Study of the three states, a sine qua non for knowing the ultimate?

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Dear friends,

                        Recently, I chanced upon a book by one Swamy Sachidanandeswara, a staunch traditional advaitin, calling in question even the wisdom of some post-advaitic philosophers. The author extensively expatiates upon the avasthathriya-viveka, coming to the conclusion that any philosophy, whether belonging to the Hindu origin or Western, not containing the wisdom of this, but relying upon the waking state as an end in itself, and the other states being merely appendages to strengthen the wisdom of the waking state, is incomplete, being not capable of bringing in the understanding of the final beatitude. I find some solid truth in the averment of this saint, which it is difficult to gainsay. As you all know, according to the avasthathriya viveka, there is no experience,  mundane or spiritual, beyond the pale of the three states, which are declared to be unmitigated illusions. In the scheme of advaita, since all experiences belong to the three states, found to be

falsified, freedom consists in the extinction of individuality. According to advaita, the philosophy of the dualistic schools is based on the fragmented knowledge of the waking state, which is insufficient-rather a detour-in knowing the absolute truth. According to advaita, there is no experience of phenomena in the enlightened state. The question arises as to whether 1)advaitic wisdom- in view of its being via-negativa essentially-is one of mere absence of sorrow, not admitting of any positive presence of joy, as any experience of joy, according to advaita, constitutes the pursuit of the dual realm, giving place to its opposite or 2) admits of a positive state of joy, capable of being experienced by a relative knower or finally it is that both the absence of misery and the experience of joy constitute a unitary phenomenon outside the pale of individuality. But one has to note that there are various other schools of philosophy, Indian and Western. The question arises as to

what constitutes the relevance of the teachings of these schools vis-à-vis the advaitic wisdom of avasthathriya. Most of the dualistic schools, in spite of their technical terminologies, definitely believe in personal immortality, equating spiritual freedom as one of experience of godhood in a realm of time and space. These schools confound the state of non-duality to be an insipid, eerie, dark night of nothingness as advaita denies the truth of even a personal god. An impartial observer can understand the truth that the teachings of these dualistic schools are far removed from the advaitic wisdom of extinction of individuality through the wisdom of avasththriya, the very sine qua non in understanding oneself. But still there are some nastika schools like Buddhism, Jainism, which have got some parallel to advaita, especially Buddhism, the difference between Buddhism and Advaita being only their negative and positive terminologies. In recent times, much impact was made on

the spiritual psyche by the teachings of the late Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurthy, who decried all belief-systems as an impediment in understanding oneself, and gave out an iconoclastic and maverick wisdom, which still contained explosive revelations such as the falsity of psychological time through the process of becoming in knowing oneself and coming upon the final beatitude, the questions relating to death, reincarnation, the fallacy of individual salvation, the unreality of an individuality continuing after death, the fact of the stream not admitting of several individuals psychologically, but being merely a concoction of thought, a material process, the dimension of the sacred, the emptiness, creation, and finally, the origin. The question arises as to what constitutes the position of the schools other than advaita, some of them being essentially antagonistic to advaita, a few of them containing some elements similar to advaita, whether these teachings can be

categorized under one or more of the following classes: 1) Whether these so-called alien teachings are half-way through the sovereign wisdom of advaita, 2) whether they are synonymous with advaita differing only in verbal description, 3) and lastly whether they constitute an  independent path, the avasthathriya of advaita being merely  a formula stumbled upon by some great men, and that there are other equally valid means of knowing oneself. The first and last seem to be untenable to me; the second seems to be valid. Further, in the light of the supreme averment of advaita, what relevance do the dualistic, devotional, schools, have in the scheme of understanding oneself, since they hardly talk of the three states? Or is there mention in some schools of this? Other than Saiva-Siddhantha, which is an essentially yogic methodology albeit the fact of immense bakthi outpourings by great saints, I do not find mention of this terminology of avasthathriya in any schools. Of

course, the yogachara idealism and the madhyamika talk extensively the terminologies of dream states, equating the waking phenomena with the dream states, although the substratum in these schools is identified with the  fleeting states of the buddhi and the void.

                      I would request the learned members of the group who have intense spiritual longing- all of us have that longing; otherwise, why should we talk about these matters instead of indulging in a nice siesta- to offer their exchanges. This is not merely academic, but vitally existential. If this discussion is considered to be outside the purview of the causes espoused by this forum, this may be kindly ignored.

               

  yours truthfully,

  Sankarraman

 

 

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[Guest guest]

H.N.Sreenivasa Murthy

     Pranams to you all.

 

Ganesan Sankarraman <shnkaran > wrote:

  Dear friends,

                        Recently, I chanced upon a book by one Swamy Sachidanandeswara, a staunch traditional advaitin, calling in question even the wisdom of some post-advaitic philosophers.

  

    Respected Sirs,

          

                The name  'Swami Sachidanandeswara'  should read as

   "Sri Sachidanandendra Saraswati". This correction may please be noted.

  

  His Holiness Sri Swamiji is the founder of Adhyathma Prakasha Karyalaya at Holenarasipur, Karnataka. His contribution to spread the message of  parishuddha Shankara Vedanta is phenomenal. The translations of the commentaries  of Sri Shankara Bhagavatpada  to Kannada language are a class by itself  . The footnotes  given in every page  help  a sincere and serious mumukshu in understanding the commentaries in the correct perspective.

  

  With warm and respecttful regards,

      H.N.Sreenivasa Murthy

  

 

 

 

 

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