Adi Shankara Quotes on Knowledge
Adi Shankara (c. 700–750 CE) systematized the Advaita Vedanta tradition through commentaries on the principal Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and Badarayana's Brahma Sutras. The doctrine of non-dualism (advaita) holds that ultimate reality (Brahman) is one without a second, that the apparent plurality of the world is the product of cosmic ignorance (avidya) and the projective power of maya, and that the individual self (atman) is identical with Brahman in its true nature. Liberation (moksha) is therefore not the achievement of a new state but the recognition of the identity that has always obtained, attained through the discriminative knowledge (jnana) the qualified seeker pursues under the guidance of a realized teacher.
Quotes
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“Knowledge of the Self is the only means to liberation.”
p. 4: Quote nr. 2. -
“Brahma satyam jagat mithyam, jivo brahmaiva naparah”
Brahman (the existential substratum) is the only truth, the world is illusion, and there is ultimately no difference between Brahman and individual self. -
“One should become aware of oneself, indivisible, and perfect; free from identification with all things transient, such as one’s body, functions, mind, and the sense of being the doer, for all these are the product of ignorance.”
p4 -
“Action cannot destroy ignorance , for it is not in conflict with or opposed to ignorance. Knowledge does verily destroy ignorance as light destroys deep darkness .”
p. 6: Quote nr. 3. -
“The Soul appears to be finite because of ignorance. When ignorance is destroyed the Self which does not admit of any multiplicity truly reveals itself by itself: like the Sun when the clouds pass away.”
p. 7: Quote nr. 4. -
“Like bubbles in the water, the worlds rise, exist and dissolve in the Supreme Self, which is the material cause and the prop of everything.”
p. 14: Quote nr. 8. -
“Atman is an ever - present Reality . Yet, because of ignorance it is not realised. On the destruction of ignorance Atman is realised.”
p. 82: Quote nr. 44. -
“p. 82: Quote nr. 44.”
Atman is an ever - present Reality . Yet, because of ignorance it is not realised. On the destruction of ignorance Atman is realised. -
“The Atman, the Sun of Knowledge that rises in the sky of the heart, destroys the darkness of the ignorance, pervades and sustains all and shines and makes everything to shine.”
Atma Bodha(1987) | p. 121: Quote nr. 67. -
“Just as the fire is the direct cause for cooking, so without Knowledge no emancipation can be had. Compared with all other forms of discipline Knowledge of the Self is the one direct means for liberation .”
Atma Bodha(1987) | p. 4: Quote nr. 2.