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SANKARACHARYA: RESTORATION OF THE LIGHT II

Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown DATE: SATURDAY, 11TH APRIL 2015

CONTENT Recap of the Last Topic

Steps Along The Path

Foundations For The Future

Discussion

The One Path

Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown


RECAP OF THE LAST TOPIC SANKARACHARYA: RESTORATION OF THE LIGHT I 1. Why does Sai Baba so often point to the example of Sankaracharya’s life?

He revived the Upanishads and Vedic Principles by unifying the concepts together preaching that all are One.

2. What was Sankaracharya’s main objective in life?

To spread the teaching that the divine consciousness reside in each and everyone and consolidate the different schools of worship.

3. What is Adwaita (Non Dualism)?

It is that all are Divine. All are embodiments of divinity and that the Atma is God.



STEPS ALONG THE PATH Although Sankara taught non dualism,

he recognised the people’s need to worship God with form in early stages of development.

He himself venerated Gods and Goddesses as a child.

The images provide valuable aid in teaching devotion and purifying impulses.

The forms of God symbolises ideals of truth, duty, peace and love.


STEPS ALONG THE PATH Most aspirants require structure and

the trappings of religion to guide their thoughts and actions.

The discipline of traditional religion is necessary aid for most seekers.

Sankara advised to majority of people to proceed on path of form worship.


STEPS ALONG THE PATH Sankara worshipped images in childhood and he knew the value of Sagunaswarupa (worshipping God with form). He advised saguna aradhana (form worship) to the large majority of people even later in his life.

- Sathya Sai Speaks 3, p. 11


STEPS ALONG THE PATH Realization of the formless divinity

requires long practice and purification.

Ego must be dissolved first and negative tendencies dissipated.

He promoted paths of dedicated action and devotion as a balance to higher philosophy of nondualism.

Even as he approached the end of his career, he continued to perform pilgrimages and such activities himself.


STEPS ALONG THE PATH Sankara knew that adwaita requires intense sadhana, which will remove all traces of ego, all idea of duality, from the mind of man. So, as a preparatory discipline to the dawn of the awareness of one’s real unity with the substance of the universe, he taught the rules of yoga and bhakthi and karma; these according to him, will brighten the intellect, cleanse the emotions and purify the heart. Adwaita is the awareness of the divine in everything, everywhere, in full measure.

- Sathya Sai Speaks 3, p.12


STEPS ALONG THE PATH Sankara worked through reason and

calm persuasion.

He did not argue with others in a loud or passionate manner.

He won them over with subtle logic of his case.

For divinity is innate in everyone.

When truth is clearly presented, a person recognises intuitively.

Spiritual education derives from recognition of what is self evident.


STEPS ALONG THE PATH It is acquired from outside oneself.

That education requires only purification of the mind.

A pure mind allows truth to shine forth unhindered by ego and ignorance.


STEPS ALONG THE PATH Sankaracharya came for the work of dharmasthapana (re-establishing correct religious practice), but he did not wage a war against the narrow sectarians or the wild theologians who opposed him or the critics who condemned him as a pseudo-Buddhist. He won them over by argument, persuasion, and preaching. He spoke softly but with conviction.




FOUNDATIONS FOR THE FUTURE

Sankara built a durable foundation for spiritual education.

He established a school of philosophical thought, Adwaita Vedanta, and created a structure for it’s development and survival.

He founded ten orders of sanyasins and at least four major monasteries.



Many observers astounded that a man who lived only 32 years could alter the course of an ancient culture and it’s established religious hierarchy.



The first among the interpreters of the Vedas to found a school of philosophy and lay down the path of spiritual discipline to benefit from that school is Sankaracharya, born in the state of Kerala. During his very short life he established, on secure foundations of logic and intuition, the truth that there is only one God and all else is an appearance of the one reality.




He also established monasteries at Badrinath, Sringeri, Puri, and Dwarka.

He placed four disciples in charge of these seminaries to perpetuate his mission.

Even today these institutions continue to exert great influence in Hindu thought.

They promote traditional worship as well as the lotier teachings of nondualism to the people.



Sankara revitalised the spiritual power resident in many ancient temples.

He installed sacred lingams from the sacred mountain of Shiva, Mount Kailas, at the shrines of Badrinath, Chidambaram, Sringeri, Dwarka and Puri.

In addition, he placed a sacred chakra in a cave near the shrine of Srisailam.

These holy objects radiate spiritual power to help devotees benefit from their pilgrimage to these sites.



During a trip to Badrinath when Swami was 35 years old, He miraculously dematerialized the sacred Nethralingam that Sankara installed at that shrine and materialised it for all to see.

He reconsecrated the lingam with an elaborate ritual to recharge it’s spiritual power.

The sacred objects required for the ritual, including golden bilva leaves, were also materialised from thin air.

He finally dematerialised the lingam and mysteriously returned it to it’s resting place in a cavity below the shrine’s altar.



Sankara renewed the life of many sacred scriptures by writing them in language accessible to ordinary people.

He wrote commentaries on the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and Brahma Sutras.

His commentaries on the Upanishads are particularly noted for their simplicity.

In his commentaries, he sought to portray the importance of One behind appearances.



Three texts are considered authoritative by the seekers of this land: the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and the Brahma Sutras. These three teach the essentials for the higher life of the spirit. In order to make the teaching clear to the uninitiated, three great commentators, one after the other, wrote elaborate interpretations of these texts, and since each of them had one particular viewpoint the three saw in the self same texts three different, but not divergent, paths to the goal of liberation. Sankaracharya elucidated them from the adwaithic point of view, Ramanujacharya from visishtadwaitic and Madhwacharya from dwaithic.

Sathya Sai Speaks 6, p.42



Sankaracharya also also wrote poems and songs including the well known song called “Bhaja Govindam”.

“Bhaja Govindam” was written in response to a certain pundit’s preoccupation with grammar skills.

Each of Sankara’s students added a verse which comments on the sad situation of a holy preoccupied with a worldly skill.



The song advises the pundit that it is better to try to know God than to waste time with grammar.

Knowledge of grammar may help one earn a living, but it will not save him from the cycles of birth and death.



DISCUSSION 1. Why did Sankara teach nondualism and also

prescribe worship of divine forms to many aspirants?

2. Does nature hide or reveal Divinity? Explain your response.

3. If everything is God, do we have anything to fear? Explain your response

4. If everything is God, why should we

strive to change or grow? 5. How does Sankara’s message have relevance today?



THE ONE PATH The message Sankaracharya taught in 9th

Century AD is repeated by Swami today.

Both proclaim All is One.

The nondualistic proclamations that first resounded ages ago in the Upanishads remain relevant.

The fundamental truth of human nature, and of creation itself, remains unchanged.

We are One with each other.

We are One with creation.

We are One with God.

The realization of that vision is the goal of human spiritual achievement.


THE ONE PATH Tat twam asi; that thou art. That is this. The external world is fundamentally one, is really Brahman appearing as many. Twam is you, yourself. And, what does the experience of all the sages tell them? What is the profound discovery embodied in the wisdom of the Vedas? Tat is twam, twam is tat; there is no second, there is only one.

- Sathya Sai Speaks 4, pp.381


REFERENCE BOOK:

Pathways to God Volume II/ Jonathan Roof/ Pgs 63 - 68


END OF PRESENTATION

A Presentation By,

Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre Queenstown

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SANKARACHARYA: RESTORATION OF THE LIGHT IIsaicentrequeenstown.org/Study_Circle/Resources/2015/04... · SANKARACHARYA: RESTORATION OF THE LIGHT I ... teachings of nondualism to the