Hari OM
'Text-days' are for delving into the
words and theory of Advaita Vedanta.
We are now studying Aatmabodha. As
always, with each week, you are encouraged to review the previous teachings and
spend some time in contemplation of the meanings as the affect your life.
Please do consider purchasing the text. Remember, also, to recite the mangala charana before each study and
review the lessons before each new one.
We
reach the final shloka of this text. Make no mistake...this is only the
beginning!
idGdezkala*npeúy
svRg<
zItaidùiÚTysuo< inrÃnm!,
ySSvaTmtIwR<
_ajte ivini:³y>
s svRivTsvRgtae=m&tae _avet!.68.
Digdesha-kaalaadyanepekshya
sarvagam
shiitaadihRnnitya-sukham niranjanam,
Yassvaatmatiirtham
bhajate vinishkriyaH
sa sarvavitsarvagato-mRto bhavet ||68||
One who renounces all activities, who is free of all
the limitations of time, space and direction, who worships his own Aatman -
which is present everywhere, which is the destroyer of heat and cold, which is
stainless and eternal Bliss - becomes All-Knowing and All-Pervading and
thereafter attains immortality.
Note
that the chchhandas (meter) changes. This is to emphasise the import of this
concluding shloka. Aatman awaits. Only those who are prepared to work hard in
gaining not just book knowledge but putting into practice the various
'experiments' in order to prove the theories for themselves will make their way
to the Reunion with Self.
The
Truth is something which is beyond all ability for physical sciences to
approach. Only spiritual science can hope to do this - but only then when the
conditions are perfect for it.
The
dreamer, on waking, knows the dream to have been false, despite having felt so
very real whilst s/he was still in that dream. Likewise, the alert and limited
ego-self, on transcending the body-mind-intellect equipment in which it
travels, itself discovers all this to be but 'dream' and that it, the jiiva, is
nothing other than That, the Aatman. Immortal, without beginning and without
end.
Hari
Om.
SADHANA.
When
we studied Tattva-bodaH, we were introduced to the Rsis concepts on the
physical nature of creation and how this world manifests before us. Here in
Aatmabodha, we have been asked to look beyond the physical and have been
offered teasing glimpses of what is available to the philosophical seeker.
You
are reminded that sitting reading this - or any book on self development and
spiritual practice - is of no value unless you are actively making use of what
is learned. In doing this, it is also necessary to take a measure every now and
then, to ascertain whether one is actually moving forward or is just stuck in
the same place with a few extra words in the one's vocabulary. In a live
gurukula situation, the Guru would - without warning and at any time of night
or day - approach a shishya and demand a response to some question… or test the
application of the philosophy, by challenging them with a task. Part of the
Guru's remit is to assist the shishya in the burning of their ego.
Here
at AV-blog, little is asked of you. On this occasion, however, there are going
to be some questions posted next week. Your
sadhana this week is to review the text as thoroughly as you are able.
Pay particular attention to the thought-flow of the text, how it moves through
the analogies, raising the seeker a little higher each time.
You
are encouraged to ask your own questions, using the comments box or the contacts form. One of
the pitfalls of self-study is that we can think we have 'got it', but - without
the guidance of the qualified teacher - may have missed a key point or have
misapplied the contexts and subtleties. No question or doubt should be left
unasked. No assumptions should be made.
