Book Reviewed: The mind of Adi Shankaracharya, by Y. Keshav Menon

Book Reviewed: The mind of Adi Shankaracharya, by Y. Keshav Menon

The spiritual and metaphysical odyssey of Jagadguru Sankaracharya (five stars)

This is a very well-written book that focuses on the essentials of Sankaracharya's teachings without misrepresenting any facets of his message. The discussions are comprehensive and it is intended for all readers including specialists of Vedanta. The general framework of Sankara's work includes three canonical texts; the Vedas (particularly Upanishads), the Brahma Sutra, and the Bhagavadgita. The first two are classified as "shruti" which are believed to be created by the direct inspiration of God; and Gita is known to be a "smriti," a written text that provides for a way to achieve liberation (moksha) from the miseries of life that results from the cycle of birth and death. Sankara's philosophy is the codification and exposition of the sages (rsis) of the three canonical texts.

A brief summary of the book is as follows: Self is not ego or a soul or spirit. It is not a spook that leaves the body at death. There is no soul that exists in human body as a separate entity. Self is not "anthakarana" or material mind although this perhaps is nearest to the common sense view. It is not a series of mental states or a logical postulate and it does not have qualities, parts or attributes. Self is not established by proof or existence; it is prior to all proofs. It cannot be grasped by thought but it is the whole being or pure consciousness. In Sanskrit, it is called "sat-chit-ananda," which means, absolute existence-absolute consciousness-absolute bliss. It is timeless, spaceless, and with an unrestricted existence. It is permanent. It illuminates and transcends all things; physical objects, mental concepts or abstract forms. It is unlimited, infinite and eternal. There cannot be two such beings; it is one without a second. It is the nature of pure consciousness. Consciousness and existence are inseparable. Avidya veils and perverts this beatitude. The illusion is created by Maya, an illusory power. Self comprehends everything, it is omnipresent and omniscient. All objects, everywhere, in the past, present and future are experienced by the Self in an eternal and timeless dimension.

Sankara taught three orders of reality; the absolute, the empirical and the apparent. The first order is neither subject nor object but the Self alone is illuminating itself. The third order, the apparent includes illusory perceptions like dream. The reality that is deemed to result from the cause and effect process is questionable on philosophical ground as well as quantum reality. Sankara explored the idea of casualty exhaustively and concluded that cause-effect relationship is unintelligible. Connecting the ends of such a relationship becomes superfluous and ends in an infinite regress. Neither cause nor effect emanate from each other. The effect is not pre-existent in the cause in a latent form. One could ask what was there before the first cause or what happens after the last effect? In Sankara's view all objects in spacetime are manifestation of the Self. How come Brahman can be immanent and transcendent? The world is real and unreal? Or the world is perfect and imperfect? The world is created but beginning-less and our lives are illusory? The same questions are actively addressed by theoretical physicists and coming to the conclusion that the universe is perhaps a giant hologram, we are in a two-dimensional projection of three-dimensional reality.

Jiva and Atman, the creature and the creator are ultimately one. Jiva is not a part of Atman since it parts-less and infinite. It is not modification of Atman since it is immutable. Some Upanishads speak of spark emanating from fire for relating jiva with Atman. To illustrate this further, the following example is appropriate; the space in a jug has certain shape and if you move the jug, the space within it appears to move but in reality space doesn't move. Space doesn't undergo any modifications. In the same way, Atman doesn't change but avidya (lack of knowledge) make us believe that Atman is changing. Jiva is a reflection of Atman in avidya. In deep sleep jiva is said to attain its real nature and Sankara explained that Jiva visits Brahman night after night without knowing it, i.e. during deep sleep. The dream state becomes unreal in waking state; and the waking state doesn't exist in dream or deep sleep. Both dream and waking state are absent in deep sleep state. Likewise deep sleep is also absent in dream and wake state. Thus all three states are unreal and the Self is the Eternal witness to all the three states. It is all in the One which is the Pure State of Consciousness.

Consciousness and matter (energy) are two different orders of reality but common sense tells us that consciousness is associated with living body (matter). The quantum reality however brings us closer to Sankara's view that consciousness is inherently a part of physical reality as illustrated by numerous quantum physical measurements, although it is not represented per se in any physics equations. The complexity in understanding physical reality through physics is precisely what Sankara has said that Self or Brahman or Pure Consciousness is the experience of the true self which is an Infinite Eternal Existence-Awareness-Bliss. Direct experience does not occur in the realm of thought or the intellect.