End Of Knowledge

Tag: Advaita Vedanta

  • What are the Primary Texts of Advaita Vedanta?

    Q: What are the primary texts of Advaita Vedanta?  

    A: There are three primary texts of Advaita Vedanta. Together they form what is called the prasthana traya, the “three means” or “three foundations/pillars” of Vedanta.

    The first primary text is actually a group of texts called the Upanishads. In turn, the revelations of the Upanishads form the basis of the other two primary Vedanta texts: The Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita. The Brahma Sutras are an attempt to systematize the teachings of the Upanishads and harmonize their internal inconsistencies. The Bhagavad Gita takes the essential teachings of the Upanishads and puts them into a story form that is easier for people to relate to and learn from.

    A note:  There are many Upanishads but the ten most commonly cited by Vedanta are the Aitreya, Brihadaranyaka, Chandogya, Isa, Kena, Katha, Mandukya, Mundaka, Prashna and Taittiriya.  These are considered to be the mukhya (primary) Upanishads because they were commented on by Shankaracharya, Advaita Vedanta’s greatest teacher.  Shankara also supposedly commented on the Svetasvatara Upanishad but because the style of this commentary differs from his commentaries on the ten other Upanishads (as well as the style of his commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita and Brahma Sutras) it is widely believed to be spurious.  Some, however, claim that the Svetasvatara commentary was originally an authentic work of Shankara but was later heavily re-worked by other authors to arrive at its present form.  As such, it’s still thought of as a useful tool for teaching Vedanta.  But it’s not considered to be a reliable guide to Shankara’s interpretation of Vedanta. 

    Another significant Upanishad, despite not being commented upon by Shankara, is the Kaivalya Upanishad.   

    Hope that helps – Vishnu

  • Steady Wisdom: Day 43

    Steady Wisdom: 108 Verses On Changing My Thinking

    DAY 43

    In truth there are no scriptures, no gods, no religious practices; there are no worlds; there are no paths to heaven or rebirth; there are no stages of life, no caste, no lineage.  There is only me, the highest reality.
    -Avadhuta Gita 1:34
    Meditation

    Although I appear to have been born at a particular place and time to a particular family, and although I appear to have worshipped God and done religious practices to purify my mind, the truth I have realized from the scriptures is that I alone exist—all else is ultimately illusory.  Thus, I followed the path, thinking it would lead to freedom.  But it merely led me to the recognition of the fact that I have always been free. OM.      

    Read Series Introduction

  • Steady Wisdom: Day 32

    Steady Widsom: 108 Verses On Changing My Thinking

    DAY 32

    I am not the ever-changing body and mind.  I am unchanging, non-dual consciousness.
    – Ashtavakra Samhita 1:13
    Meditation

    It is undeniable that the body and mind change from year to year, day to day and moment to moment.  But how do I know this?  Because I am the consciousness that illuminates the body and mind.  Just as the sun is unchanged by the things it illuminates, I am unchanged by the body and mind.

    Read Series Introduction

  • Steady Wisdom: Day 31

    Steady Wisdom: 108 Verses On Changing My Thinking

    DAY 31

    I am other than the body so there is no birth, death, or decrepitude for me.  The senses do not belong to me so I am uninvolved with, and unaffected by, the objects of the senses such as sound etc. 
    -Atma Bodha V.33
    Meditation

    The body is a temporary form that arises in me, pure being, like the form of a pot arising from clay.  Just as clay is present and unaffected before, during and after the arising of the pot, so am I present and unaffected before, during and after the arising of the body.  Therefore, there is no birth, death or decrepitude for me. 

    The senses are temporary forms that appear in me, pure consciousness, like waves arising from water.  Just as a wave cannot belong to water because a wave is nothing separate or different from water, the senses cannot belong to me because they are nothing separate or different from me, pure consciousness.  Just as water is unaffected (fundamentally unchanged) by a wave, so am I unaffected by the senses and their objects. 

    Read Series Introduction

  • Steady Wisdom: Day 28

    Steady Wisdom: 108 Verses On Changing My Thinking

    DAY 28

    The fact is that I am not conscious of anything either within or outside myself, either one at a time or simultaneously.  Nor am I non-consciousness.  Therefore I am neither a hearer nor a thinker, nor a knower of anything; I am the eternal, inmost witnessing consciousness.
    – Sarva Vedanta Siddhanta Sara Sangraha V.840
    Meditation

    I am consciousness—I alone exist.  Because there is only me, there is nothing within myself or outside of myself to be known, either one at a time as a series of thoughts or all at the same time as a group of thoughts. But how can I not be a knower if I am not non-consciousness?  It is because knowing is a function of the mind, the same as hearing and thinking.  As eternal witnessing consciousness I do not actively know the functions of the mind.  Rather, I passively reveal the mind, similar to the way the sun passively illuminates the comings and goings of the world.  Since anything revealed is none other than myself, nothing is ever truly revealed.  OM. 

    Read Series Introduction