Guest guest Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 Respected Sri S.N.Sastri, A small clarification is requested for the following: You have stated:The pure Atma, being eternal and all-pervading, has neither birth nor death, nor can there be any question of its going from one place to another. You have also stated about the existence of The subtle body, along with the sense organs (which form part of it) and the samskaras, as well as the phtsical body. If Atman is all-pervading, can the entities as stated in the above para exist apart from Atman? Are they not Atman Itself? I draw your kind attention to the Mantras 1 and 2 of the 7th chapter of Chandogya Upanishad. Are not all these bodies mere vikalpas? With respectful namaskarams, Sreenivasa Murthy. > Atman is the same as Brahman which is all-pervading. It alone is real in the absolute sense (pAramArthika). The whole world is superimposed on it, just as a snake is superimposed on a rope. A person sees a snake where there is only a rope because he is not able to recognize the rope due to dim light, etc. In the same way since we do not know Brahman we see only the world which is superimposed on it. The subtle bodies are also part of the world and therefore they are only superimpositions on Brahman. So the subtle bodies etc, are all only appearances on Brahman. They have no reality apart from Brahman. But this is from the standpoint of absolute reality. As long as we are in ignorance we consider the bodies to be real. So the answer to your first question is that the subtle bodies have no existence apart from Brahman, but since we do not know Brahman we consider the subtle bodies to be real, just as the person who sees a snake thinks it to be real until he realizes that there is only a rope. We are speaking from the vyAvahArika standpoint when we say that the subtle body goes from one physical body to another. These two standpoints have to be kept in mind to understand Advaita Vedanta. It is not clear which mantras in Chandogya up you are referring to. The whole world is mithyA, i.e. it cannot be categorized as either real or unreal. Subtle bodies, being part of the world, are also therefore mithyA. If by 'vikalpa' you mean 'mithyA' then you are right. But the word vikalpa is not generally used in this context. S.N.Sastri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 H.N.Sreenivasa Murthy Pranams to all. Respected Sri S.N. Sastri, I Thank you for the clarifications you have provided. The Matras from Chandogya Upanishad are 7-25-1 and 7-25-2. Please excuse me for not giving the complete information. You have stated:The pure Atma, being eternal and all-pervading, has neither birth nor death, nor can there be an question of its going from one place to another. What is the methodology to be followed to cognize the above stated fact in one's own Anubhava? Or in other words, how can the above statement be made a living fact? This will help the jij~jAsu. With respectful namaskarams, Sreenivasa Murthy > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 5, 2006 Report Share Posted October 5, 2006 Namaste. The two mantras in the ch.up. say that Brahman is infiniteand so is the individual self which is nothing but Brahman. As regards the method of attaining the reaization, there are the well known steps of hearing, reflection and meditation which we all have to follow. Success ultimately depends on our efforts and God's grace. Sastri On 10/4/06, narayana145 <narayana145 (AT) (DOT) co.in> wrote: > > H.N.Sreenivasa Murthy > Pranams to all. > Respected Sri S.N. Sastri, > I Thank you for the clarifications you have provided. > The Matras from Chandogya Upanishad are 7-25-1 and 7-25-2. Please > excuse me for not giving the complete information. > You have stated:The pure Atma, being eternal and all-pervading, > has neither birth nor death, nor can there be an question of its going > from one place to another. > What is the methodology to be followed to cognize the above stated > fact in one's own Anubhava? Or in other words, how can the above > statement be made a living fact? This will help the jij~jAsu. > With respectful namaskarams, > Sreenivasa Murthy > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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