Spirituality Studies 9-2 Fall 2023 13 Martin Dojčár When the entire mind is focused on its own “real nature” (Sa. svarūpa), the light of pure awareness that shines as “I am”, so keenly that it thereby ceases to be aware of anything else, it will thereby dissolve forever in this light, and what will then remain is this light alone, which is the one real awareness or true knowledge, as Bhagavan implies in this verse by saying: “the mind knowing its own form of light is alone real awareness”. What is Bhagavan’s contribution to the Advaita Vēdānta tradition? More specifically, what makes his teachings stand apart from previous non-duality teachings? And what does non-duality actually mean according to Bhagavan? Is it a kind of non-duality or unity of consciousness and prāṇā, as explained, for example, in Kashmir Śaivism (where it is represented by Śiva and Śakti), or is it rather the transcendence of the subject-object distinction in the experience of a jñāni? Bhagavan’s teachings are Advaita Vēdānta in its purest, clearest, simplest, most radical and most practical form. For various reasons over the centuries since Gaudapada wrote his Māṇḍūkya Kārikā, classical Advaita Vēdānta has become increasingly diluted and complicated, losing sight of the practical implications of the mahāvākyas and other passages of the Upaniṣads, Bhagavad Gītā and Brahma Sūtra on which it is based, so Bhagavan clarified not only the core philosophy of Advaita Vēdānta but even more importantly the correct practice of it, because it is only by practice that its real aim, namely the eradication of ego, can be achieved. Therefore, for those of us who want to understand the simple yet deep and subtle essence of Advaita Vēdānta and how to put it into practice so that we can actually know and be what we always actually are, the contribution that Bhagavan has made is immeasurable and invaluable. There are many aspects of his teachings that make them stand apart from classical Advaita Vēdānta, so I can only touch upon a few of them here. In classical Advaita Vēdānta the root cause of all problems and all misery is said to be avidyā (Sa. “ignorance”), meaning ignorance of our own real nature, so since ignorance can be removed only by knowledge, the solution for all problems and all misery is said to be vidyā (Sa. “knowledge”), meaning knowledge of our own real nature. Bhagavan clarified the meaning and practical implication of this teaching by expressing it in fresh terms, saying that the root cause of all problems and all misery is ego, which is a false awareness of ourself (meaning awareness of ourself as something other than what we actually are), so it can be removed only by correct awareness of ourself (meaning awareness of ourself as we actually are), and in order to be aware of ourself as we actually are we need to investigate ourself by being keenly self-attentive. By teaching this he implied (and sometimes he stated explicitly) that what is called avidyā is nothing but ego, the false awareness “I am this body”, and what is called vidyā is nothing but the pure awareness “I am”. By re-expressing this classical teaching in these fresh terms, he was thereby able to clarify not only the respective natures of avidyā and vidyā, but also the practical means by which we can experience vidyā and thereby remove avidyā. That is, having pointed out that avidyā is ego, he then went on to explain that the nature of ego is to rise, stand and flourish by attending to anything other than itself, but to subside and dissolve back into its source by attending to itself, thereby making it clear that keenly focused self-attentiveness is the only means by which ego (and hence avidyā) can be eradicated. Another important feature of his teachings that make them stand apart from classical Advaita Vēdānta is the central importance he gave to bhakti (“love” or “devotion”), the crucial role of which is often neglected or misunderstood in classical Advaita Vēdānta. As he often said, “Bhakti is the mother of jñāna”, thereby implying that we cannot investigate and know what we actually are without wholehearted and all-consuming love to surrender ourself completely. Love (Sa. bhakti) is therefore the key to success in self-investigation, which is the path of jñāna.
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