It is my opinion that Western Science, (except for a few Christian
 mystics such as Theresa of Avila, and the rare psychiatrist such as
 Samuel Sandweiss), is a babe in respect to the supranormal psychology
 revealed in the sacred writings of India.  That literature remains
 difficult to come by in the West and when a translation appears that is
 not only correct, but also maintains somewhat of the poetics of the
 original, it should be shared with all.  Hence this thread.

                    * Atma Bodha *
        (Knowledge of the Spirit of Identity)

Being a translation of the original 67 Sanskrit verses of Adi
 Sankaracharya into English by Camille Svennson, who has given permission
 to BonGiovanni this final day of April, 1994 to disseminate this
 material for the benefit of all readers.  I have added brackets in hopes
 of elucidating unfamiliar phrases. Any dissemination of this treatise 
 will kindly include this header, maintaining the text as is in its entirety.

 Camille is an octogenerian who studied Sanskrit for more than fifty years. 
 She has asked me to include this introduction:
 "This translation was inspired by the following extract from the
 `Sanathana Sarathi', November 1977, page 205: "The child asks Koham, who
 am I?; the youth answers, Dehoham, I am the body.  But soon, he realizes
 that the body is but the vesture of the Spiri t of Identity, if he is
 intelligent enough.  Sathya Sai Baba wishes that all the bungling and
 blundering that happens in youth and middle age while passing through the
 Dehoham (I am the body) stage may be avoided.  Therefore he has
 prescribed for the Bal Vik as (childrens classes) that Atmabodha be
 taught, so that even as children, they may know the true answer to the
 question, Koham, (Who am I?) and thereby derive courage and confidence,
 love and light."

 {`Sanathana Sarathi' is the official publication of the ashram of 
 Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Camille's husband John is and was a devotee of
 Shirdi Sai as well as Sathya Sai. Camille continues: }

 "In 'Summer Showers of 1973', pp.  19-20, Sai Baba says the following
 about Sankara: 'Many years ago, when in this country [India],
 righteousness and all that depended on virtue was on the decline, Adi
 Sankara appeared on the scene and propogated the a ncient Vedic virtues
 in the form of Advaita, or non-dual philosophy.  He also established
 several well-known seats of learning all over India.  The first signs of
 such decline in virtue were noticed as long ago as 5,000 years.  This was
 when Lord Krishna gave up his mortal form.  More recently, [about 789
 A.D.] Sankara took birth.  At the early age of five, he learnt the
 Gayatri mantra [a prayer for illumination of the intellect].  Having
 learnt the Gayatri, and through its exposition, by the time he was 15
 years old, he had learnt all that was contained in the Vedas.  In this
 manner, he had the determination to spread the veneration of Spirit of
 Identity throughout the world.  Sankara was a great individual who during
 his lifetime transliterated all the Upanishads [wisdom stories] into
 easily understandable language for the benefit of all people...'

 1) This exposition is written for those seekers after Realization who by
 spiritual disciplines have exhausted their cravings and realized their
 errors, and are peaceful, and without attachment.

 2) Indeed, compared with other means, knowledge is the sole means of
 Liberation, as fire is for cooking.  Without wisdom, Realization does not
 result.

 3) Action cannot destroy ignorance, as it is not in conflict with
 ignorance.  Wisdom truly destroys ignorance as light destroys dense
 darkness.

 4) Because of ignorance the Spirit of Identity appears to be conditioned.
 When ignorance is destroyed, the Spirit of Identity shines by its own
 light, just as the sun shines of itself when a cloud is dissipated.

 5) The constant practice of knowledge purifies the individual Spirit of
 Identity , which was made to appear impure by ignorance.  Then, "knowing"
 itself disappears, just as soap is rinsed off after washing.

 6) This round of existence crowded with likes and dislikes and
 preferences and repulsions, is like a dream which appears to be real
 during its duration, but is known to be unreal upon waking.

 7) The world shines as "real" as long as the Father of Reality, the One,
 the non-dual basis of everything, is not known.  But, this world is an
 illusion like silver in mother-of-pearl.

 8) The Supreme Lord is the material cause, the universal substratum, of
 everything.  All the worlds rise, exist, and dissolve in Him, passing
 away like bubbles in water.

 9) All of this manifest, manifold world is projected by the imagination
 of the perceiver onto the eternal omnipresent Sustaining Lord, just as
 bracelets and other ornaments are made of gold.

 10) Like all-pervading space, the Master of the the Senses, is mistakenly
 associated with various conditionings, and appears to be different
 because of that conditioning, but becomes one again on the destruction of
 these conditionings.

 11) Only because of its association with different conditionings does
 birth, death, name and stage of life appear superimposed on the Spirit of
 Identity, just as flavor, color, and so forth are superimposed on water.

 12) It is said that the physical body, (the medium for experiencing
 pleasure and pain), because of past actions is born of the five-fold
 division of the five great elements [earth, fire, water, air, and
 aether].

 13) The subtle body is the instrument of experience and is composed of
 the five vital energy systems, and the mind, and the discriminating
 intellect, and the ten organs of perception and action.  All these are
 formed from the rudimentary elements before t heir five-fold division.

 14) It is said that the causal body is unknowable, timeless,
 indescribable.  The Spirit of Identity should be understood as other than
 the three bodies (physical, subtle, and causal).

 15) When united with the five sheaths [of the food-body (the physical
 corpus), the vital body (the energy that maintains life), the mental body
 (the thought-filled mind and ego), the intelligence body (the purified
 intellect) and the bliss-body (the Brea th of God)], the pure Spirit of
 Identity appears identical with those five sheaths just as crystal
 appears blue in association with blue cloth.

 16) By logical reasoning the pure Spirit of Identity should be separated
 from the five sheaths just as rice is separated from the husk by pounding
 it.

 17) Although the Spirit of Identity is all-pervading, it does not shine
 everywhere.  It shines only on the discriminating intellect, just as a
 reflection in a very polished mirror.


 18) Know that the Spirit of Identity is distinct from all this earthly
 matter such as body , senses, mind and intellect, and like a king It is a
 witness of the modes of thought.

 19) To people without discrimination, the Spirit of Identity itself
 appears to be acting while it functions in the sense organs. In the same
 way, the moon appears to be running when clouds gather in the sky.

 20) Depending on the Divine Energy of Consciousness, the body, sense
 organs, mind and intelligence are active, just as people engage in their
 respective activiite depending on the light of the Sun.

 21)  Through lack of discrimination, people super-impose on the stainless
 Reality [which is Being and Knowledge and Bliss] those qualities and
 actions of the body and senses, onto Reality, just as blue and the like
 are attributed to the sky.

 22)  Just as the tremblings of the water are attributed by children to
 the moon reflected in the water, in the same way from ignorance the
 agency of action and other limitations are attributed to the Spirit of
 Identity.

 23) Attachment, desire, pleasure, pain, and so forth are perceived when
 the mind is active, but are not perceived in deep, dreamless sleep when
 the mind is not active.  Therefore, these characteristics belong to the
 mind and not to the Spirit of Identity.

 24) Just as light is characteristic of the sun, and coolness of water,
 and heat characteristic of fire, so the nature of the Spirit of Identity
 is Existence, Consciousness, Bliss.

 25) The sensation that 'I know' arises from indiscrimination regarding
 the blending of the thought-waves of the intellect with the
 existence/consciousness aspect of the Spirit of Identity.

 26) The Spirit of Identity Itself does not act, and the intellect alone
 does not have the capacity to experience consciousness. But the
 individual, not knowing anything well enough, is deluded into thinking
 that he is the observer and the worker.

 27) Considering oneself to be an individual, seperate from all else, one
 is overcome by fear, as a person who in dim light mistakes a rope for a
 snake. But, there can be no fear when it is understood that 'I am not the
 limited, seperate ego; I am the Supreme Spirit of Identity.'


    [**Personal Note: this understanding of Identity is colored by the
    filter of the operative intellect.  A hazy intellect interprets the
    intuitive vision as material; the passionate intellect interprets it
    as individuality; and the purified intellect interprets it as God,
    Wordless, Unspeakable, Eternal, Holy** (These concepts are in the
    orginal Sanskrit and do not translate as "one word" thoughts, hence
    the Note).

 28) As a lamp illumines the inert objects of a windowless room, so too
 the Spirit of Identity alone illumines the intellect and the sense
 organs.

 29) As a lighted lamp does not need another lamp for illumination, the
 Spirit of Identity, which is the very body of consciousness, does not
 need another consciousness to know itself.

 30)  After denying all conditionings thus: 'The Spirit of Identity is not
 this, It is not this,' one should realize the Oneness of the individual
 Spirit of Identity with the universal Spirit of Identity, in accordance
 with the Profound Revelations of the Ancient Scriptures.


   [**Personal Note: The pilgrim must crave for ever deeper impression;
   the revelations he himself hears, the visual experiences he gains, have
   to be imprinted on the heart.  These insights will be confirmed by
   scriptural text if they are valid, and not delusory.  All the manifold
   rules, regulations, limitations, directions, do's and don'ts of
   scripture- have just this aim: to merge the soul with the oversoul, the
   individual Spirit with the universal Spirit.**]


 31) The body and other visible objects up to the 'Causal Body' are
 perishable as bubbles. Seperate from all these, one should realize thus:
 'I am the Attributeless Reality.'

 32)  I am other than the body. Birth, old age, senility, death and so
 forth are not for me. I am not attached to the sense organs, such as
 sound, taste, smell and so on, as "I" am without sense organs.

 33)  Since I have no mind, for me there is no sorrow, passion, desire,
 malice, fear or such. Truly the Scriptures teache 'The Spirit of Identity
 is without breath, without mind, pure...'

 34) The Spirit of Identity is without attributes, actionless, eternal,
 without desire and thought, unsullied, changeless, formless, always free,
 ever pure.

 35) This Spirit of Identity is like Space, pervading all things without
 and within, changeless, always the same in all, perfect, stainless, and
 motionless.

 36) I AM the Supreme Divinity, and only That, eternal, pure, free, one
 indivisible, blissful, non-dual, Truth Wisdom, Eternity.

 37) The constant practice, with no other activity, of the impression, "I
 AM THAT" destroys ignorance and agitation, as medicine destroys disease.

 38) Seated in a solitary place, without attachment, controlling the
 senses, with undivided attention, concentrate on the Infinite Spirit of
 the Lord, which is One without a Second.

 39) The wise person should by intelligence merge the perceptible world in
 the One Spirit alone and constantly think of that Spirit as stainless,
 boundless Space.

 40) He who has realized the highest goal, discarding everything else such
 as form, career, name, kin and so on, becomes the embodiment of Fullness,
 Consciousness, Bliss.

 41) In the Spirit of Identity there is no distinction such as knower,
 knowledge, and the object of knowledge, for the Spirit of Identity is of
 the very nature of bliss and shines of Itself alone.

 42) By the churning of constant meditatin, the firesticks of the Divine
 Spirit of Identity are kindled and the flame of knowledge arises, which
 consumes the fuel of ignorance.

 43) Just as the Dawn destroys the darkness of the night and the sun then
 shines in fullness; so after the darkness of ignorance has been
 destroyed, the Spirit of Identity shines of Its own accord.

 44) Truly, the Spirit of Identity is always present, yet not realized
 because of ignorance, just as the sun is always shining, but not known
 through the storm clouds. When ignorance is destroyed, the Spirit of
 Identity is realized, like a missing ornament being found on one's own
 neck.

 45) As a tree stump at dusk may appear from a distance to be a man, so
 does The Divine Creator Himself appear to be a Person, an embodied soul,
 through ignorance. But when the real nature of the individual is seen,
 ignorance is destroyed.

 46) The knowledge that is produced by a realization of the nature of
 Truth instantly destroys the ignorance of the 'concept' of 'I' and
 'Mine', just as a wrong notion about directions can be corrected by
 accurate data.

 47) The realized man who has the true knowldege sees with his Eye of
 Wisdom that the entire Universe is his own Identity as One Divine
 Reality.

 48) This entire objective world is truly the Spirit of Identity and
 nothing but the Spirit of Identity.  We should see all as the Spirit,
 even as we see all ceramic goods as clay.

 49) Truly, the man who is liberated while alive, gives up his previous
 traits of character and attains the state of Reality, Consciousness,
 Bliss- like the caterpillar who learns to fly.

 50)  After crossing the ocean of delusion in the ship of Wisdom, and
 killing the sea-monsters of passion, hostility, and greed, the liberated
 man shines, united with Peace, exalting in the Sweetness and Bliss of the
 Spirit of Identity.

 51) He who has renounced attachemnt to all external, illusory happiness,
 and is satisfied with the Bliss coming from the Spirit of Identity, ever
 shines within, like a lamp covered with a clean, clear glass chimney.

 52) Still retaining his outer bodies, the contmplative one is untainted
 by them.  Though he knows everything, he remains unaltered under all
 conditions, and moves about unattached like the wind.

 53) When the material coverings of the Spirit of Identity have been
 destroyed, the contempltive one is totally absorbed into the
 all-pervading Universal Sustainer, as water into water, space into space,
 and light into light.

 54) Realize That to be the Source, the attainment of which leaves nothing
 to be obtained, the happiness of which leaves no other happiness to be
 desired, and the knowledge of which leaves nothing more to be known.

 55) Realize That to be the Source which when seen, there is nothing else
 to be seen, which having become, there is no more rebirth in this world,
 and having known, there is nothing else to be known.

 56) Realize That to be the Source which fills East, West, North, South,
 and above and below, which is the non-dual Existence, Knowledge, Bliss
 and which is endless, eternal, and One.

 57) Realize that to be the Source which is Non-dual, Indivisible, One and
 Blissful! Realize That by the culmination of all Scripture, which by
 negation logically deduces the nature of the Source.


 58) The concept of a Creator, and the ideal as any other deity, permits
 only a particle of the unbroken, perfect bliss of the Source, which is
 proportioned among them.


   **Personal Note: At this juncture, it should be clear that 'concept'
    (even 'concept of deity'), is illusory, and this verse emphasizes that
    remembrance.**


 59) All objects are pervaded by the the Source; all actions are possible
 because of the Source. The Source permeates everything like butter in
 fresh milk.

 60) Realize that to be the Source which is neither subtle nor gross,
 neither short nor long, birthless and changeless, without form,
 qualities, status or name.

 61) Realize That to be the Source by whose light shine the sun and the
 other luminous orbs, which cannot be illuminated by their own light, and
 by whose light all this Universe shines.

 62) Pervading the entire Universe inwardly and outwardly, the Source
 shines of Itself, as the fire that heats a red-hot iron ball shines of
 itself.

 63) The Source is other than the Universe, but there is nothing that is
 not the Source. If anything appears to be other than the Source, it is an
 illusion like a mirage in the desert.

 64) All that is seen, all that is heard, is the Source and nothing else.
 After attaining the knowledge of Reality, all is perceived as the
 Non-dual Existence, Consciousness, Bliss, which is the Source.

 65) The Spirit of Identity as pure Consciousness is present everywhere,
 but can be perceived by the Eye of Wisdom only. But he who has the eye of
 ignorance cannot see the shining Spirit of Identity any more than a blind
 man can see the brilliant sun.

 66)  Freed from all impurities by being heated in the Wisdom Fire which
 has been kindled by Hearing, Reflecting, and Meditating, the individual
 shines of itself like purified gold.

 67)  Truly, the Spirit of Identity, the Sun of Wisdom, which rises in the
 sky of the heart, destroys the darkness of ignorance, pervading all and
 supporting all, shines and causes everything to shine.

 68)  He who renouncing all activities is not subservient to direction,
 place and time, worshipping at the Sacred Shrine of the his own
 Omnipresent, Stainless Spirit of Identity which destroys heat and cold
 and is Eternal Bliss, becomes all-knowing, all-pervading and immortal.

               * Thus concludes the Atmabodha of Shankara.  *


NB: I hope I have not done a disservice to any in writing ATMA
as "Spirit of Identity." The word itself, ATMA, is usually
translated as "soul," and that is what Camille wrote. In our
discussions she concurred that I might change it for this
version online. It is good to recall that  Atma
simply means "self", and the realized self or over-soul is
termed PARAMATMA.  JIVATMA refers to the living self, or
individual. The closest English word for atma then is indeed "self," 
but I feel that because of psychology, that term "self" has other
implications today that are not present in the Sanskrit.  Max
Muller suggests that, if you know Latin, think also of "ipse"
and of "ipseitas" for a close meaning of ATMA. If you come
across another translation of Atmabodha, please do combine the
best from each, and accept that bouquet with my apology.

English Text, translated from the
original Sanskrit, Courtesy of
Camille Svensson, San Pedro California.                                                                                            blessings fill our eyes

              Bon Giovanni 4/30/94.
CIS: 74364,3254      Internet: bongiovanni@delphi.com