The Thousand Teachings Analysis

Introduction: The Thousand Teachings, The Upadesasahasri of Sankara consists of two parts. In Part one Sankara discusses “How to Enlighten the Pupil” where he talks about the different forms of Brahman and Atman and the some philosophical problems of non-dualism. In the Second Part the “Awareness”; he explains to a student how his teachings can lead to self-realization, and with that a person can be lead to enlightenment.
Exposition:
In regards to the reading The Thousand Teachings, it starts off with “A certain student, who was tired of transmigratory existence characterized by birth and death and was seeking after final release, approached in the prescribed manner a knower of Brahman.” (TT234) Transmigratory existence is the transformation of a soul from one body to the next, or the transformation of body, or state to another. The student is trying to find a release from the transmigratory existence, where he starts to talk about Atman and Atman is the “spirit; self; soul; consciousness.” (Gutpa Glossary) One quote the student says “Although [the Atman] is not composite, it is [regarded] merely as the body and the superimposed upon the body; from this follow the results that [the Atman] does not exist and that [IT] is non-eternal and so on. Then there would arise the fault that [you will] arrive at the Nihilists’’
With the Samkhya view of philosophy it is a dualist view and it believes in Puruṣa; the mind and Prakṛti; substance. When purusa and prakrit combine they form jiva, which makes up a person in some form. I think that with the begging of the story and the quote on transmigratory existence Samkhya would fit this argument better. Because Samkhya suggests that there are endless spiritual idea that are sharing one physical universe which then creates and Samkhya grows itself in order to achieve the desired