Vivekacudamani, The Crest Jewel of Discernment [Paperback]

Sankara (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2006

In entering the study of the Advaita Vedanta, it is good to keep in mind some preliminary notions which we might say are necessary for a correct comprehension of the whole. What is Advaita Vedanta? What means or instruments does it utilize in its attempt to comprehend Reality? What is the nature of its aim? If we begin by answering these questions, we will be ready to follow with the right intelligence the message given by the great SANKARA in VIVEKACUDAMANI The path which is outlined here is not for the majority, quite the contrary. It is for those who, having attained “maturity”, tend towards full Awakening. It is for those who want to bring about a profound revolution within themselves; and this requires an act of courage, of steadfastness and, at the same time, of great humility.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Advaita Vedanta is pure metaphysics because its fundamental theme is the search for the absolute as pure Real.

One of the instruments with which it seeks to become attuned to the Absolute is Viveka, intellective discernment at a suprasensory level (nous). The Absolute cannot be comprehended with our sensory-mental instrument, which is imperfect, but it can be comprehended with an adequate supramental cognitive instrument, which acts as a bridge.

The analytical and discursive mind, being relative, can comprehend only relative data, just as the sense of sight can detect only a certain limited range of colors. The final aim of Vedanta is to give the individual complete liberation from individual and universal ignorance-avidya, demonstrating that the Absolute is One-without-a-second and that the embodied jiva is equally "That".

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: 328 pages
• Publisher: Aurea Vidya Foundation (June 30, 2006)
• ISBN-10: 1931406081
• ISBN-13: 978-1931406086
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 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: #1,992,685 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ancient and totally up-to-date - Advaita crystal-clear, August 11, 2008

By 

dk - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vivekacudamani, The Crest Jewel of Discernment (Paperback)

An essential Advaita Vedanta- book, more than 1000 years old. This book contains besides Raphael's (who is author and Master in the Western Metaphysical Tradition as well as the Vedanta) translation and commentary also the original Shankara-text in Sankrit (transliterated). Shankara presents his teaching as "a very stimulating realization dialogue between an advaitin Master and a" disciple striving for final freedom and realization. (see preface).
It's a book whose vibrations "jump over to" the reader (still today - after more than 1000 years). An ancient book which presents Advaita crystal-clear and timelessly up-to-date. So for instance in the chapter "Meditate on Brahman in the lotus of your heart" with the sutras 254 ff.: "That which is beyond status, beyond religious creed and beyond family; that which is beyond name and form, beyond the qualities, beyond place, beyond time and beyond sensory objects: that is Brahman, and That Thou art, contemplate that within yourself ... That which is not touched by ... hunger, thirst, suffering, ... , decrepitude and death ... cannot be contemplated by the sensory organs; that which the intellect cannot know; ... that is Brahman, That Thou art, contemplate that within yourself."
For me personally, i found a very helpful meditation aid in the following sutra 505, p. 216: "The witness is not touched by the properties of things, it is distinct from them, because it has no modifications and is indifferent, like a lamp that lights a room is not touched by the properties of the room."