Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom will one day replace all the religions of the world because Advaitic wisdom is the knowledge of God in truth.
Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom brings universal brotherhood and unity in diversity.
Sage Sankara is one of the greatest thinkers of all time. One of the greatest philosophers of India, Sage Sankara, founded the Advaita Vedanta, which is one of the sub-schools of Vedanta.
Sage Sankara wholeheartedly believed in the concept of the Vedas, but at the same time advocated against the rituals and religious practices that were over-exaggerated.
Sage Sankara, as a rationalist philosopher, in contrast to the more traditional image of him as a theologian (Sage Sankara’s system of Advaita), is not even a philosopher dish cooked to suit exclusively the palate of the Hindu. It is like the air and the water, the common food of the whole of humankind.
It is ... an attempt ... at constructing a "Science of Truth," nay, in fact, it is the only attempt yet made at such a science. If rightly interpreted Sage Sankara’s teaching as food for all humankind, the universal teaching par excellence; it is not just a religion, but the religion; not philosophy, but the philosophy; not a science, but the Science of truth; not a soteriology, but the path to spiritual liberation par excellence, wide and deep as the ocean which contains virtually all the water of the world and in which all particular forms ultimately dissolve.
On a closer introspection of the life history of Sage Sankara, we find that he also started the monastic order known as Dashanami and the Shanmata convention of worship. Given here is Sage Sankara's biography, which will give you valuable insight into the life of this great poet and philosopher.
The question of the date of Sage Sankara may be taken most correctly as that of the 9th century. Some claims are made that he lived two thousand five hundred years ago, but there is absolutely no proof for this claim. As one peeks into the annals of religious history, they do not go back farther than the 8th century A.D., and all so-called evidence for Sage Sankara having lived two and a half centuries before Christ is either conjecture or orthodox fabrication.
Sage Sankara varied his practical advice and doctrinal teaching according to the people he was amongst. He never advised them to give up their particular religion or beliefs or metaphysics completely; he only told them to give up the worst features of abuse: at the same time, he showed just one step forward towards the truth. Sage Sankara was extremely precise and careful in his choice of words.
Sage Sankara gave religious, ritual, or dogmatic instruction to the masses, but pure philosophy only to the few who could rise to it. Hence, the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus, they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd.
Sage Sankara believed in the philosophy of "non-dualism". He believed in the fact that every individual has a divine existence, which can be identified with the Supreme cosmic power. Though the bodies are diverse, the soul is one. The moment someone believes that the concept of life is finite, they are discarding an entirely higher and different dimension of life and knowledge. Self-realization is the key to attaining Moksha and connecting with the ultimate reality or Brahman. Though he died young, he left an invaluable treasure of spiritual knowledge for future generations.
Sage Sankara did not invent Advaita, but the Great Sage Guadapada taught Advaitic non-dualism long before Sage Sankara. What the great Sage Sankara did was to put the Sage Guadapada's Advaitism into a language of reality that was compatible with ultimate realization. This was one of Sage Sankara's major gifts to humanity.
In the short span of thirty-two years, Sage Sankara accomplished more than seemed humanly possible. It would certainly be impossible for one concerned solely with his own realization, akin to a solitary realizer in Buddhism, something that Advaita does not propose. In Advaitic realization, the invisible Soul, the Self, somehow mysteriously obscured by illusion, awakens to Itself and is known as already, always realized or awake.
The so-called individual in truth does not awaken or get enlightened, but the soul, the innermost self, which is present in the form of consciousness itself, paradoxically awakens. But even this is to speak dualistically, as the Soul, the Self, is always awake, and the individual is only apparent, an illusory modification appearing in consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. Because Sage Sankara taught a path of Brahman or the one Self, it is important to point out the major differences between the so-called paths of “experience” and the path of “Knowledge,” or Gnana.
Sage Sankara makes the important point that the ultimate realization is not an experience of the Self, but, rather, is the direct Knowing that the self is neither the waking entity nor the dream entity, but the self is the Soul, which witnesses the coming and going of the three states.
Sage Sankara was very sparing in his use of the word “samadhi,” which has come to mean, since the time of Swami Vivekananda and his “Neo-Vedanta,” a form of superconscious trance.
For Sage Sankara and the traditional Advaitins, it is clearly pointed out that no experience or change of state yields the realization of the Self, or the Self’s true nature. It is rather a simple error of knowledge, a mistake of the real for the unreal. Since everything is already consciousness (Brahman), there is no way or path of getting closer to it or experiencing it. Thus, the seeker is inevitably frustrated.
Enlightenment or liberation is ordinary, not extraordinary. Therefore, it is easily overlooked, particularly for the experience of hungry and experience-oriented paths of mysticism, as well as most forms of spirituality.
“Sitting in silence” and receiving a special “transmission” of energy, Shaktipat, or awakening from the Guru, is the path of orthodoxy, not the pure Advaitic path. A Gnani with his written thoughts and spoken words held the key to cracking the identity code of the false self (waking entity) within the false experience(waking).
Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana helps to open the eyes of the wisdom of the ripe seekers and propel them into realization. The thinking function is actively engaged, and the intellect is raised to soulcentric discrimination. Self-realization is not a product of samadhi or trance, but it is the product of Self-knowledge, or Brahma Gnana, or Atma Gnana
This is to be stressed again and again. The spiritual states are of no value because they are based on the false self (ego) within the false experience (waking). All other paths and practices based on the false self are, only that they are of intermediate use as an aid to reflect the Self and allow the seeker to engage in the ultimate inquiry into the Self’s true nature.
Only the yogis who value the destruction of the mind in samadhi to be the truth. Since everything is consciousness, however, man and his experience of the world are also consciousness. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is heralded by Sage Sankara as a basic means for Liberation.
Mere observing silence and meditating are not fruitful, since “silence is compatible with both ignorance and wisdom.
Swami Vivekananda aptly described Sage Sankara’s Advaita as the fairest flower of philosophy that any country in any age has produced.
Sage Sankara had enormous regard for Sage Gaudapada. Sage Sankara’s philosophical position had its base in Sage Gaudapada's thoughts. The doctrine of the Absolute Brahman, the identity of the Absolute Self with the individual self, the concept of Maya, the dual aspects of Advaita methodology (Adhyaropa –Apavada), the relative and absolute levels of existence, and the notion of transformation (vivarta) as against evolution (parinama); all these are present in Sage Gaudapada, in a nutshell. Sage Sankara integrates Sage Gaudapada's views with those of Badarayana and constructs an elaborate and consistent edifice on these foundations.
Sage Sankara aptly regards Gaudapada as Pujyabhi_Pujya, the most adored among the most adored.
Sage Gaudapada:~ The non-dual Atman is realized when the individual self (jiva) is awakened from its ignorance. Atman is unborn, dreamless, sleepless, and motionless, and is beyond duality. It is cognition at its purest. It is Brahman- Ayam Atma Brahma, this Atma is Brahma; Thus epitomizing the core of Upanishad teachings.
Sage Gaudapada expands further on these states of consciousness. The Self is AUM. It represents the manifest and unmanifest aspects of Brahman. It is the single syllable that symbolizes and embodies Brahman, the Absolute Reality. It is the Pranava that pervades all existence and is our very life breath.
Vaisvanara in the waking state is A the first part of AUM, One, who realizes this, attains his desires.
Teijasa in the dream state is U the second part of AUM. One who realizes this attains knowledge.
Prajna in deep sleep is M the third part of AUM, concluding the sounds of the earlier two parts. One who realizes this attains a comprehensive understanding of all.
The Syllable AUM in its entirety stands for the fourth state, Turiya, the one beyond phenomenal existence, supremely blissful and non-dual.
AUM in its integral whole stands for the fourth state, which is transcendental, devoid of phenomenal existence, and is the source of all existence. AUM represents Ultimate Reality. AUM is thus verily the Self itself. One who realizes this merges into that Self. Meditate on AUM as the Self.
Sage Sankara was an original thinker. Sage Sankara was a great spiritual leader. He was not a dreaming idealist but a practical visionary. Scripture and reason were the two aids in his arguments. He was a great logician who based his arguments entirely on the principles of logic but without contradicting the intuitional revelations of the Vedas and the Upanishads.
Sage Sankara’s thought gave a new dimension to the nondualistic philosophy. It restored the position of the Upanishads as the pristine source of knowledge. It established wisdom as the true source of light. It put reason and discretion at the center stage and pushed the rituals out of contention. One may wonder how Sage Sankara could have written so many books during such a short period of existence. The truth is that he wrote very few books. Those actually written by him were Commentaries on Brahma Sutras and the Upanishads and on the Bagavada Gita.
All other books ascribed to him were not written down by his own hand. They are merely collections of notes recorded by his disciples from his sayings, talks, and discussions.
Sage Sankara gave religion and scholasticism, and yoga, no less than philosophy, to the seeking world. He was great enough to be able to do so. His commentary on Mandukya is pure philosophy, but many of his other books are presented from a religious standpoint to help those who cannot rise up to philosophy.
Sage Sankara wrote his Manduka commentary first, and then, as this revealed that he thoroughly understood the subject, his gurus requested him to write the commentary on Badarayana's Brahma Sutras, which was a popular theological work universally studied throughout the world. That is why his commentary is written from a lower dualistic point, for those who cannot rise higher, save that here and there, Sage Sankara occasionally has strewn a few truly Advaitic sentences. Advaitic orthodoxy propagates mysticism and deification. Advaitic wisdom is based on rational truth.
Sage Sankara was extremely precise and careful in his choice of words. He was no fool in writing. Sage Sankara did more than write books or initiate Sanyasins: He brought India into unity as a nation. He advised people: Worship what they wish, remain in their particular religion, but remember also that they are part of a larger whole(illusion).
Few orthodox pundits have caught the spirit; they are merely fond of his words. For his spirit is that of an appeal to reason, with scripture dragged in as second and lesser support afterward.
So many centuries have passed since Sage Sankara appeared, yet it is very hard to find his true teachings understood anywhere in the world today because so few could rise to his level. Hence, orthodoxy and others came to supply the common demand.
Most thinkers hold views of illusion that are entirely incorrect and untenable. They do not know Sage Sankara's Upanishad Bashyas, but only the Brahma Sutra Bashya. Sage Sankara had only four fully trained disciples, although he advised some rulers of that time. His doctrines spread after his lifetime. His books were dictated to secretaries as he traveled. So few, therefore, were capable of understanding his philosophy. The orthodox followers of Sage Sankara have constituted a religious sect. Thus, all movements ultimately degenerate.
Biographical anecdotes about his persecution of Jains and Buddhists or of his challenges to self-immolation for the loser of a debate are all foolish tales invented after his lifetime, either by his own followers who took him to be a religious propagator (and not a philosopher) or by his critics.
Sage Sankara's:~ The Gnani "should pass through life", not run away from life, and should take a middle course between seeking worldly honor and worldly abasement. (Commentary to Brahma Sutras Chap. 3.4.50)
Sage Sankara varied his practical advice and doctrinal teaching according to the people he was amongst. He never advised them to give up their particular religion or beliefs or metaphysics completely; he only told them to give up the worst features of abuse: at the same time, he showed just one step forward towards the truth. Sage Sankara was extremely precise and careful in his choice of words.
Sage Sankara gave religious, ritual, or dogmatic instruction to the masses but pure philosophy only to the few who could rise to it. Hence, the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus, they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd.
The Advaitin pundits relate boastfully pseudo-historic stories of how Sage Sankara's school put down, persecuted, and exterminated the Buddhists, as though this was something to be proud of. This is because those pundits are mere followers of the religion, never having understood Sage Sankara’s Advaitic philosophy. However, these stories are orthodox exaggerations.
Sage Sankara believed that those of superior intelligence have no need of this idea of divine causality, and can, therefore, dispense with Sruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason.
Sage Sankara’s supreme Brahman is Nirguna (without the guns), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without attributes), and Akarta (non-agent). He is above all needs and desires.
Sage Sankara says, "This Atman is self-evident. This Atman or Self is not established by proofs of the existence of the Self. It is not possible to deny this Atman, for it is the very essence of he who denies it. Atman is the basis of all kinds of knowledge. The Self is within, the Self is without, the Self is before, and the Self is behind. The Self is on the right hand, the Self is on the left, the Self is above, and the Self is below".
Satyam-Jnanam-Anantam-Anandam is not a separate attribute. They form the very essence of Brahman. Brahman cannot be described, because description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than it.
The objective world, the world of names and forms, has no independent existence. The Atman alone has real existence. The world is only phenomenal.
Sage Sankara was the exponent of the Advaitic wisdom. His wisdom can be summed up in the following words:-
Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithya, Jeevo Brahmaiva Na Aparah
Brahman alone is real; this world is unreal; the Jiva is identical to Brahman.
Sage Sankara pokes fun at ascetics and points out that all their austerities do not cause desires to go away. ( “Altar Flowers" Page 205, v.2 Page 207, v.4)
Sage Sankara always traveled, and he never lived in a monastery. He simply told others, "Build one here," and then left because he was busy spreading his doctrines, but none of them are Gnanis or have grasped the Gnana because they were orthodox pundits.
The seeker of truth should not worry about where Sage Sankara died. The seeker has to have thirsted for his Advaitic wisdom; that is all that matters.
Sage Sankara says you must first know what is before you. If you cannot know that, what else can you know or understand? If you give up the external world in your inquiry, you cannot get the whole truth.
The story in Sage Sankara’s life of going to Benares and occupying the body of another man and then having sexual intercourse with his wife is a cock and bull story hiding the real fact. He had the scientific spirit, and when told by Saraswathi, the woman, that he was talking emptily about sex, being a Sanyasi, he at once went to learn the truth by having actual intercourse himself and thus learning by experiment and observation.
Sage Sankara has used the phrase "the jungle of words." This is his acknowledgment of the need for Semantics.
Sage Sankara, during his lifetime, decried and fought against Tantric practices. However, Tantric texts like Prapancha_sara, Lalitha_trisati_bashya, and others are in circulation under his name. The other famous tantric work ascribed to Sage Sankara is Sandarya Lahari. The scholarly opinion is that it is not Sage Sankara’s work, though it is an excellent composition.
Among the minor dissertations (prakaranas): Sarva-Vedanta-Siddhanta-sara_sangraha; probodha-Sudhakara; Advaitanu-bhuti; Yoga-rathavali; Anatma-vigrahana prakarana, etc., are definitely not Sage Sankara’s works.
A commentary on Vishnu_sahasra_nama is ascribed to him. It is decidedly a recent work. It is inconsistent too. It is not Sage Sankara’s commentary.
Many hymns, of inconsistent quality, in praise of various deities, are known as his compositions. (E.g., Stotras on Subrahmanya, Ganapathi, Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, etc.)
Sundaralahari is a poem that has been attributed to Sage Sankara, but judging by the style and contents, it is not possible to believe it is of Sage Sankara’s.
Sage Sankara stressed the great importance of freeing our use of words from all ambiguity.
Sage Sankara's work has two aspects: the vyavikarika and the paramarthika. He gave religious, ritual, or dogmatic instruction to the populace, but pure philosophy only to the few who could rise to it. Hence, the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus, they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd.
Sage Sankara said:~ Just as the snake is superimposed on the rope, this world and this body are superimposed on Brahman or the Soul, the Self. If one gets knowledge of the rope, the illusion of the snake will vanish. Even so, if he gets knowledge of Brahman, the illusion of the body and the world will vanish.
The snake is only an idea: it disappears on inquiry, but deeper self-search reveals the fact that the rope is also an idea, and its reality will be exposed when wisdom dawns. There is neither a snake nor the rope in reality because, from the ultimate standpoint, the duality is merely an illusion created out of consciousness.
Consciousness is the root element of the universe. From consciousness, the universe comes into existence. In consciousness, the universe resides. And into the consciousness, the universe is dissolved. Consciousness is the parent of all that is there. Consciousness is the only reality, and the universe too, but an illusory manifestation.
When Sage Sankara says:~ the world is an illusion, it includes birth, life, and death, which happen within the world.
Thus, the seeker's main aim is to mentally trace the formless substance of the illusion, which is also the witness of the illusion. The formless substance and witness of the illusion (world) is the Atman, and this Atman itself is Brahman. This Brahman cannot be attained by indulging in egocentric religious orthodoxy.
Sage Sankara: ~ "As layers of clouds generated by the sun's rays cover the sun and alone appear(in the sky), so egoism generated by the Self, covers the reality of the Self and appears by itself."
Sage Sankara:~ "All this universe, which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahma, which is absolutely free from all the limitations of human thought
Sage Sankara said:~ Talk as much philosophy as you like, worship as many gods as you please, observe ceremonies, and sing devotional hymns, but liberation will never come, even after a hundred aeons, without realizing the Oneness.
Sage Sankara founded his Advaita Vedanta either on reason independent of Sruti or on Sruti confirmed by reason."
Sage Sankara's commentary on the Manduka Upanishad, II, 1:~ This (the unreality of duality) is borne out by the Srutis ... But it is possible also to show the unreality of the object world even from pure reasoning, and this second chapter is undertaken for that purpose.
Sage Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Sruti, or revealed scripture. This may be because Sage Sankara addressed the ordinary man, who finds security in the idea of causality and thus in the idea of God, and Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter. He believed that those of superior intelligence have no need for this idea of divine causality and can, therefore, dispense with Sruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason.
Sage Sankara indicated in Bhaja Govindam says: - [Jnana Viheena Sarva Mathena Bajathi na Muktim janma Shatena] - one without knowledge does not obtain liberation even in a hundred births, no matter which religious faith he follows.
Then it is no use going a roundabout way, trace the Brahman, which is the formless substance, and witness the universe, which is in the form of the mind. By tracing the source of the mind or the universe, one will be able to realize the Brahman.
Thus, Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is meant only for those who have an intense urge, and the courage to accept the truth with humility and reject the untruth. Since people start comparing their scriptural knowledge, it becomes impossible to assimilate and realize the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth. Therefore, there is no need to convince anyone other than our own selves to get a firm conviction. :~Santthosh Kumaar
