Sri Adi Sankaracharya

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Sacred Places - Inner and Outer - Quoted in Self-Knowledge.

 

The river of Atman is filled with the water of self-control; truth is its

current, righteous conduct its banks, and compassion its waves. O son of Pandu,

bathe in its sacred water; ordinary water does not purify the inmost soul. By

worshipping a holy man who worships in the sacred shrine of Atman, the seeker

obtains the result of pilgrimages. A visit to holy men bestows merit, because

they may be regarded as moving holy places. The Lord, dwelling in their hearts,

renders holy the place where they live. A river filled with sacred water is no

doubt sacred; an image of stone or clay is no doubt a deity. After worshipping

them a long time, the aspirant becomes pure. But by a mere visit to a holy man

one attains purity.

 

Communication with Brahman is the most efficacius form of worship: By virtue of

even a moment's serenity, attained through knowledge of the identity of Atman

and Brahman, the seeker attains the merit that one may obtain by bathing in the

waters of all the holy rivers, by giving away the entire world in an act of

charity, by performing a thousand sacrifices, by worshipping the three hundred

and thirty millions of gods, and by rescuing, through after-death rites, one's

ancestors from the suffering of the nether world. By the very birth of a man

whose mind is absorbed in the Supreme Brahman -- the immeasurable Ocean of

Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute -- his famly becomes sinless, his mother

blessed, and the earth sacred.

 

The Vedanta Kesari, August 2009.