Guest guest Posted March 26, 2003 Report Share Posted March 26, 2003 Benjamin wrote: CONSCIOUSNESS = PERCEPTIONS + FEELINGS + THOUGHTS <......If the above equation is not strictly an identity, then where does this leave 'nondualism'? If the above equation is not a rigorous identity, then are we not postulating some kind of 'dualism'? Hello Benjamin, Non-duality is not a cunning way of saying unity. The non-duality between the self and particular states of awareness could also be expressed as non-unity. "And since the witness and the cognition are different by nature, there can be a relationship of the perceiver and the perceived between them. Besides the self-evident witness cannot be denied".(B.S.B.II.ii.28) As to how the witness (saksin) and states of awareness are conflated Advaita offers the theory of avidya and the analogy of upadhi. The latter is a tricky concept and I had a go at it in http://homepage.eircom.net/~ombhurbhuva/upadhi.htm I would be glad of any correction offered by the learned members to my notion of this. In a Dictionary of Advaita Vedanta put out by Ramakrishna Math, Swami Harshananda has this definition: "Any adventitious object which apparently influences something else to appear differently from what it really is, is 'upadhi'. For instance, a red flower near a colourless crystal makes it appear as red. The red flower is called an 'upadhi' for the crystal. Similarly the body-mind complex is an upadhi for the Atman (the individual soul) making it appear as the jiva (the limited transmigrating self) and the world is an upadhi for Brahman, the Absolute, who has nothing to do with creation." Best Wishes, Michael. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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