1.
Do not be proud of wealth, people, relations and friends, or youth. All these are snatched by time in the blink of an eye. Giving up this illusory world, know and attain the Supreme.
Adi Shankara
Do not take pride in material possessions, associates, family and friends, or youthfulness. All of these are fleeting and can vanish instantaneously. Surrendering this deceptive realm, recognize and attain the Eternal.
2.
Do not look at anybody in terms of friend or foe, brother or cousin; do not fritter away your mental energies in thoughts of friendship or enmity. Seeking the Self everywhere, be amiable and equal-minded towards all, treating all alike.
Adi Shankara
3.
Even after the Truth has been realised, there remains that strong, obstinate impression that one is still an ego - the agent and experiencer. This has to be carefully removed by living in a state of constant identification with the supreme non-dual Self. Full Awakening is the eventual ceasing of all the mental impressions of being an ego.
Adi Shankara
4.
Reality can be experienced only with the eye of understanding, not just by a scholar
Adi Shankara
Perception can be grasped only with the insight of enlightenment, not just by an academic.
5.
Knowing that I am different from the body, I need not neglect the body. It is a vehicle that I use to transact with the world. It is the temple which houses the Pure Self within.
Adi Shankara
Recognizing that I am distinct from my physical form, I should not disregard it. It is a tool I employ to interact with the world. It is the abode which encloses the Authentic Self inside.
6.
The world, like a dream full of attachments and aversions seems real until the awakening.
Adi Shankara
The world, like a vision laden with yearnings and repulsions appears genuine until the epiphany.
7.
As gold purified in a furnace loses its impurities and achieves its own true nature, the mind gets rid of the impurities of the attributes of delusion, attachment and purity through meditation and attains Reality.
Adi Shankara
8.
Loud speech, profusion of words, and possessing skillfulness in expounding scriptures are merely for the enjoyment of the learned. They do not lead to liberation.
Adi Shankara
Verbal oratory, verbosity, and having dexterity in elucidating scriptures are solely for the entertainment of the educated. They do not bring about freedom.
9.
When your last breath arrives, Grammar can do nothing.
Adi Shankara
When the final bell tolls, Grammar will be powerless.
10.
Curb your senses and your mind and see the Lord within your heart.
Adi Shankara
Restrain your faculties and your intellect and behold the Divine in your soul.
11.
To be free from bondage the wise person must practise discrimination between One-Self and the ego-self.
By that alone you will become full of joy, recognising Self as Pure Being, Consciousness and Bliss.
Adi Shankara
12.
Give up identification with this mass of flesh as well as with what thinks it a mass. Both are intellectual imaginations. Recognise your true self as undifferentiated awareness, unaffected by time, past, present or future, and enter Peace.
Adi Shankara
13.
There is sorrow in finitude. The Self is beyond time, space and objects. It is infinite and hence of the nature of absolute happiness.
Adi Shankara
There is grief in the limitation of existence. The Self transcends time, space and materiality. It is boundless and thus inherently of absolute joy.
14.
You never identify yourself with the shadows cast by your body, or with its reflection, or with the body you see in a dream or in your imagination. Therefore you should not identify yourself with this living body either.
Adi Shankara
15.
The treasure I have found cannot be described in words, the mind cannot conceive of it.
Adi Shankara
The wealth I have unearthed is beyond articulation, the imagination is unable to grasp it.
16.
Just as a stone, a tree, a straw, grain, a mat, a cloth, a pot, and so on, when burned, are reduced to earth (from which they came), so the body and its sense organs, on being burned in the fire of Knowledge, become Knowledge and are absorbed in Brahman, like darkness in the light of the sun.
Adi Shankara
17.
Each thing tends to move towards its own nature. I always desire happiness which is my true nature. My nature is never a burden to me. Happiness is never a burden to me, whilst sorrow is.
Adi Shankara
Every entity gravitates to its inherent essence. I incessantly long for joy which is my genuine essence. My essence is never an encumbrance to me. Joy is never a burden to me, whilst misery is.
18.
What is enquiry into the Truth? It is the firm conviction that the Self is real, and all, other than That, is unreal.
Adi Shankara
Exploration of Reality: the steadfast belief that one's innermost essence is genuine, and anything else is illusory.
19.
From a clear knowledge of the Bhagavad-gita all the goals of human existence become fulfilled. Bhagavad-gita is the manifest quintessence of all the teachings of the Vedic scriptures.
Adi Shankara
'A thorough comprehension of the Bhagavad-gita renders all aspirations of humankind fulfilled. Bhagavad-gita is the epitome of the whole Vedic literature.'
20.
Like the appearance of silver in mother of pearl, the world seems real until the Self, the underlying reality, is realized.
Adi Shankara
As the glint of silver in nacre reflects the light, reality appears genuine until the Self, its true foundation, is unveiled.
21.
All the manifested world of things and beings are projected by imagination upon the substratum which is the Eternal All-pervading Vishnu, whose nature is Existence-Intelligence; just as the different ornaments are all made out of the same gold.
Adi Shankara
22.
Thus one should know oneself to be of the nature of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss[Sat-Chit-Ananda].
Adi Shankara
Realize one's inherent being of Beingness-Awareness-Joy[Sat-Chit-Ananda].
23.
But the jiva [living being] is endowed with ego and his knowledge is limited, whereas Ishwar is without ego and is omniscient.
Adi Shankara
"However, the mortal possesses vanity and their understanding is restrained, whereas the Supreme Being is without conceit and all-knowing."
24.
The witness of the three states of consciousness [waking, dream and deep sleep] and of the nature of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss is the Self
Adi Shankara
The testimony of the three planes of awareness [alertness, reverie and profound slumber] and of the character of Being-Awareness-Bliss is the Atman.
25.
Space seems broken and diverse because of the many forms in it. Remove the forms and pure space remains. So, too with the Omnipresent Self.
Adi Shankara
'Empty of all manifestations, the Unending Essence remains unchanged.'
26.
Who but the Atman is capable of removing the bonds of ignorance, passion and self-interested action?
Adi Shankara
