T he Supreme Spirit or the Brahman is alone real and the individual Self is only the Supreme Self and no other. Brahman is Supreme Intelligence, devoid of attributes, form, changes or limitations. It is self-luminous and all pervading and is without a second. The empirical world is unreal, an illusion born of ignorance. The jiva (Self) continues in Samsara (earthly life) only as long as it retains attachment due to ignorance or Maya (illusion). If it casts off the veil of Maya through knowledge or Jnana it will realize its identity with the Brahman and get merged into it.

quote 5302  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara

Y ou are the Self, the infinite Being, the pure, unchanging Consciousness, which pervades everything. Your nature is bliss and your glory is without stain. Because you identify yourself with the ego, you are tied to birth and death. Your bondage has no other cause.

quote 3704  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Vivekachudamani; Prahhavananda, 1947, p.97

U tterly destroy the ego. Control the many waves of distraction which it raises in the mind. Discern the Reality and realize "I am That." You are pure Consciousness, the witness of all experiences. Your real nature is joy. Cease this very moment to identify yourself with the ego.

quote 3703  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Vivekachudamani; Prahhavananda, 1947, p.97

T he fool thinks, "I am the body"; the intelligent man thinks, "I am an individual soul united with the body." But the wise man, in the greatness of his knowledge and spiritual discrimination, sees the Self as the only reality and thinks, "I am Brahman."

quote 3702  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Vivekachudamani; Prahhavananda, 1947, p. 69

A s the mind becomes gradually established in the Self, it proportionately gives up the desire for external objects. When all such desires have been eliminated, there is the unobstructed realization of the Self.

quote 3701  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Vivekachudamani; Prahhavananda, 1947;

E ven after the Truth has been realized, there remains that strong, beginningless, obstinate impression that one is the agent and experiencer... This has to be carefully removed by living in a state of constant identification with the supreme Self. Sages call that cessation of mental impressions, "Liberation."

quote 3700  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Vivekachudamani; Prahhavananda, 1947;

T eachers and scriptures can stimulate spiritual awareness. But the wise disciple crosses the ocean of ignorance by direct illumination, through the grace of God. Gain experience directly. Realize God for yourself. Know the Self as the one indivisible Being, and become perfect. Free your mind from all distractions and dwell in the consciousness of the Self. This is the final declaration of the Vedanta: Brahman is all; [It is] this universe and every creature. To be liberated is to live in the continual awareness of Brahman, the undivided Reality.

quote 3699  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Vivekachudamani; Prahhavananda, 1947, p.131

S eated in a solitary place, free from desires and with senses controlled, one should meditate free of thought on that one infinite Self.

quote 3698  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Atma Bodha: 38

T hat Reality is One; though, owing to illusion, It appears to be multiple names and forms, attributes and changes, It always remains unchanged. [It is] like gold which, while remaining one, is formed into various ornaments. You are that One, that Brahman. Meditate on this in your mind.

quote 3697  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Vivekachudamani; Prahhavananda, 1947, p. 51

T he entire universe is truly the Self. There exists nothing at all other than the Self. The enlightened person sees everything in the world as his own Self, just as one views earthenware jars and pots as nothing but clay.

quote 3696  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Atma Bodha: 48

T he universe is truly Brahman, ... for that which is superimposed (the universe) has no separate existence from its substratum (Brahman). …. The name, "universe," is superimposed on Brahman, but what we call the "universe" is [really] nothing but Brahman.

quote 3695  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Vivekachudamani; Prahhavananda, 1947, p. 71

T he soul acts, to be sure, but the activity of the soul is not independent. It acts itself, but the Lord causes it to act. Moreover, the Lord in causing it to act now has regard to its former efforts, and He also caused it to act in a former existence, having regard to its efforts previous to that existence.

quote 3694  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Commentaries on The Vedanta Sutras; Vol. II, 2:3:42; Thibaut, 1962, p. 61

B ecause all selves are essentially non-different, and their apparent difference is due to nescience only, the individual soul, after having dispelled nescience by true knowledge, passes into unity with the supreme Self.

quote 3693  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Commentaries on The Vedanta Sutras; Thibaut, 1962, Vol. 11, p. 173

T he Self is the witness, beyond all attributes, beyond action. It can be directly realized as pure Consciousness and infinite bliss. Its appearance as an individual soul is caused by the delusion of our understanding, and has no reality. By -its very nature, this appearance is unreal. When our delusion has been removed, it ceases to exist.

quote 3692  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Vivekachudamani; Prahhavananda, 1947; p. 76

T he Self never undergoes change; the intellect never possesses consciousness. But when one sees all this world, he is deluded into thinking, "I am the seer, I am the knower." Mistaking one's Self for the individual entity, one is overcome with fear. If one knows oneself not as the individual but as the supreme Self, one becomes free from fear.

quote 3691  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Atma Bodha: 26-27

M aya is neither real nor unreal, nor both together; She is neither identical with Brahman nor different from Him, nor both; She is neither differentiated nor undifferentiated, nor both. She is most wonderful and cannot be described in words. ... Everything, from the intellect down to the gross physical body, is the effect of Maya. Understand that all these and Maya itself are not the [absolute] Self, and are therefore unreal, like a mirage in the desert.

quote 3690  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Vivekachudamani; Prahhavananda, 1947; p. 59-62

W ho is free from sin? One who chants the name of God.

quote 3103  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Prabhavananda, Swami, and isherwood, Christopher, trans. Shankara's Crest-Jewel of Discrimination. New York: New American Library, 194 7, pp. 119-127.

T o whom do the gods pay homage? To one who is compassionate.

quote 3102  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Prabhavananda, Swami, and isherwood, Christopher, trans. Shankara's Crest-Jewel of Discrimination. New York: New American Library, 194 7, pp. 119-127.

W hat is the first and most important duty for a man of right understanding? To cut through the bonds of worldly desire.

quote 3101  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Prabhavananda, Swami, and isherwood, Christopher, trans. Shankara's Crest-Jewel of Discrimination. New York: New American Library, 194 7, pp. 119-127.

W hat is the best thing a spiritual seeker can do? Carry out the instructions of his Guru.

quote 3100  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Prabhavananda, Swami, and isherwood, Christopher, trans. Shankara's Crest-Jewel of Discrimination. New York: New American Library, 194 7, pp. 119-127.

M y mind fell like a hailstone into that vast expanse of Consciousness. Touching one drop of it I melted away and became one with the Absolute. And now, though I return to human consciousness, I see nothing, I hear nothing, I know that nothing is different from me.

quote 3099  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Prabhavananda, Swami, and isherwood, Christopher, trans. Shankara's Crest-Jewel of Discrimination. New York: New American Library, 194 7, pp. 119-127.

T he treasure I have found cannot be described in words, the mind cannot conceive of it.

quote 3098  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Prabhavananda, Swami, and isherwood, Christopher, trans. Shankara's Crest-Jewel of Discrimination. New York: New American Library, 194 7, pp. 119-127.

T he existence of all that is either affirmed or denied in the one substratum of the indestructible, unattached, non-dual, absolute Self depends only on the mind, just as the appearance or disappearance of the imaginary snake in a piece of rope has no basis in reality. Bondage and Liberation are creations of Maya, superimpositions upon the Brahman imagined by the mind without any existence in reality. It is a fool who blames the sun for his own blindness…. The scriptures even proclaim aloud: "There is in truth no creation and no destruction; no one is bound, no one is seeking Liberation, no one is on the way to Deliverance. There are none Liberated. This is the absolute truth." My dear disciple, this, the sum and substance of all the Upanishads, the secret of secrets, is my instruction to you.

quote 2674  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara The Vivekachudamani of Shankaracharya

W hen a pot is broken the space that was in it becomes one with space; so too when the limitation caused by the body and its adjuncts is removed the Sage, realized during life, shines as Brahman, becoming absorbed in Brahman he already was, like milk in milk, water in water, or oil in oil, and is radiant as the One Supreme Self. Thus, when the Sage who abides as Brahman, which is Pure Being, obtains his disembodied absolute state, he is never again reborn.

quote 2673  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara The Vivekachudamani of Shankaracharya

I AM neither the mind, the intellect, nor the silent voice within; Neither the eyes, the ears, the nose, nor the mouth. I am not water, fire, earth, nor ether I am Consciousness and Bliss. I am Shiva! I am Shiva! I am not the life-force nor the vital airs; Not the seven components nor the five sheaths. I am not the tongue, hands, feet, nor organ of procreation I am Consciousness and Bliss. I am Shiva! I am Shiva! Neither attachment nor aversion can touch me; Neither greed, delusion, pride, nor jealousy are mine at all. I am not duty, nor wealth, nor happiness I am Consciousness and Bliss. I am Shiva! I am Shiva! I am not virtue nor vice; not pain nor pleasure; I am neither temple nor holy word; not sacred fire nor the Vedas I am Consciousness and Bliss. I am Shiva! I am Shiva! I have neither death, nor doubt, nor class distinction; Neither father nor mother, nor any birth at all. I am not the brother, the friend, the Master, nor the disciple I am Consciousness and Bliss. I am Shiva! I am Shiva! I am not detachment nor salvation, nor anything reached by the senses; I am beyond all thought and form. I am everywhere, and nowhere at all I am Consciousness and Bliss. I am Shiva! I am Shiva!

quote 2672  |  (Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara from The Inner Treasure by jonathan Star (New York: Tarcher-Putnam, 1999)