What is Vedanta?

India 's culture is based on a body of knowledge known as the four Vedas. This knowledge came from rishis, seers, who in states of deep meditation visualised this teaching in the form of mantras, many thousands of years ago. Much later, a great sage known as Vyasa arranged the Vedic mantras into four specific texts known as Rig-Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda. This knowledge, which is said to be not of human origin, formed the blueprints for humanity in terms of how it should live and interact with its environment and the world at large.

The end portions of the four Vedas are known as Upanishads which are teachings of a more subtle nature. The Upanishads teach in infinite detail that there is one consciousness that is in and through the universe and every form of life. It is Brahman. It is awareness. There is nothing else. This is Vedanta.

There are one hundred and eight known Upanishads in existence today. There are thought to have been many more. Of these, ten are considered to form a nucleus for the teaching known as Brahmavidya - the knowledge of Brahman.

A post-Buddhism-era sage called Shankara popularised these ten Upanishads and wrote extensive commentaries on them and the Bhagavad Gita, which contains the essence of the Upanishadic teaching. For in these Upanishads is the clear knowledge of who I am.

The Upanishads show through the knowledge of Brahman that immortality and freedom from the cycle of life and death are the true nature of humanity and of every form of life.

 

Courtesy: dayananda.org

Self Knowledge: Sage Vasishta Educates Prince Rama

Swami Venkatesananda
Self-knowledge is not gained by explanations and descriptions,nor by the instructions of others but by direct experience.Whatever is experienced and known here in this world,all that is the Self,consciousness devoid of the duality of the experiencing and the experience.It is the Self alone that exists everywhere at all times,but because of its extreme subtlety,it is not experienced.

In all beings,it is the jiva.All activities take place in the light of the sun,but if the activities cease,the sun does not suffer loss: even so,it is on account of the Self that the body et al function,but if the body et al perish,the Self does not suffer loss.The Self is not born,nor does it die;it does not acquire,nor does it desire;it is not bound,nor is it liberated the Self is the Self of all,at all times.

That (Self) is unconditioned by time and space;how does it become bound Abandon these two false concepts that of bondage and of liberation,and live an enlightened life here.There is no liberation in the sky,on earth or in the nether world;liberation is but a synonym for pure mind,correct Self-knowledge and a truly awakened state.

The complete absence of all desires and hopes is liberation.Until one reaches this true inner awakening or Self-knowledge,one considers oneself bound and strives for liberation.Abandon these wrong notions of bondage and liberation.

O Rama,he who knows that all activities happen because of the mere existence of consciousness even as a crystal reflects the objects around it without intending to do so is liberated.They,who,even after taking this human birth,are not interested in such non-volitional activity,go from heaven to hell and from hell to heaven again.

Some are devoted to inaction,having turned away from or suppressed all action;they go from hell to hell,sorrow to sorrow,fear to fear.Others know the Self;blessed indeed are they,they have carefully enquired into the nature of the mind and overcome all cravings;they do go to higher planes of consciousness.

He who has taken birth for the last time now,is endowed with a mixture of light (satva) and a little impurity (rajas).Right from birth he grows in holiness.Noble qualities like friendliness,compassion,wisdom,goodness and magnanimity seek him and take abode in him.He performs all appropriate actions,but is not swayed if their results appear to be gain or loss,nor does he feel elated or depressed.His heart is clear.He is much sought after by people.

One,who is full of all the noble qualities,seeks and follows an enlightened master who directs him along the path of Self-knowledge.He then realises the Self which is the one cosmic being.Such a liberated one awakens the inner intelligence,and instantly knows itself to be the infinite consciousness.

Such is the normal course of evolution,O Rama.However,there are exceptions.For those who have taken birth in this world,two possibilities exist for the attainment of liberation.The first is: treading the path indicated by the master,the seeker gradually reaches the goal of liberation.The second is: Self knowledge literally drops into ones lap,as it were,and there is instant enlightenment.

Source: The Times of India, Speaking Tree 

How much is enough?

Vinita Dawra Nangia

Not many of us are aware of what is enough to make us happy. In our dizzily consumerist culture, we make ourselves miserable in the pursuit of more than enough without pausing to think of what we really need

They say the right time to stop eating is just before your stomach is full, because it takes a while for the stomach’s message of satiation to reach the brain. So, if you wait till you feel full, you will already have eaten more than what was enough for you. If you are smart, you will be able to figure out that the right time to stop is while still hungry. If only Deputy Collector Nitish Thakur had heeded that message, he may not have found himself become a shining statistic on our country’s ever-burgeoning corruption stakes — one of the biggest graft catches in India ever!

Thirty-six properties and assets worth 118 cr, 10 luxury cars…. Come on, how much does a man need? When we were kids, a game of Ludo, a carom board, a set of playing cards and some playing dough seemed good enough entertainment. Today, the best battery-operated toys, gizmos and games are acquired from around the world only to be outdated the moment new stuff gets launched. Xbox seemed good enough till Xbox 360 was announced. The iPod, iPad, laptop, car, and TV are all enough only till slightly more updated versions are launched. In a dizzily consumerist culture, we are not allowed to feel satisfied, and are conditioned to want more, no matter what we already have. And that ‘more’ always exceeds ‘enough’. The problem is that we allow a hyper-consumerist culture to dictate our needs and definition of enough. It is important to understand that what is enough for one person may just be the first milestone in the journey of desire for another.

Why covet what another has when you may have no need for it? So then how do you know what is enough for you? Just the bare necessities of life? Food, shelter, clothing stabilise things enough to make us reach for something beyond, which marks the difference between existing and living. In order to live well and be on top of life, you need that extra something. That X-factor varies from person to person.

For one it could be money, for another travel, for yet another, the challenge of forming and running a business. A sense of adventure may attract some, while others may be charmed by the idea of a life of meditative calm — reading, thinking, writing, interacting with friends and loved ones. But the end result everyone seeks by aiming at ‘enough’ is the same — happiness.

When you have what you deem is enough, the one thing it will make you is happy. Or, so you think. So when you keep shifting your goal post of ‘enough’, you also keep shifting back the time when you will be happy and satisfied. How do we decide what is enough? This can be best done backwards, starting with the end result. Once the basic needs are taken care of, think about what makes you really happy? And in order to be in that space, what do you really need — money, space and time for yourself ? People around you? Helping those less fortunate? Some talent or skill? Are you earning as much as you need or pushing yourself to get more than ‘enough’? What for? If you were to give up that extra shove and instead, spend that time to pursue what makes you really happy, would your life be better? After all, it would be silly to love money for the sake of it?

Are you aware of what you are pursuing all that money for? What do you want it to do for you?

Remember Leo Tolstoy’s popular Russian story “How much land does a man need?” Pahom, a peasant dies exhausted in pursuit of his dream of owning large areas of land. He is rich finally, but now all the land he needs -- is a six-foot long grave!

Courtesy: The Sunday Times of India