While there is actually no problem in the world, we do experience problems daily. Where are the problems? They exist in our mind. In what form do they exist in our mind? They exist as superimposition. So if superimpositions are removed, the problems are removed. While it is impossible to remove one superimposition after the other as they have the habit of popping up all the time, Sri Adi Sankaracharya suggests in the Vivekachoodamani that the main superimposition must be removed.
What is this one main superimposition? “I am this limited individual being,” is the mother of all superimpositions. How can that be removed? Constant contemplation on the nature of the true Self, the Brahman, as my essential nature and not this body, mind and intellect is the way.
How do I know that this superimposition exists in me? The constant eruption of the lava of desires and thoughts is a sure sign of the strong identity crisis within. If I identify myself as the Jive, the Individual Self, then an active hot volcano of thoughts keeps erupting all the time. With constant contemplation on my nature as the Supreme Self, the volcano becomes extinct.
Right, how do I know that Self in me? The Master says, “Know it through the words of the Shruti—the Vedantic declarations. Know it through your own logical analysis and realise it through your own personal experience that the one whom you call as I is the same as the I in all.” Remove the superimposition of the thought that this body and its entourage of the mind and intellect is me.
This outlines the three paths of practice in Vedanta. The first is Shravanam—to listen to the words of the scriptures as spoken by the masters who have studied it and lived it in their lives. The next is Mananam—rotating those ideas in the mind constantly and reflecting upon those thoughts. The third is Nidhidhyasanam—sitting down quietly to meditate on the thoughts that were heard and reflected upon and ultimately realising that what is being meditated upon is I, Me and Myself, and not something different from me.
The Muni, or the contemplative being, has no awareness about what he is taking in from the world through the five senses and what he gives out to the world. According to him, the universe enters into him and leaves through him constantly and he is not consciously taking in and giving out. Though it is the same with all human beings, the difference is that the contemplator is conscious of this process while the others think they see, they hear, they smell, they taste and they feel and they do actions to provide to the world. The teacher advises us to continue our contemplations and remove the superimposing thought that I am this little weak and tiny individual.