End Of Knowledge

Tag: non-duality

  • 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 44

    Steady Wisdom: 108 Verses On Changing My Thinking

    DAY 44

    My nature is pure consciousness.  The body, heaven and hell, bondage and freedom are merely imagined through ignorance. They do not affect me. There is nothing to fear. 
    -Ashtavakra Samhita 2:20
    Meditation

    Knowing that I am the self, I need not seek heaven nor fear hell.  I need not seek freedom nor fear bondage.  They are all illusory appearances of me, pure consciousness, similar to the way a dream is an illusory appearance of the mind of a dreamer.  Just as a dreamer is not affected by its dreams, I am not affected by the illusory appearance of heaven, hell, freedom and bondage.  OM. 

    Read Series Introduction

  • 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 42

    Steady Wisdom: 108 Verses On Changing My Thinking

    DAY 42

    In me there is neither existence nor non-existence, purity nor impurity.  I am neither everything nor am I nothing.  Dear mind, you are none other than me.  There is no reason to grieve. 
    -Avadhuta Gita 5:8
    Meditation

    Dear mind, stop causing yourself undue stress by trying to define me as existence, non-existence etc.  I am your very essence, that which cannot be defined by words or concepts.  Rest easy. OM.

    Read Series Introduction 

  • Steady Wisdom: Day 41

    Steady Wisdom: 108 Verses On Changing My Thinking

    DAY 41

    I am free from the workings of the mind.  In truth there is no empirical world or absolute reality, no happiness or misery.
    -Ashtavakra Samhita 20:10
    Meditation

    The mind always thinks of things in terms of opposites such as the relative vs. the absolute or happiness vs. misery.  But I am free from the workings of the mind so I am untouched by these distinctions.  I am the non-dual reality that makes dualistic thinking possible; and yet, I am unaffected by it. OM.

    Read Series Introduction