Vivekachoodamani : ( 05/05/2013. )

01/03/2019 *VIVEKACHOODAMANI – “The Crest-Jewel of Discrimination" - Swami Chinmayananda *Vol. 1. PART-1, - "The PURPOSE of Human Life" - (Verses 1-66, 66 No.), *INVOCATION & OVERVIEW : (Verses 1-2, 2 No.), *Invocation (verse 1) : * "sarva vedanta siddhanta gocaram tamagocaram | govindam paramanandam sadgurum pranatah asmi aham || 1|| " * sarva vedanta siddhanta gocaram - Perceivable through the suggestive import of the conclusions of Vedanta; tam - that; agocaram - who is beyond sense-perception; govindam - to Sri Govinda; paramanandam - who is of the nature of Bliss Supreme; sadgurum - the Spiritual master; pranatah - bowing respectfully; asmi - am; Ahm! - aham (atma). * "My salutations to Sri Sad-Guru Govinda who is of the nature of Bliss Supreme, who can be known only through the import of the essence of Vedanta and who is beyond the reach of the known instruments of perception." * "I bow to Gov...

11/02/2019 VIVEKA CHOODAMANI – Vol. 1 “The Crest-Jewel of Discrimination" GENERAL INTRODUCTION PUJYA SWAMI CHINMAYANANDAJI writes the following in his Introduction to his book on the Viveka Choodamani : “Vedanta is truly the Science of Life. Sri Shankara, the great interpreter of Vedanta, not only gave us his commentaries on the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita, but also many primary texts which introduce the seeker to the joys of Vedanta. One of the greatest texts he has written as an introduction to Vedanta, is the Viveka Choodamani, which means, ‘The Crest-Jewel of Discrimination’. “A careful study of these verses with the full freedom to enquire will give any student a correct understanding of the entire theory of Vedanta and he can, even without a very serious study of the scriptures, start his daily practices with tremendous benefits. “There are hundreds of seekers who, without understanding the fundamentals, are aimlessly struggling along ...

07/01/2019 All these confusions arose from the mind’s *projections. When you assert that you are the mind, all the imperfections of the *mind become your imperfections. Birth, *death, old age and so on, and *sorrows of endless varieties, come to you. This is called samsara. ‘I’ identified with the *ego gets blinded, and hence has no experience of the Self, which is of the form of the light of *Consciousness. ‘You are not this’, ‘You are that infinite Consciousness’, ‘Come to apprehend It yourself’, so the *Upanishads thunder forth. To be continued ...

21/12/2018 6. As a result of one’s discriminative capacity when one differentiates between the Real and the *unreal in the world outside or in the #world within, all false values automatically drop off. When once a thing is understood to be full of bitterness, *pain and imperfection, rare is the #man who will continue to court it. Thus, Jagat Guru Swami Sri Adi Sankaracharya  says that a *spiritual seeker must come to a sufficiently strong intellectual conviction that fruits born as a result of *actions cannot be *infinite. Hence he must, of necessity, be totally detached from them. To be continued ...

19/11/2018 5. The *sun illumines the entire world of plurality from its place high up in the *sky. Similarly, the *Atman in the inner space of the *heart illumines all the experiences within. When our attention is on the sunlight no *objects can be perceived, and if the attention is on the objects the sunlight is not perceived. Similarly, if our attention is on the Atman, the *world of OET is not cognised but if it is on the OET, Om, the Reality, is not experienced. When the object is removed, *light is not perceived as such, it is only intuitively experienced. Running away *life in cowardice, retiring to a jungle in languor of intellect, unappreciation of things around and about us, denial of the bare necessities of the body – these are not "vairagya." To be continued ..

27/10/2018 If a person has gained an intuitive glimpse of the Reality even for a brief *moment, samsaara – the perception and persecutions of the ever-changing *phenomenal world – is destroyed, root and branch. The *root is the non-apprehension of Reality (avidya). ‘Ending samsaara along with its root’ means, when *Truth is apprehended, non-apprehension of *Reality vanishes and the consequent misapprehensions depart from the *bosom of a man of true God-realisation. The qualities of self-restraint, self-control, *purity and so on, can bear *fruit only when they are in an individual who has a complete sense of detachment born out of *discrimination and a burning *aspiration to surmount the limitations of his mortal *existence. ***

0710/2018 Contemplate upon the Self, ‘with great care’– Meaning slowly (savadhanam). You cannot force open a bud and make it a *flower. It must take its own *time. A forcibly opened up flower will not have real *beauty or true fragrance. Never hurry up. Let it take its own time. All that we have to do is to put ourselves on the rails, on the right track, running in the right *direction. We shall reach in time our coveted *destination. Therefore, very very carefully and slowly, may you gain a state of inner *peace, fully abiding in the *Self. ***