advaitin Existence of Objects

[Guest guest]

Hello Benjamin,

 

I'll make this not too long. You mention "streams of consciousness" (more a

Buddhist idea than an advaitin one) and say they can conceivably be individuated

as various dream bodies. Sure, this avoids positing conventionally physical

objects like teacups and cars. But not all objects are that gross. Objects

occur at various levels of subtlety.

 

The Taittiriya Upanishad breaks down the world of phenomenality into 5 levels,

and speaks of the five koshas (annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, vijnanamaya,

anandamaya). All objects and all experiences fall within one of these levels of

subtlety. All of these objects and experiences arise to the seer. The

community of dreamers is a set of subtle objects.

 

You ask why your experiences aren't mine and vice versa. The very foundations

of this question are based on the subject/object scheme. Also based upon the

notion that that awareness is limited to a person/viewpoint/locale/dream body.

If you didn't conceive of subjecthood as limited to a particular locale or dream

body, then the question would never arise.

 

Even if you stick to your model and examine what is given in "Ben's experience,"

you say no subject/object dichotomy is apparent. So where's the evidence for

even *one* stream of consciousness, much less a multiplicity of them?

 

Harih Om!

 

--Greg