Adi Shankracharya and his Idea of “Bliss” : A Lifestyle Choice in the Post Covid World?
What if the entire world shut down for 2 months every year?
Yuval Harari — the most famous historian of our times and rock star author of “Sapiens” and “Homo Deus” — an intellectual guide to Marc Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, attributes his incredible success to a particular form of meditation called Vipassana.
The practice of Vipassana itself is rooted in Advait Vedanta — a Hindu religious order founded by Adi Shankracharya, who distilled the teachings of Vedas, Upanishads and other major texts like the Ramayan and Mahaabharata to reimagine the entire universe with living and non-living beings, into an inseparable and singular whole — the Brahman
Vipassana involves no Yogic exercises or praying or singing of devotional hymns; it is a simple but complete shutdown of our senses and observation of breath. The mental equivalent of physical confinement we are experiencing now.
What I have found exceptional in the teachings of Adi Shankracharya is the concept of “BLISS” — an idea so unique that its quest alone could transform humanity for centuries to come.
Bliss is hard to explain. One need to sit for a few hours doing nothing but focus on his/her breath to get a quick glimpse — a sort of extra sensory experience — alternating between satisfaction, joy and pleasure.
At a time when both Buddhist and Christian religious thought centred on the irredeemable nature of human suffering, the nature of sin and the need for renunciation as an escape, Adi Shankracharya, proposed an active engagement with the self using the same meditative techniques that Buddha taught. His idea of renunciation and frugality was aimed at Bliss not a prolongation and response to the process suffering.
On Shankracharya’s account there is no sin — no suffering — no indulgence — no ritual. This was a revolutionary retelling and interpretation of Hindu religious practices in those times — all underpinned by logic, deep philosophical arguments and experiences of real world.
As we suffer the effect of Covid, there is an eclectic discussion going on in our midst. Reduced economic activity, jobs and a stripped down life — that will require isolation and retreat — form part of those discussions.
We are afraid.
How do we convert our fears and anxieties into Bliss?
For all those who have experienced even a moment of bliss in the compulsions of Covid, it would be a great opportunity to reflect upon what Adi shankracharya observed. For those who have realised that happiness is not necessarily about the big beautiful villas on the beach, the luxurious shining cars and the mindless pursuit of wealth and material gains — which Shankracharya does not deny a human being, a simple realisation that lifelong journey into a blissful world could make all these material belongings both enjoyable and irrelevant, in the same breath.
In his book, “21 Lessons for the 21st Century”, Yuval Harari — devotes the last chapter ( the 21st Lesson) to the practice of Vipassana and its impact on his own creativity and spiritual well being. He suggests Vipassana should be practiced by every human being living in present world — so as to benefit from it. I would not agree more. Yuval blocks 2 months of his annual calendar to devote to a Vipassana Retreat. Lesser human beings, like me, could do with just a few hours a week.
Part renunciation, part creativity, part fulfilment within limited means and part bliss could make our world, undoubtedly, a better place to live. This is what Shankracharya taught centuries ago. This is what Corona virus is trying to tell.
