Sadhanas From Vivekachudamani Step by Step Approcah To The Lord
Sadhanas From Vivekachudamani Step by Step Approcah To The Lord
Sadhanas From Vivekachudamani Step by Step Approcah To The Lord
Vivekachudamani
(Step by Step Approach to the Lord)
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(complete list of books on pages 120 & 121
SAMARPAN
This book is dedicated
with Veneration
to the Lotus feet of
Sri Adi Shankaracharya
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Introduction
Adi Sankaracharya, the founder (proponent) of the
philosophy of non-dualism, is famous for his unparallelled
brilliance and genius at a very young age.
Vivekachudamani can be considered as his masterpiece
next only to his commentary on the ten principal
Upanishads, Brahma sutra and the Bhagavad Gita. It is
a unique summation of all the sadhanas required to reach
the highest transcendental divinity. It takes one to the
goal viz. the realization of the Supreme Brahman. In all
the essential places, Sankaras statements are either
based on the Upanishads or the latters words are being
repeated as they are. Almost the first half of the text
covers answers to the most essential and basic seven
questions raised by the disciple in sloka no. 51. The
answers provided are unique and sometimes very simple
and easy to understand. These are the basic questions
which will be raised even today by any disciple. In the
very beginning itself Sanakara has emphasized that the
various rituals (karmas) including worship of gods are
not of direct applicability and use in the realization of
the Brahman. It is not also that they are unnecessary
and not required at all. Before Godrealisation it is
essential that the mind should be first purified and all the
prescribed actions including yagas (sacrifices) etc.,
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Chapter I
people also cross the Samsara. They are like the moon
which voluntarily cools down the earth heated by the
rays of the Sun during the day time.
Such an elaborate approach indicates that the Guru
we choose has to be a living Guru and not a dead saint
however great he might have been in his days. It does
not mean that the most revered past saints are of no use
at all. The past Gurus are essential in Hinduism, Jainism,
Tibetan Buddhism and Sikhism. Remembering them and
praying to them is of great help in purifying the mind
and also giving us inspiration. Especially such rare saints
like Bhagavan Ramana were Jivanmuktas (liberated) and
were one with the ultimate Reality.
Late Swami Akhandanandji Maharaj of Brindavan
has emphasized in one of his numerous books that a
living Guru is a must. If one takes up a departed Guru
and feels that he is getting all guidance, he is getting
back his own wisdom and nothing new. It is just a feed
back of what all he has studied and put in his memory.
On looking at the disciple who has surrendered
himself at his feet, the eyes of the Guru should pour
kindness on him and the saint should immediately calm
down the latters fears by his very look. On verifying
that the disciple has a sincere desire for moksha and has
established control over his own mind, the Guru should
instruct the disciple on the ultimate Reality.
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As regards the four pre-requisites (SadhanaChatushtaya), the first is Viveka (discrimination), the
second is Vairagya (dispassion), the third is the six virtues
(Shat-sampatti) like control of mind and lastly the desire
for liberation (Mumukshutva).
Viveka is the mental faculty capable of distinguishing
between the permanent and the impermanent objects. Then
one comes to the conclusion by right perception that
Brahman (the Supreme Being) alone is the Reality while the
entire world and its objects are all illusory. Here a story would
seem relevant. Michael Angelo was a renouned sculptor
several years back. In his village there was a shop where
stones for sculpting were sold. Outside the shop, one useless
stone had been lying unsold for a number of years. Michael
Angelo approached the shopkeeper and enquired at what
price the stone would be made available. The shop keeper
replied - Sir, take it away free. It is a useless stone and is
unnecessarily occupying a large space. I do not want any
money. Rid me of it and I shall be grateful. Michael promptly
had it removed to his workplace very happily. In due course
he had a beautiful Christ carved out of it. Even the Pope
along with his cardinals came to see the beautiful statue of
Christ and praised Michael for it. On hearing about it, the
shopkeeper who had earlier owned the stone came running
to Michael to view the statue. He asked Michael - Sir, how
did you manage to carve out such a nice Christ out of this
useless stone? Michael replied humbly - However useless,
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10
Chapter II
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
H$mo Zm_ ~Y H$W_of AmJV & H$W {V>m` H$W {d_moj &&
H$mo@gmdZm_m na_ H$ Am_m & V`mo{ddoH$ H$W_oVX`Vm_ && (Sl. 49)
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subjecting
them
to
process
called
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The eyes, the ears, the nose, the skin and the
tongue are called the senses of perception. Hands, feet,
speech (tongue has dual roles of taste and speech), the
anus and the generative organ form the senses of action.
By calling them senses as eyes, ears etc. their inner
power of sight, hearing etc. is meant.
The inner sense known generally as mind consists
of (1) the mind (manas) whose function is to resolve
whether to do an action or not (samkalpa
vikalpatmakam manah). (2) the intellect (Buddhi) which
takes the final decision (Nirnayatmika buddhi) (3) Ego
or Ahamkara which considers the body as our Self (4)
Chitta, the archives of past memories from which we
recall past incidents etc.
The Prana (vital force) functions in five-fold manner
as Prana (the outgoing breath), Apana (the breath which
passes though the anus), Vyana (the breath which
distributes the energy from the digested food to various
parts of the body), Udana (the breath which pushes up
while vomiting as also at the time of death) and Samana
(which brings the fire inside in order to digest the food
taken). These are the five modifications of the Prana in
general.
The subtle body which on every rebirth goes from
one gross body to another and also experiences heaven
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A{Z`mew{MXImZm_gw
{Z`ew{MgwIm_a`m{Va{dm &
Yogasutras II-5
Avidya is taking the non-eternal, impure, evil and
non-Atman to be eternal, pure, good and Atman
respetively.
Just like the silk worm which creates a covering from
its own body, nurtures it and dies finally entangled in it,
we create the body, nurture it, consider it as our own
Self (I) and thus get entangled in an endless cycle of birth
and death.
The bondage with the non-Self i.e., body, by
considering it as the Self is caused by ignorance. As a
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Chapter III
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lies in the
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kept pure, i.e. free from lust, greed, anger, envy etc.
This is the way to jump into the fourth body i.e.
Vijnanamaya kosa.
Actually, it is the mind i.e. the mental sheath which
does not allow us to be aware or conscious at all times.
We do things unconsciously. When we eat, we are not
aware of what we are eating as we are thinking of our
business or other affairs. When we are watching a
suspense story in the T.V. there are times when our breath
as well as thoughts cease. Thus when the mind stops
we are aware. It is then that the Vijnanamayas
functioning is seen. In order to transcend it we should
always consciously do every act. If we do japa (chanting
of a mantra) or one-pointedly concentrate on the
Brahman Atman, the mind becomes a no-mind (mano
nasa) one day. This is also another way to transcend the
fourth sheath.
The last sheath is the bliss sheath (Anandamaya). It
is from this we feel bliss when you are in deep meditation,
deep sleep or visualize a God with form (like Siva, Vishnu,
Divine mother etc). This bliss seems to be so self-sufficient
that we do not want to move anywhere from this state.
It is almost the end of the journey but we have to go
beyond this bliss also. The seekers on the devotional
path consider this as the final achievement and do not
want to be further liberated. But whether one wants or
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while active, the hand could not have lifted itself. Only
when there was a desire to lift, the hand lifted itself. This
region where the desire arose, it was Manomaya Kosa.
The one who created the desire to lift the hand was
Vijnanamaya Kosa. Afterall, the hand was made to rise
up in order to achieve some purpose. The comfort or
happiness you got in raising your hand was from
Anandamaya Kosa. This is the way Swami
Akhandanandji has explained.
When once each of the five Kosas has been negated
as this is not the Atman by proper logic, at the end of
the negation only one awareness as the witness to the
negation remains. What is thus left is the Atman. He is
also the witness of the three states (waking, sleeping
and dreaming). He never undergoes any change, he is
not tainted, he is always of the form of Bliss, (Ananda).
That is how one should find the Atman who is ones
own nature as the substratum when the Pancha Kosas
are all negated.
Now again the disciple intervenes with a question:Sir, when everything has been negated, I see only a
void. What is there to be understood as the Self? All
these Kosas were experienced earlier as the modification
of I and now their absence is also being experienced.
Who was the one who experienced them? They were
earlier experienced after identifying the Self with them
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O_d{n[aU`nj`-`m{YZmeZ{dhrZ_``_&
{dgQ>d{ZKmVH$maU ~ Vd_{g ^md`m_{Z&& (Sl. 259)
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vital force (Prana), ego etc., as the pure, real entity and
as the knowledge which reveals all objects and devoid of
any relationship with the world. Thus, do not think of
anything but the Self. This will be possible if we resort to
the method of absorption. The entire world is made
up of the five basic elements earth, water, fire, air and
space. As the earth has come out of water only, absorb
all the earth into the water mentally. Then, as the entire
water has come out of fire absorb all the water into the
fire, element. In the same manner absorb all the fire into
the air and all the air into the space. Finally absorb
through imagination the entire space of the world into
the Brahman from whom the entire world has emanated
so that nothing but Brahman remains. The last step has
to be done by keeping the mind concentrated on the
Self alone.
Now the question arises as to how to keep the mind
steady on the Self (Atman). Even though theoretically
we have known the Atman as different from the five
sheaths (Panchakosa) dealt with earlier and also as
identical with Brahman, the vasanas inherited from
previous conditioning are very powerful. Hence we
always consider that I am the doer and I experience the
result (Karta and Bhokta). This can be completely
eliminated by turning the mind completely inwards (ie.
through Nirvikalpa Samadhi). H$V d ^mo$ d bjU ggma .
The entire world consists of each ones attributing all
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inside the pot as part of the total space only and this is
known as merging the individual space in the total space.
Hence always meditate that your Self is an indivisible
part of the Total Existence which is the only Reality.
Meditating like this, remain in absolute silence. Know
that the substratum of the imagination caused by the
Maya is yourself, which is the Self shining. Leave off this
entire universe consisting of the fourteen worlds and also
your body like a pot full of excreta. In other words by
the very knowledge of the substratum, all the objects
which have been imagined are destroyed automatically.
When a rope is mistaken for a serpent at night, by the
very knowledge of the substratum that it is a rope (with
the help of a torch) the entire delusion of a serpent is
destroyed. Merge the idea of I which has been
superimposed on the body, on the Atman which is
absolute Consciousness, and thus leave off all your
attachments to your subtle body and become the one
Undifferentiated Reality. The appearance of this world
is as false as a city seen in a mirror. Hence the world is
nothing but Brahman, which is ones real Self. The one
who has known this has performed all the duties of the
world. Attain your own nature, which is the only reality.
It is pure consciousness and Bliss, formless and actionless.
Then you will be able to leave off the illusion of this
body just like an actor leaves off the robes worn for the
drama and becomes his original Self.
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body during his dream and even though this body is false,
as it appears true, it is called pratibhasika deha. After
all, a man who has been awakened from a dream does
not establish any relationship of I, this and mine with
the dream body but remains in his waking state only.
For instance, if he was a cow in his dream, when he
wakes up, he does not begin to eat grass nor does he
leave off his own routine of the waking state. He does
not try to prove that the body etc. which appeared in his
dream were true. While in the waking state, he does not
accept the world that he has seen in the dream. In case
he continues to keep up his relationship with the body
and world seen in his dream, it certainly means that he
has not yet awakened from his dream. One who has
established his mind in Brahman, remains as his Self at
all the times, as pure Consciousness. He does not see
anything other than Brahman, as nothing else exists apart
from him. But even a knower of Brahman may continue
to accept food or give it away because of the earlier
habit. He was previously living with his ego while now,
after having seen his own real nature, continues to live
without any ego.
Now, Sankara elaborates on the statement that no
Prarabdha karma (the effects of past acts) exists for the
Self. Prarabdha is due on the body which has been
constructed by karmas (past deeds). As the Atman has
no birth and as it is not produced by any action, the
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n[anyU_ZmV__o`_{d{H$`_ &
EH$_odm` ~ Zoh ZmZmpV {H$#mZ && (Sl. 465)
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moon? In the same way, who is the wise man, who after
knowing the truth would like to give up the experience
of the transcendental bliss and revel in empty sense
pleasures? In the experience of the worldly objects which
have no existence of their own, there is neither
contentment nor the end of our miseries and sufferings.
Remain happily established in the Atman which
alone exists, experiencing the bliss of non-duality. Oh
wise disciple! spend the rest of your time by seeing yourself
everywhere, understanding the Self to be non-dual and
experiencing the bliss of the Self. Leaving off the thoughts
of the non-existing objects remain silent, by which you
can get supreme peace. The knowers of Brahman realising
the oneness of Brahman and Atman enjoy the bliss of
non-duality continuously. For one who has known the
nature of the Self and enjoys bliss of the Self, there is
nothing better than silence free from all Vasanas (desires).
A man who has known the truth and revels in his own
Self, can live as he likes either walking, standing, sitting,
lying down or doing anything else. He need not bother
about his goal, time, space, posture, the direction and
control of mind. For one who has known the Self, where
is the need for any rules and regulations? The Self is ever
known and being its own proof, It shines without
depending upon a proper place or time. For a knower of
Brahman, the knowledge that I am Brahman is natural
and does not depend on anything else. The Atman being
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mixing with milk, the oil mixing with oil and water mixing
with water, the knower of Atman becomes one with
Brahman. Just as in a still and inactive rope, at dusk, the
illusory appearance and disappearance of the snake takes
place, similarly bondage and liberation are only products
of maya and do not exist in Atman in reality. The belief
in an object that it exists and also that it does not exist
are the characteristics of the intellect alone; it does not
belong to the eternal Subject. In conclusion, Sankara
repeats a famous verse55 from the text Gaudapadakarika
(Mandukyopanishad) of his grand Guru. This is known
as Ajatavada and represents the final truth.
There has never been a creation or dissolution. There
has been nobody in bondage nor any striving to get out of
bondage by sadhana. There was nobody ever longing for
liberation nor has any one been liberated. This is the final
truth. The lives of all people form a part of the cosmic
divine dream / drama. A drama is not real.
On hearing these instructions of the Guru, the
disciple prostrated before him in all humility and after
taking leave of his Guru went away liberated.
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