Self Knowledge

Self Knowledge – Shankara (788-820 A.D).

Shankara taught Vedanta, also known as the concluding chapter of the Vedas. The Vedas include the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.

Our main focus is on the Non Dualism as taught by Shankara.

Shankar’s view on action and performing of duty:

The nature of the Atman or Soul is Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. It is the very embodiment of Peace, Desirelessness, Perfection, Truth, Beauty, Infinity and Eternity.

On account of maya, or ignorance, man has forgotten his true nature and finds himself entangled in the relative world of good and evil, pain and pleasure, life and death and the other pairs of opposites.

From the cradle to the grave, the un-illumined soul engages in ceaseless action, striving to shun evil and realize the good.

But his activities are influenced by love and hate, attachment and aversion, and he hopes to experience, through action, infinite and external happiness in the outside world. He roams aimlessly in samsara, the world of change and becoming, rising or falling according to the result of his action.

Only gradually does he discover the impossibility of attaining happiness through works associated with I-consciousness and the desire for results. 

Infinite blessedness is not attainable through any finite action governed by the law of cause and effect.

Man must learn that for work to have a spiritual effect he must perform work as yoga that is to say, the doer must regard himself as an instrument of God, and surrender the results of his action to God and remain unruffled by love or hate.

Work performed in this spirit purifies the heart and prepares it for meditation and Self Knowledge.

The doer of the works must remains satisfied with what comes of its own accord, without feeling of attachment to the results of his action, devoting himself with heart and soul to the contemplation of his Soul, his true reality.

By the means of knowledge, or Jnana, man can realize the true nature of the soul, attain peace, and becomes liberated from the endless suffering of the world.

Then the liberated man engages in service to humanity, but his activities are quite different from those of an un-illumined person.

He is free from I consciousness and the longing for results. He never loses the knowledge of the soul.

Gunas: In his actions he recognizes the influence of the gunas, which constitute man’s physical nature; but the soul is always at peace.

Thus, though appearing to be active, he is really action-less.

He sees non action in action.

If the soul is identified with action even to the slightest degree, it has not realized its true nature.    

Non Dualistic Concept of God:

Shankara held Ultimate reality to be beyond name and form and of the nature of pure consciousness.

He also taught that the direct realization of God or Brahman is not by worship, but through the path of knowledge, which consists in the hearing of instructions, reflecting on its meaning and meditating on Truth with single minded devotion.

Philosophical discrimination (viveka) and renunciation of the unreal constitute for Shankara the basic discipline for the realization of the Absolute.

Shankara was aware, that few aspirants are strong enough for the steep path of jnana yoga. The majority require tangible symbols of Truth, anthropomorphic or otherwise and also a human relationship with a personal God.

For them prayer and supplication form an indispensable part of worship.

Out of compassion for those, Shankara composed many hymns in praise of Shiva, Vishnu and Divine Mother.

(Vishnu and Shiva work together in the Trimurti or the

Trinity of Hinduism, Brahma. Vishnu and Shiva are the natural functioning of the universe.

On ethics: Right & Wrong.

Christianity can be rationally understood and appreciated only, when it is realized, that by hurting others one really hurts oneself; conversely, that by making others happy one brings happiness to oneself.

On ethics he states:

Without the consciousness of unity of existence, ethics becomes a mere device for makeshift adjustments among conflicting interests; and when these interests are threatened, the ethical codes break down.

Without a spiritual sanction, justice is in the interest of the strong.

The Oneness of all:

The Oneness of the Godhead is well emphasized in the statement of the Vedas:” Truth is One, but the sages call it by various names.”

We must be clear, that religion is not the goal, but only a path by which the aspirant obtains ultimate perfection.

Different religions are necessary the suit different minds at various levels of spiritual evolution. Therefore religion should emphasize harmony, unity, friendship and love.

 Its aim should be the realization of ones own divinity.

“Know ye not that ye are gods, children of the most high.”

                                                              1 Corinthian 3:16

Self knowledge is vital. All other forms of knowledge are of secondary importance; for a man’s action, feeling, reasoning and thinking are dependent on his ideas of the Self.

His view of life will be either materialistic or spiritual according to his self image.

If he regards himself as a physical being with a mind, subservient to material ends, then he is a materialist; he follows the idea of material happiness, devoting himself to the attainment of power and the enjoyment of material pleasures.

Whenever a large number of people follow such an ideal, society becomes materialistic which often leads to bloodshed, war, and destruction.

If on the other hand a man regards himself as a spiritual being and believes that his material body should be utilized to serve a spiritual end, then he is spiritual.

He then follows a path of unselfishness, love and promotes peace and happiness for all.

Self knowledge serves the practical purpose of destroying pain and suffering which are always caused by ignorance of the Self and also the positive end of helping everyone enjoy peace and blessedness here and now.

Religion and Philosophy

The purpose of philosophy is to enable the student to see the truth directly. It should not be a mere intellectual pursuit of an abstract idea.

The goal then of philosophy is truth and the goal of religion should be God. But, in the final experience, God and Truth are one and the same Reality.

Religion insists on faith, philosophy emphasizes reason.

Truth may transcend reason, but it is never illogical.

Religion without philosophy tends to become dogmatic.

Philosophy without religion degenerates into insane and dry intellectualism.

The Power of Truth

Ultimate reality is transcendental. It is not perceived by the senses or comprehended by the mind. It is however experienced. This experience is direct and immediate, and becomes possible only when the senses and the mind have been made absolutely calm.

It is the consciousness in man that experience the Universal Consciousness, the two being in reality identical.

But there are infinite possibilities of self deception. To prevent this deception, there are three criteria of truth.

These are:

A)  Scriptural Authority,

B)   Reasoning and

C)   Personal experience.

Any one of them, singly, may enable a man to realize partial truth, but when all three point to the same conclusion, he may be assured that he has realized the whole of Truth.

The proof that Truth is known when one is free from fear, sorrow and expectations which characterize the life of falsehood in the relative world.

The seers insist that the aspirant after knowledge should first, through self control and meditation, realize Ultimate Reality; only then can he know the nature of the world.

Ramakrishna said, “To know the many, without knowledge of the One, is ignorance, whereas to know the One is knowledge.”

Matthew 6:33: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and all things will be given unto you.”

Vedanta, its Theory and Practice

When we observe nature one of the things that we are always aware of is that everything changes. All animate and inanimate objects are subject to the law of change.

This is equally true of the state of mind. Happiness is followed by suffering, joy by sorrow, serenity by restlessness, courage by fear, exaltation by depression.

Of every experience subjective or objective, it may be said: ”Even this shall pass away”.

So the question becomes: is change itself the ultimate reality, or is there an unchanging essence.

Suffering too, is observed to be a universal phenomenon. No one seems to escapes it.

Buddha the Enlightened One declared, if all the tears that had flowed from human eyes from the beginning of creation were gathered together, they would exceed the waters of the ocean.

It is said, that this world is illusory, what then is this basis of illusion?

Can there be illusion without a background or substratum?

And how may one put an end to the suffering and attain peace?

What is it by knowing of which everything in the universe is known?  Ponder this!