Tag: shankara

Steady Wisdom: Day 108

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Steady Wisdom: 108 Verses On Changing My Thinking

DAY 108

There is no need to meditate or hold any thought in my mind.  I am the ever-free self.  How could meditation change that? 
-Ashtavakra Samhita 15:20
Meditation

The act of meditation cannot merge me with the self or transform me into the self because I already am the self.  Concentration of the mind (or lack thereof) can never change that. 

Doing nididhyasana, therefore, can only concentrate the mind on the truth of who I already am.  If this mental process succeeds, I am the ever-free self.  If this mental process fails, I am the ever-free self.  This is the true nididhyasana.  OM. 

But…

O great one, spend your time seeing yourself in all situations everywhere, recognizing yourself as the non-dual self and enjoying the ananada that is your very nature. 
-Vivekachudamani

All things considered equal, as long as the body is alive, the mind will dwell on one thing or another.  Why not let it dwell on its true nature as the self, which is ever-present and full, rather than the illusory objects of the world, which are transient and empty of inherent value?

Steady Wisdom: Day 107

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Steady Wisdom: 108 Verses On Changing My Thinking

DAY 107

I am brahman.
-Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10
Meditation

I am that brahman which revealed itself to the rishis.  I am that brahman described by their words in the Upanishads.  I am that brahman expounded on by the venerable acharyas of the Vedanta lineage.  I am that brahman revered by the great saints and mystics. 

Impelled by the rishis, informed by the instruction of the acharyas, and inspired by the devotion of the saints and mystics, I previously sought to find brahman.  How odd!  I am brahman and I was brahman all along. OM.    

Read Series Introduction     

Steady Wisdom: Day 106

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Steady Wisdom: 108 Verses On Changing My Thinking

DAY 106

In these words I’ve proclaimed the vision of the highest reality, the supreme conclusion of Vedanta.  If a man becomes convinced of it, he is liberated.  Like space, he is no longer tainted by activity in this world.
-Shankara (Upadesha Sahasri 10:14, Metrical)
Meditation

I have seen the vision of the highest reality and it is, “I am brahman.”  Now that this is clear, I understand that I have always been free and I will always be free.  The illusory body-mind and its activities in the equally illusory world appear in me like objects appearing in space.  Similar to the way that space is never tainted, divided or changed in any way by the objects that appear in it, I am never tainted, divided or changed in any way when the body-mind and the world appear in me.  OM.

Read Series Introduction

Steady Wisdom: Day 105

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Steady Wisdom: 108 Verses On Changing My Thinking

DAY 105 – Week 15 Progress Check

The steady-minded one who knows their nature [to be the self] understands that all that is seen has no real existence.  Why should they consider one thing acceptable and another unacceptable? 
-Ashtavakra Samhita 3:13
Meditation

I am the self.  All that is seen (the body-mind and world) is but an appearance that has no reality apart from me, reality itself, similar to the way that a clay pot is but an appearance that has no reality apart from clay.  Just as a clay pot is but a relative appearance that in truth is absolutely nothing other than clay, the body-mind and world is but an appearance that in truth is nothing other than me, the absolute itself. 

If the body-mind and world are unreal, then how can they really be acceptable or unacceptable?  Alternately, if the body-mind and world are none other than myself, how can I who transcends all duality be either acceptable or unacceptable? OM. 

Read Series Introduction  

Steady Wisdom: Day 102

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Steady Wisdom: 108 Verses On Changing My Thinking

DAY 102

That one without a second, of the nature of consciousness, space-like, transcendent, ever-shining, unborn, indestructible, taintless, omnipresent—I am that.  I am ever-free.  OM. 
-Upadesha Sahasri 10:1 (Metrical)
Meditation

I am consciousness, the self-evident reality, one without a second.  Nothing other than me exists, so there is nothing to limit me, there is nothing to taint me.  Like all-pervasive space is untouched and undivided by the objects it accommodates, I am untouched and undivided by the illusory objects that appear in me. 

Because I am existence itself, I was never born, for there is never a time when existence did not exist.  Because I was never born, I am not subject to death (destruction).  I am ever-free because I was never bound.  OM. 

Read Series Introduction