talking school or practicing school?

June 25, 2001

http://www.beezone.com/AdiDa/talking_and_practicing_sch.html

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EXPRESSIONS (OR PARTIAL INTUITIONS AND LIMITED FORESHADOWINGS)

OF THE SEVENTH STAGE OF LIFE

A.The Tradition of Advaita Vedanta

1.The Ancient Advaitic (or Non-Dualist) Tradition, Shankara, and the

Tradition of Shankara

2.Modern Teachers of Advaitism

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What Is Required to Realize the Non-Dual Truth?:

The Controversy Between the " Talking " School

and the " Practicing " School of Advaitism

Certain proponents of Advaitism (or of the Truth of non-dualism) ,

even some who may be genuine Realizers (but only in the

sixth stage sense) of the Great Truth of Advaita Vedanta, generally

represent or advocate what I call the " talking " school of

Advaitism. That is to say, their contact with disciples is primarily

one of conversation, and the process in which they engage their

listeners is basically (and even exclusively) a matter of attendance

to verbal argumentation. (And this emphasis on, or even

confinement to, the verbal context of Advaitism stands in dramatic

contrast to the real practicing ordeal and deep meditative

process that many " talking " school Teachers, such as Atmananda and

Nisargadatta Maharaj, have endured as the context of their

own sixth stage process of Advaitic Realization.)

There is even a kind of " Emperor's New Clothes " syndrome associated

with the " talking " school. It is said that, yes, there are

many practices (other than listening) that could be engaged, but such

practices are only necessary for those who are immature (or

whose minds are not yet ripe for the " Truth-Taking " ) . Few, of

course, want to acknowledge their immaturity or unreadiness for

the One Thing desired by all. Therefore, the proud listeners doggedly

refuse to acknowledge the necessity of their own self-

transcending ordeal of sadhana, and so they merely listen (again and

again).

Unlike the " talking " school, the original tradition of Advaita

Vedanta requires great preparations and real qualifications for the

Advaitic (or non-dualistic) Realization, and such preparations (or

qualifications) include practical self-discipline, the development

of a disinclination toward the search for (and attachment to) the

conditional satisfactions associated with what I have described as

the first five stages of life, and the achievement of a clear-minded

and profound motivation toward Transcendental Self-

Realization. Indeed, only individuals who were thus prepared would,

in the strictest traditional setting, be welcomed even to listen

to (and to seriously " consider " ) an Advaitic Teacher's discourses on

Transcendental Truth.

In any case, the practice of listening is traditionally

called " sravana " . All proponents (both traditional and modern) of

the " talking "

school tend to isolate (or idealize) this first (or initial) stage of

the total process and thus make it the Only Method (or the one and

only context of possible Realization). And they (especially the

modern proponents of the " talking " school) do not generally require

the traditional preparations or qualifications (whether as a

prerequisite or an eventual attainment) on the part of their

listeners.

(Even modern proponents of the original tradition, or what I call

the " practicing " school, generally do not require the traditional

preparations as a qualification for listening, but effective

disciplines and real qualifications are expected to appear over time.

There

is a tradition that expects Advaitins to accept sannyasa, or the life

of an unmarried, or socially detached, celibate, but the modern

trend is to return to the classical orientation of the Upanishadic

era, which calls both sannyasins and householders, or even Tantric

practitioners, to the practice and the Realization of the non-

dualistic Way.)

The complete traditional process of " practicing " Advaitism goes on

from the " talking " and listening stage of sravana to the

advancing stages of manana (or profound examination of the Teaching

arguments, to the point of hearing, or intuitive

understanding) and nididhyasana (or deep contemplation, to the degree

of true and stable Realization of Inherent Samadhi, or

Inherent Identification with Consciousness Itself). Although the

proponents of the " talking " school generally look for some kind

of understanding, or hearing, to develop in their listeners, the

great practice and the Great Realization associated with the

traditional discipline of nididhyasana appear to be generally

neglected (or even disdained) by them.

This distinction between the " talking " school (or Teachers of

the " talking " school) and the " practicing " school (or Teachers of the

" practicing " school) points to a basic controversy within the

tradition of Advaitism. At least since the time of Shankara, both of

these two schools (or interpretations of Advaitism) have existed.

The " talking " school generally attracts those who have a minimal

capability for (or capable impulse toward) renunciation, Yogic

(or Spiritual) discipline, and deep meditation, but who otherwise are

habituated to constantly talk, listen, and think. The

" discipline " and the " Realization " in the " talking " school

(especially in its modern form) are generally minimal, weak,

superficial,

temporary, and merely mental (or intellectual) , and the " talking "

school is (and has been) rightly criticized because

of this.

The modern " practicing " school of Advaitism is clearly represented

and advocated by such Teachers as Swami Gnanananda,

Brahmajna Ma, and Ramana Maharshi. Such Teachers also " talk " , and

their disciples listen, but real qualifications (including

practical self-discipline) are expected (at least over time).

Likewise, the Teachers of the " practicing " school clearly indicate

that

hearing (or fundamental understanding) is not itself Ultimate

Enlightenment (or an end in itself), but it is only the beginning of

practice (or the seed of Ultimate Enlightenment). Therefore,

according to the Teachers of the " practicing " school, hearing must

lead to right (and most profound) enquiry into (or direct

Identification with) the Inherent and Transcendental Nature, or

Perfectly

Subjective Condition, of the apparent conditional subject (or

conditional self) & emdash; & emdash;Which Transcendental, or Perfectly

Subjective,

Self-Condition inherently transcends the apparent conditional subject

(or conditional self). And such right enquiry necessarily (and

spontaneously) becomes deep (object-transcending) meditation,

or " dhyana " , and (at least eventually) " Jnana Samadhi " , or most

profound, and thoroughly object-excluding, Identification with

Consciousness Itself, and (potentially) even sixth stage " Sahaj

Samadhi " ,which is the basis for the apparent premonitions, or partial

intuitions and limited foreshadowings, of the

seventh stage of life that have sometimes been expressed within the

traditional sixth stage schools, and which is a matter of deeply

Abiding in the basically and tacitly object-excluding (and, thus,

conditionally achieved) sixth stage Realization of the

Transcendental Self & emdash;Condition, while otherwise naturally

experiencing the natural arising of mental and physical objects, and

naturally allowing the performance of mental and physical activities.

(However, as I have Revealed, the necessary, but only

preliminary, or sixth stage, Process is finally and Most Perfectly

Fulfilled and Completed only in Divine Self-Awakening, or

What I call " Open Eyes " , or What may, using the traditional

reference, be called " seventh stage Sahaj Samadhi " , and Which Is

utterly and inherently non-exclusive, and not conditionally Realized,

but Non-conditionally, and Inherently, and Inherently Most

Perfectly, Realized, Transcendental, and inherently Spiritual, and

necessarily Divine Self-Realization and effortless, or Non-

conditionally, and Inherently, and Inherently Most Perfectly,

Realized, Transcendental, and inherently Spiritual, and necessarily

Divine Self-Abiding, even, should they arise, in the apparent context

of the arising of all conditional phenomena and all

conditional, or psycho-physical, states, and always, spontaneously

and Inherently, and Inherently Most Perfectly, Recognizing all

apparently arising conditional phenomena and conditional, or

psycho & emdash;physical, states as transparent, or merely apparent,

and

un & emdash;necessary, and inherently non & emdash;binding modifications

of the Transcendental, and inherently Spiritual, and necessarily

Divine

Self-Condition Itself.)

Some interpreters of the Teaching of Shankara propose (or may seem to

propose) that Shankara himself was an advocate (indeed,

the chief proponent) of the " talking " school. Swami

Satchidanandendra Saraswati, for example, many of whose writings on

the Teaching of Shankara appear in this " Sixth Stage "

section of The Basket of Tolerance, affirms (on the basis of

Shankara's own Teaching) that listening to the Mahavakyas, or the

Upanishadic Principal Declarations (such as " Tat Tvam Asi " , which

means " That Thou Art " ), or listening to the Great

Upanishadic Truth as expounded by a Transcendentally Self-Realized

Teacher (such as Shankara) is sufficient for (sixth stage)

Realization (of the Inherent Samadhi of Consciousness Itself), but

(and Swami Satchidanandendra also cites the textual evidence

for this) Shankara did not otherwise propose (or dogmatically affirm)

that listening (to the point of hearing) is the Only Method for

such (sixth stage) Realization.

Clearly, Shankara did affirm that listening could be sufficient for

(sixth stage) Realization. Indeed, it is true that, in the case of

some rare and uniquely prepared individuals, listening, particularly

listening to a true Realizer, or listening to insight itself,

however that insight may be communicated or originated, is sufficient

for (sixth stage) Realization of the Inherent Samadhi of

Consciousness Itself. The Awakening of Ramana Maharshi is a modern

example of such sudden Realization. And, for some

others, the Darshan, or seeing, or mere sighting, of a true Realizer

is sufficient for such Realization.

However, Shankara clearly indicated that only exceptionally prepared

individuals are qualified even to listen (or to practice

sravana), and he likewise clearly indicated that only certain unique

individuals (in whom the mind no longer effectively limits the

possibility of Inherent Samadhi) can or will Realize Inherent Samadhi

directly and immediately via listening.

Shankara clearly indicated that a broad range of preparations are

necessary before listening (to the Vedantic Great Truth) can be

either appropriate or effective. Those necessary preparations include

the development of the power of discrimination (particularly

between the Real, or the eternal or permanent or Merely Existing, and

the un-Real, or the conditional and temporary) , the power

of renunciation (or, as I have indicated, even the transcendence of

all purposes and results associated with the first five stages of

life), the power of equanimity, and the motive & emdash;power of

longing (for Liberation, or Freedom Itself) . Likewise, Shankara

clearly

indicated that, even in the case of individuals specifically prepared

in the manner described, the Inherent Samadhi of

Consciousness Itself will not necessarily (or even likely) Awaken

through sravana (or listening), but the further stages of manana

and nididhyasana will, in the general case, be necessary.

Thus, Shankara in fact Taught in the broad context of

the " practicing " school. And, as indicated in various of Shankara's

own

original (or otherwise traditionally, or even recently, attributed)

writings and commentaries (such as The Chapter of the Self, as

presented by Trevor Leggett, Bhala Govindam, Prabodhasudhakara, and

the Tantric text Saundarva & emdash;Lahari, Shankara even

advocated, or otherwise approved, fourth and fifth stage practices as

possible preparatory means (for removing, or otherwise

transcending, the apparent obstructions to sixth stage Realization).

Shankara himself intuitively Realized the inherently actionless (or

Transcendental) Brahman, or Consciousness Itself. He did not

affirm (as Ultimate Reality) the mere (and exclusive, or individual)

atman (the " soul " , or the separate but permanent self-entity),

but he Realized that what is conventionally (or previous to

Realization) presumed to be the atman, or the " soul " , or the separate

conscious self Is (Inherently, and by virtue of Realization) Only

Self & emdash;Existing and Self & emdash;Radiant Transcendental

Consciousness

Itself (or Brahman). However, Most Ultimate (or Inherently Most

Perfect) Enlightenment Is Only That Realization and

Demonstration That Is Absolute Freedom, Self-Existing and

Self & emdash;Radiant As Consciousness Itself, All and Infinite As Love-

Bliss. And That is no small matter or state of mind, but It Is What ~

(Ultimately), and That Is (Truly Most Ultimately, and

Inherently Most Perfectly) Revealed Only By (or In the Shine Of) the

Inherently Most Perfect (and by Divine Grace Given)

Sacrifice (or Inherently Most Perfect, and by Divine Grace Given,

transcendence) of the conditional self. At last, Only This Most

Ultimate (or Inherently Most Perfect) Realization Truly, Finally,

Completely, and Most Perfectly Reveals The (Inherently) One

and (Inherently) Real God, or Great (Obvious, or Always Already)

Truth, or Ultimate (or Inherently Perfect) Reality. That Most

Ultimate (or Inherently Most Perfect) Realization Is Unique to the by

Me Revealed and Demonstrated seventh stage of life and to

the by Me Revealed and Demonstrated and Given Way of the Heart. And

Only That Most Ultimate (or Inherently Most Perfect and

Complete) Realization, Awakened and Demonstrated, can Finally Fulfill

(or Most Perfectly Complete and End) the Ordeal of Man.