Guest guest Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 Namaste, All A lot of very interesting and absorbing discussions and deliberations are taking place in the List with regard to “Maya”, “Avidya” (Ignorance), “Adhyasa” “Negation” etc., in the context of Advaita. I think this is a right opportunity for me to write a few lines on “What I understand from Advaita Vedanta”. I am posting this mail more for getting my understanding of the entire subject clarified. The subjects i.e. Maya, Avidya, Adhyasa, Negation, etc. are introduced in the study of Advaita Vedanta solely for the purpose of: a) Correcting the judgment we have made about our own self, i.e. “I am happy”, “I am sad”, “I am suffering”, “I am intelligent”, “I am idiot”, “I am blind”, etc. etc. as there is always a feeling of particularly lacking something or wanting something on the part of the self and with this feeling, i.e. knowledge of this feeling, the judgment it has made about itself, prompts it to engage in “pravurthy” and “nivruthi” i.e. action and running away from action. b) Correcting the judgment we have made about the world outside, i.e. the objects, based on our perception through the sense organs, i.e. “The world is binding me”, “My happiness is dependent on the world of objects” “The world is making me suffer” etc. etc. Any judgment is made on the basis of the knowledge one has. “Gnapakartham eva Shruti” and as Arjuna said “Nashto mohaha, smruthi labdhwa”, i.e. Sruthi only corrects the error in knowledge we have about the self and about the world outside, and the judgment we have made from such erroneous knowledge. Negation does not mean negating the world outside or negating the self, as one cannot negate neither the world nor the self itself, nor is it necessary. It is negation of the wrong or false knowledge about the self itself and the world outside. It is not the world of objects that binds one, but the erroneous knowledge about the world outside, and “Neti Neti” is of the erroneous knowledge and not the object itself. The knowledge we gather through the sense organs is the knowledge of the apparent reality and not the absolute reality. The sense organs themselves, including the mind and intellect, are apparent reality and not absolute reality. The sense organs, being apparent reality cannot perceive the absolute reality, nor experience the absolute reality. And that is why Shruti has to tell about it, i.e. “Darpane mukhadarshanavat, shastre atma darshanam” i.e. just like one see his face in a mirror, he “sees” his atma in the Shastra. When the Sruti says “Yato vacho nivarthanthe, aprapya manasa saha” “Vacho nivarthanthe” i.e. words return from that, because “that” is “Vacho ha vacham”, i.e. speech of the speech, i.e. the speech shines because of “that” “Aprapya manasa sah” i.e. cannot be reached by the mind because “that” is “manaso manaha”, i.e. the mind shines because of “that”. The mind cannot reach it because the mind itself is “that” only, though possessing some special attributes, which are of apparent nature, i.e. tatasta lakshnanas of “that”, and so how the mind can reach “that”. The mind can know that as it is “that” only and it can never “reach” “that”. Swamiji used to say in humor, “if you pray for a head over your shoulders, even God can never give it”, because what is already with you cannot be given. You have to know that it is with you or you are “that” only. So the entire Advaita Vedanta corrects one’s erroneous knowledge and in my understanding there is no particular experience, like experience of bliss while in meditation, etc. follows. The experiencer himself, the object of experience, the organ of experience leading to experience; all the three, shine after “that” and the moment all these three are recognized separately their “Ekatwam” i.e. oneness, is lost and Dwaitam comes up. Advaita is the Bhava i.e. attitude as a result of the knowledge or correction of the erroneous knowledge about the Self, Eswara and non-self i.e. Idam, towards these three. The experience or Anubhava from this attitude itself, is absolute Ananda, and since this Knowledge is absolute, the bhava or the attitude is also absolute. I hope I have managed to put before the learned members my understanding of the subject and look forward to their “views” on what I have said. With warm regards and Hari Om Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 14, 2004 Report Share Posted March 14, 2004 Namaste Maniji, My views on what you've said -- I agree with everything you've said. :-) Regards, Chittaranjan advaitin, "R.S.MANI" <r_s_mani> wrote: > > Namaste, All > > A lot of very interesting and absorbing discussions and deliberations are taking place in the List with regard to "Maya", "Avidya" (Ignorance), "AdhyasaNegation" etc., in the context of Advaita. I think this is a right opportunity for me to write a few lines on "What I understand from Advaita Vedanta". I am posting this mail more for getting my understanding of the entire subject clarified. > > The subjects i.e. Maya, Avidya, Adhyasa, Negation, etc. are introduced in the study of Advaita Vedanta solely for the purpose of: > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 14, 2004 Report Share Posted March 14, 2004 > > Swamiji used to say in humor, "if you pray for a head over your shoulders, even God can never give it", because what is already with you cannot be given. You have to know that it is with you or you are "that" only. > Namaste Maniji The whole presentation was wonderful, especially the purpose behind the postulation of mAyA. On this anlaogy, which made me chuckle, my immediate thought was 'oh! My god! Please let me know in clear categorical terms that I indeed do have a head over my shoulders. I am scurrying about in this world feeling like a headless chicken.' Many Pranams to all advaitins Sridhar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 14, 2004 Report Share Posted March 14, 2004 Sridharji, Namaste, We can always pray to God to put "something" inside our head or at least my head, as it seems to be empty! Warm regards Mani asridhar19 <asridhar19 wrote: > > Swamiji used to say in humor, "if you pray for a head over your shoulders, even God can never give it", because what is Sponsor advaitin/ advaitin Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 14, 2004 Report Share Posted March 14, 2004 Sri Ranjeetji, Sri Chittaranjanji, Thank you very much for your response, which is very encouraging to a “jignasu” (not yet a “Mumukshu”) like me, as it confirms that I have at least no “Anyatha Grahanam”. Advaitin Groups provides an excellent platform for “tat kathanam” and “tat parasparabodhanam” (for talking about “that” and for mutually understanding “that”), and my namaskarams again and again to the members of the group and the moderators, who are finding time to keep the deliberations so alive, in spite of their various mundane activities. Warm regards and Hari om Mani Chittaranjan Naik <chittaranjan_naik wrote:Namaste Maniji, Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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