That is Advaita for you!

God is one, isn't it? If God is one, which I'm particularly sure the majority wi
ll agree to without any argument, then why don't the Sanskrit sages call it "eka
nt," which means one, instead of advaita? Why is the word "advaita" being used?
Has anybody pondered over that? Advaita means not two. Once you have pondered th
at, then you have no need to know anything else. Once you know what advaita mean
s, you have transcended! You have gone beyond the mind! Why did the sages not sa
y "one?" Why did they say "not two?"
the word "advaita" is used to indicate not two! And the reason why is because th
e mind functions in a very linear way, from point A to points B, C, D, E, F and
so on in a straight line are you with me so far? Therefore, the moment you say "on
e," it means that there are two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and so on
and so forth. The moment you say "one," it means the possibility exists of two.
One has got meaning only with relation to the other numbers; otherwise it has no
ne. And the moment you say "one," two has already penetrated into it. That is wh
y they don't say "ekant." They say "NOT TWO!" And NOT TWO means what? That the m
any has disappeared. But this is only indicated by a process of negation.
the problem with us is that we think there's a world outside us and that we're l
iving in that world. But it is not the case. You are not in the world; the world
is in you. Haven't you realized even though when you open your eyes in the mornin
g the world appears, and when you go to sleep at night it disappears that when you
are asleep you are still existing? And that it is the same person who exists in
sleep who also exists in the waking state? Therefore, if during the night the w
orld seems to disappear, and if who you really are continues to exist when the w
orld no longer seems to, it can only mean that you, the person you imagine yours
elf to be in the morning, are an illusion!
The world is purely an illusion. You must understand that you reflect your own w
orld, you see your own world. But this is simply the problem that occurs when we
are not interested in our other states of existence, when we are concerned only
with our waking state, and not with our deep sleep state and our dream state. W
e exist in all three of these states, but we are only concerned with one. Such i
s the misery of man. But the moment one witnesses all three states of existence,
then he will understand that the world is nothing but a pure illusion.
One has got to clearly understand that. We are a spiritual being having a human
experience. Don't consider yourself to be a human being wanting spiritual experi
ence. That's also an illusion.
Now, these people talk about "escape from the world," but what's the point? Have
n't they understood that the world is an illusion? So what? If it's an illusion,
then what is there to renounce? How can you renounce an illusion? Stupidity! Ab
solute nonsense! Illusion? What's the problem? This illusion is there for you to
rejoice in. Imagine yourself or anybody trying to escape where is he going to go?
Even if he goes to a cave, he'll have thousands and thousands of thoughts rushi
ng into his mind. He'll never escape.
Listen. If you go to a museum, you may see a huge painting there depicting, let'
s say, an old woman, a tattered old lady in rags and absolutely skin and bones w
ith hardly a morsel of food on her plate, and a skinny-looking baby lying beside
her, and a large dying dog. There may be a few cattle also starving by the side
, the trees are dried up, the land is dry and everything appears so, so sickenin
g there. But a man will stand in front of that picture and say, "What a masterpi
ece!" Doesn't he say that?
And there may also be a bleeding man with a broken leg, and still this fellow sa
ys, "What a masterpiece!" He will never say, "Oh! I feel so sorry for this lady,

let me go get some pizza and feed her. This man is bleeding, let me take him to
the hospital. This dog is dying, let me take it to the ASPCA or the ABCDE or wh
atever." No he says, "It's a masterpiece!" Similarly, God has painted this entire
panoramic, continuously changing picture that is never constant but is continuou
sly going on and on. He has never finished his masterpiece, but all the time he'
s within everybody enjoying and rejoicing in it because it's purely a painting.
It is the fact that you want to get yourself involved in this painting and take
it to be real that is the problem which causes so much misery for one and all.
So there is nothing to be renounced and nothing to be done. Just be yourself and
find out who you are. That is the end of every problem in life. You know, there
are no problems in life the only problem is thinking. Life is not a problem; life
is a mystery. Life is a song. Life is a dance. Through this mystery lives this
song, lives this dance. Enjoy the cosmic dance of Shiva! That is Advaita for you
! The moment you become the song, the moment you become the dance, the moment yo
u become the fluidity in water, the hardness in the rock, the fragrance of the f
lower, the moment you become the blossoming of the flower, you are Advaita. Do y
ou get me? But suppose you see a beautiful flower, and feeling a sudden sense of
beauty inside yourself you say, "What a beautiful flower!" What has happened th
ere?
On one hand, it seems like a nice thing. We're appreciating something.And that i
s our problem! The moment we utter a word, things have stopped and we have dippe
d into our past. Literally, we are leading a dead life made up only of images fr
om the past and nothing of the life in front of us as it's blossoming in its glo
ry. We miss it. We're always in the past. We are shaking hands with a dead corps
e in every minute. We think we are living life, but we are not. The beauty in th
e flower is God, you see? God is not a person; God is a presence. God is the god
liness that is present only in this moment NOW not in the past, not in the future.
The moment you are in the mind, it isn't Advaita. But the moment you're in the
moment-to-moment, that is Advaita.
========================================================
Between Jeeva (the individual) and Ishwara
(the Lord or creator), there is difference only with respect to body and intelle
ct (gross and subtle body).
By their true and essential nature, absolute reality alone is. (meaning by their
essence both are Consciousness alone).
~ Upadesa Sarah of Ramana Maharshi

Sloka 24

??????????????????,
??????????? ????? ???????
[????? ??? ??]
isajivayorve?adhibhida,
satsvabhavato vastu kevalam.
[ upadesa sara 24]
Explanation:
Jeeva and Ishwara are two very important terms used in Vedanta and which we all
are very familiar with also. These two terms requires a little deep analysis to
know what these terms mean.
These two terms are valid only from the perspective of the ignorant and initial
seeker. For the realized Self, there is nothing but Brahman alone. This is the u

ltimate reality that there is nothing but Brahman or Consciousness alone. The wo
rld is a mere illusion seen in Brahman or Consciousness. As all illusions are th
e reality alone, similarly the world full of names and forms are Brahman alone (
wrongly perceived as the world).
Let s first analyze Brahman and the world.
Drik Drishya viveka and Saraswathi Rahasya Upanishad says
Asthi Bhaathi Priyam roopam Naamam cha ithi amsa Panchakam
Adhya trayam brahma ropam jagad roopah tatho dvayam
Existence, Consciousness, Bliss, Name and Form
these are the five characteristic
s of any object. The first three are the nature of Brahman and the rest two are
the nature of World.
The world is only name and form of Brahman
Sristhir naama brahma roope sachidananda vasthuni
Abdau Phenaadivat sarva naama ropa prasaarana
That is called Creation where names and forms are created in Brahman of the natu
re of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss even as foams and bubbles are created i
n ocean.
The foams, bubbles, waves are not different from the ocean
they are all the same
water itself in essence. Thus, they might seem to be different but essentially
they are one and the same only. Similarly the world is only name and form of Bra
hman and hence not different from Brahman. Due to ignorance of the essential rea
lity of the world, the world seems to be different from Brahman or Consciousness
. But essentially world is Brahman only. When the names and forms which are only
mere illusions that seem to be present now, were not present in the past & will
vanish in the future, are removed only pure Consciousness remains. This is the
reality of the world.
Knowing this concept of world as name and form (which is only an illusion and he
nce unreal) of Brahman will help us in understanding the concepts of Jeeva and I
shwara.
Ishwara is endowed with the qualities of Sarvajnatvam (all-knowing) and Sarvavya
apakatvam (all-pervasive)
Jeeva is endowed with the qualities of Alpajnaatvam and Alpavyaapakatvam (limite
d-knowing and limited pervasiveness)
Ishwara is considered as the reflection of Brahman in Maya
whereas Jeeva is the
reflection of Brahman in Avidya. Maya is the totality whereas Avidya is the indi
viduality. Therefore, the totality of Jeeva leads one to Ishwara.
Jeeva can be translated into Ego or Ahamkaara and is Brahman limited by a single
body and mind. Ishwara is Brahman limited by the qualities of total-mind and to
tal-body. Ishwara is the ruler or controller of the total number of jeevas.
There are as many jeevas as the number of adjunctions of body and mind. But ther
e is only one Ishwara who is the controller of all these Jeevas.
Thereby, Jeeva is in bondage of Maya and its power whereas Ishwara is the contro
ller of Maya who through his own Maya Shakthi creates the world from himself and
creates the various Jeevas. Thus, Ishwara is ever-liberated and out of the cont
rol of Maya
but still he is not the ultimate reality of Brahman (as he is endowe
d with qualities of creation and controller of Maya).

Jeeva finds himself having limited knowledge because of the limitation of body,
mind and intellect. As we all know, knowledge is based on intellect alone. Since
Jeeva has a limited intellect, thereby he knows little only. Also as he has a l
imited body, he is not all-pervasive. But once the Jeeva realizes his own onenes
s with Ishwara
thereby the limitations of body and intellect are broken. When th
is happens, Jeeva loses his status of Ego (as identification with the mind and b
ody are called Ego) and thus he merges into his source of Self or Consciousness
or Brahman. When the limitations are increased and the Jeeva identifies himself
with the totality of bodies and minds, he becomes one with Ishwara and thereby h
e gets all-knowing and all-pervasive qualities of Ishwara. This is how great Mah
atmas propound all the truth and knowledge in the world even though they are see
n to be limited to a single body. Many acharyas ranging from Sankara, Ramanuja a
nd others have proclaimed the reality of the world like Ishwara himself as they
increased their limitations and merged into one with Ishwara
the totality of all
individuality.
But, when the status of totality also vanishes into its source of Brahman,
remains nothing but pure Consciousness. There nothing remains to be known
from the knower (as there is no dual object to be known), nothing remains
pervaded as pervasiveness is there only if there are two things). This is
ltimate and essential nature of Ishwara
Consciousness, Brahman or Atman.

there
apart
to be
the u

When we now analyze into the essential nature of Jeeva and Ishwarah
we find that
the difference is not in the essential nature of both which is Consciousness al
one, but the difference lies in the adjunctions which are the body and the mind.
There are two adjunctions present for jeeva and ishwara which Maharshi says here
as Vesha and dhee these are the gross body and subtle body. The gross body cons
ists of the physical body consisting of the Saptha Dhathus of Skin, Flesh, Marro
w, Bone, Blood, Fat and Semen and made up of the five gross elements of Earth, W
ater, Fire, Air and Ether. The subtle body consists of the 17 parts of five sens
e organs of action, five sense organs of perception, five vital forces (Pancha P
rana prana, apana, vyana, samana, udana), the mind and the intellect (in some pl
aces subtle body is said to contain 19 parts which includes the 17 mentioned abo
ve and Ego and chitta or memory).
The individual jeeva is endowed with only a single gross and subtle body whereas
the Ishwara has all the individual gross and subtle bodies (all put together).
It has to be remembered that there is one and only one reality which is Consciou
sness or the Self. This Consciousness when limited by various adjuncts seems to
get limited by the adjunctions but in reality it is the same Consciousness alone
, unaffected by the adjunctions. Space seems to be limited by a pot and it seems
to be different from pot-space but the pot-space is same as infinite space only
. Similarly the essence of Jeeva and Ishwara are Consciousness alone.
They seem to be different due to the different adjunctions and due to the reflec
tion of Brahman in different objects.
But in essential nature, both Ishwara and Jeeva are Brahman or Consciousness alo
ne. Ishwara and Jeeva are only illusions created due to the illusory adjunctions
of body, mind and intellect. Any illusion is the reality alone perceived wrongl
y. When the reality is known, the illusion vanishes and the person realizes that
there never was any illusion in the reality.
One may now ask How can I, the jeeva, be same as Ishwara, the creator? .
Yes, the Jeeva is one with Ishwara. Doesn t the jeeva create a world in the waking
state??? So, doesn t jeeva become a creator in one of the three states of waking,
dream and deep sleep.

Kaivalya Upanishad speaks about Jeeva and its essential nature also
Puratraye kreedathi yah cha jeevah tatah tu jaatam sakalam vichitram
Aadhaaram aanandam akhanda bodham yasmin layam yaathi puratrayam cha
That Jeeva who is the individual and who plays in the three states (meaning who
is the enjoyer of the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep) is the creat
or of all the objects and things in these three states. The substratum or essenc
e of the Jeeva (Aadharam means substratum) is infinite and blissful Consciousnes
s (Bodham means Consciousness) in whom the three states (which are termed as pur
as or towns or houses as the jeeva enters each house and yet remains unattached
to them really) and the jeeva or individual merge.
Here jeeva is created from the Consciousness, has the nature of Consciousness an
d merges into Consciousness. This only means that jeeva is an illusion in Consci
ousness. Thus, here jeeva is termed the creator of the worlds in waking and drea
m state.
Thus, Jeeva and Ishwara seem to be different based on the limitations (which doe
sn t affect the essential nature of both of them) of body and mind.
Swami Tejomayananda in his commentary on Upadesa Saram gives the example of ocea
n and waves to explain Jeeva and Ishwara. In essence ocean and waves are water o
nly. Ocean is total of all the waves. The ocean is Ishwara, the waves are Jeeva.
When the Jeeva lose their individuality, they become total and merge into Ishwa
ra as waves merge into the ocean. And the essence of both jeeva and Ishwara is w
ater alone.
Therefore, Maharshi asserts in this sloka that there is only empirical or relati
ve difference between Jeeva and Ishwara based on the adjunction of body and mind
. There is no absolute difference between both as both are Consciousness or Brah
man or Self in essence.
Maharshi in the next sloka mentions how a person can realize the Self and once a
gain asserts that the difference between the individual and total is only relati
ve and not absolute.
Just to mention here, various Advaitic post-Sankara acharyas interpret Jeeva and
Ishwara based on Sruthi statements. There are mainly two descriptions of Ishwar
a and Jeeva mentioned by two great post-Sankara acharyas (which form two post-Sa
nkara schools of Advaita). Vachaspathi Mishra who wrote the famous Bhamathi comm
entary to Sankaracharya s Brahma Sutra Sareerika Mimamsa bhashya says that the Ish
wara is Brahman limited by Maya and Jeeva is Brahman limited by the intellect. T
his theory of Jeeva which is Brahman limited by intellect is termed as Avachched
a vaada (avachheda means limitation).
Prakasaatman yathi who wrote the famous Panchapaadika Vivarana (a gloss to the c
ommentary of Padmapada Acharya called Panchapadika on Sankara s commentary to the
first four sutras of Brahma Sutra) says that Ishwara is Brahman reflected in May
a whereas Jeeva is Brahman reflected in the intellect. Thus, jeeva becomes the K
artha and Bhokta but that Brahman which remains as the Sakshi or witness to thes
e activities and which is object that is reflection in the mind and the reflecti
on becomes jeeva this Sakshi is termed as Kutastha (that which remains like the
anvil or Kuta meaning changless). The Sakshi or Kutastha is related to Brahman b
y the Avachheda Vaada (limitation theory). When the jeeva vanishes, Kutastha rea
lizes his own oneness with Brahman. The example for this is: Brahman is the infi
nite space, kutastha is the pot-space and jeeva is the pot-space reflected in wa
ter in the pot. When the pot is destroyed, pot-space becomes one with Brahman
in
reality the pot-space and infinite-space are both same but seem to be different
due to the adjunction of pot). Jeeva is only the reflection which vanishes when
the mind where it is reflected is removed or destroyed through destruction of t

houghts.
Thus, analyzing these above two theories
both are very much similar and a person
should not concentrate on these things in detail as these will only lead to pro
blem and confusions which will lead one to not knowing the reality or essence of
both.
One needs to realize that whether Jeeva is limited, still the Jeeva is Brahman a
lone in nature. If Jeeva is reflection, still the reflection has no reality apar
t from the object of reflection, Brahman. Therefore, in both these theories the
essence of both Jeeva and Ishwara is Consciousness alone. Both these theories sa
y that when body and mind are destroyed, the essential nature of non-dual Brahma
n is realized.
Thus, Hastamalaka (one of the four disciples of Sankara) says in Hastamalakeeyam
Mukhaabhasako darpane drishyamaanah
Mukhatvaat prithaktvena naivaasthi vasthu
Chidaabhasakho dheeshu jeevopi tadvat
Sa Nityopalabdhi svarupohamatma
As the reflection of one s face in a mirror has no existence apart from the face,
similarly the jeeva which is reflection of Brahman in intellect has no separate
existence apart from Brahman that ever-present Brahman or Consciousness I am.
Here one needs to concentrate on the part where Hastamalaka says that the reflec
tion has no existence apart from the object (similarly the limited object doesn t
have any existence apart from the real unlimited object).
Thus, both the theories of limitation and reflection are one and the same (with
minor difference at the empirical level) and both tell that the essential and ab
solute reality of Jeeva and Ishwara is Consciousness or Brahman alone.
The confusion of whether jeeva is prathibimbitha (reflected) or Avachheda (limit
ed) continued for sometime after Sankara (Sankara never spent time on this issue
as it was immaterial whether the illusory jeeva is reflection or limitation bec
ause nothing is to be achieved by knowing the illusory jeeva who the real I is not
. Hence he proclaimed both these theories at different works and stressed that Y
OU ARE CONSCIOUSNESS and hence Jeeva is Brahman alone whether it be reflection o
r limitation) until Appayya Dikshitar explained both these theories in his Siddh
antha Lesha Sangraha where he mentions that both are almost same and there is no
fight between both theories where only the approach to the reality is different
& not the reality. Dikshitar had to mention this because the rival schools of V
edanta started criticizing these various theories and differences in the very sa
me Sankara s works. They also started telling that Sankara s theory is absurd and Sa
nkara never bothered to remove the absurdities in his system.
Maharshi thus
ara and Jeeva
eem different
but only the

in this sloka and the next mentions the ultimate reality that Ishw
are not separate entities but they are essentially the same
they s
only for the ignorant and for the realized, there is no difference
non-dual Self.

~ Commentry by Vedanta