Shankara Part 3

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Even if beginningless, something originally non-existent is seen to

come to an end. In the same way the living organism which is thought

to belong to oneself through its identification with the intellect,

does not really exist. On the other hand, the true self is quite

distinct from it, and the identification of oneself with the

intellect is due to misunderstanding. 200, 201

 

 

Even if beginningless, something originally non-existent is seen to

come to an end. In the same way the living organism which is thought

to belong to oneself through its identification with the intellect,

does not really exist. On the other hand, the true self is quite

distinct from it, and the identification of oneself with the

intellect is due to misunderstanding. 200, 201

 

The cessation of that wrong identification is achieved by right

understanding, and by no other means. Right understanding is held by

scripture to be the recognition of the oneness of God and oneself. 202

 

This recognition is achieved by right discrimination between what is

truly oneself and what is not, so one must develop this

discrimination between the conventional self and one's true self. 203

 

Like very muddy water, which is clearly water again when the mud is

removed, one's true self shines forth again when the contamination is

removed. 204

 

When the non-existent is removed the individual is disclosed as the

supreme self, so one must see to the removal of thoughts about "me"

and suchlike from oneself. 205

 

The level of sense awareness cannot be one's true self since it is

changeable, physical, restricted, a sense-object and intermittent.

What is transient should not be mistaken what is eternal. 206

 

The level of pleasure is the aspect of ignorance which is a sort of

reflection the blissfulness of the true self. Its attributes are the

qualities of enjoyment and so on, which are experienced when an

enjoyable object is present. It presents itself spontaneously to

those fortunate enough to experience the fruits of good deeds,

something from which everyone experiences great pleasure without

trying to. 207

 

The pleasure level is manifest at its fullest extent in deep sleep,

whereas in dreams and the waking state it is only partially manifest,

stimulated by such things as the sight of enjoyable objects. 208

 

The pleasure level cannot be the true self either, since it is

changeable, a conditioned phenomenon, the result of good deeds, and

involved in the other levels of consciousness as well. 209

 

When all these five levels have been disposed of by meditating on

scripture, when everything as been eliminated there remains the

witness, pure consciousness itself. 210

 

This self, the light itself, beyond the five levels, the witness of

the three states, changeless, unsullied, eternal joy - this should be

recognised by the wise as one's real self. 211

 

The disciple

After transcending these five levels as unreal, master, I find

nothing but a nothingness, the absence of everything. What object

remains for a wise person to identify with? 212

 

The teacher

You have spoken the truth, learned one. You are skilled in

discrimination. That by which all other phenomena, starting with the

thought of "me", are experienced, but which is itself experienced by

none, know that, by the subtlest of understanding, as your true self.

213, 214

 

Whatever is experienced by something else has that as its witness.

When there is nothing else to experience something, one cannot talk

of it being witnessed. 215

 

This has the nature of self-awareness, since it is conscious of

itself. Thus the individual self is by its self-awareness none other

than the Supreme itself. 216

 

That which is fully manifest in the waking state, dream and deep

sleep, which is perceived within in the form of the various

experiences and impressions like self-consciousness, and which is

experienced as the eternal Bliss, and Consciousness of one's true

self, see this within your own heart. 217

 

The ignorant see the reflection of the sun in the water of a jar and

think it is the sun itself. In the same way the fool sees the

reflection of consciousness in its associated qualities and

mistakenly identifies himself with it. 218

 

The wise man ignores jar, water and the sun's reflection in it, and

sees the self-illuminating sun itself which gives light to all three

but is independent of them. 219

 

When a man abandons the body and the intellect which is just a

derivative of consciousness, and recognising one's true self, the

experiencer, pure awareness, the source of everything existent and

non-existent, itself devoid of attributes, eternal, all-pervading,

omnipresent, subtle, empty of inside and outside, and itself none

other than one's true self (for this is truly inborn), he becomes

free from evil, sinless and immortal, free from pain, and the

incarnation of joy. Master of himself he is afraid of no-one. There

is no other way to the breaking of the bonds of temporal existence

for the seeker after liberation than the realisation of his own true

nature. 220, 221, 222

 

The recognition of one's inseparable oneness with God is the means of

liberation from temporal existence, by which the wise person achieves

the non-dual, blissful nature of God. 223

 

Having attained the nature of God, the knower returns no more to the

temporal state, so it is essential to recognise one's own true

inseparable oneness with God. 224

 

God is the truth, knowledge and eternal. He is pure, transcendent and

self-sufficient - the everlasting, undiluted bliss which is enthroned

undivided and inseparable within. 225

 

This supreme Reality is non-dual in the absence of any other reality

beside itself. In the state of knowledge of ultimate truth there is

nothing else. 226

 

This great variety of things which we experience through our failure

to understand is all really God himself, once the distortion of

thought is removed. 227

 

A pot made of clay is nothing other than clay, and its true reality

is always simply clay. The pot is no more than the shape of a pot,

and is just a mistake of imagination based on the name. 228

 

No one can show that the reality of the pot is different from the

clay, so the pot is just an imagination based on misunderstanding,

and the clay is the only final reality. 229

 

Similarly everything which is made of God is just God and has no

separate existence. Whoever says it exists is not yet free from

delusion and is like someone talking in his sleep. 230

 

The supreme scripture of the Arthava Veda declares that "All this is

God", so all this is simply God, and anything in addition to that has

no reality. 231

 

If it has any reality, that is the end of any eternal reality for

oneself, the scriptures are false, and the Lord himself a liar, three

things which are quite unacceptable to great souls. 232

 

The Lord, who knows the reality of things, has stated "I do not

depend on them" (Bhagavad Gita 9.4) and "Things do not exist in me"

(Bhagavad Gita 9.5). 233

 

If everything really existed, it ought to exist in deep sleep too.

Since nothing does, then it follows that it is unreal and an illusion

like a dream. 234

 

So the world is not distinct from the Supreme Self, and its

perception is an illusion like all attributes. What we add to That

has no reality, but merely appears to exist in addition to That

through misunderstanding. 235

 

Whatever a deluded person experiences in his delusion is still always

God. The silver is only mother-of-pearl. It is always God that is

mistaken for something else, and whatever is added to God is just a

name. 236

 

So there exists only the supreme God, the One Reality without a

second, consisting of pure consciousness, without any blemish, peace

itself and without beginning or end, actionless and having the nature

of pure bliss. 237

 

Beyond all delusion-created distinctions, this Whatever shines by its

own light, eternal, fulfilled, indivisible, infinite, formless,

inexpressible, nameless and indestructible. 238

 

Seers know this supreme Reality, free from the distinctions of

knower, known and knowledge, infinite, complete in itself and

consisting of pure Awareness. 239

 

What cannot be got rid of or taken hold of, beyond the sphere of mind

and speech, measureless and beginning-and-endless is God, one's true

self and supreme glory. 240

 

The words "God" and "yourself", referred to by the terms "That"

and "Thou" are conscientiously purified by repetition of the

scriptural phrase "Thou art That", and are clearly seen to be

identical. 241

 

Their identity can be indicated but not described, since they have

mutually exclusive meanings like a firefly and the sun, a king and a

slave, a well and the ocean, or an atom and mount Meru. 242

 

The distinction between them is due to the imagined additional

associations, but in reality there are no such additions. The primary

mental activity is due to the Lord's Maya, and in the case of the

individual it is the result of the five sheaths. 243

 

These are additions to the Lord and the individual, and when they are

removed, there is neither Supreme nor individual. A ruler is known by

his kingdom, and a warrior by his arms. Take these away, and there is

neither warrior nor king. 244

 

Scripture itself, with the words "Here is the teaching"

(Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.3.6), denies the imagined duality in God.

One must get rid of these additions by means of understanding backed

up by the authority of the scriptures. 245

 

"Not this, not this" (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.3.6) means that

nothing one can think of is real, like a rope mistaken for a snake,

or like a dream. Carefully getting rid of the apparent in this way,

one should then come to understand the oneness of the Lord and the

individual. 246

 

So the meaning of these two expressions, Lord and individual, must be

carefully considered until their essential oneness is understood. It

is not enough just to reject or accept either of them. One must come

to the recognition of the identity of the meaning of them both. 247

 

In the phrase "this person is Devadatta" the identity is indicated by

removing the distinction, and in the same way, in the

expression "Thou art That" the wise must get rid of the apparent

contradiction and recognise the complete identity of God and self by

carefully identifying the shared attribute of pure consciousness.

Hundreds of scriptural sayings declare the identity of oneself and

God in this way. 248, 249

 

In accordance with "It is nothing material" (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

3.8.8) eliminate the unreal and find that which like the sky is pure

and solitary, and is beyond thought. Eliminate too this purely

illusory body which you have hitherto identified with yourself. Then

recognising, "I am God" with purified understanding, see your true

self as undifferentiated consciousness. 250

 

Everything made of clay, such as pot, is always to be seen as purely

clay. In the same way, everything deriving from this supreme Self

must be simply recognised as pure Reality. Since there is no reality

beyond that, it is truly one's very self, and you are that still,

unblemished, non-dual, supreme Reality of God. 251

 

Just as the things like places, time, objects and observer imagined

in a dream are unreal, so the world experienced in the waking state

too is created by one's own ignorance. Since the body-creating

forces, self-identification, and so on, are also unreal, you are that

still, unblemished, non-dual, supreme Reality of God. 252

 

That which is mistakenly imagined to exist is recognised by wisdom to

be That alone, and is thus undifferentiated. The colourful world of a

dream disappears. What remains other than oneself on waking? 253

 

Beyond birth, creed, family and tribe, free from the distortion of

attributes of name and appearance, transcending locality, time and

objects, you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within

yourself. 254

 

That supreme Reality beyond the realm of anything that can be said,

but the resort of the pure eye of understanding, the pure reality of

Consciousness-Awareness-Mind, etc. - you are That, God himself.

Meditate on the fact within yourself. 255

 

That which is unaffected by the six afflictions (of aging, death,

hunger, thirst, desire and ignorance), which is meditated on in the

heart of the devotee, unrecognised by the senses, unknown by the

intellect - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within

yourself. 256

 

That basis on which the mistakenly imagined world exists, itself

dependent on nothing else, devoid of true and false, without parts,

and without mental image - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the

fact within yourself. 257

 

That which is indestructible, free from birth, growth, development,

decay, illness and death; which is the cause of the creation,

maintenance and destruction of everything - you are That, God

himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 258

 

Free of parts, of an unchanging quality, undisturbed like a waveless

sea, declared to be of an eternally indivisible nature - you are

That, God ihimself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 259

Itself One but the cause of the many, the supreme Cause which does

away with all other causes, itself devoid of distinctions of "cause"

and "effect" - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within

yourself. 260

 

Without modification, great and unending, the supreme Reality beyond

destruction and indestructibility, the eternal unfading, unblemished,

fulfilment - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within

yourself. 261

 

That Reality which manifests itself as the many through the illusions

of names, shapes, attributes and changes, but which, like gold is

always itself unchanged (in different objects) - you are That, God

himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 262

 

That, beyond which there is nothing, but which shines beyond

everything else, the inner, uniform self-nature of being-

consciousness-joy, infinite and eternal - you are That, God himself.

Meditate on the fact within yourself. 263

 

One should meditate within oneself with the mind well controlled on

the truth declared here. Then the truth will be disclosed free from

doubt, like water in the palm of one's hand. 264

 

Realising one's true nature as pure consciousness, one should remain

always established in oneself, like a king surrounded by his army,

and should redirect all that is back into God. 265

 

In the cave of the mind, free from attributes of being and not-being,

there exists God, the Truth, supreme and without a second. He who by

himself dwells in that cave returns no more to a mother's womb. 266

 

Even when one knows the truth, there still remains the strong,

beginningless tendency to think "I am the doer and the reaper of the

consequences" which is the cause of samsara. It must be carefully

removed by living in the state of observing the truth within oneself.

The wise call that removal of this tendency liberation. 267

 

The tendency to see "me" and "mine" in the body and the senses, which

are not oneself must be done way with by the wise by remaining

identified with one's true self. 268

 

Recognising one's true inner self, the witness of the mind and its

operations, and reflecting on the truth of "I am That", get rid of

this wrong opinion about oneself. 269

 

Abandoning the concerns of the world, abandoning concern about the

body, and abandoning even concern about scriptures, see to the

removal wrong assumptions about yourself. 270