The treasure I have found cannot be described in words, the mind cannot conceive of it.
Adi ShankaraRead
As gold purified in a furnace loses its impurities and achieves its own true nature, the mind gets rid of the impurities of the attributes of delusion, attachment and purity through meditation and attains Reality.
Interpretation
Meditation helps cleanse the mind of delusions and attachments, leading to a clearer understanding of reality.
This quote by Adi Shankara uses the metaphor of gold being purified in a furnace to illustrate how meditation can refine the mind. Just as gold emerges free of impurities, through meditation, individuals can remove the negative attributes of delusion and attachment, thus reaching a deeper level of awareness and understanding of Reality.
In practice
During a mindfulness workshop, I shared this quote to emphasize the benefits of meditation.
The treasure I have found cannot be described in words, the mind cannot conceive of it.
Even after the Truth has been realised, there remains that strong, obstinate impression that one is still an ego - the agent and experiencer. This has to be carefully removed by living in a state of constant identification with the supreme non-dual Self. Full Awakening is the eventual ceasing of all the mental impressions of being an ego.
Like the appearance of silver in mother of pearl, the world seems real until the Self, the underlying reality, is realized.
Give up identification with this mass of flesh as well as with what thinks it a mass. Both are intellectual imaginations. Recognise your true self as undifferentiated awareness, unaffected by time, past, present or future, and enter Peace.
But the jiva [living being] is endowed with ego and his knowledge is limited, whereas Ishwar is without ego and is omniscient.
There is sorrow in finitude. The Self is beyond time, space and objects. It is infinite and hence of the nature of absolute happiness.
Anything is a blessing which makes us pray.
There is a certain degree of satisfaction in having the courage to admit one's errors. It not only clears up the air of guilt and defensiveness, but often helps solve the problem created by the error
A creative person has little power over his own life. He is not free. He is captive and driven by his daimon.
Once someone has spent enough time cultivating bad habits and biding their time, they are much diminished. Much of what they could have been has dissipated.
And all knowledge, when separated from justice and virtue, is seen to be cunning and not wisdom; wherefore make this your first and last and constant and all-absorbing aim, to exceed, if possible, not only us but all your ancestors in virtue; and know that to excel you in virtue only brings us shame, but that to be excelled by you is a source of happiness to us.
Legends die hard. They survive as truth rarely does.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.