RE: On smr^tir labdhA

[Guest guest]

Thank you for the welcome, Max. And yes, we do seem to have similar

backgrounds. In particular, I wanted to express in my post my support of

your idea that in certain cases remembering can be liberating rather than

binding. I also agree with the heart of what you say here:

>I would suggest that the 'heart' of the Jivatman always possesses

>Brahman-realization, and that the superfical formations within

>the Jivatman can gain access to this heart. Whether we think of

>this as "retrieving information" or "recovering self-knowledge"

>or "a repose of the ego in the Jivatman" may just depend on our

>habits of thought and expression. What matters is that the

>"superimposition" is returning towards its source.

 

I think it is fair to say that both Sankara and Aurobindo elucidated that

the ground of Consciousness is Brahman and that That is "within" us. (It is

"us".) While many of us are unaware of or do not consciously touch That

ground, we are nonetheless influenced. How exactly we come to awaken to our

fundamental identity can be envisioned in various different ways, and that

is helpful for people who also differ in many ways. As you menton, we could

say that we "recover" Self-knowledge. We could also say that we remember our

true identity as Brahman or Atman. Of course these are just provisional

devices to explain what we experience. Perhaps it would be more true to say

that we "feel" we remember but that what really happens is that the pure

light of That consciousness within us permeates through the different

sheaths of consciousness and we feel this as remembering. Again though, the

process of realizing or "Being-Realized" (depending on our vantage-point)

can be thought out in different ways to suit different temperments or

experiences.

 

namaste

 

Veronica