Summary of Atma Bodha – Main Points
Atma Bodha begins by stating the book is for a mumuksu (spiritual seeker):
Mumukshu is one who has recognized that my normal pursuits aren’t giving me lasting fulfillment. But my natural urge doesn’t want to stop seeking, so there must be something I’m missing.
But not every mumuksu is qualified for Atma Bodha – what are the qualifications?
Qualifications are, tapobhiḥ kṣīṇapāpānām. One has to have a relative self-mastery. We talked about these qualities from our evening Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 12 sessions. Remember, this Atma Bodha course is INCOMPLETE unless you also watch the evening recordings of Chapter 12.
There we spoke about qualifications such as alignment to dharma, svadharma, emotional life, prayerful life, having equanimity from knowing all results come from an infallible order (that's neither rewarding nor punishing you), having empathy, friendlessness towards people, lack of judging/resentment, etc.
Now that I’m a ready mumukshu, how do I gain moksha (free myself from a limitations)?
The qualified mumuksu has figured out: If I’m small, and add onto smallness, then smallness remains. Thus only way to solve is by recognizing “I am not small”. In fact, only teacher guru explicitly points this out.
If I’m not small, why do I feel I’m small?
Because of ignorance. What is opposite of ignorance? Action is not opposed to ignorance, but knowledge (Verse 3).
What kind of knowledge?
Perception/inference is insufficient. Need independent means of knowledge (shastra). They give knowledge via words.
What kind of knowledge do words give?
If I know something that is away from me, that is indirect knowledge (paroksha-jnanam). If it’s with me, can’t be indirect, but can only give me direct knowledge (aparoksha-jnanam), because truth is already with me.
Example: Sun is always shining. Knowledge removes the clouds (ignorance). Words don’t produce the sun.
Now we're ready to perform our first inquiry in order to arrive to the Self (Atman)…
Method to discern between the subject and the object (Drk-drsya-viveka Prakriya):
The body-mind conditions are known by Me.
Logic used: When object is seen by eye, eye doesn’t become the object. Mind doesn’t become the far/short-slightness. Awareness enables changes of the mind to be known, and doesn’t take on mind’s attributes.
Having come to Awareness (Drk/Seer), how did forms come?
The cause of intelligently-put-together forms, must have all-knowledge-power. Any manifestation requires not only Maker, but material cause.
Thus cause is both the maker and material.
Logic: Within creation, material and maker can be separate (eg: pot-maker and clay). But before manifestation, there’s no time/space/object, thus can’t have material separate.
Material cause is two-fold in nature:
- Parinami upadana karana: The cause undergoes transformation. Like milk > This is all-knowledge-power, except doesn’t lose it’s status as knowledge-power, unlike milk losses status of milk to become curd. Refers to Ishvara.
- Vivarta upadana karana: Without undergoing intrinsic change, the gold has become ornaments. Without undergoing change, it brings about forms. Refers to Brahman.
Objection: How can a changing universe come out of a changeless cause (vivarta-upadana-karana Brahman)?
If Brahman doesn’t undergo change and doesn’t have action, how did universe come about? Because we said above Brahman is vivarta upadana karana. Meaning Brahman never changes. Yet if Brahman is the final cause of the universe, and everything in the universe is changing, how do we resolve the contradiction?
By maya, which is all-knowledge-power which has capacity to manifest universe. But universe hasn’t yet manifested, so can’t call it “cause of universe”, because it’s in potential. This same knowledge-power in potential, when it manifests, it’s called Ishvara (cause of the universe).
Then we zoomed into Maya…
It has two kinds of powers. Power to Manifest & Veil. When universe is manifest into forms, the forms don’t know the reality due to power of veiling.
Zooming into Jiva…
One of the manifested forms is a jiva being with physical/subtle-body made of 5 elements which comes from knowledge-power. And Causal-body stores accumulated results of actions performed by the jiva.
Now jiva has become upadhi, meaning it lends it’s attributes to Atma, and Atma as-though takes on attributes of body-mind, thus I seems to be good as my body.
How does body-mind-upadhi cover nature of Atma?
Jiva makes 5 types of errors. Takes annamaya as Atma, thus becomes a Kosha (cover). Other errors include taking self as…
Pranamaya, manomaya (emotions), vijnanamaya (decision making, doership), anandamaya (enjoyment) is taken as “I”.
How to come out of 5 errors?
Na it, na iti — not this, not this. Then shows you who you are through mahavakya, which consists of:
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- Shravana: figure out what is Vedanta showing me.
- Manana: Because vision is so big, bound to have doubts to be removed.
- Nididhyasana: Contemplation on the reality.
How knowledge (moksha) takes place?
Gives vrtti-jnanam aligned with the reality, cancelling out your errors. Then there is one final vrtti called akhanda-akara-vrtti (removes last trace of ignorance, then Awareness shines in buddhi as-it-is). Understanding is that 5 koshas are not attributes of Awareness. Rather, Awareness is truth of time, space and your body-mind.
What is the phalam of this knowledge?
All karmas burnt because definition of “I” has changed. Logic: Since Atma isn’t doing any action, at once karmas don’t belong to Me. Only prarabdha-karma remains.
What is jnani’s / jivanmukta's relationship to Ishvara?
Form is still connected to Ishvara, needed it’s grace. Thus relationship to Ishvara is even stronger. After death, I no longer get a form, remaining as Ishvara and Brahman.
Why do I no longer get a form? Form was product of maya’s veiling-power, which I enjoyed for cycles of creation. Now form is understand to be mithya. Jnani shares the knowledge and lives free.
Closing Verse:
इति श्रीमत् परमहंस परिव्रजक आचार्य श्री गोविन्द भगवत् पूज्य पाद शिष्यस्य
श्रीमत् शङ्कर भगवतः कृतौ आत्मबोधः सम्पूर्णः ॥
iti śrīmat paramahaṃsa parivrajaka ācārya śrī govinda bhagavat pūjya pāda śiṣyasya
śrīmat śaṅkara bhagavataḥ kṛtau ātmabodhaḥ sampūrṇaḥ ||
Thus concludes the Ātmabodha, composed by the venerable Śaṅkara Bhagavatpāda, the disciple of the revered feet of Śrī Govinda Bhagavatpāda, the paramahaṃsa wandering ascetic and teacher.
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Recorded 18 Jan, 2025