Sankhya and Vedanta

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

I somehow feel a relation between both Ignorance and Knowledge. Can

we perceive Knowledge if there is no ignorance? Once we attain

knowledge about subject, we donot stop there. We delve into the

matter in a continous pursuit of knowledge. We do this because we

know that we donot have complete knowledge of that subject matter.

That is, ignorance persists. So can we conclude that ignorance and

knowledge are inseparable and explain the existence of ignorance and

knowledge by Duality theory.

I have some more question in this regard.

If I consider that ignorance is perishable then is that stage known

as Purnabramhan gyan?

Is Purnabramha Gyan a sign of self-complacency or a really somebody

can achieve that stage?

Can any ordinary man achieve that? How?

How does somebody feel in that stage? What are the characteristics of

such a person?

Does he/ she never make a mistake? Are they flawless? If so how can

a flawless being survive in a imperfect world like ours?

Please show me some light on this matter.

 

Thanks and regards

kalyan

[Guest guest]

Om Namah Shivaya

Namaste Kalyanji, Before I say anything, let me say this to myself -

"Look who is talking ? " . In other words, I am not a jnani but am

simply stating my intellectual understanding. (By the way, a jnani

will never claim that he is a jnani) See inline responses.

 

regards,

Om Namah Shivaya

 

, "kalyansimha"

<kalyansimha wrote:

>

> Namaste,

>

> I somehow feel a relation between both Ignorance and Knowledge.

Can

> we perceive Knowledge if there is no ignorance? Once we attain

> knowledge about subject, we donot stop there. We delve into the

> matter in a continous pursuit of knowledge. We do this because we

> know that we donot have complete knowledge of that subject matter.

> That is, ignorance persists. So can we conclude that ignorance and

> knowledge are inseparable and explain the existence of ignorance

and

> knowledge by Duality theory.

 

What you have described in the above paragraph is knowledge of

objects. For example, Physics or Chemistry or Computer Science or

Biology. Brahm Vidya is also called Para Vidya - it is not the

knowledge of any object. It is your own very Atman, loosely

translated as Self in English. Note that Self is a poor translation

in my opinion. The very fact that you can think about Kalyan, his

body, his thoughts and even his discriminating intellect or buddhi

means you are distinct from Kalyan.

 

 

> I have some more question in this regard.

> If I consider that ignorance is perishable then is that stage

known

> as Purnabramhan gyan?

 

Which ignorance are you talking about now ? If it is ignorance about

some aspect of the physical world or physical science, then that

ignorance can never be removed. You can spend many lifetimes

studying about physical sciences and still you will be ignorant

about some aspect of it.

If you are talking about ignorance of your own nature of Atman, then

the sages and scriptures say that it can be removed with proper

knowledge. Upanishads/Vedanta come to our rescue here.

 

 

> Is Purnabramha Gyan a sign of self-complacency or a really

somebody

 

It is not self-complacency but Self-realization - the simple but

grand fact that the "I" in me is the "I" or Atman of the whole

universe.

 

> can achieve that stage?

I think there are instances in scriptures. Vamadev, King Janaka and

more recently Ramana Maharishi, Swami Krishnananda, Swami Sivananda,

Nisargadatta Maharaj.

Note that a realized person will never claim that I am realized -

that would be a contradictory statement.

 

> Can any ordinary man achieve that? How?

> How does somebody feel in that stage? What are the characteristics

of

> such a person?

 

The Bhagavad Gita talks about the characteristics of such a person

in many verses. Read about sthithpragya in Chapter 2 and there is

little more description in Chapter 5.

 

 

> Does he/ she never make a mistake? Are they flawless? If so how

can

> a flawless being survive in a imperfect world like ours?

> Please show me some light on this matter.

 

For a realized person, all things are in me and I am in all things.

There is no sense of duality. There is no question of flaw or

imperfection. When a jnani is acting in the world, he knows due to

his knowledge that Atman is always a non-doer - it is only prakriti

that is acting. As long as you don't consider yourself to be a doer,

you are not penalized or rewarded for your actions. You become free

from karma although you appear to be acting in the world.

 

 

>

> Thanks and regards

> kalyan

>