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  • Vivekachudamani 17 The Subtle Body is an Instrument for the Atman - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 17 The Subtle Body is an Instrument for the Atman - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    2025/06/06
    Behind our external appearance (gross body) is our subtle body. It defines our personality. The gross body is just an outer shell of this personality.

    In the 98th verse, Shankaracharya defines the subtle body (Sukshma-Sarira). It 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.

    Sukshma-Sarira is transmitted to next life – however, it is also non-eternal. Atman is eternal and it is the light that enables both the subtle and gross body to function. Atman reveals itself and other things.

    The 98th verse should be understood in the context of the law of karma and the law of incarnation. At death, even though our senses of perception and action are gone, the tendencies that they created are stored in the Antahkarana (mind, intellect, memory and ego). These stored tendencies in the Antahkarana are never lost. It accompanies the soul when it takes a new body.

    The law of karma should not be interpreted as fatalism. We can shape our future by purifying the antahkarana. We can purify the antahkarana by doing unselfish, noble activities, reading of scriptures and through holy associations. Through such actions, the existing storehouse of negative samskaras is nullified with a new storehouse of positive samskaras.

    Verses 101 and 102 discuss the three states of awareness.

    In the waking state, we identify with the physical (gross) body.

    In dream sleep state, our experiences are at the subtle/mental level. There are three differences from waking state: (1) kala bheda, difference with respect to time. (2) desa bheda, difference with respect to space (3) sukshma stula bheda, difference with respect to grossness of waking experiences and subtlety of dream experiences.

    When the mind alone is involved in the experience, it is subtle. When mind and body are involved in the experience, it is gross.

    Dreams cannot be totally separate or totally identical with waking state experience.

    The third state is deep sleep state, where we enjoy complete restfulness. It is different from samadhi. In samadhi, we consciously reject duality. In deep sleep state, the tools to reject duality are benumbed.

    Verse 102: The subtle body is an instrument for the Atman. The Atman itself is a witness and remains unaffected. The Atman manifests in its full glory in Buddha, because the subtle body is fully refined and pure.

    The gross body is the instrument for the subtle body. The subtle body is the instrument for Atman.

    In Vedanta, for anything to be a witness, it has to satisfy two criteria: (1) It has to be aware (2) It cannot be involved. Light reveals everything but remains unaffected. Same is the case with the Sun and the air.

    When a light bulb is dirty, only dim light comes through it. However, if it is clean, it emits light in its full effulgence. Spiritual practices act as the cleaning process for the subtle body.

    By Shunya, Nagarjuna does not mean nothingness or emptiness. It refers to the inexplicable nature of the highest experience. It cannot be explained. It can only be experienced. At the highest experience, the demarcation between subject and object disappears. You experience yourself as the awareness.
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  • Vivekachudamani 16 The Subtle Body - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 16 The Subtle Body - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    2025/05/30
    Behind our external appearance (gross body) is our subtle body. A movie actor or a diplomat may be impressive externally, which is their external appearance. Someone else may not be impressive externally but we may be impressed by their higher ideals and values. That is their subtle personality.

    A plant or a tree is the gross aspect. The seed is the subtle aspect.

    In the 98th verse, Shankaracharya defines the subtle body (Sukshma-Sarira). It 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.

    Sukshma-Sarira is transmitted to next life – however, it is also non-eternal. Atman is eternal and it is the light that enables both the subtle and gross body to function. Atman reveals itself and other things.

    The 98th verse and the few verses preceding it should be understood in the context of the law of karma and the law of incarnation. According to the law of karma, our actions produce two types of results – one that is visible and immediate, another that is invisible. For example, if we help a person, the other person benefits (visible result). But we ourselves feel “I did something sensible” – this is the invisible result, which is stored in our Antahkarana as samskara. We collect these tendencies in our Antahkarana through actions involving the senses and the mind.

    At death, even though our senses of perception and action are gone, the tendencies that they created are stored in the Antahkarana (mind, intellect, memory and ego). These stored tendencies in the Antahkarana are never lost. It accompanies the soul when it takes a new body.

    The law of karma should not be interpreted as fatalism. We can shape our future by purifying the antahkarana. We can purify the antahkarana by doing unselfish, noble activities, reading of scriptures and through holy associations. Through such actions, the existing storehouse of negative samskaras is nullified with a new storehouse of positive samskaras.

    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.

    The 94th to 97th verses describe the components of subtle body discussed in the 98th verse.

    94th verse: “The five instruments of perception are sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. The five instruments of action are tongue, legs, hands, and organs of secretion and generation.” The verse refers to the subtle dimension of these instruments that leave impressions in the chittam.

    95th and 96th verse: “The Antahkarana is made up of four compartments: mana, buddhi, chittam, ahamkara.”

    Suppose you see an object from a distance when there is not enough light. It looks like a pillar but you mistake it for a human form. At that time, your mind is speculating - is it a pillar or a human form or something else? When you come close to it, you come to a decision that it is a pillar. Here the intellect, as the deciding faculty, is functioning. You remember that you had seen such a pillar the previous week. This memory comes from chittam. Finally, you identify yourself with the act of seeing a pillar the previous week. That self-identification comes from Aham.

    97th verse: “There are five pranas (vital force).”

    Breath is only the gross dimension of the vital force. One prana is given different names just like gold is given different names though ornaments.”

    99th verse: “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.”
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  • Vivekachudamani 15 Going Beyond the Body Consciousness - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 15 Going Beyond the Body Consciousness - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    2025/05/16
    The message of the 85th, 86th and 87th verses is: “The human body is a wonderful instrument for attaining a higher purpose in life. However, if we look upon it as the supreme goal, then we are headed towards spiritual degradation.”

    One outlook on the body is the following: The body changes every moment. There is nothing remarkable about it. What is inside the skin bag, if it comes out, even crows won’t eat it. We use a sanitizer if we happen to touch anything that comes out of the skin bag.

    Another outlook on the body is the following: We can use the body to go beyond itself. To achieve any form of excellence, we have to lift our consciousness beyond the bodily level.

    86th verse: “Anyone who worships the body, is like the man who tries to cross a river on the back of a crocodile, not knowing that he will be killed mid-stream.”

    87th verse: “Associating our identity with the body is a great delusion. One who gets out of this delusion attains liberation.”

    Nachiketa’s story and his three boons from Kathopanishad are a good illustration of the evolution towards spiritual enlightenment. The three boons asked by Nachiketa represent three levels of evolution: (1) Good life in this world (2) Living the same good life for a long time in Paradise (3) A sense of everlasting contentment by understanding the reality beyond death, our true identity beyond the body.

    The 87th verse used the word “Moha”. It means self-delusion, obsession with the body. When we are within Moha, we are not aware of it. When we are out of it, we realize that we were in a trap. Moha is maha-mrityu, the great death.

    Who are the people that struggle for liberation? Those who realize the imperfection of the world and have an inner feeling and conviction of a higher possibility. Buddha is one of the best examples.

    88th verse: “We should get out of this Moha towards body, wife, children and others. By getting out of this trap, we get rid of this death in the form of delusion. Only then we can attain spiritual liberation.”

    When King Chitraketu’s young son died and he was lamenting, Sages Aṅgirā and Nārada helped him understand the temporary nature of the relationship between father and son, that the physical body come and goes, and that the Atman manifests in the body. This put a spark of spiritual wisdom in Chitraketu’s heart.

    89th verse: “The gross body is despicable. It is a skin bag that contains waste matter and filth.”
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  • Vivekachudamani 14 Renouncing Worldly Desires - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 14 Renouncing Worldly Desires - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    2025/05/09
    81st verse: “People may get momentary wisdom (Apata-vairagya) or renunciation due to setbacks in life. With this momentary wisdom, they try to cross the river of worldly life. Along the way, the crocodile of desire, greed and envy catches them. Renunciation should not be momentary. It should be stable.”

    Such people are compared to a fool who tries to cross a river sitting on a crocodile. One needs a solid boat or ship to cross the river. Real renunciation constitutes such a boat.

    The wisdom that comes from times of disappointments may not last long. After some time, strong desires emerge in the mind and can capsize the person, if the sense of renunciation is not very strong.

    Shankaracharya emphasizes the importance of tenacity and steadiness in spiritual life in the 326th verse. “Imagine a child playing with a ball at the top of a staircase. If the ball falls, it does not stop until it reaches the bottom. Similarly, in spiritual life, we should be very vigilant not to make mistakes.”

    While the verse emphasizes steadiness, a single mistake is not the end of one’s spiritual journey. Every little spiritual effort bears its result.

    83rd verse: “Spiritual path is very difficult if the mind is not ready and does not cooperate. Spiritual path is simple for those whose minds are ready, who listen to the teachings of ancient sages and draw inspiration from them. They are bound to reach their destination.”

    84th verse: If you want to attain Moksha, stay away from the toxic poison of worldly desires. Poison ends our life. Imbibe spiritual values such as contentment. Compassion, forbearance, and self-control. Spiritual values are like nectar that enrich our life.”

    Vedanta is not world negating. When one travels on a boat, the boat should be on water. Water should not enter the boat. Our life is like the boat and worldliness is like water. One should live in the world but remain unaffected by worldliness. Worldliness should not enter our life.

    Householders should mentally give up worldly desires. Sri Ramakrishna said that householders should practice mental renunciation. Monks should practice both internal and external renunciation. Janaka was a king but unattached to worldly possessions.

    Among the four levels of social structure, high importance was given to householders as they generate the wealth to support the other three ashramas. Householders who do not generate wealth to support their family are considered adharmis.

    85th verse: “We are bound in mysterious ignorance and a lack of awareness of our true nature. We have the wrong notion (avidya) that we are this body and that this world is meant for enjoyments. We should practice spiritual disciplines to get out of this bondage. One who does not make such attempts and keeps pampering the body, kills himself.”

    A Sanskrit verse says: “This human body is for someone else.” Upon death, in ancient times, it was eaten by animals and ancients. In modern times, after death, it belongs to the tube in the crematorium, the fire or the earth.

    The same human body can be a wonderful tool for a higher purpose. We cannot pray, meditate or study scriptures without this body. If we think of this body as the goal, we are lost.

    Beyond a limit, wealth is only an illusion. It is as good as non-existent. We own only what we make use of.
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  • Vivekachudamani 13 The Crest Jewel of Wisdom - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 13 The Crest Jewel of Wisdom - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    2025/05/02
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  • Vivekachudamani 12 Uncontrolled Senses Lead to Destruction - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 12 Uncontrolled Senses Lead to Destruction - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    2025/04/18
    The student poses seven questions in the 51st verse. The rest of the text answers these seven questions. 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?

    Starting with the 74th verse, the teacher begins to answer the fifth question posed by the student:
    “What is anatman?” by discussing the gross body. There are three sariras: Sthula sarira (gross body), sukhshma sarira (subtle body, the personality behind the gross body) and karana sarira (lack of understanding of our true nature).

    In the 74th, 75th and 76th verses, the teacher discusses Sthula Sarira or physical body. It is composed of marrow, bone, fat, flesh, blood, skin and cuticle. It also includes legs, thighs, chest, arms, back and head. These together constitute the physical body. When we identify with this physical body, we are deluded.”

    While the gross body may seem detestable, it is a great asset, as it is what we use to achieve liberation.

    A machine is made of parts. If we take one part out, it becomes non-functional. Similarly, the physical body is a machine made of parts. It belongs to the perishable, empirical world. It has borrowed intelligence (from Atman). We delude ourselves into thinking that this machine is our true nature. We refer to this machine when we say “I”. This misunderstanding is rooted in ignorance of our true nature. It is the basis of bondage.

    When Socrates was sentenced to die by drinking poison, one of his disciples, Crito, approached him and asked him” “How do you want us to bury you?” Socrates replied: “For that, you should first know who is the real “I”.

    77th verse: Those who are deluded are called Mudha. They are attached to sense objects through an invisible rope that binds them to this world. They are spiritually enslaved by desire of the senses. It is a bondage that makes them move up and down in cyclic existence.”
    Attachment here refers to obsessive attachment to an extent that it makes us spiritually enslaved.

    78th verse: Shankaracharya uses examples from the animal kingdom to explain how one reaches destruction when guided by the senses - Deer (sense of hearing), Elephant (sense of touch). Moth (sense of seeing), Fish (sense of taste), Bee (sense of smell). Each of these creatures reaches death as they are guided by one of their senses. What to speak of humans who have five senses active all the time.

    79th verse: “The poison of a cobra is less poisonous than the poison of sense objects. The cobra has to bite you and the poison has to be consumed. Seeing the cobra does not kill you. But mere sight of a sense object can remain in the mental system for a long time and can be a door to destruction, depending on one’s mental constitution.”
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  • Vivekachudamani 11 Developing Detachment Towards Non-Eternal - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 11 Developing Detachment Towards Non-Eternal - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    2025/04/11
    Developing Detachment Towards Non-Eternal
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  • Vivekachudamani 10 Realization Requires Spiritual Effort - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 10 Realization Requires Spiritual Effort - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    2025/04/04
    Title: Realization Requires Spiritual Effort

    Verses: 64, 65, 66, 67

    The essence of the 60th, 61st and 62nd verses is: “Books are helpful, but by themselves they do not constitute the supreme goal. Books by themselves will not help us with the highest spiritual realization. Long, eloquent scholarly discussions can only confuse oneself and others. As long as one has not realized the spiritual truth, books are useless. Upon realization of the spiritual truth, books are useless. The world of books is like a big jungle that can only create confusion, if we do not understand that the spiritual truth is beyond books.”

    Scriptures attempt to describe the truth – they do not constitute the supreme truth. Spiritual truth is beyond ideas and books – it is a matter of inner experience. With this understanding, we should read scriptures.

    The same idea is emphasized in the 63rd verse with an analogy. If someone is bitten by a cobra, he needs medicine to recover. Similarly, our ignorance can only be cured by a medicine - the realization of Brahman, the real experience of spiritual unity.

    Ajnanam refers to a lack of awareness of our true nature. It does not refer to intellectual ignorance. It refers to ignorance at an emotional level, because our mind does not permit us to do what we may intellectually understand and want to do.

    We have to remove the levels of dirt/filth in the mind by feeding it good food and directing it towards healthy channels.

    Upon enlightenment, our mind develops a corrective mechanism. It becomes impossible for us to do anything that is harmful to others.

    64th and 65th verses continue the analogy: “A sickness is not cured by uttering the word “medicine”. One actually has to take the medicine. Similarly, just by saying “Brahman”, one does not realize Brahman. Without dissolving the world in Brahman, without realizing the Atman, one cannot get liberation.”

    In Vedanta, this world is only an appearance as illustrated in the rope snake analogy. When light is brought to the room, what we previously thought was a snake, dissolves into the rope. Similarly, the empirical world should be dissolved into Atman.

    The 66th verse repeats the same idea with another analogy: “To be a king, one should have a kingdom. One should have conquered enemies and acquired wealth. One does not become a king by just claiming that he is a king. Similarly, without undertaking spiritual practices, one cannot become enlightened.

    67th verse: “Suppose someone tells you that there is a box of treasure hidden somewhere beneath the earth. The treasure is covered by a huge stone in the pit. To get to the treasure, the following has to happen: (1) You should hear about it from someone (2) You should know the exact location (3) You should go there and dig and remove the stone (4) Then, you can take out the treasure.

    Similarly, to realize the spiritual truth, we should first listen to spiritual ideas expounded by the great sages. We should practice sravanam, mananam, nididhyasanam – listen to spiritual ideas, contemplate on it and deeply internalize it. By doing so, we remove all the wrong ideas about our true nature – this is like digging to remove the stone. “

    Chandogya Upanishad has the following illustration: “A sage from Gandhara had gone to another town and is returning to his hometown. Along the way, some robbers ambushed him, blindfolded him, and tied him to a tree in a forest. To escape, what should he do? He should make a loud noise. Then someone passing through that way can hear him, remove his blindfold, and release him. Such a person can bring him back to the road and show him the way to Gandhara.” In this illustration, the traveler is a normal human being, who thinks the world is meant for sensory enjoyment. The robbers represent his own actions. His bitter experience is due to his bad karmas.

    The blindfold represents Maya. His desire for worldly enjoyment is the rope that binds him. Body is the forest in which he is lost. The person helping him is his teacher, who knows which road to take to reach Gandhara, his own spiritual home.”
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