Belief in personal Gods rituals, Guru worship, mantras, and prayers belongs to religion, not spirituality.
A Guru who preaches conduct as the means to freedom believes in birth, life, death, and the world as a reality, whereas the Advaitic Sage Sankara declares the world as unreal. Therefore, how actions performed in the unreal world can get moksha or freedom. Therefore, there is a need to realize the fact that the ‘Self’ is not physical in order to understand and assimilate and realize the truth which is hidden by the dualistic illusion or Maya.
Mundaka Upanishad condemns rituals. The Para or Higher knowledge is the knowledge of the Supreme Being while the Apara or Lower Knowledge is that of following sacrificial rites and ceremonies. (1/2/ 1 – 6)
As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, the person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view himself in terms of the caste into which he is born, his age, the stage of his life, his standing in society, etc. In addition, he is required to perform rituals all through his life. However, the 'Self' has none of those attributes or tags. Hence, the person who superimposes all those attributes on the changeless, eternal Self and identifies the ‘Self’ with the body is confusing one for the other; and is, therefore, an ignorant person.
The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.
In short, the person who engages in rituals with the notion “I am a doer or thinker” according to Sage Sankara, is ignorant, as his behavior implies a distinct, separate doer or thinker and an object that is to be done/achieved/known.
The ‘I’ is duality. The duality is ignorance, an error that can be removed by Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. This ignorance (mistaking the body for Self) brings in its wake a desire for the well-being of the body, aversion for its disease or discomfort, fear of its destruction and thus a host of miseries (anartha).
Sage Sankara elsewhere explains that, when such acts are performed by a person without desire for the fruits of his actions, by recognizing the reality that there is neither a “doer” nor an “object”, then that instills in him the desire for Brahma-vidya, which takes him closer to Vidya.
Sage Sankara affirming his belief in one eternal unchanging reality (Brahman) and the illusion of plurality, drives home the point that Upanishads deal not with rituals but with the knowledge of the Absolute (Brahma Vidya) and the Upanishads give us an insight into the essential nature of the Self which is identical with the Absolute, the Brahman.
Sage Sankara states wisdom can eliminate ignorance, but the ignorance it eliminates is not the real because it has no existence of its own. Once the error is removed the Universe (Brahman) will reveal of its own accord.
Sage Sankara explains darkness and light are distinct from each other in their nature and in their functions. Darkness has no existence of its own; it is merely the absence of light. Whereas, the light is positive and helps vision. Darkness and light can neither coexist nor share their functions or nature. Darkness is an error that can be removed.
Sage Sankara says that an individual’s experience cannot be disputed because the experience he went through was real to him; though that may not be the real from the absolute point of view. Sage Sankara makes a distinction between the absolute view and the relative view of things.
Sage Sankara: ~ “In short, what the person does is, he imposes his transactional experience (relative or dual) over the transcendental (absolute) and accepts the former as real. That subjective experience need not be proved or disproved. However, the confusion it created can be removed by wisdom (vidya). According to Sage Sankara the world we experience is not absolutely real but it is not false either. The reality is that which cannot be negated and that which is beyond contradiction.
Sage Sankara is careful to point out that the two dimensions – Vyavaharika and Paramarthika- are two levels of experiential variations. It does not mean they are two orders of reality. They are only two perspectives. Whatever that is there is REAL and is not affected by our views.
Sage Sankara: ~ The Self in the vyavaharika context is saririka (embodied Self); it encounters the world. However, the Self, in reality, is not saririka; it is absolute, asaririka and is infinite. The infinite Self, perceived as the limited Self (jiva) is what Sage Sri, Sankara calls as adhyasa.
Sage Sankara:~ The dichotomy between being an individual-in-the-world (jiva) and being originally a pure, transcendental consciousness (atman) is taken by Sage Sankara as merely superficial. According to Sage Sankara, it is due to Avidya that the individual fails to see the nexus between Being and the world. That nexus indicates the oneness underlying the subject-object, inner-outer, Man-Nature distinctions. All that is required is to remove the error and the universe will shine on its own accord.
Sage Sankara: ~ “The analogy given in the text is that of a pond that is clear and undisturbed. One can see the bottom of the pond through its still water. When, however, pebbles are thrown into the pond, the water in it is disturbed and the bottom of the pond becomes no longer visible. That bottom, however, is there all the time and it remains unchanged, no matter whether the surface water is disturbed or not. The water in the pond is the transactional world. The bottom of the pond is the transcendental reality. The disturbance created is Avidya.
Sage Sankara:~Extending the concept of adhyasa, Sage Sankara says, we superimpose the body, the sense organs and the mind on the Self(infinite) and we use expressions like: ‘I am fat’, ‘I am thin’, ‘I am white’, ‘I am black’, ‘I stand’, ‘I go’, ‘I am dumb’, ‘I am deaf’, ‘I think’, ‘I am not going to fight’, ‘I shall renounce’ and so on. In this way, we superimpose our mind on the Atman, which is the eternal witness. We do it the other way also by superimposing Self on the mind, the non-Self. According to Sage Sankara, the relationship between the mind and 'Self' involves mutual superimposition (itaretara-adhyasa). This relation is false since there cannot be any real relation between the Self and the non-Self. This confusion or adhyasa is innate to us and is a matter of common experience.
Sage Sankara says the purpose of Upanishads is to remove adhyasa or Avidya; and once it is removed, Brahman will shine of its accord, for it is the only reality. This doctrine of Sage Sankara became the nucleus for the development of the Advaita school of thought.
As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, the person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view himself in terms of the caste into which he is born, his age, the stage of his life, his standing in society, etc. In addition, he is required to perform rituals all through his life. However, the 'Self' has none of those attributes or tags. Hence, the person who superimposes all those attributes on the changeless, eternal Self and identifies Self with the body is confusing one for the other; and is, therefore, an ignorant person. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.
This ignorance (mistaking the body for the Self) brings in its wake a desire for the well-being of the body, aversion for its disease or discomfort, fear of its destruction and thus a host of miseries(anartha). This anartha is caused by projecting karthvya(“doer” sense) and bhokthavya(object) on the Atman. Sage Sankara calls this adhyasa. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are, therefore, he says, addressed to an ignorant person.
In short, a person who engages in rituals with the notion “I am an agent, doer, thinker”, according to Sage Sankara, is ignorant, as his behavior implies a distinct, separate doer/agent/knower; and an object that is to be done/achieved/known. That duality is Avidya, an error that can be removed by Vidya
Sage Sankara elsewhere explains that, when such acts are performed by a person without desire for the fruits of his actions, by recognizing the reality that there is neither a “doer” nor an “object”, then that instills in him the desire for Brahma-vidya, which takes him closer to Vidya.
Sage Sankara affirming his belief in one eternal unchanging reality (Brahman) and the illusion of plurality, drives home the point that Upanishads deal not with rituals but with the knowledge of the Absolute (Brahma Vidya) and the Upanishads give us an insight into the essential nature of the Self which is identical with the Absolute, the Brahman.:~Santthosh Kumaar
As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, the person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view himself in terms of the caste into which he is born, his age, the stage of his life, his standing in society, etc. In addition, he is required to perform rituals all through his life. However, the 'Self' has none of those attributes or tags. Hence, the person who superimposes all those attributes on the changeless, eternal Self and identifies the ‘Self’ with the body is confusing one for the other; and is, therefore, an ignorant person.
The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.
In short, the person who engages in rituals with the notion “I am a doer or thinker” according to Sage Sankara, is ignorant, as his behavior implies a distinct, separate doer or thinker and an object that is to be done/achieved/known.
The ‘I’ is duality. The duality is ignorance, an error that can be removed by Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. This ignorance (mistaking the body for Self) brings in its wake a desire for the well-being of the body, aversion for its disease or discomfort, fear of its destruction and thus a host of miseries (anartha).
Sage Sankara elsewhere explains that, when such acts are performed by a person without desire for the fruits of his actions, by recognizing the reality that there is neither a “doer” nor an “object”, then that instills in him the desire for Brahma-vidya, which takes him closer to Vidya.
Sage Sankara affirming his belief in one eternal unchanging reality (Brahman) and the illusion of plurality, drives home the point that Upanishads deal not with rituals but with the knowledge of the Absolute (Brahma Vidya) and the Upanishads give us an insight into the essential nature of the Self which is identical with the Absolute, the Brahman.
Sage Sankara states wisdom can eliminate ignorance, but the ignorance it eliminates is not the real because it has no existence of its own. Once the error is removed the Universe (Brahman) will reveal of its own accord.
Sage Sankara explains darkness and light are distinct from each other in their nature and in their functions. Darkness has no existence of its own; it is merely the absence of light. Whereas, the light is positive and helps vision. Darkness and light can neither coexist nor share their functions or nature. Darkness is an error that can be removed.
Sage Sankara says that an individual’s experience cannot be disputed because the experience he went through was real to him; though that may not be the real from the absolute point of view. Sage Sankara makes a distinction between the absolute view and the relative view of things.
Sage Sankara: ~ “In short, what the person does is, he imposes his transactional experience (relative or dual) over the transcendental (absolute) and accepts the former as real. That subjective experience need not be proved or disproved. However, the confusion it created can be removed by wisdom (vidya). According to Sage Sankara the world we experience is not absolutely real but it is not false either. The reality is that which cannot be negated and that which is beyond contradiction.
Sage Sankara is careful to point out that the two dimensions – Vyavaharika and Paramarthika- are two levels of experiential variations. It does not mean they are two orders of reality. They are only two perspectives. Whatever that is there is REAL and is not affected by our views.
Sage Sankara: ~ The Self in the vyavaharika context is saririka (embodied Self); it encounters the world. However, the Self, in reality, is not saririka; it is absolute, asaririka and is infinite. The infinite Self, perceived as the limited Self (jiva) is what Sage Sri, Sankara calls as adhyasa.
Sage Sankara:~ The dichotomy between being an individual-in-the-world (jiva) and being originally a pure, transcendental consciousness (atman) is taken by Sage Sankara as merely superficial. According to Sage Sankara, it is due to Avidya that the individual fails to see the nexus between Being and the world. That nexus indicates the oneness underlying the subject-object, inner-outer, Man-Nature distinctions. All that is required is to remove the error and the universe will shine on its own accord.
Sage Sankara: ~ “The analogy given in the text is that of a pond that is clear and undisturbed. One can see the bottom of the pond through its still water. When, however, pebbles are thrown into the pond, the water in it is disturbed and the bottom of the pond becomes no longer visible. That bottom, however, is there all the time and it remains unchanged, no matter whether the surface water is disturbed or not. The water in the pond is the transactional world. The bottom of the pond is the transcendental reality. The disturbance created is Avidya.
Sage Sankara:~Extending the concept of adhyasa, Sage Sankara says, we superimpose the body, the sense organs and the mind on the Self(infinite) and we use expressions like: ‘I am fat’, ‘I am thin’, ‘I am white’, ‘I am black’, ‘I stand’, ‘I go’, ‘I am dumb’, ‘I am deaf’, ‘I think’, ‘I am not going to fight’, ‘I shall renounce’ and so on. In this way, we superimpose our mind on the Atman, which is the eternal witness. We do it the other way also by superimposing Self on the mind, the non-Self. According to Sage Sankara, the relationship between the mind and 'Self' involves mutual superimposition (itaretara-adhyasa). This relation is false since there cannot be any real relation between the Self and the non-Self. This confusion or adhyasa is innate to us and is a matter of common experience.
Sage Sankara says the purpose of Upanishads is to remove adhyasa or Avidya; and once it is removed, Brahman will shine of its accord, for it is the only reality. This doctrine of Sage Sankara became the nucleus for the development of the Advaita school of thought.
As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, the person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view himself in terms of the caste into which he is born, his age, the stage of his life, his standing in society, etc. In addition, he is required to perform rituals all through his life. However, the 'Self' has none of those attributes or tags. Hence, the person who superimposes all those attributes on the changeless, eternal Self and identifies Self with the body is confusing one for the other; and is, therefore, an ignorant person. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.
This ignorance (mistaking the body for the Self) brings in its wake a desire for the well-being of the body, aversion for its disease or discomfort, fear of its destruction and thus a host of miseries(anartha). This anartha is caused by projecting karthvya(“doer” sense) and bhokthavya(object) on the Atman. Sage Sankara calls this adhyasa. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are, therefore, he says, addressed to an ignorant person.
In short, a person who engages in rituals with the notion “I am an agent, doer, thinker”, according to Sage Sankara, is ignorant, as his behavior implies a distinct, separate doer/agent/knower; and an object that is to be done/achieved/known. That duality is Avidya, an error that can be removed by Vidya
Sage Sankara elsewhere explains that, when such acts are performed by a person without desire for the fruits of his actions, by recognizing the reality that there is neither a “doer” nor an “object”, then that instills in him the desire for Brahma-vidya, which takes him closer to Vidya.
Sage Sankara affirming his belief in one eternal unchanging reality (Brahman) and the illusion of plurality, drives home the point that Upanishads deal not with rituals but with the knowledge of the Absolute (Brahma Vidya) and the Upanishads give us an insight into the essential nature of the Self which is identical with the Absolute, the Brahman.:~Santthosh Kumaar
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.