Crest Jewel of Wisdom

barney · September 30, 2004

Viveka-Chudamani

By SANKARA

Reality can be experienced only with the eye of understanding, not just by a scholar. What the moon is like must be seen with one's own eyes. How can others do it for you? 54

Who but yourself can free you from the bonds of the fetters of things like ignorance, lust and the consequences of your actions - even in hundreds of thousands of years? 55

Liberation is achieved not by observances or by analysis, nor by deeds or learning, but only by the realisation of one's oneness with God, and by no other means. 56

The beauty of a lute and skill in playing its cords can bring some pleasure to people but can hardly make you a king. 57

In the same way, speech alone, even a deluge of words, with scholarship and skill in commenting on the scriptures, may achieve some personal satisfaction but not liberation. 58

When the supreme reality is not understood, the study of the scriptures is useless, and study of the scriptures is useless when the supreme reality has been understood. 59

The tangle of words is a great forest which leads the mind off wandering about, so wise men should strive to get to know the truth about their own nature. 60

Except for the medicine of the knowledge of God, what use are Vedas, scriptures, mantras and such medicines when you have been bitten by the snake of ignorance? 61

An illness is not cured just by pronouncing the name of the medicine without drinking it, and you will not be liberated by just pronouncing the word God without direct experience. 62

How can one reach liberation by just pronouncing the word God without achieving the elimination of the visible universe and realising the truth about one's own nature? It will just be a waste of speech. 63

One cannot become a king just by saying, "I am the king," without defeating one's enemies and taking possession of the country. 64

A buried treasure will not come out just by calling it, but needs a good map, digging, removal of obstructing stones and so on to get at it. In the same way the pure reality, hidden by the effects of Maya, cannot be achieved by just abusing it, but by instruction from a knower of God, reflection, meditation and so on. 65

So the wise should strive with all their ability for liberation from the bonds of change, as they would in the case of sickness and things like that. 66

The question you have asked today is a good one in the opinion of those learned in the scriptures, to the point and full of meaning. It needs to be understood by those seeking liberation. 67

Listen careful to what I say, master. By hearing this you will be freed from the bonds of change. 68

The primary basis of liberation is held to be total dispassion for everything impermanent, and after that peacefulness, restraint, patience, and the complete renunciation of scriptural observances. 69

After that the practicant finds there comes listening, reflection on what one has heard, and long meditation on the truth. Then the wise man will experience the supreme non-dual state and come here and now to the bliss of Nirvana. 70

When you have heard me fully explain what you need to know about the discrimination between self and non-self, then bear it in mind. 71

The body, constituted of marrow, bone, fat, flesh, ligament and skin, and composed of feet, legs, chest, arms, back and head, is the seat of the "I" and "mine" delusion, and is known as the physical body by the wise, while space, air, fire, water and earth are the subtle elements. 72 - 73

When these various elements are combined, they form the physical body, while in themselves they constitute the objects of the senses, the five types of sound and so on, for the enjoyment of the individual. 74

The ignorant who are bound to the senses by the strong, hardly breakable bonds of desire, are borne here and there, up and down, in the control of their own karmic impulses. 75

Deer, elephant, moth, fish and wasp, these five have all died from attachment by their own volition to one of the five senses, sound etc., so what about the man who is attached to all five! 76

The effect of the senses is more deadly than even that of a cobra. Their poison kills a man who only just looks at them with his eyes. 77

Only he who is free from the terrible hankering after the senses which is so hard to overcome is fit for liberation, and no-one else, not even if he is an expert in the six branches of scripture. 78

The shark of longing grasps those whose desire for liberation is only superficial by the throat as they try to cross the sea of samsara and drowns them halfway. 79

He who has killed the shark of the senses with the sword of firm dispassion can cross the sea of samsara without impediment. 80

Realise that death quickly waylays the senseless man who follows the uneven way of the senses, but that man achieves his purpose who follows the guidance of a true, compassionate guru. Know this as the truth. 81

If you really have a desire for liberation, avoid the senses from a great distance, as you would poison, and continually practice the nectar-like qualities of contentment, compassion, forbearance, honesty, calm and restraint. 82

He who neglects that which should be undertaken at all times, the liberation from the bonds created by beginningless ignorance, and gets stuck in pandering to the alien good of this body, is committing suicide by doing so. 83

He who seeks to know himself while pampering of the body is crossing a river holding onto a crocodile in mistake for a log. 84

This infatuation with the body and such things is a great death for the seeker after liberation. He who has overcome this infatuation is worthy of liberation. 85

Overcome this great death of infatuation with such things as the body, wives and children. Sages who have overcome it go to the supreme realm of God. 86

This body is material and offensive, consisting of skin, flesh, blood, sinews, veins, fat, marrow and bones, and full of urine and excrement. 87

This material body, which arises from past action out of material elements formed by the combination of subtle elements, is the vehicle of sensation for the individual. This is the state of a waking person perceiving material objects. 88

The life force creates for itself, out of itself, material object of enjoyment by means of the external senses - such colourful things as flowers, perfumes, women, etc. That is why this has its fullest enjoyment in the waking state. 89

See this material body, all that the external existence of a man depends on, as just like the house of a house-dweller. 90

Birth, old age and death are inherent in the physical body, as are such conditions as a heavy build and childhood, while there are different circumstances like caste and occupation, all sorts of diseases, and various different types of treatment, like respect and contempt to bear with. 91

Ears, skin, eyes, nose and tongue are organs of sense, since they enable the experience of objects, while voice, hands, feet and bowels are organs of action through their inclination to activity. 92

The inner sense is known variously as mind, understanding, the sense of agency, or volition, depending on its particular function - mind as imagining and analysing, understanding as establishing the truth of a matter, the sense of responsibility from relating everything to oneself, and volition as seeking its own good. 93, 94

The one vital breath (prana) takes the form of all the various breathings, exhalations and psychic currents and fields according to the various functions and characteristics, as do gold and water and such things. 95

The eight citadels of groups of five categories, starting respectively with speech, hearing, vital breath, ether, intelligence, ignorance desire and action, constitute what is known as the subtle body. 96

Hear that this higher body, also known as the subtle body, with its desires and its tendency to follow the course of causal conditioning, is derived from the undifferentiated elements, and is a beginningless superimposition, due to its ignorance, on the true self. 97

Sleep is a distinct state of the self in which it shines by itself alone, whereas in dreaming the mind itself assumes the sense of agency due to the various desires of the waking state, while the supreme self shines on, on its own, as pure consciousness, the witness of everything from anger and such things on, without being itself affected by any of the actions performed by the mind. Since it is unattached to action, it is not affected by anything done by its superimpositions. 98, 99

The subtle body is the vehicle of all operations for the self, like an axe and so on for the carpenter. The self itself is pure consciousness, and, as such, remains unattached. 100

barney · September 30, 2004

Verses 101-150

Blindness, short-sightedness and sharp eyesight are simply due to the healthiness or defectiveness of the eye, just as such states as deafness and dumbness are conditions of the ear etc., not of the self, the knower. 101

Breathing in and out, yawning, sneezing and bodily secretions are described by experts as functions depending on the Inner Energy, while hunger and thirst for truth are functions of the Inner Energy direct. 102

The mind, as a reflection of Light, resides in the body with its senses, the eyes etc., through identifying itself with them. 103

The sense of responsibility is what feels itself as the doer and bearer of the consequences, and in together with the three Attributes, purity etc., undergoes the three states (of sleeping, dreaming and waking). 104

When the senses are favourable it is happy, and when they are not it is unhappy. So happiness and suffering are its attributes, and not those of the ever blissful self. 105

The senses are enjoyable only for the sake of oneself, not for themselves. The self is the most dear of everything, and consequently the self is ever blissful, and never experiences suffering. 106

That we experience the bliss of the self free from the senses in deep sleep is verified by the scriptures, by direct experience, by tradition and by deduction. 107

The so-called Inexpressible, the Lord's power, is the ultimate, beginningless ignorance made up of the three qualities (gunas), the pure Maya knowable through its effects, out of which this whole world is produced. 108

It cannot be said to either exist or not exist, to be divisible or indivisible, composite or unitary or both. It is amazing and indescribable. 109

It can be overcome by the realisation of the pure non-dual God, like the false idea of a snake through the recognition of the rope. It is composed of the three qualities (gunas) of passion, dullness and purity, recognised by their effects. 110

The distracting power of passion is by nature active, and from it the primeval emanation of activity has taken place. The mental states like desire and pain continually arise from it as well. 111

Lust, anger, greed, pride, envy, self-importance and jealousy - these are the awful effects produced by passion. Consequently this passion quality is the cause of bondage. 112

The veiling effect of the dullness quality is the power that distorts the appearance of things. It is the cause of samsara in man, and what leads to the activation of the distracting power (of passion). 113

Even a wise and learned man and an adept in the knowledge of the extremely subtle self can be overcome by dullness, and fail to realise it, even when demonstrated it in many different ways. What is presented by delusion he looks on as good, and grasps at its qualities. Such, alas, is the strength of the great veiling power of this awful dullness quality! 114

Lack of sense or distorted understanding, lack of judgement, and bewilderment - these never leave him who is caught in this delusion, and the distracting power torments him continually. 115

Ignorance, laziness, drowsiness, sleep, carelessness, stupidity and so on are the effects of the dullness quality. One stuck in these does not understand anything, but remains as if asleep, like a wooden post. 116

Clear purity is like water, but combined with these other qualities it leads to samsara, though in this purity the nature of the self is reflected, like the disk of the sun illuminating the whole world. 117

In purity mixed with the other qualities virtues such as humility, restraint, truthfulness, faith, devotion, desire for liberation, spiritual tendencies and freedom from entanglement occur. 118

In real purity however the qualities which occur are contentment, self-understanding, supreme peace, fulfilment, joy and abiding in one's supreme self, through which one experiences real bliss. 119

This Inexpressible, described as made up of the three qualities (gunas), is the active body of the self. Deep sleep is a special condition of it, in which the activity of all functions of awareness cease. 120

Deep sleep is the cessation of all forms of awareness, and the reversion of consciousness to a latent form of the self. "I knew nothing" is the universal experience. 121

The body, its functions, vital energies, the thinking mind, etc., and all forms, objects, enjoyment, etc. the physical elements such as the ether, in fact everything up to this Inexpressible are not one's true nature. 122

Everything is the creation of Maya from space itself down to the individual body. Look on it all as a desert mirage, unreal and not yourself. 123

Now I will instruct you in the true nature of your supreme self, by understanding which a man is freed from his bonds and achieves final fulfilment. 124

There IS something your own, unchanging, the "I", the substratum, the basis, which is the triple observer, distinct from the five sheaths. 125

The awareness that knows everything whether waking, dreaming or in deed sleep, and whether or not there is movement in the mind, that is the "I". 126

It is that which experiences everything, but which nothing else can experience, which thinks through the intelligence etc., but which nothing else can think. - 127

It is that by which all this is filled, but which nothing else can fill, and which, in shining, makes all this shines as well. 128

It is that whose mere presence makes the body, bodily senses, and mind etc. keep to their appropriate functions like servants. 129

It is that by which everything from the ego function down to the body is known like an earthen vessel, for its very nature is everlasting consciousness. 130

This is one's inmost nature, the eternal Person, whose very essence is unbroken awareness of happiness, who is ever unchanging and pure consciousness, and in obedience to whom the various bodily function continue. 131

In one of pure nature, the morning light of the Unmanifest shines even here in the cave of the mind, illuminating all this with its glory, like the sun up there in space. 132

That which knows the thinking mind and ego functions takes its form from the body with its senses and other functions, like fire does in a ball of iron, but it neither acts nor changes in any way. 133

It is never born, never dies, grows, decays, or changes. Even when the body is destroyed it does not cease to be, like the space in an earthen vessel. 134

The true self, of the nature of pure consciousness, and separate from the productions of nature, illuminates all this, real and unreal, without itself changing. It plays in the states of waking and so on, as the foundation sense of 'I exist', as the awareness, witness of all experience. 135

By means of a trained mind, and thanks to your faculty of understanding, experience in practice the true self of this 'I exist' in yourself, cross the ocean of Samsara's waves of birth and death, and established in the nature of God, and achieve the goal (of life). 136

Seeing 'This is me' in what is not really oneself, this is man's bondage, the result of ignorance and the cause of the descent into the pain of birth and death. It is because of this that one sees this unreal body as real, and identifying oneself with it, feeds it and cares for it with the senses, like a grub in its cocoon. 137

One who is confused by lack of clarity sees something which is not there, like a man mistaking a rope for a snake through lack of understanding, and experiencing great pain etc. from mistakenly taking hold of it. So, my friend, hear this - Bondage is thinking that something non-existent exists. 138

This obscuring power conceals the infinite glory of one's true self which radiates with its indivisible, eternal and unified power of understanding, like an eclipse obscures the sun's disk, and creates darkness. 139

When he has lost sight of his true self, immaculate and resplendent, a man identifies himself with his body out of ignorance. Then the great so-called dispersive power torments him with its fetters of continuous desire, hatred etc. 140

When a man has fallen to the state of being swallowed up by the great shark of ignorance, he assumes to himself the various states superimposed upon him, and in a pitiful state wanders rising and sinking in the great ocean of Samsara. 141

Just as cloud formations, arising from the suns rays, obscure the sun and fill the sky, so the sense of self-identity, arising from one's true nature, obscures the existence of the true self and itself fills experience. 142

Just as the thick clouds covering the sun on a bad day are buffeted by cold, howling blasts of wind, so, when one's true nature is obscured by deep ignorance, the strong dispersive power torments the confused understanding with many afflictions. 143

It is from these powers that man's bondage has arisen. Confused by them, he mistakes the body for himself and wanders in error. 144

The seed of the Samsara tree is ignorance, identification with the body is its shoot, desire is its first leaves, activity its water, the bodily frame its trunk, the vital forces its branches, the faculties its twigs, the senses its flowers, the manifold pains arising from various actions its fruit, and the bird on it is the individual experiencing them. 145

Ignorance is the root of this bondage to what is not one's true nature, a bondage which is called beginningless and endless. It gives rise to the long course of suffering - birth, death, sickness, old age, etc. 146

It cannot be destroyed by weapons, wind or fire, nor even by countless actions - by nothing, in fact, except by the wonderful sword of wisdom, sharpened by God's grace. 147

He who is devoted to the authority of the scriptures achieves steadiness in his religious life, and that brings inner purity. The man of pure understanding comes to the experience of his true nature, and by this Samsara is destroyed, root and all. 148

One's true nature does not shine out when covered by the five sheaths, material and otherwise, although they are the product of its own power, like the water in a pool, covered with algae. 149

On removing the algae, the clean, thirst-quenching and joy-inducing water is revealed to a man. 150

maadhav · October 1, 2004

barney,

very good post.

i am sure you are not typing all these manually but copying and pasting it. If there is a web link to the source, please share it. if it is on a CD, please share the info about the source of the CD.

thanks.