SIVANANDA DAILY READING FOR 9 OCTOBER

[Guest guest]

SIVANANDA DAILY READING FOR 9 OCTOBER

ESSENCE OF VEDANTA

 

 

Vedanta is expressed in the mahavakhyas (great sentences) of the

Upanishads as "Tat twam asi" ­ "thou art that"; "Aham brahma asmi"

"I am the self." Vedanta says, "0 little man! Do not identify

yourself with this perishable body. Give up 'I­ness' and

'mine­ness'! Do not hate your neighbour or brother. Do not try to

exploit him ­ he is your own self. There is a common self or

common consciousness in all. This is the same in a king and a

peasant, in an ant and a dog, in a man and a woman, in a cobbler and

a scavenger. This is the real immortal entity. Mind is the dividing

principle. It tempts and deludes. Kill this mischievous mind. Control

the indriyas (senses) which drag you out to the external objects. Fix

the mind in the source. Rise above body and mind. Eradicate desires.

Learn to discriminate the real from the unreal. Identify yourself

with this immortal, non­dual, self­ existent, self-luminous

essence. Behold the one self in all. See the one in many. All

miseries will come to an end."

 

Vedanta speaks of the one atman or Brahman or self who exists in the

past, the present and the future, who has no beginning, middle and

end, who is the support for everything, who is the embodiment of

wisdom, peace and bliss. The seers of the Upanishads have expressed

their realisation in glowing terms. They have given out their inner

experiences after long research and mighty struggle. All these have

been collected in the form of the Upanishads. This constitutes the

subject of vedanta philosophy.

 

Although vedanta is the direct royal road that takes one to the goal,

it should not be prescribed for all in a wholesale manner. There are

four types of aspirants. They are the karmic (active) type, the

bhakti (devotional) type, the mystic type and the rational type.

Karma yoga should be prescribed for people of karmic tendencies

­for the busy and active men who have mala (impurities) in the

mind; bhakti yoga for men of devotional temperament – in whom the

emotional element predominates; raja yoga for men of mystic

temperament; vedanta yoga for men of reason and will ­ for people

of intellectual temperament.

 

Vicara (enquiry, "Who am I?") can only benefit that aspirant who is

free from impurity and tossing of the mind, who is endowed with bold

understanding, gigantic and tremendous will, sharp, subtle intellect

and the four means. It is certainly not meant for all it is

meant for the select few only who can really understand and realise

the full significance or import of vedanta and reap the fruits.

[Guest guest]

Hari Aum,

 

Thank you for sharing the wonderful readings. Where can I get the whole

book? Thanks.

 

Deepak Chadha

-

"kvashisht" <kvashisht

<advaitin>

Wednesday, October 08, 2003 9:55 PM

SIVANANDA DAILY READING FOR 9 OCTOBER

 

 

SIVANANDA DAILY READING FOR 9 OCTOBER

ESSENCE OF VEDANTA

 

 

Vedanta is expressed in the mahavakhyas (great sentences) of the

Upanishads as "Tat twam asi" ­ "thou art that"; "Aham brahma asmi"

"I am the self." Vedanta says, "0 little man! Do not identify

yourself with this perishable body. Give up 'I­ness' and

'mine­ness'! Do not hate your neighbour or brother. Do not try to

exploit him ­ he is your own self. There is a common self or

common consciousness in all. This is the same in a king and a

peasant, in an ant and a dog, in a man and a woman, in a cobbler and

a scavenger. This is the real immortal entity. Mind is the dividing

principle. It tempts and deludes. Kill this mischievous mind. Control

the indriyas (senses) which drag you out to the external objects. Fix

the mind in the source. Rise above body and mind. Eradicate desires.

Learn to discriminate the real from the unreal. Identify yourself

with this immortal, non­dual, self­ existent, self-luminous

essence. Behold the one self in all. See the one in many. All

miseries will come to an end."

 

Vedanta speaks of the one atman or Brahman or self who exists in the

past, the present and the future, who has no beginning, middle and

end, who is the support for everything, who is the embodiment of

wisdom, peace and bliss. The seers of the Upanishads have expressed

their realisation in glowing terms. They have given out their inner

experiences after long research and mighty struggle. All these have

been collected in the form of the Upanishads. This constitutes the

subject of vedanta philosophy.

 

Although vedanta is the direct royal road that takes one to the goal,

it should not be prescribed for all in a wholesale manner. There are

four types of aspirants. They are the karmic (active) type, the

bhakti (devotional) type, the mystic type and the rational type.

Karma yoga should be prescribed for people of karmic tendencies

­for the busy and active men who have mala (impurities) in the

mind; bhakti yoga for men of devotional temperament - in whom the

emotional element predominates; raja yoga for men of mystic

temperament; vedanta yoga for men of reason and will ­ for people

of intellectual temperament.

 

Vicara (enquiry, "Who am I?") can only benefit that aspirant who is

free from impurity and tossing of the mind, who is endowed with bold

understanding, gigantic and tremendous will, sharp, subtle intellect

and the four means. It is certainly not meant for all it is

meant for the select few only who can really understand and realise

the full significance or import of vedanta and reap the fruits.

 

 

 

Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of

Atman and Brahman.

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