Guest guest Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 I am fairly new to Advaita vedanta and have a simple question. Since God is infinite, Mind is infinite and there is no matter, right ? The preceeding sentence was said by a Christian philosopher and seems consistent with Advaita. What about the mountains, ocean, rivers, stars, sun, moon and other planets etc. Are these also spiritual ? what do they signify ? Do they exist in reality ? thanks, Advaitin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 mahadevadvaita writes .... ( What about the mountains, ocean, rivers, stars, sun, moon and other planets etc. Are these also spiritual ? what do they signify ? Do they exist in reality ? ) My own Atman, you claim you are new to ADvaita vedanta, but by reading your question i know for a fact that you are a 'seasoned' Zen Advaitin! SMILES! Bienvenido- welcome on Board! after reading your post , i am reminded of this oft quoted saying in the context of zen Buddhism "Before a person studies Zen, mountains are mountains and waters are waters; after a first glimpse into the truth of Zen, mountains are no longer mountains and waters are not waters; after enlightenment, mountains are once again mountains and waters once again waters." Ponder over this , MY FRIEND, you will understand the relationship between the Absolute and Relative truth! i will leave other learned members in this audience to respond to this 'interesting' question of yours!!! meanwhile, Buddha said ... He who thinks that upon enlightenment there is self is wrong. If he thinks there is not-self, he is likewise wrong. If he thinks there is neither self nor not-self, he is wrong. And if he thinks there are both self and not-self, he is still wrong. There are infinite possibilities ..... so, you are on the right tracvk, my friend .... love and regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Dear Mahadevadvaitin, Namaste! >What about the mountains, ocean, rivers, stars, sun, moon and other planets etc. >Are these also spiritual ? what do they signify ? Do they exist in reality ? You have echoed the question that arises in the mind of every seeker, what is this all about? It is also the basic question around which various schools of Advaita philosophy revolve, how has the Unmanifest (Nirguna Brahman) become Manifest Universe(Saguna Brahman)? Mahakavi Ghalib also echoed the same sentiments in his poetry; Jab ki tujh bin naheen koi maujood phir ye hangama ai Khudaa kyaa hai? ( If nothing exists but you, O God, what is all this commotion about?) sabzaa-o-gul kahan se aate hain? abr kyaa cheez hai, havaa kyaa hain? (Whence do plants and flowers arise? What are clouds composed of? What is air?) Various schools of Advaita philosophy have propounded various theories to explain this (as usually happens when no satisfactory answer is forthcoming). These include Ajaatvad (The universe was never created), Shri Shankara's Mayavad, Dnyaneshwar's Chidvilasvad and so forth. Years ago, when I met Shri K. Padmanabha Menon, this is what he said upon the matter- KPM: Well, the moment you start thinking, the world comes into existence. So long as you are thinking the world is sustained and the moment you stop thinking it is destroyed. You are the creator, preserver and destroyer of this world, the Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (The Hindu trinity of creator-preserver-destroyer)! That is the truth. As an humble student of advaita, I leave it to the senior members to elaborate further upon this issue. I conclude with Ghalib's own attempt to answer this question- hastee ke mat fareb men aa jaeeyo 'asad' aalam tamaam Halqa-e-dam-e-Khayaal hai (Do not be get deluded by Existence O Asad, the entire universe is a sphere made up of spell of thoughts.) Ravi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Hello ravi. Have you ever think aboutyour internal organs like stomach, heart, liver, kidny, brain ,etc and it functions ? can u controll them? It is in automation system like the universe namasivayam --- Ravi Shivde <shivde wrote: > Dear Mahadevadvaitin, > > Namaste! > > > >What about the mountains, ocean, rivers, stars, > sun, moon and other planets etc. > >Are these also spiritual ? what do they signify ? > Do they exist in reality ? > > You have echoed the question that arises in the mind > of every seeker, what is this all about? > It is also the basic question around which various > schools of Advaita philosophy revolve, how has the > Unmanifest (Nirguna Brahman) become Manifest > Universe(Saguna Brahman)? > > Mahakavi Ghalib also echoed the same sentiments in > his poetry; > > Jab ki tujh bin naheen koi maujood > phir ye hangama ai Khudaa kyaa hai? > > ( If nothing exists but you, O God, what is all this > commotion about?) > > > > sabzaa-o-gul kahan se aate hain? > > abr kyaa cheez hai, havaa kyaa hain? > (Whence do plants and flowers arise? What are clouds > composed of? What is air?) > > Various schools of Advaita philosophy have > propounded various theories to explain this (as > usually happens when no satisfactory answer is > forthcoming). These include Ajaatvad (The universe > was never created), Shri Shankara's Mayavad, > Dnyaneshwar's Chidvilasvad and so forth. > Years ago, when I met Shri K. Padmanabha Menon, this > is what he said upon the matter- > > KPM: Well, the moment you start thinking, the world > comes into existence. So long as you are thinking > the world is sustained and the moment you stop > thinking it is destroyed. You are the creator, > preserver and destroyer of this world, the Brahma, > Vishnu and Mahesh (The Hindu trinity of > creator-preserver-destroyer)! > That is the truth. > > > As an humble student of advaita, I leave it to the > senior members to elaborate further upon this issue. > > I conclude with Ghalib's own attempt to answer this > question- > > > hastee ke mat fareb men aa jaeeyo 'asad' > > aalam tamaam Halqa-e-dam-e-Khayaal hai > (Do not be get deluded by Existence O Asad, the > entire universe is a sphere made up of spell of > thoughts.) > > Ravi > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been > removed] > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2004 Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 Raviji, who is Shri K. Padmanabha Menon? That is Nairji asking about Menonji (LOL). The question of creation - let it remain unanswered. If there was no creation, there is no question to answer. Then why answer!? (Again LOL). Anyway, Shri Menon has answered the question very well. What to add to it? PraNAms. Madathil Nair ____________________ advaitin, Ravi Shivde <shivde@s...> wrote: >> Years ago, when I met Shri K. Padmanabha Menon, this is what he said upon the matter- > > KPM: Well, the moment you start thinking, the world comes into existence. So long as you are thinking the world is sustained and the moment you stop thinking it is destroyed. You are the creator, preserver and destroyer of this world, the Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (The Hindu trinity of creator-preserver-destroyer)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2004 Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 Dear Nairji, Namaste! Raviji, who is Shri K. Padmanabha Menon? That is Nairji asking about Menonji (LOL). No wonder! That is Kasturi Mrig is asking about the source of fragrance (LOL) K. Padmanabha Menon (Adwayanand) hailing from Malakara, Near Chengannur, Dst Alleppy was the eldest son and disciple of Shri Krishna Menon (Atmananda) . I met Shri Padmanabha in Mumbai in 1974. He passed away recently. Shri Krishna Menon was a great advaitin sage in the tradition of Shri Shankara and Raman Maharshi, who advocated the direct path of Self-Inquiry. His teachings are marked by exceptional clarity of thought and logical reasoning. You can read more about him and his teachings at http://www.geocities.com/skknair_tvm/philo.htm One of our moderators, Shri Ananda Wood, was his disciple. He has presented his teachings at http://www.sunyaprajna.com/Advaita/Atmananda.html With best wishes Ravi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 30, 2004 Report Share Posted October 30, 2004 Thanks, Raviji. Yes, we had a wonderful discussion here a few months back about Atmanandaji's teachings under the guidance of Anandaji. It is a pity that most Keralite advaitins still have no idea about Atmanandaji. I came to know about him only last year and that too through our Dennisji. The other Krishna Menon (Nehru's Defence Minister) is well-known to one and all! PraNAms. Madathil Nair ______________ advaitin, Ravi Shivde <shivde@s...> wrote: > Shri Krishna Menon was a great advaitin sage in the tradition of Shri Shankara and Raman Maharshi, who advocated the direct path of Self-Inquiry. His teachings are marked by exceptional clarity of thought and logical reasoning. You can read more about him and his teachings at http://www.geocities.com/skknair_tvm/philo.htm > > One of our moderators, Shri Ananda Wood, was his disciple. He has presented his teachings at http://www.sunyaprajna.com/Advaita/Atmananda.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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