A short biography by John M Evans. Part 4

Now Shankara turns to the central technique of his philosophy, the action of burrowing beneath the mind’s mental contents by the practice of intelligent enquiry. There is no blankness here, but a determined assault on the citadel of the ego using all of man’s faculties.

“Who is your wife? Who is your son? Supremely wonderful indeed is this (world). Of whom are you? From where have you come? O brother, think of that truth here.”

There is a method much used in India whereby the meditator deals with various aspects of himself, the mind, the feelings &c, and realizes that they are not actually HIM (or her). It is sometimes called neti neti, or ‘not this, not this.’ In some form it has also been used in Hua Yen Buddhism and elsewhere. However, a modern advocate of Advaita, Ramana Maharshi, believed that the system merely played around within the mind, creating more and more imaginings at the psychological level. He recommended the method of ’self-enquiry’ which aimed at focusing awareness directly at the ‘point’ where thoughts of ‘I’, and hence the ego, begin. The answer then comes from beyond the mind and not, as in the case of neti neti, from the intellect.

Nevertheless, as Ramana was always prepared to point out, most concentrative methods would, in the end, come round to a form of self-enquiry - it just took longer, that was all. The difference then is in the answer. More particularly, from whence that answer comes!

Most sages will advise students to keep good company. The presence of a master, or at least other committed path-seekers, is held to be essential, especially for beginners. Shankara was no exception.

Through the company of the good, there arises non-
attachment..
.
It is with higher minds around you, that you can persist in your efforts to rise above samsara, the world of birth and death. Scriptures and good books are of great value, but the greatest aid of all is the presence of a living, enlightened master.

O Distracted one!…Is there not for you the One who
commands?…it is the association-with-good-people
alone that can serve as a boat to cross the sea of
change.

This stanza sometimes includes the query, ‘Why dissipate mentally over the lips of your lady?’ When we look outwards, we leave the Reality. When we look inwards, we leave the world. This is the paradox of the Advaitins.

Dressing up, playing the holy man, working on our very Western neuroses about Identity, are not the answers to our suffering. They are mere psychological fixes, a patchwork of cheap darns to keep us functioning in a way never intended.

One ascetic with matted locks, one with a shaven
head, one with hairs pulled out one by one, another
parading in his ochre robes - these are fools who,
though seeing, do not see. Indeed, these different
disguises or apparels are only for their belly’s sake.

Strong stuff for a teacher in India, the land of wandering sadhus and ash-smeared fakirs. Again Shankara reminds us of the Buddha, with his ‘Middle Way’ between asceticism and sensuousness. ‘All is vanity, all is vanity.’

True renunciation is not the sacrifice of all the things of the world, but the rejection of the ego-mind which projects its fancies on such things.

The song then returns to the contemplator’s enquiry into the subject in himself.

Who are you? Who am I? From where did I come? Who
is my mother? Who is my father?…

Again we are asked to delve into the depths and examine our consciousness and the space within it and the objects it contains. Who are they? What relationship have I to them? Who on earth am I?

…Thus enquire, leaving aside the entire world-of-
experience, which is essenceless (empty) and a mere
dreamland, born of imagination.

This enquiry prompts an equanimity of mind, an even-temperedness which in itself is necessary for spiritual accomplishments. Hence self-enquiry and stillness go hand in hand. Indeed, they cannot exist without each other.

Strive not, waste not your energy to fight against
or to make friends with your enemy, friend, son, or
relative. Seek the Self everywhere…

And, in the words of the Gita, ‘Who sees all beings in his own Self, and his own Self in all beings, loses all fear.’

Leaving desire, anger, greed, and delusion,
the seeker sees in the Self, ‘He am I.’

This is the famous ‘That Thou Art’ of the Upanishads. Not the mantra ‘I am Brahman’ practised at the psychological level by many, but the deeper realization of the true sage.

Once again we find an echo of Buddhism here as the verse uses the ‘Three Fires’ as its obstacles to emancipation. In his commentary, Sri Chinmayananda quotes a saying generally attributed to Shankara, ‘Desire, anger, greed are looters that stand within the body, ready to plunder the Knowledge-Gem - therefore, be vigilant! Be vigilant!’

Shankara ends his poem/hymn with a prayer for the enlightenment of his hearers.

O Devotee of the lotus-feet of the teacher! may you
become liberated soon from samsara. Through the
discipline of the sense-organs and the mind, you will
come to experience the Lord that dwells in your
own heart.

A short biography by John M Evans. Part 2

Obviously, there would be no world without God, just as there would be no snake without the rope. But the converse is not true, and this leads to an acceptance of the mistaken identity of the world and the omnipresence of Brahman, the Self. Remove that ignorance by enquiry and liberation is secured.

Shankara’s life is shrouded in the fog of history. This is no surprise to Orientalists since Indian religious figures are never well documented at the best of times. Despite the number of biographies about his life and his own enormous literary and physical legacy, much surmise is required to get a grip on the real Shankara. In the manner of most historical sages, he has been well endowed with the miraculous by his followers and later interpreters. So one has tactfully to dismiss the works of wonder, the fatherhood of Siva, and the belief that he completed his mighty oeuvre by the tender age of twelve.

He was born a Brahmin in the state of Kerala, South India. By some accounts he was a brilliant child, foregoing whole stages of his education and development. As a consequence, he left home in his youth to become the chela (disciple) of Govindanatha, a guru of the Advaita persuasion. Later he moved on to Benares and then to a town in the Himalayas, already with a chela of his own. Here he composed some of his most famous works, commentaries on the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutra of Badarayana, the founder of Vedanta.

In the aftermath of this immense literary accomplishment, Shankara set off to travel all over India spreading his gospel of “only God is real”. He is credited with a profound interest in education and founded several institutions devoted to Advaita Vedanta and related studies, in addition to religious orders modelled on the Buddhist sangha (community of monks and nuns). His work had that brisk modernity and organization which the Buddhists introduced to India.

His monastic foundations in the North, South, West and East of the country began to radiate teachers and monks to smaller temples which served more local needs. It seems clear that Shankara was an exceptional organizer and manager, as well as philosopher, sage, writer and religious leader.

Swami Chinmayananda, in a commentary on Shankara’a Bhaja Govindam, writes of its author, “An exquisite thinker, a brilliant intellect, a personality scintillating with the vision of Truth, a heart throbbing with industrious faith and ardent desire to serve the nation, sweetly emotional and restlessly logical, in Shankara the Upanishads discovered the fittest Spiritual General.” He was Buddha, Rishi and Gandhi all in one.

He died, we are told, at the early age of thirty-two, though doubt has been cast on this. Given the immensity of his achievement, a longer life would perhaps hold greater credence.

Next : The works of Shankara