From ‘Bhagavan and Nayana’ by S Shankaranarayanan

….from the mouth of the Sage:

“Find out wherefrom this ‘I’ springs forth and merge at its source; that is tapas. Find out wherefrom the sound of the mantra in japa rises up and merge there; that is tapas”

The action of the body is worship……The first action is worship. The action of japa is superior to worship. And superior to japa is dhyana, meditation. In japa is included prayerful chant.

By the control of breath, mind is lulled like a bird in a net. This is the means of control.

Mind is lulled like a bird in a net, motionless completely under control by the cessation or regulation of prana. ………The cessation of prana comes about when by force kumbhaka is practiced. Regulation is achieved by constantly observing the inflow and outflow of breath……..Thus kumbhaka results by constant observation.”

By control of prana, mind gets merged. It gets destroyed by the one thought…….Control of prana causes only the merging of the mind. It does not cause the destruction of the mind. Contemplation of the oneness in the merged mind leads to the destruction of the mind. Contemplation of the oneness in the merged mind leads to the destruction of the mind.

When the ego-sense perishes, the supreme integral Existence as the heart itself throbs with ‘I’, ‘I’. ……..When the ‘I’ sense is in the mind, there is no ‘I’ sense in the Self. When it ceases in the mind, the individuality of the Self shines forth. Therefore, it is said that when one ‘I’ perishes, the other ‘I’ sparkles with the ‘I’ sense.

An established poise in the Self is the vision of one’s Self. The poise in the Self comes on account of the non-duality of the Self.

Knowledge is the consciousness which is devoid of knowledge and devoid of non-knowledge. Is there difference to know? …….The act of knowing arises only when there is the difference between the knower and the object to be known. When the knower and the object to be known are one and the same, there is nothing to be known. Therefore, there is absence of knowledge. But as this state of absolute identity is all knowledge, there is absence of non-knowledge, as well.