From "Sarva Vedanta Siddhanta Sara Sangrah" by Acharya Sankara

[Guest guest]

That which speech does not illumine, but which illumines speech, know that

alone to be Brahman:

(Kena Upanishad: 1. 1, 4.)

 

896. One should therefore, meditate thus: 'I am Brahman, who is ever pure,

who is untainted by

ignorance; who is realizable only by means of the right knowledge of

Brahman, who is the supreme,

the inmost and indivisible, the self-effulgent.'

 

897. One, should therefore meditate, in the following manner: 'I am the

supreme non-dual

Brahman, whose nature is very subtle, who is pure existence, the absolute,

the greatest of the great

and ever pure.'

 

Source: The Quintessence of Vedanta, A Translation of Acharya Sankara's

"Sarva-vedanta-

siddhanta-sarasangraha" by Swami Tattwananda.

[Guest guest]

Man has five kinds of lights

 

 

The wise man, whom we have called "the Venerable Sage," came one day

to the court of King Janaka, ruler of a portion of India. In those

early days, people had no lanterns or artificial lights. They used to

keep open fires nearby most of the time. The King had a desire to ask

this sage some questions about the source of light, but it happened,

on that day, that the Sage did not feel inclined to talk. Still,

somehow, Janaka got his permission to begin a conversation.

 

"Revered Sir," the king asked, "What lights a man's way in this

world? What is the real source of light?"

 

"Why, that is easy, O King," the Venerable Sage replied, "the sun

lights a man, of course. For, with the sun alone as light, a person

sits, goes out, does the day's work, and returns."

 

"True, Sir! But when the sun has set, what lights one's way in this

world?"

 

"Why, then, O King, the moon is one's light. For, by moonlight, one

can sit, or go out, do one's work, and return."

 

"That is true, O Sage," agreed Janaka. "But," he added, "when the

moon also has set, what then?"

 

"Then fire is one's light, O King. For, by the light of fire, one

sits, or goes out, does one's work, and returns."

 

Again Janaka agreed. "That is true, Sir, but when the sun and moon

have set, and the fire has gone out, then what lights one's way in

the world?"

 

"O King," answered the sage, "at that time, voice alone is one's

light. By the sound of voices, one can sit, or go out, do one's work,

and return. For, when it is so dark that one cannot even see one's

hand in front, one can still hear sounds, and move toward them."

 

"That, too, is true, Sir. But when the sun and moon have set, and the

fire has gone out, and all sound has stopped, what then lights one's

way in the world?"

 

"Then the Self, alone, is one's light, Your Majesty. For then one

must sit, or go out, do one's work, and return, all with the help of

the Self alone."

 

Janaka happened to know quite a lot about the Self already, but he

urged the Venerable Sage to explain more about it. He hoped he could

add further to his own spiritual knowledge, so he continued to

question the Venerable Sage.

 

"Which is the Self?" Janaka asked.

 

"The Self, Your Majesty, is the Knowing One, here among our various

parts -- the Inner Light within the heart. It is He who sees this

world of our waking state. It is He who sees the world of dream. And,

in the dreamless sleep, when we think that we are not seeing, the

Self is there, seeing.

 

"There can never be an end to the seeing of the Seer. He is eternal.

In deep sleep, you seem to know nothing, but in truth, the Self goes

on knowing, for can there ever be an end to the knowing of the

Knower? No. He exists forever.

 

"In the space within your heart lies this One Controller of All, the

Master of All. It cannot be destroyed. It does not attach Itself to

anything. It is not bound, does not suffer, is not injured. Good and

evil do not affect It.

 

"When a person clearly sees this Self inside as God, the Lord of the

past and the future, then he has nothing to fear. This is the

undying, fearless Brahman. Fearless, indeed, is Brahman, and he who

knows this becomes the fearless Brahman."

 

 

Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad

 

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Thank you Harshaji!

 

aum shanti! aum shanti! aum shantihi!