Moment to Speak

The Ashtavakra Gita , a dialogue between Sage Ashtavakra and Sage King Janaka, explores the nature of Atman (Self), self-realisation and liberation. It teaches the oneness of existence and the non-duality of Atman (Self) and Brahman (Cosmic Self, or Absolute Existence, or Ultimate Reality). At the heart of the Ashtavakra Gita is the belief that Atman is beyond the body, mind, intellect and senses. It presents the idea that human suffering stems from identifying with the transient aspects of existence, ego and the phenomenal world, rather than realising the eternal, uncaused, unchanged, unmoved, unfettered, and undecayed nature of Atman . It focuses on the nature of Atman , the illusory nature of the external world, and the path to Moksha ,  or liberation. Atman , or Self, is the all-pervading, unchanging Brahman . It is the subject that remains constant, but the objects are subject to changes due to birth, growth and decay. It emphasises the oneness of all beings and the in...

The Vedantic scriptures annunciate the unmanifest as Brahman , the Supreme Being. In the Upanishads, Brahman is described as all-encompassing, full in every respect and beyond, unmanifest, Ultimate Reality, Absolute Truth,  Absolute Existence, and experienced Reality. The Ishavasya Upanishad (introductory invocation Om Shanti mantra) and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (5.1.1) invoke: oṃ pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidam pūrṇāt pūrṇamudacyate . pūrṇasya pūrṇamādāya pūrṇamevāvaśiṣyate  oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ .. That is the whole. This is the whole. The whole comes from the whole. When the whole is removed from the whole, the whole remains the same." In essence, it emphasises the advaita (non-dualistic) nature of reality, where the divine is not separate from the manifest but rather permeates it. It highlights the interconnectedness and unity of everything. By removing the concept of separation, the Upanishads emphasise that the unmanifest Brahman is present within all phenomena a...

T he concept "I am not the doer" relates to how actions are perceived within the Upanishadic philosophical framework of what Adi Shankaracharya asserts, oneness of Atman (Self) and Brahman (Cosmic Self, or Absolute Existence). The Mandukya Upanishad (1.2) states unequivocally, Ayam Atma Brahma , or meaning, This Self is Brahman . It signifies that the true Self (Atman) does not perform actions. Instead, it is a witness – consciousness , uninvolved in the actions and the consequent results thereof. Actions are considered being carried out by the ego, evolving from the elements of Prakriti (nature's field of activities) intertwined with the body-mind-intellect complex and trayi-gunas ( Sattva -purity, or goodness; Rajas -passion, or activity; and Tamas -ignorance, or darkness). Non-doership is not about ceasing action but about changing one's identification from the transitory body-mind-intellect complex of Prakriti  to Atman , the imperishable, infinite, unmov...

Cosmic ideation is the thought, or ideas germinating from Cosmic Mind (Hiranyagarbha) of Cosmic Self, or Brahman , the Supreme Being. This ever-agitated mind, Swami Sivananda explains, having come into existence out of the ineffable Brahman , creates the universe according to its own Sankalpa (thoughts). He avers that the play of the mind arising out of Chaitanya (pure consciousness) constitutes this universe. Mind is Maya (illusion). Maya is the mind. The workings of the mind are nothing but the workings of Maya itself. Attraction or attachment in the mind towards forms is Maya . Identifying one's own self with the mind is considered Maya . There are two powers associated with Maya – Avarana-shakti (the veiling power, or the power of concealment, or the power of illusion or ignorance that obscures the true nature of reality) and Vikshepa-shakti (the power of projection that superimposes the world over the Atman , or the power that causes distraction and dispersal, often...

Self is I am That, which is the underlying essence of Brahman of unmanifest consciousness, Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss), or Satyaṃ Jnananam Anantam Brahma (Real-Consciousness-Infinite). Self is "I am That", which is unalloyed, unattached, unbounded, unconditioned, unfathomed, uncaused, spotless, eternal, self-effulgent, pure consciousness, and pure essence of Cosmic-Self. Sage Ashtavakra ( Ashtavakra Gita , 2.1-3) affirms with King Janaka that I am truly spotless and at peace — an awareness beyond natural causality. Delusion has plagued me all this time. As I alone give light to this body, so I do to the world. As a result, the whole world is mine, or alternatively, nothing is. Now, through some divine intervention, my true self emerges as I relinquish my physical body and everything else. Sage Ashtavakra ( Ashtavakra Gita , 1.11-18) asserts that if one considers oneself to be free, one is free, and if one thinks of oneself as bound, one is bound. This...

Avidya , or ignorance and illusion, is to live with desires and dualities. The mind is a thought-manufacturing machine that manufactures thoughts to intensify desires through sensual pleasures to an insatiable level. Avidya generates states of opposites—happiness and distress, hot and cold, light and darkness, prosperity and poverty, etc.—and never lands in a state of unity. Vidya is the knowledge of unity through the extirpation of desires and dualities, affirms Yoga-Vasistha (Ch. CXIII). In the Srimad Bhagavad Gita (14.5-14.27), Avidya refers to a state of ignorance or nescience that leads to attachment, illusion, and the cycle of birth and death. The Bhagavad Gita describes Avidya as the root cause of suffering and bondage, contrasting with Vidya , or knowledge. Avidya obscures our true nature and the nature of reality, leading to a false sense of self and an attachment to the material world. Ignorance (Tamas) is a state of delusion and a primary impediment to spiritual adv...