Aurea Vidyā Collection

The Dṛgdṛśyaviveka, which is attributed to ŚAṄKARA, invites us to discern (viveka) between Real and non-real, between the ātman (Self), the "Seer," and the non-ātman (non-Self), the "seen," between Infinite and finite, between Life and death. The human being's greatest conflicts stem from attachment to and identification with the non-ātman, with the finite. Knowledge, on the other hand, leads to the unveiling of sat, True Existence. RAPHAEL comments: A star is born, grows, matures, ages and dies, and these events are an uninterrupted flow of change. There is never a moment when the physical world undergoes no change or atomic or molecular transformation. If we are in agreement that the Absolute must be eternally "constant", "unvarying" then we cannot look for it in the world of phenomena, whether objective or subjective. Thus the Dṛgdṛśyaviveka expounds a detailed description of the different kinds of concentration (samādhi), of the three theories empirically concerning the jīva, and other questions of vital importance to the Vedānta teaching. In Svāmi Nikhilānanda's words: "This work, which contains only forty-six ślokas is an excellent vade-mecum (handbook) for students of advanced courses in Advaita philosophy." ŚAṄKARA has been one of the greatest philosophers of India. He dedicated his brief and intense life (788-820) to re-establish the authority of the Śruti, to codify the Advaita Vedānta, the doctrine of Non-duality, and to anchor the Metaphysical Tradition of the Veda through the foundation of monasteries (maṭhas) and monastic orders. With his bhāṣya (commentary) to the Upaniṣads, the Brahmasūtra, and the Bhagavadgītā, as well as with his own writings, Śaṅkara has profoundly influenced not only India's philosophical development, but that of the entire world.

The Bhagavadgītā belongs to the VI book of the Mahābhārata, the great Indian epic attributed to the legendary Vyāsa. It is a poetic and philosophical work which in time is placed in the V century B.C. Together with the Brahmasūtra and the classical Upaniṣads it constitutes the Praśthānatraya, the "Threefold Science" of Vedānta. The Bhagavadgītā came to light in a moment of both contrasts and new inner requirements of the Indian people. It contributed to the vitality of the upaniṣadic flame of Knowledge, while it pacified the prevailing philosophical and spiritual debates of the times. The Gītā clarified the unity of Truth in its multifarious aspects, and in so doing it provided everybody, in a wise and enlightened way, the opportunity to follow without doctrinal conflicts the most appropriate path for everyone. In the "Preface" to the book, Raphael indicates four points which are essential to the comprehension of the text in the appropriate dimension: -Traditional comprehension of the concept of the Divine. -Comprehension of the moment and event that determined the birth of the Gītā. -Traditional comprehension of the social orders. -Comprehension of the right approach to the various ways leading to the Divine. The value of the Gītā is paramount, if one just thinks that it hinges on action, which is at the base of life and which cannot be avoided or relinquished by anyone, as it reveals, in a world permeated with movement and conflict, the secret of "action without action". Under this perspective it can be of fundamental importance to the Westerners who are essentially more in favor of action than of contemplation. For one who is on the plane of action, not to become enslaved and dominated by activism, it is necessary to comprehend perfect acting devoid of the imprisoning attachment-desire, and to transcend individual qualifications. In fact, where the individual separating ego rules, there also are revealed its aberrant attributes which cause conflict and pain; and, sooner or later, the individual who places itself in such a condition cannot but find, like Arjuna, its battlefield (kurukṣetra) or the field of discipline and energetic re-education (tapahkṣetra). Raphael's commentary unfolds along a psychological, philosophical and initiatory thread with specific reference to the kṣatriya (the lawmakers and warriors social order) initiation. Raphael points out that under certain aspects we are all kṣatriyas, because we are all engaged in a struggle, at times unequal, between knowledge-vidyā and ignorance-avidyā. The Bhagavadītā, as all authentic traditional teachings, is not indicating quietistic or finalistic attitudes, nor possible flights, but it nails us down to our responsibilities ("Forced by karma-inherent in your nature-despite your will, one day you will do that which, being now at a loss, you refuse to do", XVIII, 60) and to our unavoidable duty-dharma: that of comprehending, transforming and transcending ourselves.

Aparokṣānubūthi belongs to the series of works by Ṡaṅkara known as prakaraṇagrantha, i.e., "specific treaties" in verse and prose concerning basic points of the Vedānta teaching that examine the "great sentences" (mahāvākya) contained in the Upaniṣads. In this series of treaties by Ṡaṅkara, other works fundamental for the understanding of the Advaita-vāda or the "path of Non-duality" include Vivekacūḍāmani, Ātmabodha, Upadeśasahāsrī and Laghuvākyavṛtti. Aparokṣānubūthi means "direct perception or knowledge of the Self," and, by extension, the action or practice actualized to realize oneself as ātman-Self, thus "Self-realization." To realize means to "translate into reality," which implies bringing into actuality that which is virtual, manifesting something that already exists. That one who wants to find the "fullness" and the "beatitude" of Being must simply rediscover himself, must capture his own true and profound nature and ardently realize it. This does not mean "rejecting" life, "opposing" the sphere of perishable things, "abandoning" the world, rather, it means comprehending what one is, and resolving what one is not. "Tat tvam asi: That thou art", to which Śaṅkara refers in his is sūtras, is the "great sentence" (mahāvākya) that corresponds to the highest possible attainment and that Advaita Vedānta propounds for those individuals who are in conflict as their true nature has been "forgotten."To achieve this Comprehension-realization, Aparokṣānubūthi presents fifteen steps or means (some of which are also found in Yogadarśana or Rajayoga of Patañjali) focusing especially on vicāra-discrimination or discernment. Vicāra is a method of philosophical inquiry, a process of pure searching for the universals, but, unlike what one may think, this method is "experimental"; it is not a mental process for constructing a theory of knowledge or of reality, rather, it leads to the direct experience of Reality. Because Aparokṣānubūti is, based on jñāna Realization (Knowledge), a text that appears as Śaṅkara's Preface to the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad has been included in the appendix because it promotes the right consciential position for one, who wants to walk the "Path of Knowledge." The translation and commentary by Raphael adhere to the Advaita Tradition and offer a conceptual methodology appropriate to the Western mind, moreover, they adequately and properly, stimulate the reader's consciousness to living a real metaphysical life.

This book is a collection of topics which Raphael has presented in the form of short articles over a number of years. Although the topics vary, they are all concerned with the subject of traditional Knowledge, and they have been brought together with the aim of being useful to all of those who take a practical interest in the Way of Realisation. In the course of the book there are repetitions, but since we are dealing with writings which stimulate self-comprehension, the repetitions, seen from a traditional perspective, have their place. The three sections of the book - Fire of the Philosophers, Fire of Ascent, Fire of Awakening - refer to 'Fire', and since Raphael often speaks of the 'Way of Fire' in his writings, it is good to emphasise that we are not dealing with a new teaching or with something personal or individual, or with a syncretistic teaching, but with the 'universal Way' to realise our own Essence, because, fundamentally, every traditional Branch reveals itself as a 'pathway of fire'. Let us quote some words of Raphael: 'He who is writing, having received the Asparśa and Advaita Vedānta teaching, at a certain point during his sādhanā was told to light the Fire, to burn himself with the Fire and to resolve himself into Fire.' We also find a reference to this Fire in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad (I, I, 13-14): 'O Yama, thou who knowest the Fire which leadeth to Heaven, do thou reveal it unto me, who am full of faith.”I shall teach thee that Fire, O Nachiketas, which will exalt thee to Heaven.' In the kali yuga, it seems that Raphael wishes to present us, especially in the West, with the traditional Teaching from a purely metaphysical point of view. In a world where the various traditional or initiatory Branches clash with each other through blind incomprehension, Raphael indicates how to transcend all types of 'dogmatic sectarianism' by helping us to recognise that the different Branches are nothing but formal expressions of a single Reality which underlies every genuinely traditional Teaching. The outward diversity of the Teaching can be resolved only through a metaphysical Vision, a vision which synthesises the apparent facets which operate exclusively at the level of the sensible world. This vision, especially in the West, is deficient for a number of reasons which it would take too long to explain. We would simply say that the West in general is more empirical, pragmatic, dogmatic, and so more individualistic, paying little attention to the Sacred and extensively developing the discursive or dianoetic mind. This extreme individualism can be noted in various fields such as those of politics, literature, and religion. In the West - with some exceptions - it is a very difficult undertaking to get three people to agree with each other, and if one were to succeed, it would immediately give rise to 'currents' or factions, alternatives with so much 'innocence'. It is only through a metaphysical conception in which all possible points of view are synthesised that the West would be able to rediscover agreement, tolerance, and the possibility of effecting the influence of the Greater Mysteries, or paravidyā, the lack of which has caused the 'fall' into the cul-de-sac of materialism. Thus, by placing himself in the metaphysical Vision, Raphael is able to verify that Parmenides, Plato, Plotinus, Gauḍapāda, and others have expounded the same nucleus of principles of the single Teaching, the same goal which the individual must attain.

Yoga is now a household word, but what does it really denote? What are its philosophical, spiritual, and practical aspects? The essence of yoga is the absorption of individualised consciousness into universal consciousness. It is an experiential vision, with theoretical and practical aspects which need to be integrated to give the right result. Raphael here presents a cognitive and operative synthesis of the various paths of yoga, because seekers of truth need to know their own constitutions and dominant energy complexes in order to be able to choose the most congenial type of yoga and enjoy maximum benefits from yogic training. This, then, is a valuable book, both for those who recognise the need to be correctly informed about the essence and purpose of yoga and for those who feel the 'call' to self-comprehension. Yoga is the science of knowing oneself in order to be.

The 'Way of Fire' expounded by Raphael is that via operativa which leads to the kindling of the Fire, the mastering and directing of the Fire, and the solution of this Fire. This process of realisation, in harmony with the initiatory Tradition, is made practical through three lines of work, suiting each person's qualifications: 1. Realisation according to Alchemy (Section I, Chapter I) 2. Realisation according to the Love of Beauty (Section I, Chapter II) 3. Realisation according to Traditional Metaphysics (Section I, Chapter III). What does Raphael understand by Alchemy? He understands the transmutation of 'lead' into shining, radiant Gold, the transmutation of all our individualised psychosomatic powers into universal Powers. This involves a profound rectification and distillation of our individualised earthly fire, so that it becomes Fire which interpenetrates everything, illumines everything, and resolves everything. The second chapter of the first section is devoted to Realisation according to the Love of Beauty. It is the way for those who are sensitive to 'transcendental Aesthetics' as Harmony/Accord with the intelligible world. According to Coomaraswamy, Brahman, or the supreme Being, may be appreciated as Beauty, Truth, or Perfection, according to whether it is considered from the viewpoint of aesthetics, epistemology, or ethics. Art is an expression of Beauty; science, in its broad meaning, of Truth; ethics, of Perfection; while the philosophia perennis, or traditional metaphysics, embraces all three. This shows that these three expressions are nothing but a unity: Beauty contains Truth and Perfection; Truth contains Beauty and Perfection; and Perfection cannot but contain Beauty and Truth. The third chapter is devoted to the 'metaphysical Way'. It is useful for all who, putting to one side the limited discursive mind, wish to enter the domain of pure Intellectuality (nóesis). In this dimension the two previous roads merge, because all quantities (number) and all qualities (tones) resolve themselves in the One-without-a-second. The chapters of the second Section complement and assist the three chapters of the first section, touching on specific points of guidance for spiritual discipline/ascesis. For example, the chapter devoted to 'Superimposition' is relevant and complementary to the third chapter of the first section. In the same way, 'Desirelessness', 'The empirical ego', and so on, complement the first chapter, while others assist all three chapters.