Five lessons on Advaita Vedanta

Posted on June 5, 2012 by gokulmuthu

In his lecture on the book Jiva Yaatra, Swami Paramarthanandaji talks about five lessons on Advaita Vedanta. He mentions that if a person understands and assimilates these five lessons, that is Jnaanam and that is Mukti. I have tried to jot down the ideas. Swamiji has kindly read through this and has approved this.
Lesson 1: I am Saakshi Caitanya.
I am not this body or mind. The body and mind are objects. I am the Subject. I am not a part or product or property of the body or mind. I am pure Consciousness.
Lesson 2: I am Brahma Caitanya.
Qualities belong only to objects. In any subject-object relationship, like seeing a form or hearing a sound or thinking about a sense organ or judging the mind, etc., the qualities being judged always belong to the object and not the subject. I am the ultimate Subject, which can never become an object. So I am free from qualities. Any change is change of qualities only. So I am changeless. So I am not limited by space and time. Any limitation posed by space and time is only change of qualities with respect to space and time. As I am changeless, I am not limited by space and time. So I am omnipresent and eternal. Thus, I am Infinite.
Lesson 3: I am Advaita Caitanya.
My nature is of pure Existence and Consciousness. I am Infinite. There cannot exist two infinities. So, nothing exists other than me. As I have no attributes, I am partless. So I am one absolute partless infinite conscious existence. All diversity are only transient appearances with me as the background. I am the screen, I am the projecting light and I am the witness of this movie called the world.
Lesson 4: I am Sarvaatmaka Caitanya.
Just as the dreamer creates a dream and identifies himself with one of the dream roles as himself, I have created this world and entered it as one of the jivas in the world. In reality, I am the pure Consciousness, the only Existence, like the dreamer of the dream. I am the material and sentient cause of the world. Just as all the dream objects are products of the dreamer, everything in this world are my products. If I identify myself with the pure Consciousness, I am Brahman. If I identify myself with the whole creation, I am the Ishwara. If I identify myself with a particular body-mind complex, I am a Jiva. I am the one who plays the roles of the Ishwara and all the Jivas.
Lesson 5: I am Sat-cit-aananda Caitanya.
Just as Existence and Consciousness are intrinsic to every Jiva, Happiness is also intrinsic to every Jiva. That is why, under any circumstance, a person can decide to ignore everything and remain peaceful and happy. If a person has decided to be happy unconditionally, no person, object or situation can make him unhappy. This freedom to be happy is intrinsic to every Jiva. This is an integral aspect of me. Thus, I am not only pure Existence and Consciousness, I am pure Happiness also. I am the one who lends Existence, Consciousness and Happiness to every living and non-living entity in the world, including the Ishwara himself.
By understanding and assimilating these five lessons, I will realize that I am free.
Salutations to the holy feet of the Guru !!!

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4 Responses to Five lessons on Advaita Vedanta

  1. Chandra Rangnath says:
    August 25, 2016 at 3:00 am

    I have been fortunate enough to be able to listen to Swami Paramarthananda’s recorded classes, despite living in faraway Australia. This repeated assertion about my true identity and how I am in essence “full, complete, Sat-Chit-Ananda” , may seem unrealistic, ‘radical’ and even vain. Is it the ‘upanishadic’ way of stating ‘you are potentially divine’ ? Are we meant to read the intended meaning (‘lakshyartha’) and not the literal meaning (‘Vaachyaartha’ ) ? What concerns me is Swamiji seems to belittle ‘yoga’ and gives pre-eminence to ‘brahmavidya’ (for example in interpreting the benediction at the end of every chapter of the Gita– “brahmavidyaayaam yogashastrey”). Isn’t yoga (read, ‘work’, ‘action’, ‘nididhyasana’,
    manifesting inner divinity’) the most important step ? Especially for us Hindus, isn’t it true that there has been too much theory and too little follow up ?

    Reply
    • gokulmuthu says:
      August 25, 2016 at 5:17 pm

      Dear Chandraji,

      Nice to know that you are also a student of Swami Paramarthanandaji. The real meaning of the Mahavakya is described in detail in the article “All is One” at http://practicalphilosophy.in/2016/01/07/all-is-one/

      Traditional followers of Sankara like Swami Paramarthanandaji, Swami Dayanandaji and others do not consider the path of Yoga as a valid path to Knowledge. Meditation is not a Pramana (means of Knowledge). It is considered as an important preparatory discipline. So work and meditation are not undermined. They are treated as saadhanaas (preparations).

      With regards,
      Gokulmuthu.

      Reply
  2. Chandra Rangnath says:
    August 25, 2016 at 3:00 am

    I have been fortunate enough to be able to listen to Swami Paramarthananda’s recorded classes, despite living in faraway Australia. This repeated assertion about my true identity and how I am in essence “full, complete, Sat-Chit-Ananda” , may seem unrealistic, ‘radical’ and even vain. Is it the ‘upanishadic’ way of stating ‘you are potentially divine’ ? Are we meant to read the intended meaning (‘lakshyartha’) and not the literal meaning (‘Vaachyaartha’ ) ? What concerns me is Swamiji seems to belittle ‘yoga’ and gives pre-eminence to ‘brahmavidya’ (for example in interpreting the benediction at the end of every chapter of the Gita– “brahmavidyaayaam yogashastrey”). Isn’t yoga (read, ‘work’, ‘action’, ‘nididhyasana’,
    manifesting inner divinity’) the most important step ? Especially for us Hindus, isn’t it true that there has been too much theory and too little follow up ?

    Reply
    • gokulmuthu says:
      August 25, 2016 at 5:17 pm

      Dear Chandraji,
      Nice to know that you are also a student of Swami Paramarthanandaji. The real meaning of the Mahavakya is described in detail in the article “All is One” at http://practicalphilosophy.in/2016/01/07/all-is-one/
      Traditional followers of Sankara like Swami Paramarthanandaji, Swami Dayanandaji and others do not consider the path of Yoga as a valid path to Knowledge. Meditation is not a Pramana (means of Knowledge). It is considered as an important preparatory discipline. So work and meditation are not undermined. They are treated as saadhanaas (preparations).
      With regards,
      Gokulmuthu.

      Reply

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