stilling the mind

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ADVAITA BODHA DEEPIKA[LAMP OF NON-DUAL KNOWLEDGE][Originally

Sri Shankaracharya and other great Sages hadwritten several works like the commentary on the Vedanta Sutrasand thus furnished the methods for those engaged in Self enquiryto accomplish their purpose.From those, Sri Karapatra Swami later condensed thesalient

points

into

Sanskrit

verse

in

a

work

of

twelve

chapters,called Sri Advaita

Bodha Deepika.Still later, some great man seems to have translated thisinto Tamil prose. For some unknown reasons only some eightchapters

of

the

same

are

found

published.]THE MEANS OF ACCOMPLISHMENT29-30. Disciple: How can the mind be made still?Master: Only by Sankhya. Sankhya is the process of enquirycoupled with knowledge. The realised sages declare that the mindhas its root in non-enquiry and perishes by an informed enquiry.D.: Please explain this process.M.: This consists of sravana, manana, nididhyasana andsamadhi, i.e., hearing, reasoning, meditation and Blissful Peace, asmentioned in the scriptures. Only this can make the mind still.31-32. There is also an alternative. It is said to be yoga.D.: What is yoga?M.: Meditation on Pure Being free from qualities.D.: Where is this alternative mentioned and how?M.: In the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Sri Bhagavan Krishnahas said: What is gained by Sankhya can also be gained by yoga.Only he who knows that the result of the two processes is thesame, can be called a realised sage.33-34. D.: How can the two results be identical?M.: The final limit is the same for both because both ofthem end in stillness of mind. This is samadhi or Blissful Peace.The fruit of samadhi is Supreme Knowledge; this remains thesame by whichever process gained.D.: If the fruit is the same for both, the final purpose canbe served by only one of them. Why should two processes bementioned instead of only one?M.: In the world, seekers of truth are of different grades ofdevelopment. Out of consideration for them, Sri Bhagavan hasmentioned these two in order to offer a choice.