It appears that currently there is a general resurgence of interest in all things spiritual, both in India and overseas to varying degrees.
And there is an appetizing variety of philosophical offerings out there for one to choose from.
One of them was made particularly delicious by the great saint Sankara in the eighth century (788-820). In thirty-two short years, he produced an immense amount of written output covering the whole spectrum of established Indian philosophical thought all the way from the Vedas to the Bhagavadgita, leaving no stone unturned. Not only that, he constructed a whole edifice of concrete canonical foundation. He named it advaita, nondualism. When all is said and done, only you are left, omnipresent, omniscient, and full of unalloyed Bliss.
To us ordinary mortals, though, who seem to suffer from self-inflicted wounds and wallow in endless misery in some imagined form or other, it is hard to believe in our own infinite potential. Enter Sankara with his compassionate and commanding remedy.
One of his elementary works, a teaching manual, is Atmabodha, translated as 'Self-Knowledge. It is a short work of 68 verses. It teaches us exactly how one is not the physical body but is the all-powerful Self. The Self pervading all moving and stationary objects is the same as the Supreme Consciousness, termed Brahman. Each one of us shares that glorious heritage, if only we know it.
If Atmabodha is a teaching manual for a spiritually-challenged world, this work is designed to be a guide to that manual. It explains the concept discussed in each verse, followed by related questions and answers, and ends with an explanation of keywords. It is written in a simple and straightforward language so that the readers dipping their toes into Sankara's opus for the first time will feel a sense of satisfaction and feel fulfilled.
Atman/Brahman is indescribable by definition. When we use terms like 'explain,' describe,' 'characterize, etc., we merely imply that the poet is instructing us to internalize the concept, experience it, and be immersed in it.
Swami Nikhilananda's Atmabodha (Mylapore, Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1947) has been frequently consulted in the preparation of this book.
Dictionaries used include Monier-Williams, Apte, Spoken Sanskrit, Sabdakalpadruma, and others in the elucidation of keywords.
Vedas (1182)
Upanishads (493)
Puranas (624)
Ramayana (741)
Mahabharata (354)
Dharmasastras (165)
Goddess (496)
Bhakti (242)
Saints (1503)
Gods (1290)
Shiva (370)
Journal (187)
Fiction (60)
Vedanta (362)
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