Re:Relationship between Knowledge and Ignorance ! Dennisji's post!

[Guest guest]

Wow!Dennis-ji , you summed it up all beautifully in one sentence ....

 

(THE jIva and his or her ignorance are in vyavahAra and the

knowledge that is needed to remove that ignorance is there too. But

I do not see it as accumulating knowledge; it is rather losing

ignorance.

 

WHAT A POSITIVE WAY OF LOOKING AT AVIDYA - I SIMPLY LOVE IT!

 

May i recall the following verse from Srimad Bhagvad Gita from

chapter 5 , verse 15

 

na caiva sukrtam vibhuh

ajnanenavrtam jnanam

tena muhyanti jantavah

 

Swami Chinmayanandaji tranlates this verse thus

 

"The Lord takes neither the demerit not even the merit of any;

knowledge is enveloped by ignorance, thereby beings are deluded."

 

Yes! the key phrase is 'ajnanenavrtam jnanam tena muhyanti

jantavah ' - Yes , knowledge is enveloped by ignorance !

 

Swamiji explains this further with these beautiful analogies

"Sunlight passing through a plane glass, in spite of the medium

through which it has passed, emerges in its pure nature, if the

glass be clean, flawless and colourless. If, on the other hand, a

pencil of light were to pass through a glass prism, we all know that

it would emerge in its seven component colours, constituting the

spectrum. Similarly, the Self passing through Knowledge (Jnana)

emerges as Self, which is the One-without-a-second, All-pervading,

All-perfect. But the same Self, when It passes through ignorance ---

meaning, the body, mind and intellect --- It splits up into the

endless world of plurality. "

 

The relationship between Knowledge and Ignorance is very beautifully

explained here. Ignorance cannot be Knowledge, nor can Knowledge be

a part of Ignorance. Where Ignorance is, there Knowledge cannot be.

Where Knowledge has come, Ignorance must depart. But here, we are

told "KNOWLEDGE IS ENVELOPED BY IGNORANCE," just as a solitary light

in a dark jungle, seen from a distance can be described as a light

encaged in darkness. This relationship and the method of stripping

Knowledge naked, is more elaborately indicated in the following

stanza.

 

AND NOW , IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THIS EVEN BETTER , READ VERSE 16 OF

THE SAME CHAPTER 5

 

jnanena tu tad ajnanam

yesam nasitam atmanah

tesam aditya-vaj jnanam

prakasayati tat param

 

..

TRANSLATION

 

But to those whose ignorance is destroyed by the Knowledge of the

Self, like the sun, to them Knowledge reveals the Supreme

(BRAHMAN) .

 

Swamiji explains further

 

In the case of finite mortals, sighing and sobbing in ignorance, the

Self is screened off from them by lifeless walls of nescience

(Avidya). The man of realisation is one in whom Knowledge has lifted

this veil of ignorance. Darkness is removed by Light not by degrees

but instantaneously --- however old the darkness may be and however

thick its density. Similarly, in one who has Knowledge (Jnana) of

the Self, the beginningless ignorance is lifted and within a

lightning flash, his ignorance ends. Ignorance creates the ego-

centric concept and the ego thrives in the body, mind and intellect.

With the end of ignorance, the ego too ends.

 

yes! Such is the Beauty and divinity of Brahma jnana ...

 

Avidyaa is the Cloud and Brahman is the Brilliant Sun!

 

please ponder the following wonderful words from the Brihadarayaka

upanishad

 

"When the sun has set, Yajnavalkya and the moon has set and the

fire has gone out and speech has stopped, what serves as light for a

man?The self, indeed, is his light, for with the self as light he

sits, goes out, works and returns."

 

Peterji ?:

 

You have made a valid point about ACCUMULATING USELESS BOOK

KNOWLEDGE - but reading the scriptures like the Gita , vedas,

upanishads , puranas etc have all have validity in one's Saadhnaa

 

Viveka chudamani says

 

it cannot be destroyed by weapons, wind or fire, nor even by

countless actions - by nothing, in fact, except by the wonderful

sword of wisdom, sharpened by God's grace. 147

 

He who is devoted to the authority of the scriptures achieves

steadiness in his religious life, and that brings inner purity. The

man of pure understanding comes to the experience of his true

nature, and by this Samsara is destroyed, root and all. 148

 

Yes ! even the scriptures cannot be understood by merely reading

them - it is through the Grace of the guru (in the form of human god)

only we can understand the scriptures !

 

ps Dhanajaya ji thanks for that Sanskrit verse from

the Katha upanishad - you are my second line of defence after

Sunderji !

 

AUM SHANTI ! SHANTI! SHANTIHI