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to know that in the heart the Self itself shines as Brahman? Master: Just as the elemental ether within the flame of a lamp is known to fill without any difference and without any limit both the inside and the outside of the flame, so also the knowledge-ether that is within the Self-light in the heart, fills without any difference and without any limit both the inside and the outside of that Self-light. This is what is referred to as Brahman. QUESTION 18 Disciple: How do the three states of experience, the three bodies, etc., which are imaginations, appear in the Self-light which is one, impartite and self-luminous? Even if they should appear, how is one to know that the Self alone remains ever unmoving? Master: The example The exemplified 1. The Lamp The Self 2. The door Sleep 3. The door-step Mahat-tattva 4. The inner wall Nescience or the causal body 5. The mirror The egoity 6. The windows The five cognitive sense-organs 7. The inner chamber Deep sleep in which the causal body is manifest 8. The middle chamber Dream in which the subtle body is manifest 9. The outer court Waking state in which the gross body is manifest The Self which is the lamp (1) shines of its own accord in the inner chamber, i.e., the causal body (7) that is endowed with nescience as the inner wall (4) and sleep as the door (2); when by the vital principle as conditioned by time, karma, etc., the sleep-door is opened, there occurs a reflection of the Self in the egoity-mirror (5) that is placed next to the door-step-Mahat-tattva; the egoity-mirror thus illumines the middle chamber, i.e., the dream state (8), and, through the windows which are the five cognitive sense-organs (6), the outer court, i.e., the waking state. When, again, by the vital principle as conditioned by time, karma, etc., the sleep-door gets shut, the egoity ceases along with waking and dream, and the Self alone ever shines. The example just given explains how the Self is unmoving, how there is difference between the Self and the egoity, and how the three states of experience, the three bodies, etc., appear.
QUESTION 19 Disciple: Although I have listened to the explanation of the characteristics of enquiry in such great detail, my mind has not gained even a little peace. What is the reason for this? Master: The reason is the absence of strength or one-pointedness of the mind. QUESTION 20 Disciple: What is the reason for the absence of mental strength? Master: The means that make one qualified for enquiry are meditation, yoga, etc. One should gain proficiency in these through graded practice, and thus secure a stream of mental modes that is natural and helpful. When the mind that has in this manner become ripe, listens to the present enquiry, it will at once realize its true nature which is the Self, and remain in perfect peace, without deviating from that state. To a mind which has not become ripe, immediate realization and peace are hard to gain through listening to enquiry. Yet, if one practices the means for mind-control for some time, peace of mind can be obtained eventually. QUESTION 21 Disciple: Of the means for mind-control, which is the most important? Master: Breath-control is the means for mind-control. QUESTION 22 Disciple: How is breath to be controlled? Master: Breath can be controlled either by absolute retention of breath (kevala-kumbhaka) or by regulation of breath (pranayama). Advaita Vedanta An introduction to Hinduism's most influential philosophy, with recommendations for further reading and links.ADVAITA VEDANTA is the most influential Hindu philosophy. Like all forms of Vedanta, it attempts to synthesize the teachings of the Upanishads into a single coherent doctrine. Unlike other forms of Vedanta, it teaches that there is only one real thing in the universe and that everything else is illusory.Advaita Vedanta is closely associated with Jnana Yoga, the yoga of knowledge. The concept of maya (literally "magic") distingushes Advaita Vedanta from other philosophies. Maya creates apparent multiplicity in a universe where only Brahman really exists. People sometimes refer to Advaita Vedanta by other names including nondualism, nonduality, monism, Mayavada, or the Sankara School. People also sometimes abbreviate the name to "Advaita" or "Vedanta." In this article, we'll call it Advaita . The Main Ideas of Advaita Vedanta According to Advaita, only the innermost part of you is aware or conscious. No other part of you can feel or see or know anything. The name in Sanskrit for this awareness is atman. It's the part of you that's really you, and it corresponds to the soul in Western philosophy. Only the Atman is aware Now here's where it gets interesting. According to Advaita, your atman (and mine and everybody's) is the same as the underlying absolute reality of the whole universe, which is called Brahman. Brahman corresponds to the Western idea of God, except that it isn't a a super-powerful person. It's impersonal; it's the source of everything; it's what the universe really is.In short, your inner self the true "me" is God. Brahman is what really is This idea, which is the fundamental idea of the Upanishads on which Advaita is based, can be expressed in the form of an
equation: Atman = BrahmanOr, in Western terms:Soul = God. Atman = Brahman What distinguishes Advaita from other interpretations of the Upanishads is this: Advaita asserts that since there is only one Brahman, there is only one Atman. There's only one "me" and we all share it. We're all one "thing" Brahman. There is only one awareness, Brahman Moreover, only Brahman is real. The other things in the universe, like bicycles and umbrellas and our bodies, are maya. Maya is illusory because it seems to be different from Brahman but it's not. Since maya misleads us in this way, and because it's impermanent, Advaita says that maya is unreal. The other things are maya, illusions The most important way that maya fools us is with regard to our selves. We think we are our bodies, our thoughts, our desires, and so forth. But those things are maya. They seem to be "me" but this is an illusion. Actually, our awareness (the part that is really "me") is something else: Brahman.This is an enormously strange and radical idea. It means that you aren't you; you aren't any kind of person, really. You are the supreme reality that underlies the entire universe. The person who seems to be in your head, the person you believe yourself to be, is merely a psychological illusion. Maya tricks us with regard to our selves. Why Does This Matter? Advaita Vedanta is important because by understanding it, you may be able to come closer to self-realization. In fact, by making the effort to understand it, you are engaging in Jnana Yoga, the yoga of knowledge, one of the traditional methods of attaining enlightenment.To see why this is so, you have to examine the idea that only the atman is aware. This idea is more subtle than it seems at first glance.If you close your eyes for a moment and try to focus your attention on your inner self, it will seem easy at first. You will be immediately aware of feelings, hopes, thoughts, desires, fears, and a general sense of yourself. This is the inner you, right?Well, no. According to Advaita, if you are aware of something, it isn't really you. The real you (the atman) is the part that's aware. It's not anything of which you are aware.Examine those inner objects on which you focused a moment ago. You were aware of them, weren't you? Even that feeling of "me" is something of which you were aware. Well, then, according to Advaita , it can't be the real you. The real you is the part that is aware, not anything that you're aware of.This kind of examination is called viveka (discrimination) in Sanskrit. It is a main component of the traditional method of Jnana Yoga. If you keep doing it, you will discover that everything you currently regard as yourself (including your ego and mind) is not aware. The awareness in you is different from those things. You can take this still further. Here is an interesting fact: No matter how hard you try, you can't focus your
attention on the part of you that is aware. If you could, it would become something of which you are aware.Making a strenuous attempt to do this, even though it's impossible, is a main component of Ramana Maharshi's method of self-inquiry (vicara in Sanskrit). If you try long enough, eventually you will become convinced that your ordinary sense of yourself your ego is not really you. In fact, you will realize that it's an illusion. (By the way, don't make the mistake of thinking that this is all there is to Ramana's method. Seeing that "you" are an illusion is a wonderful insight, but it's not self-realization.) RECOMMENDED READING The best overviews of Advaita Vedanta that we've seen are contained in the following books: S. Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy, Volume II; and S. Dasgupta, A History of Indian Philosophy, Volumes I and II.The Encyclopedia Britannica contains a good overview of Advaita Vedanta in the article called "Indian Philosophy" under the subheading "Vedanta." (The articles found directly under "Vedanta" and "Advaita" are not as good.)If you want to read the original philosophical works that created the Advaitin tradition, you should probably begin with Sankara. His most important books are Brahma Sutra Bhasya and his commentaries on various Upanisads. These books are highly technical and difficult to read. Some easier books such as Viveka-Chudamani (on our site here) and Atmabodhi were also traditionally attributed to him, but modern scholars have questioned whether he really wrote them. Probably the best all-around choice, if you want to try a single book of his, is Upadesa Sahasri.The Advaitan tradition recognizes three textual sources of special importance: the Upanishads (on our site here), Brahma Sutra (also known as the Vedanta Sutra), and Bhagavad Gita (on our site here).In addition to technical works of philosophy, the Advaitan tradition has generated a large number of literary works that are beautiful, entertaining, and helpful for the practice of Jnana Yoga. These include Yoga-Vasistha, Ashtavakra Gita (on our site here), and Avadhut Gita. (Several other works in this category are listed below under "Related Pages on This Site.")The Advaitan tradition has also produced a large number of books by gurus intended to help other people become self-realized. The two greatest authors in this category in recent times are Ramana Maharshi and Nisargadatta Maharaj. Several of Ramana's books are on this website. To find them, as well as other book recommendations, click here. For other gurus, including modern Western ones, see the "Links" section of our page on H.L. Poonja.
QUESTION 17 Disciple: How is one to know that in the heart the Self itself shines as Brahman? Master: Just as the elemental ether within the flame of a lamp is known to fill without any difference and without any limit both the inside and the outside of the flame, so also the knowledge-ether that is within the Self-light in the heart, fills without any difference and without any limit both the inside and the outside of that Self-light. This is what is referred to as Brahman. QUESTION 18 Disciple: How do the three states of experience, the three bodies, etc., which are imaginations, appear in the Self-light which is one, impartite and self-luminous? Even if they should appear, how is one to know that the Self alone remains ever unmoving? Master: The example The exemplified 1. The Lamp The Self 2. The door Sleep 3. The door-step Mahat-tattva 4. The inner wall Nescience or the causal body 5. The mirror The egoity 6. The windows The five cognitive sense-organs 7. The inner chamber Deep sleep in which the causal body is manifest 8. The middle chamber Dream in which the subtle body is manifest 9. The outer court Waking state in which the gross body is manifest The Self which is the lamp (1) shines of its own accord in the inner chamber, i.e., the causal body (7) that is endowed with nescience as the inner wall (4) and sleep as the door (2); when by the vital principle as conditioned by time, karma, etc., the sleep-door is opened, there occurs a reflection of the Self in the egoity-mirror (5) that is placed next to the door-step-Mahat-tattva; the egoity-mirror thus illumines the middle chamber, i.e., the dream state (8), and, through the windows which are the five cognitive sense-organs (6), the outer court, i.e., the waking state. When, again, by the vital principle as conditioned by time, karma, etc., the sleep-door gets shut, the egoity ceases along with waking and dream, and the Self alone ever shines. The example just given explains how the Self is unmoving, how there is difference between the Self and the egoity, and how the three states of experience, the three bodies, etc., appear. Sri NisargadattaMaharaj1897 1981FROM HIS LIVING room in the slums of Bombay, this self-realized master became famous for brilliant, aphoristic, extemporized talks in which he taught an austere, minimalist Jnana Yoga based on his own experience. Many of these talks have been published in books. The earliest volume, I Am That, is widely regarded as a modern classic by practitioners of applied Advaita. BIOGRAPHY Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj was born in Mumbai (Bombay) in March, 1897. His parents, who gave him the name Maruti, had a small farm at the village of Kandalgaon in Ratnagiri district in Mahrashtra. His father, Shivrampant, was a poor man who had been a servant in Bombay before turning to farming.Maruti worked on the farm as a boy. Although he grew up with little or no formal education, he was exposed to religious ideas by his father's friend Visnu
Haribhau Gore, a pious Brahman. Nisargadatta's birthplace Maruti's father died when the boy was eighteen, leaving behind his wife and six children. Maruti and his older brother left the farm to look for work in Mumbai. After a brief stint as a clerk, Maruti opened a shop selling children's clothes, tobacco, and leaf-rolled cigarettes, called beedies, which are popular in India. The shop was modestly successful and Maruti married in 1924. A son and three daughters soon followed. When Maruti was 34, a friend of his, Yashwantrao Baagkar, introduced him to his guru, Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj, the head of the Inchegeri branch of the Navanath Sampradaya. The guru gave a mantra and some instructions to Maruti and died soon after. Sri Nisargadatta later recalled: Nisargadatta's guru, Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj My Guru ordered me to attend to the sense 'I am' and to give attention to nothing else. I just obeyed. I did not follow any particular course of breathing, or meditation, or study of scriptures. Whatever happened, I would turn away my attention from it and remain with the sense 'I am'. It may look too simple, even crude. My only reason for doing it was that my Guru told me so. Yet it worked!1 1. I Am That, Chapter 75, p. 375. Within three years, Maruti realized himself and took the new name Nisargadatta. He became a saddhu and walked barefoot to the Himalayas, but eventually returned to Mumbai where he lived for the rest of his life, working as a cigarette vendor and giving religious instruction in his home.The success of I Am That, first published in English translation in 1973, made him internationally famous and brought many Western devotees to the tenement apartment where he gave satsangs.At the time of his death in 1981 he was his guru's successor as the head of the Inchegari branch of the Navanath Sampradaya. He was 84 years old. Nisargadatta smoked and sold beedies, popular Indian cigarettes rolled in tendu leaves instead of paper. HIS TEACHINGS Sri Nisargadatta's teachings defy summarization, but he frequently recommended the practice that had led to his own realization in less than three years: Just keep in mind the feeling "I am," merge in it, till your mind and feeling become one. By repeated attempts you will stumble on the right balance of attention and affection and your mind will be firmly established in the thought-feeling "I am."2 2. I Am That, Chapter 16, p. 48. RELATED PAGES ON THIS SITE This site includes excerpts from two books by Sri Nisargadatta, The Nectar of Immortality and The Ultimate Medicine.We have reference pages on Advaita Vedanta, the philosophy associated with Sri Nisargadatta's teachings, and Jnana Yoga, the practical application of that philosophy. These pages contain articles, links, and book recommendations. LINKS TO OTHER SITES There are two transcripts of talks by Sri Nisargadatta on Rudra's page. For transcripts of talks by Sri Nisargadatta's teacher, Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj, go to Sadguru.com. Hur Guler's site includes some wonderful things including this article by Cathy Boucher. There is a biography on Ananda's
Site. There are lots of links to other sites on Prahlad. RECOMMENDED BOOKS I Am ThatBy Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj More than five hundred pages of transcribed conversations allow you to eavesdrop on Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, the most famous teacher of Advaita since Ramana Maharshi, as he sits in his living room and answers questions from visitors who have come to ask what they should do to become enlightened. Sri Nisargadatta described what it felt like to be in his state at considerable length, and he did so with a prodigiously intelligent, uncannily articulate modern vocabulary. The force of the language makes this is a unique and astonishing work. Sri Nisargadatta's talks were given in Marathi and translated into English by Maurice Frydman, who had been a devotee of Ramana Maharshi. An American book dealer who carries many books about meditation and Advaita has told us that this book is his number-one seller. Where to order it In the U.S.:KalpataruBlue DoveBooks Beyond Words In Europe:InnerQuest I Am That:Talks with Sri Nisargadatta MaharajBy Sri Nisargadatta MaharajTranslated by Maurice FrydmanEdited by Sudhakar S. Dikshit Paperback.550 pages.Published by Acorn Press (1973).ISBN 0893860220 The Nectar of ImmortalityBy Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj This book contains transcripts of 21 talks given by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj in 1980, shortly before his death. The talks include "Prior to Conception, What Was I?" and "To Know What One Is, One Must Know One's Beginning." This volume resembles another book by the same editor, The Ultimate Medicine, which was compiled from talks given six months later. Where to order it Amazon. The Nectar of Immortality:Sri Nisargadatta's Discourses on the EternalEdited by Robert Powell Paperback. 187 pages.Published by Blue Dove Press (1987).ISBN 1884997139 The Ultimate MedicineBy Sri Nisargadatta MaharajEdited by Robert Powell This book contains transcripts of conversations that Sri Nisargadatta held with visitors about a year before his death, when he was 83 years old and sick with cancer. Although it affords extraordinary glimpses into the mind of a man who had been self-realized for over half a century, the tone is occasionally impatient and even cranky. This is a good book to read after you've finished I Am That. Where to order it Amazon. The Ultimate Medicine: As Prescribed by Sri Nisargadatta MaharajEdited by Robert Powell
Self-Enquiry By Ramana Maharshi Contents Previous Next QUESTION 15 Disciple: The mind, sense-organs, etc., have the ability to perceive; yet why are they regarded as perceived objects? Master: Drik (knower) Drisya (known object) 1. The seer Pot (i e. the seen object) Further 2. The eye organ Body, pot, etc. 3. The sense of sight The eye organ 4. The mind The sense of sight 5. The individual soul The mind 6. Consciousness (the Self) The individual soul As shown in the above scheme, since we, the consciousness, know all objects, we are said to be drik (knower). The categories ending with pot are the objects seen, since they are what are known. In the table of 'knowledge: ignorance (i.e. knower-known)' given above, among the knowers and objects of knowledge, it is seen that one is knower in relation to another; yet, since that one is object in relation to another, none of those categories is, in reality, the knower. Although we are said to be the 'knower' because we know all, and not the 'known' because we are not known by anything else, we are said to be the 'knower' only in relation to the known objects. In truth, however, what is called the 'known' is not apart from us. And so we are the Reality that transcends those two (the knower and the known). All the others fall within the knower-known categories. QUESTION 16 Disciple: How do egoity, soul, self, and Brahman come to be identified? Master: The example The exemplified 1. The iron ball Egoity 2. The heated iron ball The soul which appears as a superimposition on the Self 3. The fire that is in the heated iron ball The light of consciousness, i.e. the immutable Brahman, which shines in the soul in everybody 4. The flame of fire which remains as one The all-pervading Brahman which remains as one From the examples given above, it will be clear how egoity, soul, witness, and All-witness come to be identified. Just as in the wax-lump that is with the smith numerous and varied metal particles lie included and all of them appear to be one wax-lump, so also in deep sleep the gross and subtle bodies of all the individual souls are included in the cosmic maya which is nescience, of the nature of sheer darkness, and since the souls are resolved in the Self becoming one with it, they see everywhere darkness alone. From the darkness of sleep, the subtle body, viz. egoity, and from that (egoity) the gross body arise respectively. Even as the egoity arises, it appears superimposed on the nature of the Self, like the heated iron ball. Thus, without the soul (jiva) which is the mind or egoity that is conjoined with the Consciousness-light, there is no witness of the soul, viz. the Self, and without the Self there is no Brahman that is the All-witness. Just as when the iron ball is beaten into various shapes by the smith, the fire that is in it does not change thereby in any manner, even
so the soul may be involved in ever so many experiences and undergo pleasures and pains, and yet the Self-light that is in it does not change in the least thereby, and like the ether it is the all-pervasive pure knowledge that is one, and it shines in the heart as Brahman.