Atmabodha [Paperback]

Shankara (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 21, 2003

Sankara is regarded as one of the preeminent philosophical minds in the history of India. ATMABODHA (Self-Knowledge) is a deeply explanatory text on the essence of the Advaita Vedanta Teaching. The explanation of the terms and expressions utilized in the Scriptures is useful for the student's comprehension of the subtle themes that are often hidden in the Teaching, and the text is, therefore, an essential prerequisite for those who want to comprehend Advaita Vedanta.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The whole Hindu Tradition is essentially founded on the Veda, meaning Sacred Science and Traditional Knowledge par excellence. The diverse metaphysical and cosmological conceptions of India are not at all incompatible. They are developments, darsana (perspectives), of the one doctrine constituted by the Veda, principle and foundation of all derived Branches.

This edition of atmabodha, which is here presented in English, has been translated directly from Sanskrit, edited and commented, by Raphael.

His commentary on Sankara's slokas is based on the following criteria:

a) To remain faithful to the Advaita and Asparsa Tradition to which the text belongs.
b) To make it accessible to the Western reader by using a conceptual methodology that harmonizes with the Western mind structure and its receptiveness. To do this without impoverishing, vulgarizing, nor forcing Advaita into a "system".
c) To stimulate the reader's consciousness in a suitable way, as Raphael is a living and practicing advaitin-asparsin.

In a Traditional conception only the Doctrine has value, not the individual presenting it. It is for this reason that Raphael focuses on an effective transmission of the Teaching, shunning all desire to express personal views concerning the Doctrine. He is a faithful interpreter and his efforts are concentrated on providing the Doctrine with incisive and clear meaning.

About the Author

SANKARA has been one of the greatest philosophers of India. He dedicated his brief and intense life (788-820) to re-establish the authority of the Sruti, to codify the Advaita Vedanta, the doctrine of Non-duality, and to anchor the Metaphysical Tradition of the Veda through the foundation of monasteries (matha) and monastic orders. With his bhasya (commentary) to the Upanisad, the Brahmasutra, and the Bhagavadgita, and with his own writings, Sankara has profoundly influenced not only India's philosophical development, but that of the entire world.

RAPHAEL is author and Master in the Western Metaphysical Tradition as well as the Vedanta. For over 35 years, he has written several books on the pathway of Non-duality (Advaita). He has also translated and commented a number of key Vedanta texts from the original Sanskrit. His entire work is a conscious reunification of Western and Eastern Traditions into Unity of Tradition. Founder of the Asram Vidya Order, Raphael is now dedicating himself entirely to the spiritual practice. He lives in a hermitage connected to the asram and devotes himself completely to a vow of silence.

Product Details

• Paperback: 94 pages
• Publisher: Aurea Vidya (December 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931406065
• ISBN-13: 978-1931406062
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #288,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you're seriously interested in Advaita Vedanta this little book is a ,must', August 21, 2007

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dk - See all my reviews

This review is from: Atmabodha (Paperback)

Here sample samples:

p. 11: "in a traditional conception only the Doctrine has value, not the individual presenting it. It is for this reason that Raphael focuses on an effective transmission of the Teaching, shunning all desire to express personal views concerning the Doctrine."

P. 13: "... a synthesis of Advaita follows, with special reference to several of its founding principles. These founding principles have been often interpreted following the letter rather than Sankara's spirit, which has given rise to misunderstandings and incomprehensions."

p. 14 ff.: "The term MAYA has many different meanings: ... `[like] taking something for something else'... Because of maya we mistake the rope for a snake, using Sankara's example ... in order to eliminate the snake ... all needs to be done is to open the eye of wisdom (knowledge). Similarly in order to make a mental representation disappear, it is only necessary to still the mind. Furthermore MAYA is not `illusion'; this meaning is the one ascribed to it in the West, so much that some people have given Sankara's Doctrine the attribute of illusionism, in a disparaging sense as well ... an illusory event is comparable to the `horns of a hare', while Sankara maintains that the maya-universe is not like the `horns of a hare'. ... To comprehend maya correctly and in the context of Traditional Advaita, the above considerations are important. ... If we refer to the spirit rather than to the letter of Sankara's Doctrine, we can see that ADVAITA VEDANTA maintains that, all that belongs to the process of becoming, together with its implications, HAS ITS VALUE AND DEGREE OF TRUTH ONLY AS LONG AS ONE IS INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS ... Every human action, ethics, research, etc., has its meaning as long as we experience a life of relations or individuality. ... The metaphysics of Non-duality does not propose to disregard or deny MAYA, as such attitude would also fall within avidya (metaphysical ignorance). Advaita is saying that one ought not to create identification nor identity with MAYA, nor to superimpose maya on Reality, hence mistaking the rope for the snake."

p. 27 f.: "This is cathartic, transforming knowledge, which has the power to dissolve error of perspective. ... There are YOGA Practices which may foster certain SAMADHI, or . . . even offer realization of the One, as Principle, but cannot grant liberation. We should comprehend that Sankara's ADVAITAPADA aims exclusively at the realization of the metaphysical One, ... the Constant, beyond time, space and cause. ... ADVAITA is the path which transcends both SAMSARA and NIRVANA, the manifest and the non-manifest, the world of men and that of the Gods. That is why integral Liberation is attained by means of Knowledge and not by psycho-physiological techniques or exercises, acts or deeds, through rite or a particular MANTRA. ... a clear distinction should be made between that which is integral Liberation and a universal expansion of consciousness."

p. 49 (Sankara's Sutra #37): "THUS THE MEDIATION ON `I AM BRAHMAN ITSELF', PRACTICED WITHOUT INTERRUPTION, DESTROYS THE PROJECTION MOVEMENTS OF THE MIND CAUSED BY IGNORANCE, JUST A MEDICINE DISPELLS ILNESSES.
The ATMAN is one, indivisible bliss, eternal, at all times identical to itself, while its REFLECTIONS are interacting phenomena."

p. 52: "Seated in a propitious place, his consciousness free from material and psychical attachments, the ascetic should meditate exclusively on the Self, and avoid being conditioned by movements of the thought. Through discernment (VIVEKA) one must recognize the projective phenomenon; then, through an act of of dis-identification (VAIRAGYA), it is necessary to de-polarize the mind itself. So, all objects, phenomena, conventions, etc., lose importance and come to an end."

p. 60: "The BRAHMAN-ATMAN [the absolute in us] cannot be conceived by mental categories because these are always characterized by subject-object; while the ATMAN is beyond every possible polarity and duality. The ATMAN is not the eye, but that which enables the eye to see; the ATMAN is not the mind but that which enables the mind to exist and think; the ATMAN is not happiness nor bliss itself, but that which enables bliss-happiness to manifest and be; the ATMAN is not the sun, but that which enables the sun to rise and set."