"The following is from the draft version of my introduction to Rocks Are Melting: The Everyday Teachings of Brahmananda Saraswati." - L.B.Shriver
"He used to live only on germinated gram seeds mixed with a little bit of salt. He lived on a hillock in a small natural cave near a mountain pool." - Swami Rama http://rwilliams.us/images/guru_dev.jpg http://rwilliams.us/images/guru_dev.jpg In Shankara Acharya's Dakshina-murti Stotram, Shankara advises that for our practice we should meditate on the South-Facing Form, that is, a north-facing posture of meditative devotion to the Glorious Presence. How, exactly, is this accomplished? Here are the directions for practicing transcendental meditation enumerated by the Adi Shankara Acharya: "Devotion to that Glorious Presence, Infinite Instructor, Who, By means of the auspicious hand-sign, Makes clear to the worshipers His own real nature Always shining within as "I," Following into all the successive states- And those beginning with waking." (Translation by Ernest Wood) The auspicious hand-sign in Sanskrit literature is referred to as the symbol of wisdom or the mark of the "I" consciousness, which represents "Knowing That I am", or "Knowing That I know." The auspicious hand-sign meditation reminds us of the absolute truth, the circle made by the thumb and the forefinger is the symbol of unity - a space that is empty, yet full at the same time. It is the symbol of the one reality and for Shankara, the one-without-a-second. In this stotram Shankara Acharya is advocating the yogic practice of TM via a meditation on the form of the attribute-less Brahman by use of a mudra, the auspicious hand-sign being the mnemonic device par-excellence. Guru Dev agrees with this. According to SBS, "Brahman is Light, it needs no other light to illuminate it." Does this statement by Guru Dev indicate a means to gain transcendental knowledge? In other words, did Guru Dev teach or practice a technique that was similar to the practice of TM? I think he did and his statement supports of my thesis. I present here the first lines of Shankara Acharaya's commentary on the Brahma Sutras. The first sentence in the Brahma Sutras is: "Now, an inquiry into Brahman." Thus Badarayana establishes from the very beginning that the ancient philosophers were concerned with the Absolute truth, which is everywhere, which they termed Brahman. Badarayana believed that the truth can be known based on the four great dicta found in the Upanishads. All transcendental devotees following the Advaita School of Philosophy, which includes the Saraswati Sampradaya, salute the entire Guruparampara, starting from Lord Narayana himself with Adi Shankara in the middle down to our present Guru, Vasudevanand Saraswati. However, we MMY bhagavats are indeed blessed, as I find our relationship with Adi Shankara, vis-a-vis our devotion to SBS is much more intense than what is generally understood by regular practitioners of yoga alone. Works cited: 'The Glorious Presence' The Vedanta Philosophy Including Shankara's Ode to the South-Facing Form Quest Books, Theosophical Pub House, 1952 "Strange Facts About a Great Saint" By Raj P. Varma Jabalpur, India 1980 Varma & Sons Pub. p.10
