Article sent from The Hindu on indiaserver.com

[Guest guest]

=============================================================

This article is emailed to you by Ram Chandran ( rchandran )

=============================================================

Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

Ignorance, cause of man's bondage

 

CHENNAI, AUG. 30. Until the true nature of the Self (Atman) is

known man continues to identify himself with his body-mind-

intellect personality due to ignorance. This ignorance is the

root of his bondage and the sorrows faced by him in worldly life.

 

So lasting joy can be enjoyed only when this ignorance is removed

which is possible only by knowledge of the Self. The summum bonum

of man's existence is to realise his Self and thereby be rid of

bondage.

 

The Ashtavakra Gita, which is also known as Ashtavakra Samhita,

expounds the nature of the Self in the form of a dialogue between

Sage Ashtavakra and the emperor, Janaka, of Videha.

 

The subtle philosophical truths are discussed in a unique and

original manner guiding the spiritual aspirant on his quest of

the Self, the Ultimate Reality. The subject matter of the text is

directly focussed with the questions as to how knowledge can be

acquired, how liberation results and how renunciation can be

achieved.

 

That the objects of the senses are antithetical to the aspiration

for liberation is made clear right at the start. The sage advises

the king, ``If you aspire for liberation, reject the objects of

the senses as poison and seek forgiveness, straightforwardness,

kindness, contentment and truth as nectar.''

 

In her discourse, Swamini Shraddhanand Saraswati said that till

the aspirant realised the Self when this knowledge became a

matter of experience, he should repose total faith in the Guru

and the scriptures. Like a person who loses his way inside a

dense forest if he does not know the way, man has lost the

awareness of his true Self due to ignorance.

 

Ashtavakra likens man's ignorance to a forest and says that this

must be burnt down with the fire of certitude that ``I am the

one, pure consciousness and not the body-mind consciousness.''

This Self-knowledge removes all grief.

 

It is the sense of individuality which imposes limitations on the

non-dual consciousness and when this is removed the individual is

able to identify himself with this expanse of consciousness. Just

as a rope is mistaken for a snake in darkness, so also the entire

universe is seen as a superimposition on the substratum of

consciousness. The snake does not have a reality of its own; so

also the universe does not have a reality of its own apart from

the underlying consciousness.

 

The sage reinforces the truth that the Self is non-dual

consciousness by predicating that ``You are that consciousness,

supreme bliss, upon which this universe appears superimposed.''

 

 

Copyrights: 2000 The Hindu & Tribeca Internet Initiatives Inc.

 

Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly

prohibited without the consent of The Hindu & Tribeca Internet Initiatives Inc.