Guest guest Posted May 11, 2004 Report Share Posted May 11, 2004 The tenet of Advaita Vedanta is that this world springs from ignorance (Agnana) of Brahmanand if this ignorance is dispelled through knowledge of non-dual Brahman, there is liberation. If this ignorance is real, the Brahman cannot be non-dual, for there is the existence of Ignorance besides Brahman. If the non-dual nature of the Brahman is to be accepted, the ignorance of it should be regarded as unreal. Therefore we can qualify 'ignorance' which is expressed through the word 'darkness' by the term "unreal". It is not real agnana but anirvachaniya agnana (agnana which cannot be determined as 'sat' or 'satasat' i.e., indeterminable) that is the material cause of the illusory universe. >>>>>>> "This world" arises simultaneously with ignorgance. "This world" is not separate from ignorance. The "arising" of ignorance is unreal, just as ignorance is unreal. - b vaidya nathan clearvoid ; advaitin Tuesday, May 11, 2004 9:41 AM advaita and nondualism dear friends, The tenet of Advaita Vedanta is that this world springs from ignorance (Agnana) of Brahmanand if this ignorance is dispelled through knowledge of non-dual Brahman, there is liberation. If this ignorance is real, the Brahman cannot be non-dual, for there is the existence of Ignorance besides Brahman. If the non-dual nature of the Brahman is to be accepted, the ignorance of it should be regarded as unreal. Therefore we can qualify 'ignorance' which is expressed through the word 'darkness' by the term "unreal". It is not real agnana but anirvachaniya agnana (agnana which cannot be determined as 'sat' or 'satasat' i.e., indeterminable) that is the material cause of the illusory universe. Arjuna: If the luminous Self pervades the whole universe, why does it remain hidden from my view? Krishna: along with Sat (Existence), Chit (Consciousness) and Ananda (Bliss) there are also Nama (name) and Rupa (form) in a state of coalescence giving rise to the world and so the Self is not seen. It will be realized when the former three are known as the characteristics of Brahman and the latter two as those of illusion. A: You said "Realise Self through Knowledge". Is then Self, an object which can be known? K: when the ignorance is dispelled by knowledge, the Self spontaneously appears in the intellect. A: What is the nature of the Bliss of realization? K: Know it through direct experience, as in the case of sense objects. cdr bvn __________ Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today! Download Messenger Now http://uk.messenger./download/index.html Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman and Brahman. Advaitin List Archives available at: http://www.eScribe.com/culture/advaitin/ To Post a message send an email to : advaitin Messages Archived at: advaitin/messages Sponsor -- advaitin/ b.. advaitin c.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 11, 2004 Report Share Posted May 11, 2004 Namaste Vaidyaji >The tenet of Advaita Vedanta is that this world >springs from ignorance (Agnana) of Brahman and if this >ignorance is dispelled through knowledge of non-dual >Brahman, there is liberation. If this ignorance is >real, the Brahman cannot be non-dual, for there is the >existence of Ignorance besides Brahman. If the >non-dual nature of the Brahman is to be accepted, the >ignorance of it should be regarded as unreal. >Therefore we can qualify 'ignorance' which is >expressed through the word 'darkness' by the term >'unreal'. Darkness is the absence of light. Is darkness real? Is the *absence* of something real a reality in itself? When we say that the pot contains 'no water', is that 'no water' something real? Same with ignorance... Notice that some later Advaitins made the mistake of thinking that ignorance is a real creative power not too different from Jehovah! :-) Hari Om! Benjamin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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