Hari OM
'Text-days' are for delving into the
words and theory of Advaita Vedanta.
We are now studying Aatmabodha. As
always, with each week, you are encouraged to review the previous teachings and
spend some time in contemplation of the meanings as the affect your life.
Please do consider purchasing the text. Remember, also, to recite the mangala charana before each study and
review the lessons before each new one.
What
has not been discussed is why the body remains once Realisation is attained…
this has to do with praarabdha and karma and such and is not within the purvue
of the Knowing of Aatman, per se, so Shankaraachaaya doesn't explain this here.
It is kept for a more advanced text. Remember, this prakarana grantha is
designed to provide an overview of what the saadhaka might expect and what are
the sorts of signs to watch for, as well as to kick-start the 'little grey
cells' into a field which is really very foreign to the vast majority.
Skipping
the whys and wherefores of the Realised one's requirement to see out the
incarnation, then, the Guru continues with a final shloka on the heights of new
existence.
%paixivlyaiÖ:[aE
inivRze;< ivzeNmuin>,
Jale
jl< ivyd!Vyaeiç tejStejis va ywa.53.
Upaadhi-vilayaadi-vishnau
nirvishesham vishenmuniH,
Jale
jalam viyad-vyomni tejas-tejasi va yathaa ||53||
Upon the dissolution of the upaadhis, the
contemplative one is totally absorbed in Vishnu, the All-pervading
attributeless Spirit, like water into water, space into space and light into
light.
Identification
with the body, mind, intellect has occasioned the expression of "my"
personality. Constantly the ego claims the material as "mine" and
keeps the spirit veiled. It can seem that there are multiple other limiting
factors, but all, on investigation, can be found to arise from any one of the
three main upaadhis of BMI.
The
seeker who wants to end the conditioned existence and discover the Whole in
him, should withdraw his mind from the said conditionings. When there is
no more identity with the ego-self, the
individuality of "me", when the egocentric existence which is the
Reality reflected in the mind and intellect; when it is all sublated, then,
like water into water, space into space and light into light, the "I"
merges once again with "Self" (here described as Vishnu).
Thus
the limited self becomes the Unlimited Self and, thus, All-Pervasive.
The
description regarding the case of space being in no way contained, even when
there are walls and fences et cetera, was given last week. Here we have two
other examples, equally as apt. Light in one lamp does not know itself to be
different from the light in the other lamp; both merely shine on and if joined,
easily merge with no thought for remaining separate. A water droplet, entering
a larger body of water, does not scream about its individual nature, but melts
into the great body easily and without resistance. The droplet always knew
itself as water only, not as something other than water, no matter whether it
becomes divided or evaporated… it will always return to form and source.
This
is the essence of this shloka.
