Verses: 77 – 80
This lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda at Stanford University on July 7, 2019. The lecture was hosted by the Stanford Hindu Students Association.

-There are five methods of verbalization or description. Atman is beyond all such verbalization.
-Since Atman is beyond description, Vivekachudamani takes the approach of “neti, neti” or “via negativa” in Christian Theology. It describes everything that it is not, so that what is left out is Atman.
-Atman transcends all descriptions but it is not devoid of all characteristics.
-Sense-objects are more poisonous than the poison of a snake because just seeing such an object can create mental slavery to that object.
-We are often unable to get out of a negative infatuation despite our intellectual knowledge that it is harmful to us (Dostoyevsky's creative fiction is given as an example).
-Even a person who has mastered the six schools of orthodox Indian philosophy may not be able to get out of negative infatuation. We live not at the intellectual level but at the mental level.
-Shankaracharya tells us to develop our inner faculties and become aware of the way out of our problems.
-Superficial renunciation is denounced. At the first stage, we become aware of the need to get away from an undesirable thing. At the second stage, we move towards something positive. We develop a spiritual common sense: the ability to have all success yet realize its inherent limitations.
-A householder develops this inner renunciation through associating with these holy ideas and spiritually minded people. Spirituality has value for people in all walks of life.