Vivekachudamani - Crest Jewel of Wisdom Podcast Por Vedanta Society San Francisco arte de portada

Vivekachudamani - Crest Jewel of Wisdom

Vivekachudamani - Crest Jewel of Wisdom

De: Vedanta Society San Francisco
Escúchala gratis

Swami Tattwamayananda will begin a new scripture, Vivekachudamani of Shankaracharya, on Friday November 15 2024, at 7:30 p.m. at the Old Temple.

Vivekachudamani, which means "The Crest Jewel of Discrimination," is a poem by Shankaracharya that summarizes Advaita Vedanta philosophy and is one of the its important introductory texts.

For up to date schedule: sfvedanta.org
Web: www.sfvedanta.org
Livestream: https://livestream.com/sfvedanta

All Original Content © Vedanta Society of Northern CaliforniaCopyright Vedanta Society, San Francisco Espiritualidad
Episodios
  • Vivekachudamani 28 Anatman vs Atman - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 28 Anatman vs Atman - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    Jan 23 2026
    Vivekachudamani is a text on fundamental tenets of Vedanta and has 584 verses.

    The entire text is built around answering seven questions from the student in the 51st verse. The seven questions are: (1) What is this bondage? (2) How does it come about? (3) How does it exist and what sustains it? (4) How do we come out of it? (5) What is anatman? (6) What is the supreme Atman? (7) How do we differentiate between atman and anatman?

    The teacher answers the 5th question first – “What is anatman?” He addresses it from three angles: Sthula sarira (gross body), sukhshma sarira (subtle body, the personality behind the gross body) and karana sarira (lack of understanding of our true nature).

    The subtle body (Sukshma-Sarira) has eight units (Puri-ashtakam): (1) Five organs of perception (2) Five organs of action (3) Five pranas (4) Five subtle elements (5) Antahkarana – mana, buddhi, chittam, ahamkara (6) Avidya (7) Kama and (8) Karma.

    Shankaracharya includes avidya, kama and karma in his definition of subtle body. Avidya means ignorance of our true nature. Kama means desire. Karma means action. When we are ignorant of our own real nature (avidya), we have kama, or desire for enjoyments, which compels us to be engaged in all kinds of activities (karma) to satisfy the desire.

    When referring to the five organs of perception and action, Shankaracharya refers to the subtle dimension of these instruments that leave impressions in the chittam.

    Starting from the 126th verse, the teacher takes up the 6th question: “What is the supreme Atman?”

    127th verse: “There is one reality (Atman) that is present in all three states of consciousness as the witness – waking state, dream state and deep sleep state. It is the foundation of the “I” feeling. This
    Atman is distinct and different from the three states of awareness and the five sheaths of consciousness.”

    132nd verse: “It is the eternal knowledge. It knows all, from our body, mind, intellect to emotions, but whom no one knows. Everything in this world that we experience – it is revealed by the presence of the Atman.”

    King Janaka asked Sage Yajnavalkya: “Endowed with what light does a person live in this world”.

    The first answer was sunlight. As each option provided in previous answers was eliminated, subsequent answers were moonlight, agni, and sound. When all four of these options were eliminated, the final answer was Atma-Jyoti, which is in all of us and that is self-revealing. It is the light of all lights - that enables all other lights, such as sunlight, moonlight, agni to function.

    133rd verse: “Our senses of perception and senses of action are able to work only due to the presence of the Atman. The human body is compared to a city with nine gates. Within this city resides the Purusha (Atman).”

    Purusha is eternal and it is of the characteristic of eternal, infinite bliss.

    Whatever we come to know using tools of perception and understanding or any kind of awareness, they all reveal a spark of the supreme truth within us.
    Más Menos
    1 h y 7 m
  • Vivekachudamani 27 The Nature of the Supreme Reality - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 27 The Nature of the Supreme Reality - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    Dec 20 2025
    The entire text is built around answering seven questions from the student in the 51st verse. The seven questions are: (1) What is this bondage? (2) How does it come about? (3) How does it exist and what sustains it? (4) How do we come out of it? (5) What is anatman? (6) What is the supreme Atman? (7) How do we differentiate between atman and anatman?

    126th verse: “Now, I shall teach you about your true nature, the nature of the Absolute Reality, by knowing which, we get spiritual liberation.”

    Bondage is our sense of attachment to the inherent limitations of empirical experiences. This happens because we identify with the physical body. The moment we identify with our true nature, we become liberated.

    Illness, bad health, loss of job or money – these are inescapable problems. Problem free life is only a myth. Problems themselves are not a problem. Our worry about problems is the real problem. If we have a health problem, it should not become the cause of a great worry – instead, our focus should be on solving the problem. Such worries go away when we identify ourselves beyond the body.

    In Vedic literature, there is an evolution of Hindu godhead from Pantheism (God is equated with nature and its grandeur) to Panentheism (God is the spirit within the external world) to Polytheism (God is the divine power regulating nature) to monotheism (there is only one God) to monism (non-duality).

    Advaita Vedanta accommodates all ideas of God but aspires for the highest idea of God, as one Absolute Reality, that is all-pervading, that exists in everyone and in everything, that is transcendental, that can have a personal aspect but also goes beyond it. As we evolve, our idea of God also evolves.

    Advaita is a matter of inner experience. There is no end to doubt if we try to understand it as a philosophical system.

    The 127th verse describes this highest idea of God.

    127th verse: “There is one reality (Atman) that is present in all three states of consciousness as the witness – waking state, dream state and deep sleep state. It is the foundation of the “I” feeling. This Atman is distinct and different from the three states of awareness and the five sheaths of consciousness.”

    128th verse: “In the three states of consciousness, there is one witness who is aware of everything that is happening. It is aware of the presence and absence of buddhi and action.”

    This Atman knows everything.. The very concept of awareness is this reality. Even to say, “I did not know”, there has to be an awareness.

    “Awareness” minus “what it is aware of” equals “Pure awareness”. It is also known as Prajna.

    130th verse: “It is the light by which this whole universe is enveloped and which is never enveloped by anything. It is the supreme effulgent one that gives light to everything in this world.”
    Light here means knowledge, existence and awareness. Everything that is effulgent, gets its effulgent from this Supreme Reality. Atman does not do anything, but all actions are possible only due to the presence of the Atman.

    132nd verse: “It is the ternal knowledge. It knows all, from our body, mind, intellect to emotions, but whom no one knows.
    Shankaracharya says that this Reality is beyond all verbalization. It is beyond "shabda pravirti nimittani" means it is beyond the five conditions necessary for us to be able to explain anything by words. The first condition is sambandha. Sambandha means relationship. The second condition is dravya. Dravya means something which is obvious. The third condition is jati. Jati means species. The fourth condition is kriya. Kriya means action. The fifth condition is guna. Guna means characteristics.

    133rd verse: “Our senses of perception and senses of action are able to work only due to the presence of the Atman.”

    Atman is everywhere. Inanimate objects do not have Antahkarana, the reflecting medium. Animate beings have an antahkarana – the reflection of the Atman in these beings depends on the purity of the reflecting medium.
    Más Menos
    1 h y 3 m
  • Vivekachudamani 26 What is Paramatman? - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 26 What is Paramatman? - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    Dec 13 2025
    The entire text is built around answering seven questions from the student in the 51st verse. The seven questions are: (1) What is this bondage? (2) How does it come about? (3) How does it exist and what sustains it? (4) How do we come out of it? (5) What is anatman? (6) What is the supreme Atman? (7) How do we differentiate between atman and anatman?

    In response to the student’s questions, the teacher starts by answering the 5th question first: “What is anatman?” This is because the Absolute Reality (question 6) cannot be defined or explained. We can only indirectly indicate it. The teacher explains the nature of the empirical world, which is non-eternal and non-Atman. Once we understand this, whatever is left out is the Atman.

    The teacher then takes the 6th question: “What is the Supreme Atman, our true nature?”

    127th verse: “There is one reality (Atman) that is present in all three states of consciousness as the witness – waking state, dream state and deep sleep state. It is the foundation of the “I” feeling. This Atman is distinct and different from the three states of awareness and the five sheaths of consciousness.”

    “I” can refer to the physical body, ego sense, emotions and mind. The real “I” is behind and distinct from the ego. It is the real witness.

    The awareness of the real “I” helps us detach from the problems of life and live life wisely. This “I” goes through a refinement process across several lifecycles. The spiritual practices described in the

    19th verse (Sadhana Chatushtaya Sampatti) enable this refinement. Two conditions have to be satisfied for anyone to be a witness: (1) You have to be aware of what you are witnessing and (2) You have to be non-involved in what you are witnessing. Atman is present as the witness in waking, dream and deep sleep states.

    It is a fact that the highest idea of God is one all-pervading reality that is present everywhere and in everything. However, for a beginner, it is just an idea. The scriptures discuss how to convert that idea into an actual experience. The seeker has a long road to travel from idea to experience.

    Vedanta accommodates all concepts of God. Swami Vivekananda said that all of us are trying to manifest the divinity within, depending on our own temperaments and spiritual progress. According to Vedanta, everyone is moving towards the same spiritual destination. The person who has reached the highest stage is a good human being – he cannot harm anything in creation.

    128th verse: “In the three states of consciousness, there is one witness who is aware of everything that is happening. It is aware of the presence and absence of buddhi and action.”

    129th verse: “This Atman knows everything. But that Atman is not known by anything. It cannot be known in the empirical sense of using mind and senses of perception. It is the one who sees everything but the one whom nobody can see, perceive, verbalize or objectify. It is the one who enlightens our emotions and intellect, but which is not enlightened by something else.”

    This Atman is our true nature and is a matter of our inner experience. The journey towards this Atman is explained by the four Mayavakyas. The first mahavakya comes in Chandogya Upanishad. It is an instruction to the student: “The truth that you are seeking is non-different than yourself.”

    When we read a scripture or hear a spiritual instruction, we understand and take home only what we are ready for. In Hinduism, there is freedom in spiritual/religious life but less freedom in social life. In the west, there is more freedom in social life, but less freedom in spiritual/religious life.
    Más Menos
    1 h
Todavía no hay opiniones