This article is an excerpt from a much longer article which you can view here, that gives further quotes on this same topic from others including Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Shankara, Suresvara and Ribhu Gita. The original article also gives disclaimer which you should read (ie. these teachings are for earnest seekers only and can have detrimental effects for those not ready for them) and makes some suggestions as how to best appraoch these teachings.
The following verses are taken from the text Voga Vasistha Sara, which you can view and download here in its entirely. As with most Advaita texts, various teachings from different levels are given in this text. In Yoga Vasistha mainly Ajata Vada and Dristi Sristi Vada teachings are given, and below I will list some of the quotes pointing to Ajata Vada:
1.17 Even the slightest thought immerses a man in sorrow; when devoid of all thoughts he enjoys imperishable bliss.
1.23 Nothing whatever is born or dies anywhere at any time. It is Brahman alone appearing illusorily in the form of the world.
2.1 Just as the great ocean of milk became still when the Mandara Mountain (with which it was churned by the Devas and the Asuras) became still, even so the illusion of samsara comes to an end when the mind is stilled.
2.2 Samsara rises when the mind becomes active and ceases when it is still. Still the mind, therefore, by controlling the breath and the latent desires (vasanas).
2.3 This worthless (lit. burnt out) samsara is born of one’s imagination and vanishes in the absence of imagination. It is certain that it is absolutely unsubstantial.
2.5 This long-living ghost of a samsara which is the creation of the deluded mind of man [ie. ignorance] and the cause of his sufferings disappears when one ponders over it.
2.8 Whatever is seen does not truly exist. It is like the mythical city of Gandharvas (fata morgana) or a mirage.
2.11 This creation, which is a mere play of consciousness, rises up, like the delusion of a snake in a rope (when there is ignorance) and comes to an end when there is right knowledge.
2.19 The bliss of a man of discrimination, who has rejected samsara and discarded all mental concepts, constantly increases.
3.22 If, by perceiving that the objects of perception do not really exist, the mind is completely freed (from those objects) there ensues the supreme bliss of liberation.
3.23 Abandonment of all latent tendencies is said to be the best (i.e. real) liberation by the wise; that is also the faultless method (of attaining liberation).
3.24 Liberation is not on the other side of the sky, nor is it in the nether world, nor on the earth; the extinction of the mind resulting from the eradication of all desires is regarded as liberation.
3.25 O Rama, there is no intellect, no nescience, no mind and no individual soul (jiva). They are all imagined in Brahman.
3.26 To one who is established in what is infinite, pure consciousness, bliss and unqualified non-duality, where is the question of bondage or liberation, seeing that there is no second entity?
4.1 Consciousness which is undivided imagines to itself desirable objects and runs after them. It is then known as the mind.
4.9 The mind is the cause of (i.e. produces) the objects of perception. The three worlds depend upon it. When it is dissolved the world is also dissolved. It is to be cured (i.e. purified) with effort.
4.12 O Rama, he who, with in-turned mind, offers all the three worlds, like dried-grass, as an oblation in the fire of knowledge, becomes free from the illusions of the mind.
4.13 When one knows the real truth about acceptance and rejection and does not think of anything but abides in himself, abandoning everything, (his) mind does not come into existence.
4.14 The mind is terrible (ghoram) in the waking state, gentle (santam) in the dream state, dull (mudham) in deep sleep and dead when not in any of these three states [ie. when in the fourth state, Turiya, self-realisation].
4.16 The mind is samsara; the mind is also said to be bondage;
6.2 The mind, the intellect, the senses, etc. are all the play of Consciousness. They are unreal and seem to exist only due to lack of insight [ie. objects only appear due to lack or self-knowledge, which is also known as ignorance].
6.9 The world which has come into existence on account of my ignorance has dissolved likewise in me.
7.16 It is again strange that while the Supreme Brahman is forgotten by men, the idea ‘this is mine’ called avidya is firmly held by them (lit. strongly confronts them).
10.1 Supreme Bliss cannot be experienced through contact of the senses with their objects. The supreme state is that in which the mind is annihilated through one-pointed enquiry.
10.2 The bliss arising from the contact of the senses with their objects is inferior. Contact with the sense objects is bondage; freedom from it is liberation.
10.5 The belief in a knower and the known is called bondage. The knower is bound by the known; he is liberated when there is nothing to know.
10. 6 Abandoning the ideas of seer, seen and sight along with latent desires (vasanas) of the past, we meditate on that Self which is the primal light that is the basis of sight.
10.11 The rock-like state in which all thoughts are still and which is different from the waking and dream states, is one’s supreme state.
10.16 There is only the one waveless and profound ocean of pure nectar, sweet through and through (i.e. blissful) everywhere
I have decided to add the book Aham Sphurana to the recommended reading list. Please see the list here for more information about this decision, which may be controversial for some. For clarity, the version I am recommending is the original unabridged version and not the edited selections published by others which may contain distortions to the teachings. See here to download the text for free.
Some people have informed me of their view that in full liberation there is no appearance of the body, mind and world, but that this full liberation, called videhamukti, only occurs when the body dies. As long as the body lives, they say, the appearance of the world continues, this being called Jivanmukti (liberation whilst alive as a person or jiva). For the Jivanmukti, the appearance of the body, mind and world continue, but they are known to be an illusion.
The Jnani, they say, will continue to experience pleasure and pain, etc, until the body dies. Some say this means that some ignorance is retained for the jivanmukti and ignorance is only completely dispelled when the body dies after jivanmukti, which again is called videhamukti (liberation without the body, ie. The state of liberation once the body has died – note if this is true, then there are 2 forms of liberation, which itself is a contradiction to non-duality – ie. there cannot be 2 different forms of non-dual liberation by definition, for that would be inherently dualistic).
This is not Shankara’s view at all. He specifically states this view is not correct in many places throughout his writing. Incidentally Sri Ramana Maharshi also explains how this view is not correct too and is in full agreement with Shankara.
In this post I will demonstrate that Shankara has the following view:
1) for the liberated sage (jnani) there is no appearance of the body, mind or world – there is no appearance of a body, there is no appearance or experience of pleasure or of pain, and there is not even any experience or appearance of time and space for the jnani
2) this liberation does not occur only once the body has died – the implication is that whilst others may perceive the jnani to have a body, to experience pleasure, pain, etc, to experience time and space, this is only the view of the ignorant onlooker. The Jnani has a different ‘experience’, namely they do not perceive samsara, the world, pleasure, pain, time, space or a body – they only ‘experience’ the ever-blissful self, which is one, homogenous and ultimately beyond all experience, all conception and all description.
3) Shankara explains that the appearance of the body (and mind and world) is an effect of ignorance, and that the cessation of ignorance cannot depend on an action such as the death of the body (yes, death of the body is an action, and Shankara famously and repeatedly taught that actions cannot lead to removal of ignorance or liberation). Conversely, if the body mind and world appear, that is an indicator that ignorance is still in effect, for these are the hallmarks of duality, samsara, jivahood and suffering.
4) Moreoever, the body, being an effect of ignorance, cannot itself remove ignorance by dying. Ignorance is the cause, the body-appearance is a consequence of ignorance. Any changes to the effect cannot effect the root cause, no, rather the root cause of duality has to be removed, and when that occurs, any effects dependent on the cause will naturally fall away.
Shankara comments on the nature of liberation
In Shankara’s commentary on the Brahma Sutra 1.1.4 Shankara makes several definitive points about the nature of liberation. In this part of the commentary, his main aim is to show that the Self is not attained through any actions or thoughts, but through Jnana or knowledge (which he explains is not a thought or understanding). However in making his arguments, he also makes some other points about the nature of liberation.
Bodilessness is liberation
First he says that there is no body in liberation, that the jnani is without a body. He uses the word अशरीरत्व (aśarīratva) which literally means ‘the state of being without a body’ (sarira = body; a- is the negating prefix, -tva denotes the state of being, similar to the English suffix ‘-ness’) or ‘bodilessness’.
Shankara writes:
Hence it is proved that asiriratva (bodilessness), which is liberation, is eternal and different from the results of action…it is all pervasive like space, devoid of all modifications, ever happy, without parts and self-effulgent by nature. This is that bodilessness, called liberation, where the idea of the three periods of time does not exist, and the virtuous and unvirtuous deeds cease along with their effects, as stated in the scriptures…
We can clearly see in the text above that Shankara is stating the Jnani is without a body, and also does not experience any actions, any effects of actions, nor do they experience any concept of the three periods of time (past, present and future).
Of course, this teaching is given by Shankara repeatedly thoughout his commentarial works where he states the transactional reality (vyvaharika) only exists for the ignorant/ unrealised, and for the Jnani, there is only the Ultimate Truth (paramarthika). Shankara also writes this in his non-commentarial works, such Upadesa Saharsri, as follows:
All this world is unreal and proceeds from ignorance, because it is seen only by one afflicted by ignorance
Sri Shankara, Upadesa Sahasri 17.20
and also here:
Having thus effaced the triad consisting of dreamless sleep, dream and waking experience, one crosses over the great sea of ignorance. For he is then established in his own Self, void of all attributes of the empirical world, pure, enlightened, and by his very nature liberated.
Sri Shankara, Upadesa Sahasri 17.58
and also here:
Of me who am ever-liberated, pure, rock-firm and changeless, not subject to modification, immortal, indestructible and so without a body, there is no hunger or thirst or grief or delusion or old age or death. For I am bodiless…
Sri Shankara, Upadesa Sahasri 13.3-13.4
Bodilessness has nothing to do with the death of the body
But perhaps one could argue that this bodiless state of liberation only occurs when the body dies, ie. in so-called Videhamukti, but that the body persists in jivanmukti? Shankara addresses this very point in the same commentary on Brahma Sutra verse 1.1.4, where he writes the following:
Opponent: Suppose we argue that this bodilessness comes when the body falls [dies], but it cannot be so for the person still living?
Vedantin: Not so, for the idea of having a body is the result of ignorance. Unless it be through the ignorance of identifying the Self with the body, there can be no having a body for the self. And we have said that the bodilessness of the Self is eternal, since it is not a product of action.
Shankara is explaining 2 points here, firstly that the notion of the body itself is downstream from ignorance, ie. that the body only persists due to ignorance, and when ignorance has gone, so has the body. Therefore one does not need to wait for the body to die to become ‘bodiless’. These kinds of misconceptions arise from the strong identification of being a body in the first place.
His second point is that the death of the body is an action, and so cannot be responsible for the eternal state of bodilessness, which is liberation and the Self (note that earlier in this commentary Shankara has already made the point that all actions lead to effects which themselves are finite and impermanent, and so action cannot lead to something permanent such as the eternal state of bodilessness which is our true nature – ie. Shankara has argued that no action or karma can lead to liberation or moksha)
The Jnani’s worldly experience doesn’t continue as before
But surely, one could argue, the jnani has the same essential worldly experience as the ajnani (the unenlightened or ignorant one)? Don’t we see the Jnani walking, taking, eating, laughing, getting annoyed, etc? Shankara denies this – he goes on to say the following, again in his commentary on Brahma Sutra 1.1.4:
..it is established that the liberated one has no body even whilst living…hence one who has realised his own identity with Brahmancannot continue to experience the world (samsara) as before, whereas the one who experiences the world (samsara) as before has not realised his identity as Brahman. Thus it is all beyond criticism.
And again Shankara writes in his commentary on Brahma Sutra 1.1.4:
Opponent:…it is a patent fact that even one who has heard of Brahman continues to have his mundane life just as before?
Vedantin: To this the answer is being given: for one who has realised the state of the oneness of the Self and Brahman, it cannot be proved that his mundane life continues just as before, for this contradcits the knowledge of the oneness of Brahman and the Self…hence it is stated in the scriptures ‘Happiness and sorrow do not touch one who has become definitely without a body’ [Chandogya Upanishad 8.7.1]
We can see here the objection is raised that surely it is an obvious fact that the jnani experiences their mundane life just as before. Shankara denies this, stating firstly that this cannot be proved and secondly that this notion contradicts the scriptures and concept of non-dual realisation. Shankara in the above comments also explains that the Jnani does not experience any worldly happiness or sorrow, an idea consistent with what Shankara wrote earlier, namely there are no actions or effects of actions (such as happiness or sorrow) in the Self.
We see Sri Ramana explain the same in this picture quote below, when he is commenting on another writing of Shankara’s:
If you are interested to see how Sri Ramana Maharshi, Gaudapada and Suresvara give the same teachings please see this post here:
The Śrutis have emphatically denied that the pluralistic world of minerals, mountains, trees, animals and human beings together constituting the world of multiplicity* exist even as a trace in the pure Reality.
The great seers, saints and sages have corroborated this with their personal experience. When there is no duality as the devotee and the Lord, how can the devotee say he is experiencing God?
When the dream merges [Tom: ie. dissolves and disappears] itself in the waking, how can the waker say that the dreamer is different from the waker?
So too when you transcend this place of Consciousness and wake up to the plane of God-consciousness, how can you experience duality or multiplicity? This is what all Śrutis declare.
~ Swami Chinmayananda, commentary on Aparoksanubhuti (a text by Shankara), verse 47
*Swamiji defines plurality and multiplicity as being the world of objects, such as minerals mountains trees animals and human beings. He states that not even a trace of these exist in the reality. He is following the definition of multiplicity given by the Upanishads and by Shankara when he writes this, both of whom are unequivocal that this world of multiplicity and plurality refers to the appearance of objects such as mountains trees etc, and these only appear to exist due to ignorance, and cease to appear to exist once ignorance has been removed.
When Swamiji explains that ‘not a trace’ of multiplicity exists in the reality, meaning in self-realization, when only reality is there, nothing else, no ignorance, he is also copying the language of Shankara and the Upanishads who also say ‘not a trace’ of multiplicity exists in self-realisation.
This article is an excerpt from a much longer article which you can view here, that gives further quotes on this same topic from others including Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Shankara, Yoga Vasistha and Ribhu Gita. The original article also expands on the disclaimer below and makes some suggestions as how to best appraoch these teachings.
A warning/disclaimer
The teachings that are given below, whilst they are open to anyone, they are very radical in their nature. It is not recommended that you read them if you are not an earnest seeker of liberation or if your mind is likely to be destabilised by a more radical notion of the nature of the universe or what liberation looks like.
We will see that these same exact teachings have been given for many centuries, but traditionally these teachings would only be given to a prepared mind, a mind prepared by devotion, faith and loving surrender. This infuses the mind and heart with an energy of peace, calm and loving kindness and happiness. It is this stable peaceful mind that is most able to receive these teachings, although it is possible there can be some exceptions to this.
Some people can find these teachings quite distressing and destablising and the author of this post takes no responsibility for providing this information to you that has been traditionally written about and taught for many centuries and is already in the public domain.
Sri Suresvara – Shankara’s student and protege
Suresvara was a devoted student of Shankara who wrote the treatise Naishkarmya Siddhi (NS, you can download the text for free in this link) as well as some commentaries on Shankara’s works. As expected, he explains exactly the same things as Gaudapada and Shankara do above. We will see that Suresvara explains the following key points in his writings:
That the world only appears due to ignorance
The world itself is a form of ignorance
The world refers to phenomenal arisings, also known as objects, and includes the body and the mind (thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc) and gross objects such as trees, stars, rivers, etc.
Ignorance itself is ultimately not a real thing that ever exists
When (apparent) ignorance is removed by self-knowledge, the world also no longer appears due to its cause (ignorance) being removed
This world therefore no longer arises or appears to the self-realised Jnani.
If we read carefully, we will see that Suresvara is not saying that the Jnani continues to see the world but sees it to be an illusion, and he is also not saying the Jnani continues to see the world but sees the world as Self or being one with the Self
In truth, there is no connection between the Self on one hand, and ignorance/the world/the body on the other hand, the latter not really existing, and only appearing to exist due to ignorance
The world also refers to all movement or action (karma), and this action or karma only appears or arises due to ignorance.
Because karma or action is downstream from ignorance, in that ignorance is the cause of action, action cannot remove ignorance.
Like action, desire also arises from ignorance, and so in self-realisation there is no desire, as ignorance, which is the cause of all desire, no longer exists.
Similarly, all of time and space are products of ignorance and so time and space cease once ignorance has been removed (seen to have never existed)
Similarly, all of samsara, the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, is due to ignorance and this entire process starting from birth no longer appears when our true nature (Self) has been realised. This is ajata vada – that birth or creation never really ever occurred in the first place, not even as an appearance.
Let us see some quotes from the writings of Suresvara:
Therefore all this (world-appearance) comes forth from ignorance (ajnana) ~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi, preamble to 2.45
and that non-self is ignorance (or duality):
‘For the very nature of the not-self is ignorance‘ ~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi, preamble to 3.1
and again that the non-self is created by ignorance:
Further, the not-self is born of ignorance. ~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi, preamble to 3.1
and that ignorance is not actually a ‘thing’ at all:
…for ignorance is nothing but absence of knowledge, and since the latter is a non-entity (avastu) by nature… ~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi, preamble to 3.7
In NS, in his introduction to Chapter 3 he writes the following:
‘We have shown at some length that all this [world] from the Creator [Brahma] to a clump of grass, consisting of the empirical [relatie] knower, his instruments of knowledge, his knowledge and its objects, is but a false [unreal or untrue] superimposition. And it has been made clear that the Self is the changeless rock-firm Consciousness, void of the six states of phenomenal existence beginning with birth – and is that [changeless consciusness void of objects] alone. And between the world (as false superimposition) and the rock-firm Self there is no connection except ignorance (ajnana) [which itself is unreal]…’
~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi, introduction to chapter 3
See how Suresvara gives the same teaching as his Guru, Shankara, by clearly stating that the Self is changeless and void of all phenomenal happenings. The phrase ‘beginning with birth’ emphasises that all phenomenal arisings right from their very outset are denied or non-arising in the Self.
Indeed, there is never any real contact between the Self and the body, far less between the Self and objects.
~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi 1.19
How can there be no contact between Self and objects? Only if the latter does not actually exist in any way, shape, arising or form! As he says in Chapter 2:
‘The Self is changeless consciousness, and therefore does not contain the factors of action.’
~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi 2.113
Suresvara is stating that the factors of action are not present in the Self – the factors of action are the doer/agent, the deed/action performed and the instrument through which it is performed. Everything we see/feel/perceive is in the field of action, of cause and effect. Suresvara is stating none of these exist in the Self. We see this same teaching here:
For Self-knowledge is based on the self-revealed reality alone, and its nature is to destroy ignorance and the whole complex of factors of action that arise from it as effects.
~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi 1.35
Here again we see the notion that ignorance is the cause of the body, mind and world, which are its effects. Both Shankara and Suresvara repeatedly state that when ignorance is destroyed by Self-Knowledge, the effects of ignorance, namely all phenomenal arisings, are also destroyed, just as the illusory snake is destroyed when the rope is clearly seen as rope. Suresvara continues in the same verse as follows restating that action depends on ignorance for both its existance and continuation once it has arisen:
But action depends on ignorance both for its rise and (for the production of its effects) after it has arisen. For action is but a means resorted to by some agent. It does not maintain itself independently after its own component factors (agent, instrument, object etc.) have all disappeared
~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi 1.35
Suresvara states this more succinctly here in his preamble to 1.40:
Action arises from ignorance, it ceases with the destruction of ignorance.
~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi, preamble to 1.40
Action itself arises from nescience, hence it cannot destroy it. But right knowledge can destroy nescience for it is the opposite of it, as the sun is the oppositeof darkness.
~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi 1.35
Here is it very directly stated that there is no action or movement when ignorance is destroyed, as action is a consequence or effect of ignorance. Next we will see Suresvara stating that the teacher, the texts and the seeker are all illusions that do not exist in self-realisation – the teacher and teaching are the part of the illusion that take us out of illusion, and, being unreal, they do not persist with self-realisation:
In the same way, one who was ignorant of the Self and who is awakened from this ignorance by the Vedic text (sruti) sees nothing other than his own Self. The Teacher (guru), the texts and he himself as deluded individual soul have all disappeared.
~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi 4.37
In verse 43 of the same chapter Suresvara introduces the idea that it is our desire that creates/causes what is calls the ocean of suffering in verse 1.37 and what is here referred to as samsara, the cycle of birth-death-rebirth-suffering (also called transmigration):
Sruti has also declared this [teaching] in order to demolish desire (kama). All samsara has desire for its root.The destruction of desire arises from the destruction of ignorance.
~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi 1.43
The implication is that ignorance causes desire, which in turn creates or manifests the phenomenal arisings, similar to what we read in the karma kanda portion of the Vedas as well as the ‘new age’ Law of Attraction teachings. Suresvara quotes from Sruti to back this statement up:
“When all the desires that lie in a man’s heart are resolved.” (then the mortal becomes immortal and attains Brahman): “thus (does the man who desires transmigrate; but the man who does not desire never transmigrates)”. So says the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad [in verses 4.4.6 and 4.4.7]. Vyasa also spoke of this, as in “this our bondage is verily bondage through desire”
~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi 1.44
We can see that that idea of samsara, or transmigration, which consists of (the illusion of) being born as a person, then living and experiencing the joys and pains of life, eventually dying, and then repeating the process by being born again – this entire samsara is the phenomenal arising that we see, also known as suffering, that appears to appear in ‘our’ consciousness – all of this samsara is due to desire -ie. our desires manifest or project or create phenomenal arisisings such as bodies, minds, creatures and things. Desire itself is a consequence of ignorance, and when ignorance ceases, all the effects of ignorance, namely all desire and samsara, which is to say the entire mind and all phenomenal arisings, also cease.
It seems that Suresvara was likely reading or referring to Shankara’s commentary on the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad when he wrote the above verse, as Shankara writes the following:
They do not also know the contradiction, based on incongruity, between the attainment of knowledge, which obliterates all action with its factors and results, and ignorance together with its effects. [ie. all objects, duality, actions and suffering are removed with liberation, so there is no possibility of either desire or an object to desire in liberation] Nor have they heard Vyāsa’s statement (on the subject). The contradiction rests on the opposite trends of the nature of rites and that of knowledge, which are related to ignorance and illumination respectively.
~ Sri Shankara, Commentary on Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, introduction to section 2.4
We see Shankara say the the following in his commentary on Brihadaranyaka Upanishad about desires not being present in the Jnani, that is actually just the Self devoid of all illusion/arisings/birth.
But there are some who hold that even a knower of Brahman has desires. They have certainly never heard the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad[which states the Jnani has no desires]
~ Sri Shankara, Commentary on Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, introduction to section 2.4
Here in this next verse Suresvara says the following:
The sphere of ignorance is the unreal; the sphere of knowledge is the highest reality : conjunction between the two is like conjunction between the sun and the night.
~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi 1.56
And again here:
We have shown that action is an effect of ignorance, and that therefore there can be no association, either simultaneous or even successive, between knowledge and action
~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi, peramble to verse 1.76
We can see here Suresvara is stating that, just as when the sun rises nighttime cannot exist in any way, similarly the unreal cannot exist in any way in self-realisation, which is the highest reality. Note that this is essentially the same as when Sri Ramana writes in ‘Who am I?’:
Therefore, when the world appears, Self will not appear; and when Self appears (shines), the world will not appear.
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, ‘Who Am I?’
and
Question 4. When will the realisation of the Self be gained? Sri Ramana: When the world, which is what-is-seen, has been removed, there will be realisation of the Self, which is the seer
Question 5. Will there not be realisation of the Self even while the world is there? Sri Ramana: There will not be
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, ‘Who Am I?’ (Question and Answer version)
Suresvara makes the point there can be no identification whatsoever with the body-mind for the self-realised one:
The Self-realized man cannot identify himself with the individual body and mind, since such identification is due to demoniac (Asuric) ignorance. If the latter had power to afflict even the man of Self-realization, knowledge of the Absolute would be useless.
~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi 1.75
This is because there is no body-mind and world for the self-realised one, who is nothing but the pure objectless formless self. The notion that the Jnani has a body, a mind, and engages in actvities, in birth and death, is only from the ignorant point of view of the ‘onlooker’, none of which exist in truth if we investigate who we are. Here are some more verses from Suresvara on this topic, all taken from Naishkarmya Siddhi:
Preamble to 2.30: When the ego-limitation is removed, nothing in the whole range of duality is left standing, since that is the sole root of our relation with duality. So we proceed:
2.30 When the ego-sense ceases, the sense of possession, too, departs; for the ego-sense is its only cause. Can there be (the appearance of) a false snake except when it is dark?
2.31 It is only he whose mind is afflicted by darkness who sees a snake in a rope through error. Therefore noone sees a snake in a garland except through error
2.32 If the ego-sense were really a property of the Self it would continue after liberation and in deep sleep. Since it does not do so, we conclude that it is a property of something else.
2.44 Thus we have shown that this duality is different from the Self – this duality which is false, which has no definable essence, whose cause is ignorance and whose nature is hard to understand by mere reasoning.
Preamble to 2.51: Nor does this whole illusory display (abhasa), consisting in action, its factors and results, touch the supreme reality in any way, since it is founded in mere delusion.
2.61 If the Self of man changes with the rise of every new idea in his intellect, that Self is non-eternal; but if the Self does not change, it cannot be the knower of that cognition.”
2.63 The notion that the changeless Self can be an experiencer is due to an error set up by the ego-sense; it is like the notion that mountains are moving due to the error set up by the motion of a boat.
Preamble to 2.69: Thus this pure consciousness, “firm as a mountain peak” (kutastha), has no contact with duality whatever
2.93 This formless non-dual Absolute (Brahman) is conceived in millions of ways by those of weak intellect, like the blind men guessing at the nature of the elephant.
2.119 So saying, he pronounces “OM” and becomes awake to the partless Self, beyond action and the factors of action. He acquires the solitary state, estranged as it were from the intellect, the body and the external objects.
Suresvara explains many other points in his text, such as the nature of ignorance and the method of self realisation, and he repeats these teachings that I have given above elsewhere in the text too, but I think the point is hopefully made that Suresvara’s view is very clear, and in accordance with his Guru, Sri Shankara, as well as with Gaudapada and the Upanishads, namely that there are no phenomenal arisings whatsoever in the Self, not even as an appearance. It is not that there is the Self, and there is the non-self, and these two never meet, for this would be highly dualistic – it is that there is only self, and in truth (which is ‘seen’ in self-realisation) there has never been non-self at any time. This is also explained in this article here with respect to the three levels of the teaching (sristi-dristi vada, dristi-sristi vada and ajata vada).
This is the true meaning of ajata vada, and this cannot be understood by the mind, which has completely perished (or ‘seen’ never to have arisen, a bit like the snake in the rope although that analogy too falls short as it appears that the snake did arise for a point in time, but actually ajata is even more radical and unfathomable than this!) in Self-Realisation. As suresvara states, ignorance has never really ever occurred:
When the Self is pure knowledge by nature, void of the factors of knower, knowing and known, how could there be the faintest possibility of the existence of ignorance therein?
~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi 3.112
Here is a different point that Suresvara makes, that reasoning and intellectual knowledge alone will not lead to eradication of ignorance (and the subsequent or simultaneous self-knowledge)
The knowledge that the intellect, etc are not-self may be attained through reasoning. But reasoning does not suffice to annihilate ignorance. ~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi 3.33
Here Suresvara states that Self-knowledge or removal of ignorance only can happen once, and when that happen, no time and space (and therefore no phenomenal arisings) and no samsara remain:
Through knowledge of reality he brings empirical being (samsara) to a complete end. Right-knowledge destroys the path of renunciation as surely as it destroys the path of action. ~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi 4.56
By merely rising once, this (knowledge) destroys all becoming, through negation of ignorance once and for all. There is no more wrong knowledge afterwards. ~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi 4.57
Time and space, etc., are the effects of delusion, and do not inhere in the Self. Once the Self is known, there is no more knowledge to gain and no ignorance left unconsumed. ~ Sri Suresvara, Naishkarmya Siddhi 4.58
This article is an excerpt from a much longer article which you can view here, that gives further quotes on this same topic from others including Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Shankara, Yoga Vasistha and Ribhu Gita. The original article also expands on the disclaimer and makes some suggestions as how to best appraoch these teachings.
The following quotes are all from Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (NM), taken from the book ‘I Am That’ by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.
NM gave many different teachings, depending on the level of the seeker and the context. The ego-mind often clings to the lower teachings for safety and security – here only the higher teachings are included, so please only read the following if you have a deep and sincere interest in liberation.
If you read carefully, you will see the following themes stated and expounded by NM:
The self-realised jnani has no consciousness of having a body.
The self-realised jnani has no consciousness of a world or phenomena arising.
The apparent consciousness of the world is only due to ignorance, also known as the ‘I thought’ or the ‘I am the body sense’. This ignorance is also known as ‘imagination’, ‘illusion’, ‘ego’ or ‘the mind’.
Ignorance of what you truly are projects the (false) appearance of a world, which includes the appearance of the body-mind and world. These do not appear to a jnani.
All conversation, teachings, words and thoughts are in illusion only, as are all teachers. Similarly, birth and death only (appear to) exist for the ignorant.
These are of course the Ajata teachings, and you can read about them here in this article and also in the introductory articles on the tomdas.com homepage.
Some may say that this notion of liberation is not appealing at all (for the ego-mind), but of course it is actually everything you are looking for and more. It is the treasure found within, this is the ‘kingdom of God’ within us. Anything less and the seeking, the doubts and the sense of ego will not end, and so suffering and duality will continue; hencethe value of these teachings in reminding us to continue to go further with our sadhana until all objective phenomena have dissolved rather than stop prematurely.
Many of these quotes below are also found in the wonderful book The Seven Steps to Awakening, one of the best books ever written on self-realisation and liberation. This book goes much further than this article and clearly describes other aspects of the teaching including the method by which self-realisation can be attained.
Here are the quotes from Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj:
The body and mind are only symptoms of ignorance, of misapprehension.
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He who knows the state in which there is neither the world nor the thought of it, he is the Supreme Teacher.
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What do you know of me, when even my talk with you is in your world only?
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NM: The body appears in your mind; in my mind nothing is. Q: Do you mean to say you are quite unconscious of having a body? NM: On the contrary, I am conscious of not having a body. Q: I see you smoking! NM: Exactly so. You see me smoking. Find out for yourself how did you come to see me smoking, and you will easily realize that it is your ‘I am the body’ state of mind that is responsible for this ‘I see you smoking’ idea.
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Nothing dies. The body is just imagined. There is no such thing.
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In my world nothing happens
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Without imagination there is no world.
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If you seek real happiness, unassailable and unchangeable, you must leave the world with its pains and pleasures behind you.
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You are neither the body nor in the body – there is no such thing as body
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NM: My world is real, while yours is made of dreams Q: Yet we are talking. NM: The talk is in your world. In mine – there is eternal silence. My silence sings, my emptiness is full, I lack nothing. You cannot know my world until you are there.
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It is not at all as you imagine and I am not bound by your imaginings.
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Q. If all that passes has no being, then the universe has no being either NM: Who ever denies it? Of course the universe has no being.
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In reality, nothing ever happens.
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No doubt imagination is richly creative. Universe within universe are built on it. Yet they are all in space and time, past and future, which just do not exist.
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In pure consciousness nothing ever happens
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The moment you allow your imagination to spin, it at once spins out a universe.
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There is no body, nor a world to contain it; there is only a mental condition, a dreamlike state, easy to dispel by questioning its reality.
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All experience is born of imagination; I do not imagine, so no birth or death happens to me.
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To take appearance for reality is a grievous sin and the cause of all calamities
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It is by your consent that the world exists. Withdraw your belief in its reality and it will dissolve like a dream.
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What is real is nameless and formless.
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Do understand that what you think to be the world is your own mind
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I take my stand where no difference exists, where things are not, nor the minds that create them. There I am at home.
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All thinking is in duality. In identity [Tom: ie. self realisation] no thought surives
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Now go within, into a state in which you may compare to a state of waking sleep, in which you are aware of yourself, but not of the world. In that state you will know, without the least trace of doubt, that at the root of your being you are free and happy.
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To know yourself, turn your attention away from the world and turn it within.
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The world appears to you so overwhelmingly real, because you think of it all the time; cease thinking of it and it will dissolve into thin mist.
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To see what Sri Ramana Maharshi thought of the same Ajata teachings please see this article here.
This article here also goes into what Shankara wrote on these Ajata teachings.
The Kumara asked the great Lord: “Please explain to me the nature of Jivanmukti and Videhamukti.” To which the great Shiva replied:
1. “I am Chidatma. I am Para-Atma. I am the Nirguna, greater than the great. One who will simply stay in Atman is called a Jivanmukta.
2. He who realises: ‘I am beyond the three bodies, I am the pure consciousness and I am Brahman’, is said to be a Jivanmukta.
3. He is said to be a Jivanmukta, who realises: ‘I am of the nature of the blissful and of the supreme bliss, and I have neither body nor any other thing except the certitude ‘I am Brahman’ only.
4-6. He is said to be a Jivanmukta who has not at all got the ‘I’ in myself, but who stays in Chinmatra (absolute consciousness) alone, whose interior is consciousness alone, who is only of the nature of Chinmatra, whose Atman is of the nature of the all-full, who has Atman left over in all, who is devoted to bliss, who is undifferentiated, who is all-full of the nature of consciousness, whose Atman is of the nature of pure consciousness, who has given up all affinities (for objects), who has unconditioned bliss, whose Atman is tranquil, who has got no other thought (than Itself) and who is devoid of the thought of the existence of anything.
7-11(a). He is said to be a Jivanmukta who realises: ‘I have no Chitta [mind], no Buddhi [intellect], no Ahamkara [ego, sense of doership and enjoyership], no senses, no body at any time, no Pranas, no Maya, no passion and no anger, I am the great, I have nothing of these objects or of the world and I have no sin, no characteristics, no eye, no Manas [mind], no ear, no nose, no tongue, no hand, no waking, no dreaming, or causal state in the least or the fourth state.’
~ Tejobindu Upanishad
Tom: Tejo means radiant; Bindu means point (or drop)
Lakshmana Swamy [a devotee of Ramana Maharshi]: The mind must die, there is no other way to realize the Self. Some people say that complete equanimity of mind is Self realization, but this is not true. This is only a stage one passes through on the way to Self-realization. Other people say that seeing the Self or God everywhere is Self-realization, but this idea is not true either. To see the Self everywhere there must be an “I” who sees, and while that “I” exists the mind will also exist. The jnani does not see anything because the seeing entity in him has died. In the Self there is no seeing, only being. When the mind still exists one can reach a stage where one can see the whole world as a manifestation of the Self, but when the mind dies, there is no one who sees the world and no world to be seen.
If you have a mind then the earth, the sky and the stars will exist and you will be able to see them. When the mind dies there will be no earth, no sky, no stars and no world. The world of objects, names and forms is only the mind, and when the mind dies, the world dies with it. Only the Self then remains.
Seeing everything as the Self gives the impression that the Self is equally distributed everywhere. This is also an idea in the mind. When the mind finally dies you realize that there is no distribution and no everywhere.
[Tom: The following verses were written by Sri Shankara. First he explains that the entire universe is a projection of the mind, and then he will go on to explain that this projection veils the self and therefore needs to be removed in total silence of the mind, also known as self-knowledge or nirvikalpa samadhi:]
170. In dreams, when there is no actual contact with the external world, the mind alone creates the whole universe consisting of the experiencer etc. Similarly in the waking state also; there is no difference. Therefore all this (phenomenal universe) is the projection of the mind.
342. Even wise men cannot suddenly destroy egoism after it has once become strong, barring those who are perfectly calm through the Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Desires are verily the effect of innumerable births.
344. …But the victory is undoubtedly (complete and) free from obstacles when there is no oscillation of the mind due to the unreal sense-objects.
[Tom: The term Samadhi refers to a state of mind that is completely stilled but also aware and not asleep, it is attained only through self-enquiry and is synonymous with self-knowledge (Jnana):]
353. When the Atman, the One without a second, is realised by means of the Nirvikalpa Samadhi, then the heart’s knot of ignorance is totally destroyed.
354. Such imaginations as “thou”, “I” or “this” take place through the defects of the Buddhi. But when the Paramatman, the Absolute, the One without a second, manifests Itself in Samadhi, all such imaginations are dissolved for the aspirant, through the realisation of the truth of Brahman.
355. The Sannyasin, calm, self-controlled, perfectly retiring from the sense-world, forbearing, and devoting himself to the practice of Samadhi, always reflects on his own self being the Self of the whole universe. Destroying completely by this means the imaginations which are due to the gloom of ignorance, he lives blissfully as Brahman, free from action and the oscillations of the mind.
[Tom: Shankara again stresses the importance of Samadhi, stating those alone are free or liberated.]
356.Those alone are free from the bondage of transmigration who, attaining Samadhi, have merged the objective world, the sense-organs, the mind, nay, the very ego, in the Atman, the Knowledge Absolute – and none else, who but dabble in second-hand talks.
[Tom: The above verse is a rendering of a verse from the Amritabindu Upanishad]
357. Through the diversity of the supervening conditions (Upadhis), a man is apt to think of himself as also full of diversity; but with the removal of these he is again his own Self, the immutable. Therefore the wise man should ever devote himself to the practice of Nirvikalpa Samadhi, for the dissolution of the Upadhis.
[Tom: Again, Shankara uses the word ‘only’ to drive home the importance of Samadhi:]
360. The truth of the Paramatman is extremely subtle, and cannot be reached by the gross outgoing tendency of the mind. It is only accessible to noble souls with perfectly pure minds, by means of Samadhi brought on by an extraordinary fineness of the mental state.
361. As gold purified by thorough heating on the fire gives up its impurities and attains to its own lustre, so the mind, through meditation, gives up its impurities of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, and attains to the reality of Brahman.
[Tom: Nirvikalpa Samadhi refers to the complete absence of ‘mind waves’ or modifications of consciousness, in which there is only pure awareness or consciousness present devoid of thoughts and perceptions. Again and again Shankara states that it is Samadhi of the Nirvikalpa variety (ie. no thoughts and no objects) that leads directly to self-realisation:]
362. When the mind, thus purified by constant practice, is merged in Brahman, then Samadhi passes on from the Savikalpa to the Nirvikalpa stage, and leads directly to the realisation of the Bliss of Brahman, the One without a second.
363. By this Samadhi are destroyed all desires which are like knots, all work is at an end, and inside and out there takes place everywhere and always the spontaneous manifestation of one’s real nature.
[Tom: How much clearer can Shankara make the case for the essential practice of Nirvikalpa Samadhi?]
364. Reflection should be considered a hundred times superior to hearing, and meditation a hundred thousand times superior even to reflection, but the Nirvikalpa Samadhi is infinite in its results.
[Tom: Shankara continues to stress the importance of the thoughtless aware state of samadhi, or, to put it more simply, being still of mind:]
365. By the Nirvikalpa Samadhi the truth of Brahman is clearly and definitely realised, but not otherwise, for then the mind, being unstable by nature, is apt to be mixed up with other perceptions.
398. When the mind-functions are merged in the Paramatman, the Brahman, the Absolute, none of this phenomenal world is seen.
[Tom: the Jnani does not see the phenomenal world]
407. This apparent universe has its root in the mind, and never persists after the mind is annihilated. Therefore dissolve the mind by concentrating it on the Supreme Self, which is thy inmost Essence.
408. The wise man realises in his heart, through Samadhi, the Infinite Brahman, which is something of the nature of eternal Knowledge and absolute Bliss, which has no exemplar, which transcends all limitations, is ever free and without activity, and which is like the limitless sky, indivisible and absolute.
409. The wise man realises in his heart, through Samadhi, the Infinite Brahman, which is devoid of the ideas of cause and effect, which is the Reality beyond all imaginations, homogeneous, matchless, beyond the range of proofs, established by the pronouncements of the Vedas, and ever familiar to us as the sense of the ego.
410. The wise man realises in his heart, through Samadhi, the Infinite Brahman, which is undecaying and immortal, the positive Entity which precludes all negations, which resembles the placid ocean and is without a name, in which there are neither merits nor demerits, and which is eternal, pacified and One.
411. With the mind restrained in Samadhi, behold in thy self the Atman, of infinite glory, cut off thy bondage strengthened by the impressions of previous births, and carefully attain the consummation of thy birth as a human being.
[Tom: Shankara again makes it clear that when he speaks of Samadhi, he is speaking of that aware state in which there are no objects or ‘limiting adjuncts’ present:]
412. Meditate on the Atman, which resides in thee, which is devoid of all limiting adjuncts [Tom: ie. objects], the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute, the One without a second, and thou shalt no more come under the round of births and deaths.
[Tom: Manonasa (destruction of the mind), a synonym for moksha, is declared by this scripture. As Shankara has already explained that the mind projects the entire world as well as thoughts, this means, and you will see this if you read the verses carefully, that no thoughts or phenomenal objects appear in the self in truth:]
481. My mind has vanished, and all its activities have melted, by realising the identity of the Self and Brahman; I do not know either this or not-this; nor what or how much the boundless Bliss (of Samadhi) is
502. How can there be merits and demerits for me, who am without organs, without mind, changeless, and formless – who am the realisation of Bliss Absolute? The Shruti also mentions this in the passage “Not touched”, etc.!
~ All the above verses were written by Sri Shankara, taken from his masterpiece ‘Vivekachudamani’
If you read it carefully, all the teachings are there for you. Nothing else is needed. However many, for some reason, do not read it clearly and do not understand the teachings. Their mind skips over key sentences and paragraphs. Their ego or minds will not allow them to see what is clearly written on the page! I have come across many seekers like this!
So, even more detail is given and the teachings are further explained here, in this very slim text called Sadhanai Saram, which means ‘the essence of the spiritual practice’, also available for free download:
Even though everything is clearly spelt out, some people for some reason still don’t understand the teachings! Their minds will not let them read the words plainly and interpret them correctly! Their egos reinterpret the words according to their own views – in that case you should read this text too, The Most Direct Means to Eternal Bliss’:
Of course the true teaching can never be fully given in a book or in words, but these are great pointers nonetheless – they are some of the best texts on liberation ever written imho.
Tom Das 