[Advaita-l] Contemplating the Self - The Multifaceted Jivanmukta

[V Subrahmanian]

On Fri, Jan 15, 2021 at 2:10 PM Raghav Kumar Dwivedula via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste Divya ji
> Are these phrases are composed by Sri Chandrashekhara  Bharati Swamiji
> himself or part of a pre-existing work?
>
> ātmāmbhodhes-taraṅgo’smy-aham-iti gamane (When
> walking, one should think that one is a wave in the ocean that is the
> Ātman).’
>

This is a verse from the Shatashloki of Shankara Bhagavatpada:

आत्माम्भोधेस्तरङ्गोऽस्म्यहमिति गमने भावयन्नासनस्थः
संवित्सूत्रानुविद्धो मणिरहमिति वास्मीन्द्रियार्थप्रतीतौ ।
दृष्टोऽस्म्यात्मावलोकादिति शयनविधौ मग्न आनन्दसिन्धा -
वन्तर्निष्ठो मुमुक्षुः स खलु तनुभृता यो नयत्येवमायुः ॥ १२ ॥

The complete work is available here:
https://advaitasharada.sringeri.net/display/prakarana/shatashloki

regards
subbu

>
> ‘bhāvayann-āsanasthaḥ saṁvit-sūtrānuviddho maṇir-aham-iti vā’smi (When
> seated, one should think that one is a gem strung on the string of
> consciousness).
>
> indriyārtha-pratītau draṣṭo’smy-ātmāvalokād-iti
> (When perceiving sense-objects through the senses, one should think that
> one is seen since the Ātman is beheld).
>
> śayana-vidhau magna ānanda-sindhau (When lying
> down, one should think that one is immersed in the ocean of bliss)
>
> I remember these being quoted by a renowned scholar of Vedanta Sri
> Yellamraju Srinivas a Rao ji.
>
>
> Om
> Raghav
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, 11 Jan, 2021, 3:00 pm Divya Meedin via Advaita-l, <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> > An excerpt from Chapter 6 - The Multifaceted Jivanmukta, page 97
> (published
> > by Sri Vidyatheertha Foundation)
> >
> > Chapter 6
> > Contemplating the Self
> >
> > [The following is my rendering into English of a portion of His
> Holiness’s
> > benedictory address delivered in Kannada, at the Sringeri Shankara Math,
> > Bengaluru, on September 5, 1987. This discourse was the last of a series
> of
> > six by His Holiness on His Guru. The occasion was a “Smaraṇa-Saptāha (A
> > week of Recollection)” organised at the Math in which various speakers
> > talked about H.H. Jagadguru Śrī Candraśekhara Bhāratī.]
> >
> > “When staying in Narasimhavana with my Guru, I used to go every evening
> to
> > behold Śāradāmbā and remain there for up to an hour. “On my return, He
> once
> > asked me, ‘You have crossed the river and come. What thought arose in
> your
> > mind?’
> >
> > “ ‘What thought?’ I wondered and replied, ‘I perceived various objects.’
> >
> > “(He:) What was new?
> >
> > (I:) Nothing. I saw what was in front of me.
> >
> > (He:) Must you see whatever is in front of your eyes?
> >
> > (I:) If the eyes be kept closed (to abstain from perceiving objects), it
> > would not be possible to walk.
> >
> > (He:) You must see and yet not see.
> >
> > (I:) How is that possible?
> >
> >   “To this, He said, ‘ātmāmbhodhes-taraṅgo’smy-aham-iti gamane (When
> > walking, one should think that one is a wave in the ocean that is the
> > Ātman).’ This is how we should conduct ourselves. When we get up from a
> > seated position and start walking, the feeling should not be, ‘We are
> > walking and going somewhere.’ In the big ocean - the Ātman - a wave has
> > arisen. That wave is moving forward. This is the supposition. There is no
> > difference between the wave and the ocean. Yet, because one walks (and
> thus
> > moves forward like the wave), one should think of oneself as the wave.
> When
> > the occasion to walk arises, one should contemplate, ‘I am a wave in the
> > ocean of the bliss, in the ocean of the Ātman.’
> >
> > “His advice surprised me. He went on, ‘At all times - even when you talk
> to
> > someone - repeat this idea in the mind.’ With practice, one
> uninterruptedly
> > carries on this repetition even while speaking. Experience confirms this.
> >
> > “What should be the thought when one is seated? He advised,
> > ‘bhāvayann-āsanasthaḥ saṁvit-sūtrānuviddho maṇir-aham-iti vā’smi (When
> > seated, one should think that one is a gem strung on the string of
> > consciousness). A gem has been strung on the thread of knowledge. The gem
> > cannot be removed; the thread is made of unbreakable consciousness. I am
> > that gem. Contemplation must be done in this manner.’
> >
> > " (My Guru further said:) ‘indriyārtha-pratītau
> draṣṭo’smy-ātmāvalokād-iti
> > (When perceiving sense-objects through the senses, one should think that
> > one is seen since the Ātman is beheld). Whenever some object is seen, the
> > reflection should not be, ‘This object is now visible.’ One must think,
> > ‘Aha! Objectless consciousness has now become associated with objects.
> The
> > Ātman was manifest earlier but now its manifestation has waxed.’ On
> > receiving a blow, we become markedly aware of the body; do we not? We
> > normally do have awareness of the body but this awareness increases when
> we
> > are beaten. Similar is the case here. Accordingly, even when perceiving
> > some external object, one should cogitate that apprehension of the Ātman
> > has occurred.
> >
> > “(My Guru further said:) ‘śayana-vidhau magna ānanda-sindhau (When lying
> > down, one should think that one is immersed in the ocean of bliss). Do
> not
> > just fall asleep. When lying down, contemplate, ‘I am now immersed in an
> > ocean of bliss’ and, with this feeling, begin to sleep.’
> >
> > “Doing so is very good. Whoever wants can test the difference between
> > simply lying down and going to sleep and sleeping after voluntarily
> > eradicating all thoughts from the mind while lying down, generating a
> > feeling of bliss and retaining it for some minutes till sleep overtakes
> > one. The great joy that this approach to sleep yields becomes apparent
> once
> > it is experienced for a few days.
> >
> >   “(My Guru concluded:) ‘antar-niṣṭho mumukṣuḥ sa khalu tanubhṛtāṁ yo
> > nayaty-evamāyuḥ. Amongst the embodied, that seeker of liberation who
> leads
> > one’s life contemplating in this fashion is indeed the one who abides
> > within, in the Ātman. Therefore, when walking, sitting, perceiving
> objects
> > and even when lying down, this is how we must conduct our life.’ “This is
> > the advice My Guru gave me.”
> >
> >   When His Holiness first told me, in 1980, about His Guru’s aforesaid
> > advice, which was centred on the 12th verse of Bhagavatpāda’s Śataślokī,
> He
> > compassionately graced me with the following additional information:
> >
> > His Holiness: “I was seated in front of my Guru when He gave this
> > explanation. No sooner had He completed His instruction about the
> attitude
> > to be maintained when seated than I strove to put this teaching into
> > practice. I did not think it appropriate to delay doing so even slightly.
> > However, though I promptly generated the thought, ‘I am a gem strung in
> the
> > thread of consciousness,’ the intensity of my contemplation was poor. A
> > reason was that I was then primarily concentrating on what my Guru was
> > telling me about the attitudes relating to perception and sleep. Further,
> > while karma-yoga and japa had become effortless for me at that time, such
> > contemplation was new to me. As I walked to my room after my Guru had
> > finished, I contemplated, ‘I am a wave in the blissful ocean that is the
> > Ātman.’ The intensity of this contemplation was much better.
> >
> > “While I sincerely strove to practise what my Guru had taught Me, I did
> > experience two difficulties. This contemplation clashed now and then with
> > my karma-yoga (involving dedicating all actions and their fruits to God).
> > My Guru resolved this difficulty by telling me two days later, ‘The time
> > has come for you to go beyond the stage of karma-yoga, which you have
> > mastered. Now, direct your efforts to contemplating on the Ātman.’ The
> > second difficulty I had was that this contemplation partially came in the
> > way of my enjoying the presence of Śāradāmbā in the temple, mentally
> > worshipping Narasiṁha and the like. This is because I did these while
> > seated and now I had been advised to contemplate when seated that I am a
> > gem strung in the thread of consciousness. My Guru Himself clarified,
> > ‘While the knowledge of the Ātman of a jīvanmukta (one liberated while
> > living) remains undisturbed by any thoughts and bodily activity, the case
> > of contemplation by a spiritual aspirant is different. Hence, for the
> > present, do your mental worship and the like as before and practise
> > contemplation on the Ātman at other times.’
> >
> > “Though I no more had any fundamental problems, my contemplation suffered
> > from occasional discontinuities. Such breaks mainly occurred when I was
> > speaking and when I got carried away by the beauty of the river and the
> > surroundings. One evening when I went to my Guru’s presence, He asked,
> > ‘Where are you coming from?’ ‘From Ambā’s temple,’ I replied. ‘What did
> you
> > see on the way?’ He queried. A break had occurred in my contemplation
> while
> > crossing the river Tuṅgā. Understanding the thrust of His question, I
> said
> > that I beheld fish playing in the Tuṅgā. ‘Did you contemplate correctly
> at
> > that time?’ was my Guru’s next query. ‘I was contemplating before and
> after
> > that but, for a few moments, the process became disrupted,’ I admitted.
> My
> > Guru said, ‘Never give room for such breaks.’ I hung my head in shame and
> > resolved that I should not be such a useless disciple Thereafter, by my
> > Guru’s grace, such discontinuities in contemplation did not occur. In a
> few
> > months, the four forms of contemplation became effortless.”
> >
> > {The senior Jagadguru advised His Holiness about the fourfold
> contemplation
> > on the Ātman in the year Āngīrasa, which ended on March 27, 1933. The
> > contemplation advocated became effortless for His Holiness sometime
> before
> > His birthday on āśvinakṛṣṇa-caturdaśī in the cyclical year Śrīmukha, that
> > is, prior to His completing 16 years of age on 18th October, 1933.}
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