SANKARACHARYA: RESTORATION OF THE LIGHTsaicentrequeenstown.org/Study_Circle/Resources/2015/03... · SANKARACHARYA: RESTORATION OF THE LIGHT DATE: SATURDAY, 14TH MARCH 2015 Sri Sathya

SANKARACHARYA: RESTORATION OF THE LIGHT

Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown DATE: SATURDAY, 14TH MARCH 2015

CONTENT Recap of the Last Topic

Vision of the One

Adwaita Vedanta: One Without a Second

Discussion

Conclusion

Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown


RECAP OF THE LAST TOPIC Puranas: Ancient Glory 1. How can we understand Puranic Stories?

It is by going into the inner meaning of the stories.

2. What benefits do we get from reading the Puranas? It helps keep one on the right track to uphold righteousness despite difficulties one faces in life.

3. Are the message of the Puranas still pertinent today? If so, how? Yes, it is a guiding light for one to lead a righteous life in order to overcome the bad qualities within. The stories illustrate real life situations that one can familiarize with and discriminate well. 4. What teachings of the Ramayana, Mahabharata, or Bhagavata mean

the most to you? Ramayana – How one can overcome obstacles in life by standing steadfast with truth and righteousness. Mahabharata – Steadfast devotion to God with unquestionable faith in Him. Bhagavata – All are part of God’s creation and the goal is to merge in Him.



VISION OF THE ONE Swami often refers to the spiritual

significance of Sankaracharya’s life and message.

Sankaracharya (788-820AD) played key role in restoring vitality of Indian religion and philosophy.

He lived for 32 years only but altered the fundamental direction of spiritual thought in India.

He reminded seers of their Upanishadic heritage.

He rekindled the vision of the One and chartered a course to steer India away from the rocky shoals of narrow ideologies


VISION OF THE ONE When the Vedantic vision of India had become dim, Sankaracharya restored it and so saved the country. If he had not done so, believe me, India would have become another China.

- Sathya Sai Speaks 3, p. 192


VISION OF THE ONE Born in South India village of Kaladi, Kerala

state. Only son of Brahmin couple, Sivaguru and

Aryamba. Natural affinity for study of religion and

philosophy. At age 5, initiated into traditional brahmin

practice of reciting Gayatri Mantra. 14th year, he mastered the available

teachings and their supplementary texts on grammar, logic, prose, etc.

In same year, he set out on his mission of awakening the soul of India.


VISION OF THE ONE From early age, he followed the

path of renunciation.

One day while bathing in Poorna river near his home, he cried out to his mother that he had been caught by a crocodile.

He advised that the crocodile would only let him go if he took vows of renunciation.

Mother acceded to the request.


VISION OF THE ONE He referred the crocodile as sensory

attachment which would release him if he renounced worldly snares.

He was allowed to leave home in search of his Guru and liberation.

He wondered through South India and met his teacher, Govinda Bhagavatpada who lived by the banks of Narmada river.

After 7 years of initiation into teachings of advaita vedanta, Govinda asked him to continue his studies in Kasi.


VISION OF THE ONE He established himself as a noted

commentator and chief proponement of non-dualist philosophy.

He then travelled length and breadth of India teaching fundamental principle of non dualism.

He reached back to India’s past to recover the message of the Upanishads.

All that is One despite variety of appearances.


VISION OF THE ONE He was so persuasive that

he was able to restore the universal vision of ancient seers to the religious leaders of his time.


VISION OF THE ONE Sankara lived only for thirty-two years, but during that time, he purified and consolidated the various schools or worship and brought them under the over-all care of one philosophical principle, adwaita (nondualism).

- Sathya Sai Speaks 3, p.12


VISION OF THE ONE Sankara’s teaching of non dualism is

reborn in the message that Sathya Sai Baba teaches today.

That philosophy reflects the most basic truth of human condition, and so, it remains unshaken by changes in society.


VISION OF THE ONE Sankara’s adwaita is the ultimate truth and so, it is only confirmed, not shaken, by the discoveries of science or the flights of intellect. It speaks of Unity of matter and energy; of time and space; of the universe being but Brahman (universal absolute) seen though the veil of maya, which too is but an activity of the primordial.




ADWAITA VEDANTA: ONE WITHOUT A SECOND

Sankara taught that there is one fundamental principle: Divinity.

In the manifold appearances, there abides only God.

Illusion (maya) hides the face of God which is a thin veil.

With the thinness of the veil, we cannot sense the presence of God.

We can only comprehend formless divinity when it manifests in us as nature just as electricity.



Only through the wonder of creation can we witness divine love and majesty.

Nature hides the face of God but when befriended, it can also reveal the divine.

The world is a mixture of truth and falsehood.

It is relatively real until it stands up to direct analysis.



God cannot be identified directly in any natural phenomena.

Unchanging Truth can only be found within oneself.

Truth is reflected back through our interaction with the world.

Nature continuously changes but gives us opportunities to discover the unchanging reality within ourselves.



Sankara asserted that God is formless and attributeless and is best described as supreme effulgence or light. He also said that the individual is not so different from the universal, that the soul is Brahman itself, and that the manifold nature is also Brahman seen through a strange veil as a mixture of truth and falsehood, a peculiar make believe called delusion or ignorance. Brahman is the cause and prakrithi (nature) is the effect. Nature is the deluding manifestation of Brahman.




Although God is the reality behind the veil of nature, we must exercise discrimination in how we deal with the world.

Creation has relative reality, so we must pay attention to it’s dangers.

We must exercise common sense in our dealings with the world.

Our duty requires that we treat each person and thing according to earthly status.

He taught to Unify various schools of thought during his time.

Concern was with the underlying basis for them all.



He realised the negative effects that ideologies could wreak the countryside.

Divisions resulted in heated arguments.

He taught that many names and forms of God are only the aspect of One.

He asked the teachers of that time to focus on their common heritage rather than differences in their teachings.



Some people question the propriety of calling God by means of such a multiplicity of names. But each name is indicative only of one aspect of divinity. It denotes a single part of the supreme personality. The eye, the nose, the mouth, the hand, or the finger may be denoted by distinct words, but they all belong to the same individual. So too, one must remember that every name is but a facet, a part, a ray of the supreme.

Sathya Sai Speaks 10, p.87



The Unity of all things can be understood on two levels.

In the first, all manifestations originate from God.

All forms that we see before us are creations of divinity and are composed of divine energy.



Sankara teaches the second level.

In our conciousness, we possess a field of vision which is augmented by our five senses.

That field comprises everything we know about creation.

We make distinctions between what is inner experience and what is outer experience.

In fact, everything transpires within this field of conciousness which is one without division.



Only the mind draws distinctions and separates impressions into different categories.

The spiritual adept distills divinity from the wholeness of conciousness.

He or she apprehends God at a level above the mind and body.

Distinctions and judgements (dualism) are introduced by the ego at a body and personality level.

The nondualism of Sankara is rooted in the source of conciousness itself.



That conciousness in the individual wells up from the divine spring within, the atma.

That divine spring flows directly from the universal source.

If that current is traced back to it’s root, it will be found to originate in universal divinity.



DISCUSSION 1. Why does Sathya Sai Baba so often

point to the example of Sankara’s life?

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

3. What is Adwaita (Non Dualism)?



CONCLUSION All is One. The One appears as many, to the prejudiced eye. Clear the eye of the cataract of ignorance, and it cognizes all as one. In fact, you see with your eyes, only yourself, everywhere. You talk only to yourself, to whomsoever your speech is addressed. You are pleased with yourself; you hate yourself; you harm yourself. There is no other!

- Sathya Sai Speaks 9, pp.96-97


REFERENCE BOOK:

Pathways to God Volume II/ Jonathan Roof/ Pgs 57 - 63


END OF PRESENTATION

A Presentation By,

Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre Queenstown

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SANKARACHARYA: RESTORATION OF THE LIGHTsaicentrequeenstown.org/Study_Circle/Resources/2015/03... · SANKARACHARYA: RESTORATION OF THE LIGHT DATE: SATURDAY, 14TH MARCH 2015 Sri Sathya