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.
As
the Guru builds the case for saadhana, the sincere practice of research upon
the Higher, a fourth shloka is now given, with a clue as to 'how' one might
Realise.
At™av&iÅaêpe[
vedaNtElRúyte=Vyym!,
Ao{fanNdmek<
yÅad!æüeTyvxaryet!.57.
atadvyaavRttiruupena vedaantair-lakshyate-vyayam,
Akhandaanandam-ekam
yat-tad-brahmetya-vadhaarayet ||57||
Realise That to be Brahman which is non-dual,
indivisible and blissful; which is indicated by Vedanta as the immutable
substratum, realised after the negation of all tangible objects.
Straight
away we find this 'action' suggested - that the seeker must negate that which
is not, in order to find that which IS. This is a powerful and effective
philosophical tool.
No
one can directly reach up to the dizzy heights of the All-pervading, the
Brahman, because it is not an object for us to see and understand. It is the
subjective Reality, which gives us the concept of life, illumining all our
thoughts and deeds. It is not a 'something' which can be differentiated from
any 'other thing'; it holds no similarities (and therefore no dissimilarities)
to anything else. It IS That from which all other forms and experiences arise.
The
upanishads indicate that to reach into this understanding, we must learn to
negate that which is not a part of this substratum. Thus the whole of Vedanta,
which is the philosophy expounded by the upanishads, gives pointers and lessons
on how to approach this negation. We are not to seek to describe what Brahman
is, a very difficult task which eludes even the greatest Masters, but to assess
and eliminate what it is not. To be able to assert what is not, there needs to
be an acknowledgement only that there IS something which lies at the base of
all, the substratum, and for this practice we can assert Brahman as that very
substratum. In order to know that there is not actually a ghost, we must
acknowledge the post from which the illusion was derived. Ridding ourselves of that illusion is the challenge; quite often we are too comfortable with the 'ghost', with our uneasiness and would rather deal with 'the devil we know'. If we know and trust someone who helps us to see the underlying post, however, how joyous would it feel to not have to be ever on the alert for the ghost?!
Our
minds are limited; the thoughts are jumpy and full of impurity. Everything
which our mind perceives as objects of cognition changes or perishes over time.
Yet, for all that, we have within us a perception of something unchanging. It
is that core of us which prompts the big questions. What is the one life force
on account of which there is the manifestation of matter? Who/what illuminates
the inert matter to give it life? Which is the homogeneous, all-permeating
essence in all objects? What is it that strings all things in the universe
together?
This
is the substratum we seek, the basis of ourselves and everything we perceive.
It, itself, cannot be objectively pursued, but can be subjectively experienced
as the Pure Consciousness. This shloka exhorts the student to take up the
saadhana of negation.
