Educate your mind for mindfulness-4: what is yoga, meditation and awakening

 Real-self hides behind the senses, mind, intellect and shines all time. The goal of life is to discover subjective reality i.e. real-self. Shankara, the great master had written many books in prose and poetic formats, however, he has written many single verse that summarizes the journey of life to inner peace and happiness.

His eksloki (one verse) couplet explains the highest state of meditation. the verse explains the method and also the attainment of the state.

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The above verse is a dialogue between master and disciple. The master asks questions to confirm if the disciple discovered the real-self or not. When we study verse to study the self, the journey begins, and one can discover the self here and now.

Master: what is light for you? (what makes you see me and the world outside)

Disciple: sun is the light during the day and lamp during night. (I see the world because of sunlight in the day and of lamp in the night)

Master: how do you see the sun or the lamp? (which light sees the sun and the lamp)

Disciple: the eyes are the light that sees sun and the lamp. (without eyes sun and lamp cannot be seen). The mind scattered outside started moving inside.

Master: what is the light when you close your eyes? (here master wants to know if disciple understood that word light is used for awareness)

Disciple: The intellect is the light (when eyes are closed) is a movement from sense to mental perception.

Master: what is the light for you to see the intellect?

Disciple: it is the self that sees the intellect. (it is witness consciousness and subjective reality). This is right perception and mindfulness for Buddha.

Master: thus, you are the ultimate light (pure consciousness or real-self). It is self-luminous.