the pragmatic level, similarly, Ishvara is also pragmatically true. Just as the world is not absolutely false, Ishvara is also not absolutely false. He is the distributor of the fruits of one’s Karma. In order to make the pragmatic life successful, it is very important to believe in God and worship him. In the pragmatic level, whenever we talk about Brahman, we are in fact talking about God. God is the highest knowledge theoretically possible in that level. Devotion (Bhakti) will cancel the effects of bad Karma and will make a person closer to the true knowledge by purifying his mind. Slowly, the difference between the worshipper and the worshipped decreases and upon true knowledge, liberation occurs.

Status of ethics

Some claim that there is no place for ethics in Advaitism, because everything is ultimately illusionary. But on analysis, ethics also has a firm place in this philosophy—the same place as the world and God. Ethics, which implies doing good Karma, indirectly helps in attaining true knowledge. The basis of merit and sin is the Shruti (the Vedas and the Upanishads). Truth, non-violence, service of others, pity, etc are Dharma, and lies, violence, cheating, selfishness, greed, etc are adharma (sin).

Shankara’s theory of creation

In the pragmatic level, Shankara believes in the Creation of the world through Satkaryavada. It is like the philosophy of Samkhya, which says that the cause is always hidden into its effect—and the effect is just a transformation of the cause. However, Samkhya believes in a sub-form of Satkaryavada called Parinamvada (evolution)—whereby the cause results in an action. Instead, Shankara believes in a sub-form called Vivartavada. According to this, the effect is merely a superimposition of its cause—like its illusion. eg., In darkness, a man often confuses a rope to be a snake. But this does not mean that the rope has actually transformed into a snake.

In the pragmatic level, the universe is believed to be the creation of the Supreme Lord Ishvara. Maya is the divine magic of Ishvara, with the help of which Ishvara creates the world. The serial of Creation is taken from the Upanishads. First of all, the five subtle elements (ether, air, fire, water and earth) are created from Ishvara. Ether is created by Maya. From ether, air is born. From air, water is born. From water, earth is born. From a proportional combination of all five subtle elements, the five gross elements are created, like the gross sky, the gross fire, etc. From these gross elements, the universe and life are created. This series is exactly the opposite during destruction.

Some people have criticized that these principles are against Satkaryavada. According to Satkaryavada, the cause is hidden inside the effect. How can Ishvara, whose form is spiritual, be the effect of this material world? Shankra says that just as from a conscious living human, inanimate objects like hair and nails are formed, similarly, the inanimate world is formed from the spiritual Ishvara.

Comparison with the Buddhist school of Shunyavada

The Buddha had not answered philosophical questions like God, the world and its creation. So the later Buddhist schools developed their own theory. The Madhyamika school of Mahayana Buddhism developed a theory, called Shunyavada, which is quite similar to Advaitism.

Similarities between the two:

The world is not believed to be eternal, nor true.
Both have defined different levels of truth. the Madhyamikas have defined two levels of truth.
The Madhyamikas believe that the eternal voidness (Shunyata) is the cause of this material world. This occurs because of illusion.
Differences between the two:

The Shunyata of the Madhyamikas is neither real nor false—it cannot be described at all. In contrast, Brahman is infinite Truth, infinite Consciousness and supreme Bliss.
The soul is believed to be false in the Madhyamika school, but true in Advaitism.
Some people interpret the Shunya to be falsehood. So the world of these Buddhist seems to evolve from a void—from a false thing. In Advaitism, the world evolves from the true Brahman. Shankara had given only one criticism against the Madhyamikas—The Shunyavada, “being contradictory to all valid means of knowledge, we have not thought worth while to refute.” [2]
In Advaitism, the personal God (Ishvara)is the manifestation of the Brahman (God). Among the Madhyamikas, there is no place for a personal God.

Adi Sankara’s thoughts in a summary

Adi Sankara’s treatises on the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras are his principal and almost undeniably his own works. Although he mostly adhered to traditional means of commenting on the Brahma Sutra, there are a number of original ideas and arguments. He taught that it was only through knowledge and wisdom of nonduality that one could be enlightened.

Sankara’s opponents accused him of teaching Buddhism in the garb of Hinduism, because his non-dualistic ideals were a bit radical to contemporary Hindu philosophy. However, it may be noted that while the Later Buddhists arrived at a changeless, deathless, absolute truth after their insightful understanding of the unreality of samsara, historically Vedantins never liked this idea. Although Advaita also proposes the theory of Maya, explaining the universe as a “trick of a magician”, Sankara and his followers see this as a consequence of their basic premise that Brahman is real. Their idea of Maya emerges from their belief in the reality of Brahman, rather than the other way around.

Sankara was a peripatetic orthodox Hindu monk who traveled the length and breadth of India. The more enthusiastic followers of the Advaita tradition claim that he was chiefly responsible for “driving the Buddhists away”. Historically the decline of Buddhism in India is known to have taken place long after Sankara or even Kumarila Bhatta (who according to a legend had “driven the Buddhists away” by defeating them in debates), sometime before the Muslim invasion into Afghanistan (earlier Gandhara).

Although today’s most enthusiastic followers of Advaita believe Sankara argued against Buddhists in person, a historical source, the Madhaviya Sankara Vijayam, indicates that Sankara sought debates with Mimamsa, Samkhya, Nyaya, Vaisheshika and Yoga scholars as keenly as with any Buddhists. In fact his arguments against the Buddhists are quite mild in the Upanishad Bhashyas, while they border on the acrimonious in the Brahma Sutra Bhashya.

The Vishistadvaita and Dvaita schools believed in an ultimately saguna Brahman. They differ passionately with Advaita, and believe that his nirguna Brahman is not different from the Buddhist Sunyata (wholeness or zeroness) — much to the dismay of the Advaita school. A careful study of the Buddhist Sunyata will show that it is in some ways metaphysically similar as Brahman. Whether Sankara agrees with the Buddhists is not very clear from his commentaries on the Upanishads. His arguments against Buddhism in the Brahma Sutra Bhashyas are more a representation of Vedantic traditional debate with Buddhists than a true representation of his own individual belief. (See link: Sankara’s arguments against Buddhism)

The Impact of Advaita

Advaita Vedanta philosophy had a tremendous impact on the Hindu system of Tantra and also served to bolster Yogic (see Yoga) ideas of the ultimate Self, Brahman/Atman, being One. Advaita rejuvenated much of Hindu thought and also spurred on debate that led to the expounding of Vishishtadvaita (qualified nondualism) and Dvaita (dualism). Advaita served to bring to the fore the Hindu/Vedic philosophy whose seed can be seen in the Rig Vedic statement “Truth is One, though the sages see it as many.” Advaitism is definitely the deepest and the most influential philosophy of India. Even today, pious Hindus regard material wealth and money as “Moha-Maya”.

Advaita and Science

According to some followers of Advaita, it may very well be a place where the scientific world intersects with the spiritual world. They point to the relationships between mass, frequency, and energy that 20th century physics has established and the Advaitic ‘Unity of the Universe’ as the common ground. They feel that these relationships, formalized as equations by Planck and Einstein, suggest that the whole mesh of the Universe blend into a One that exhibits itself as many (namely, mass, energy, wave etc), and that this follows Advaita’s view that everything is but the manifestation of an omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent “One”. It must be remembered however, that none of these physicists have talked of an ‘omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent “One”‘.

They also connect the De Broglie waves of modern physics to Aum in Hindu philosophy. However, scientists in India and abroad clarify that the de Broglie waves (or matter waves) are neither optical nor acoustic waves, but are “just functions of a probability distribution of finding a particle, which may be represented as a Fourier sum of constituent probability waves.”

However, notable scientists like Erwin Schrödinger and Robert Oppenheimer were also Vedantists. Fritjof Capra’s book, The Tao of Physics, is one among several that pursue this viewpoint as it investigates the relationship between modern, particularly quantum, physics and the core philosophies of various Eastern religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism.

It must be noted that Advaita does not share the same ground on Science as other schools of philosophy do. For example, Sankara rejected the idea of momentariness of the Universe in his Brahma Sutra commentary since Brahman is immanent in the Universe, while Buddhists affirm that the universe on its own accord, due to the causality of the dharmas, is constantly changing. The dvaita-enthusiasts on the contrary, blame Sankara for inconsistency, since he adopts the view that the Universe is momentary in many of his other works like the Upanishad bhashya. Dvaita-enthusiasts see the Universe as a creation of God, while Advaitins see it as a manifestation of Brahman; Buddhists on the other hand see it as a flux of changes, originating from natural phenomena leading to its formation.

Mahavakya

Mahavakya, or “the great sentences,” state the unity of Brahman and Atman. They are 4 in number and their variations are found in other Upanishads.

Sr. No. Vakya Meaning Upanishad Veda
1 प्रज्नानम ब्रह्म prajnānam brahmā Brahman is knowledge aitareya Rig Veda
2. अहम ब्रह्मास्मि Aham brahmāsmi I am brahman brihadāranyaka Yajur Veda
3. तत्त्त्वमसि tattvamasi That thou art chhandogya Sama Veda
4. अयमात्मा ब्रह्म Ayamātmā brahmā This Atman is Brahman mandukya Atharva Veda

Founders & key texts

Sri Adi Shankaracharya - (attributed work) Viveka Chudamani, the Brahma Sutra Bhashya Bhagavad Gita Bhashya, Upanishad bhashya.
Upanishads
Vedanta Sutras
Vedas
Traditional life history of Adi Shankara - Historical record accepted by scholars worldwide. Written by Madhava Vidyaranya, English translations by Swamy Tapsyananda of Ramkrishna Ashram, Mylapore, Chennai.
mahavkyas are six in number-

1-aham brahmasmi

2-ayam atma brahma

3-tat tvam asi

4-sarvam khalvidam brahma

5-pragyanam brahma

6-soaham

Demigods, Sages, and Saints of Advaitins

Lord Shri Rama
Lord Shri Krishna
Marici
Angiras
Atri
pulaha
kratu
pulastya
Vashishta
Kashyapa
Vishwamitra
Jamadagni
Gautama
Bharadwaja
Bhrigu
Agastya
Shri Dattatreya
Shri Ashtawakra
Vyasa

Later teachers and proponents

Shri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) well-known modern proponent of Advaita; the primary source book, Gospel of Shri Ramakrishna (Shri Ramakrishna Kathamrita), was written by an eyewitness devotee ‘M’. It documents his later life and conversations with disciples/devotees and serves as the key reference for his philosophy/teachings
Sai Baba of Shirdi (c. 1838-1918), a mystic philosopher of Maharashtra, he was followed devotedly by Hindus and Muslims alike and practiced a blend of Vedantic Hinduism and Sufi Islam.
Shri Narayana Guru (1856-1928)- Vedic scholar, mystic philosopher, prolific poet and social reformer, who, after Adi Shankara, was the next greatest proponent of Advaita Vedanta from the present-day Kerala.
Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), disciple of Shri Ramakrishna, wrote books on four Hindu Yogas: Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga and Raja Yoga. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda contains a complete collection of transcribed lectures. Spoke at the 1893 Parliament of Religions at the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago.
Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Bengali philosopher-sage who synthesized Advaita thought with Western theories of evolution.
Shri Ramana Maharshi (1879–1950) the silent sage of Tamil Nadu who had a profound realization of nonduality
Shri Swami Tapovan Maharaj - A virakta mahatma
Shri Swami Sivananda (1887—1963), Divine Life Society. Bestowed samyasa initiation of Swami Chinmayananda, scholar, and author of over 300 books on Hinduism, many available on the web.
Shri Swami Chinmayananda Jnana diksha bestowed under Shri Swami Tapovan Maharaj in Uttarkashi. Disciples founded the Chinmaya Mission. ‘Chinmaya’ = “pure consciousness of bliss”.
Shri Swami Dayananda Saraswati, a contemporary Advaitin who united disparate Hindu sects under a single body known as the Arya Samaj.
Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj A twentieth-century master of Neo-Advaita
Shri Sathya Sai Baba, whose philosophy draws on Hindu philosophy while also acknowledging other major religions.
Master Nome (aka Jeffrey Smith), founder of Society of Abidance in Truth. Teaches in tradition of Ramana Maharshi. Co-translator into English of Adi Sankara’s Svatmanirupanam (The True Definition of One’s Own Self) and the Ribhu Gita. Translator of Adi Sankara’s Nirvana-satkam (Six Verses on Nirvana).

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “Advaita Vedanta”.

Jnana Yoga

JNANA MEANS WISDOM or knowledge in Sanskrit. Jnana Yoga is a technique for seeking liberation in which identification with the real Self (rather than with the body or ego) is developed by a steady effort to discern or discriminate between pure awareness and the objects of awareness.

Jnana Yoga is closely associated with Advaita Vedanta. Vedanta is one of the six darshans or philosophies of Hinduism, and Advaita Vedanta is the school of thought within Vedanta which believes that everything in the universe shares a single soul, including you, me, and God.

The techniques of Jnana Yoga include:

Viveka. This means “discernment” or “discrimination” in English. This technique, associated especially with Shankara, involves a deliberate, continuous effort to understand that the real you — the Self — is something separate from the objects of which you are aware.

Neti-neti. This phrase means “not this, not this” in Sanskrit. You apply this formula mentally to all objects of awareness to destroy the false sense that they are you. When all the objects are banished, the real you — the Self — is what’s left over.

Vicara. This word is usually translated as “self-inquiry,” but it really means examination, reflection, or looking within. This technique, associated especially with Ramana Maharshi, involves a continuous, deliberate effort to become aware of the real you — the Self.

Jnana Yoga is the path of wisdom. It is suitable for people of an intellectual nature. A Jnani Yogi acts with the feeling, “I am not the doer; Nature is doing everything. The body and mind are moving among the objects. I am the silent witness of all that is happening. The work does not bind me, I am free.” All of creation is seen as the play of Maya, or illusion. The Jnana Yogi constantly discriminates between the unreal and the Real, the not-Self and the Self. This path requires a sharp and subtle intellect.

Deep in the middle of the ocean of the mind there is no pollution. It is absolutely pure. That part is always contented. It never likes or dislikes. It accepts everything; it is not proud. And this is the real nature of your true Self. Only knowledge of this true nature will free you from the turmoil of this world. It will free you from the petty-mindedness which divides humanity into thousands of names: “I am this; he is that. He is different from me.” People kill each other because they group and divide themselves. They fail to see and know that they are above all these differences.

By knowing your true identity you can also know others. We come together in that knowledge. This goal is expounded by all great philosophies and by all teachings in Yoga. Contemplating and analyzing these points is another form of meditation, called Jnana Yoga or the Yoga of Wisdom that comes of self-analysis. It is well-suited to the temperament of analytical people. In this practice you simply sit and analyze everything that has happened and everything that is happening. That way you detach yourself and rise above your limitations. “Who am I? How do I know all these things? I know that I am disturbed. Yet my knowing doesn’t seem to get disturbed. If I am disturbed, who is it that knows something is disturbed in me?”

This knowing is called awareness or consciousness. The true person, the true you is constantly the same because there is no change in that knowing. You knew you were a child. Now you know that you are an adult, and you know you are going to be an old man or an old woman. The knowledge of childhood, adulthood, and old age is the same. You are not really isolated or separated You are only temporarily identifying yourself as the body. If I ask you what you are doing, you can say, “I am sitting down,” but you are not sitting. Your body is seated. When you say “I fell down,” who is this “I”? Certainly not the real I. The differences of the body make your mind feel different, and you identify yourself as the body.

This self-analysis can solve all your problems. You are not your body. You are not your mind because you are the one who is observing them. Whatever it is that is bothering you - anything at all - sit back and ask yourself, “What did I do? What mistakes have I made? Where was I selfish?” When you analyze in this way you will see that your happiness does not come from outside you. Your mind and body continue to go through some changes, but knowing doesn’t change. The peaceful nature is never affected. Only when you forget and identify yourself with the body or the mind do the clouds come and block your view of the sun - the true Self. The sun is always shining whether the clouds are there or not. The mind may pass through some of these cloudy periods, but as the Knower, you can enjoy the show. Enjoy the mind and its play. After all, it’s the mind. There’s nothing wrong with it going through changes. Sometimes it’s happy, sometimes unhappy. You know that. No need to worry about that. Just let it go and enjoy the show. It’s always a beautiful play to be seen.

So watch your mind. Watch your breath. Become an observer, which is the key to this form of meditation. Don’t worry about particular techniques, Just sit back observing the breath, mind, and thoughts. Just see what is happening within you. Become a witness, which is a wonderful form of meditation. Be still and watch what is happening in your mind and in your body. Maybe you have been repeating a mantra or focusing on one object for a time. You may then relax and sit calmly and watch the mind; observe the peaceful vibrations that come. Listen to the silence completely. Observe your own brain. See how peaceful you are. The mind seems to be totally at rest. You might think the mind is almost asleep, yet you are still conscious of the whole thing. The body is resting. The breath has very much slowed. The mind is almost sleeping but you are aware of everything.

Who is aware of them? What is this awareness? Who knows all these things? That is You. You are totally different from your body, from your mind. You are the witness - what you call the Self; the Pure Self - the witness of the body and mind. If you could maintain this witnessing constantly, still knowing you are that witness all the time, you would have reached self-awareness or self-realization. Keep up this’ awareness, even in your day-to-day activities. When you are eating, you can still witness: “Here I am taking the food, chewing the food, tasting the food.” You will constantly enjoy supreme peace. Through this you become the master or your own body and mind. You’ll walk like an undisturbed sage.

Find out who you are. Once you know who you are, you will be the best instrument to bring peace and harmony to all. Ultimately you will find you are not somebody who is going up and down, but that you are a permanent entity, an image of God.

All things are just part of nature, which can do anything and everything. The mind and body are also part of nature. Nature changes, so they too must constantly change. Allow them to play their part. Be a witness - the Eternal Witness.

That doesn’t mean you’ll be useless to people. You’ll see that you will be doing things perfectly because you have become a beautiful instrument and everything will want to come to you, to be used by you and to make use of you. You never take sides. You become the total, neutral person. Neutrality is the center or God, the center of nature. From there, according to the need, you can go this way or that way without losing your center.’

Om Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi.

Source: www.yogaville.org

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Osho: The Path of Yoga - Part 2

Everybody has a territory around him. Whenever somebody enters your territory you become afraid. Everybody has a space to protect. You are sitting alone in your room, a stranger enters into the room: just watch when you become really scared. There is a point…if he enters that point, beyond that point you will become scared, you will be afraid. A sudden trembling will be felt. He can move beyond a certain territory.

To be close means that now you have no territory of your own. To be close means to be vulnerable; to be close means that whatsoever happens, you are not thinking in terms of security.

A disciple can be close for two reasons. One: he is a centered one, he is trying to be centered. A person who is even trying to be centered becomes unafraid; he becomes fearless. He has something which cannot be killed. You don’t have anything, hence the fear. You are a crowd. The crowd can disperse at any moment. You don’t have something like a rock which will be there whatsoever happens. You are existing without a rock, without a foundation — a house of cards, bound to be always in fear. Any wind, even any breeze can destroy you, so you have to protect yourself.

Because of this constant protection you cannot love, you cannot trust, you cannot be friendly. You may have many friends but there is no friendship, because friendship needs closeness. You may have wives and husbands and so-called lovers but there is no love, because love needs closeness, love needs trust. You may have gurus, masters but there is no disciplehood, because you cannot allow yourself to be totally given to somebody’s being; nearness to his being, closeness to his being, so he can overpower you, flood over you.

A disciple means a seeker who is not a crowd, who is trying to be centered and crystallized — at least trying, making efforts, sincere efforts to become individual, to feel his being, to become his own master. The whole discipline of Yoga is an effort to make you a master of yourself. As you are, you are just a slave of many, many desires.

Many, many masters are there and you are just a slave — and pulled in many directions.

Now the discipline of Yoga.

Yoga is discipline. It is an effort on your part to change yourself. Many other things have to be understood. Yoga is not a therapy. In the West many psychological therapies are now prevalent, and many Western psychologists think that Yoga is also a therapy. It is not! It is a discipline. And what is the difference? This is the difference: a therapy is needed if you are ill, a therapy is needed if you are diseased, a therapy is needed if you are pathological. A discipline is needed even when you are healthy. Really, only when you are healthy can a discipline then help. It is not for pathological cases.

Yoga is for those who are completely healthy as far as medical science is concerned, normal. They are not schizophrenic, they are not mad, they are not neurotic. They are normal people, healthy people with no particular pathology. Still they become aware that whatsoever is called normality is futile, whatsoever is called health is of no use. Something more is needed, something greater is needed, something holier and whole is needed.

Therapies are for ill people. Therapies can help you to come to Yoga, but Yoga is not a therapy. Yoga is for a higher order of health, a different order of health — a different type of being and wholeness. Therapy can, at the most, make you adjusted. Freud says we cannot do more. We can make you an adjusted, normal member of the society — but if the society itself is pathological, then? And it is! The society itself is ill. A therapy can make you normal in the sense that you are adjusted to the society, but the society itself is ill.

So sometimes it happens that in an ill society a healthy person is thought to be ill. A Jesus is thought to be ill and every effort is done to make him adjusted. And when it is found that he is a hopeless case then he is crucified. When it is found that nothing can be done, that this man is incurable, then he is crucified. The society is itself ill because society is nothing but your collective. If all the members are ill the society is ill, and every member has to be adjusted to it.

Yoga is not therapy, Yoga is not trying in any way to make you adjusted to the society. If you want to define Yoga in terms of adjustment then it is not adjustment with the society, but it is adjustment with existence itself. It is adjustment with the divine.

So it may happen that a perfect yogi may appear mad to you. He may look out of his senses, out of his mind, because now he is in touch with the greater, with a higher mind, a higher order of things. He is in touch with the universal mind. It has always happened so: a Buddha, a Jesus, a Krishna, they always look somehow eccentric. They don’t belong to us, they seem to be outsiders.

That’s why they call them avatars, outsiders. They have come as if from some other planet, they don’t belong to us. They may be higher, they may be good, they may be divine, but they don’t belong to us. They come from somewhere else. They are not part and parcel of our being, mankind. The feeling has persisted that they are outsiders. They are not — they are the real insiders because they have touched the innermost core of existence. But to us they appear so.

Now the discipline of Yoga.

If your mind has come to realize that whatsoever you have been doing up to now was just senseless, it was a nightmare at the worst or a beautiful dream at the best, then the path of discipline opens before you. What is that path? The basic definition is:

Yoga is the cessation of mind — chittavrittinirodha.

I told you that Patanjali is just mathematical. In a single sentence, “Now the discipline of Yoga,” he is finished with you. This is the only sentence that has been used for you. Now he takes it for granted that you are interested in Yoga not as a hope but as a discipline, as a transformation right here and now. He proceeds to define:

Yoga is the cessation of mind.

This is the definition of Yoga, the best. Yoga has been defined in many ways; there are many definitions. Some say Yoga is the meeting of the mind with the divine; hence, it is called Yoga — Yoga means meeting, joining together. Some say that Yoga means dropping the ego, ego is the barrier: the moment you drop the ego you are joined to the divine. You were already joined; only because of the ego it appeared that you were not joined. And there are many definitions, but Patanjali’s is the most scientific. He says, “Yoga is the cessation of mind.”

Yoga is the state of no-mind. The word “mind” covers all — your egos, your desires, your hopes, your philosophies, your religions, your scriptures. “Mind” covers all. Whatsoever you can think is mind. All that is known, all that can be known, all that is knowable, is within mind. Cessation of the mind means cessation of the known, cessation of the knowable. It is a jump into the unknown. When there is no-mind you are in the unknown. Yoga is a jump into the unknown. It will not be right to say “unknown”; rather, “unknowable.”

What is the mind? What is the mind doing there? What is it? Ordinarily we think that mind is something substantial there, inside the head. Patanjali doesn’t agree — and no one who has ever known the insides of the mind will agree. Modern science also doesn’t agree. Mind is not something substantial inside the head. Mind is just a function, just an activity.

You walk, and I say you are walking. What is walking? If you stop, where is walking? If you sit down, where has the walking gone? Walking is nothing substantial; it is an activity. So while you are sitting no one can ask, “Where have you put your walking? Just now you were walking, so where has the walking gone?” You will laugh. You will say, “Walking is not something substantial, it is just an activity. I can walk. I can again walk and I can stop. It is activity.”

Mind is also activity, but because of the word “mind” it appears as if something substantial is there. It is better to call it “minding” — just like walking. Mind means “minding,” mind means thinking. It is an activity.

Again and again I have been quoting Bodhidharma….

He went to China and the emperor of China went to see him. And the emperor said, “My mind is very uneasy, very disturbed. You are a great sage and I have been waiting for you. Tell me what I should do to put my mind at peace.”
Bodhidharma said, “Don’t do anything. First, you bring your mind to me.”
The emperor could not follow. He said, “What do you mean?”
He said, “Come in the morning at four o’clock, when nobody is here. Come alone — and remember to bring your mind with you.”
The emperor couldn’t sleep the whole night. Many times he canceled the whole idea: “This man seems to be mad. What does he mean, ‘Come with your mind, don’t forget?’” But the man was so enchanting, so charismatic that he couldn’t cancel the appointment. As if a magnet were pulling him, at four o’clock he jumped out of the bed and said, “Whatsoever happens, I must go. This man may have something, his eyes say that he has something. Looks a little crazy…but still I must go and see what can happen.”
So he arrived, and Bodhidharma was sitting with his big staff. And he said, “So you have come? Where is your mind? Have you brought it or not?”
The emperor said, “You talk nonsense. When I am here my mind is here, and it is not something which I can forget somewhere. It is in me.”
So Bodhidharma said, “Okay. So the first thing is decided — that the mind is within you.”
The emperor said, “Okay, the mind is within me.”
Bodhidharma said, “Now close your eyes and find out where it is. And if you can find out where it is, immediately indica