Brahman and Maya- is their Duality

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Hare Krishna,namakarams

In message 1745, shri.Ram Chandran replies to " a c " <ac who

asks If Brahman is alone real then from where does Maya/Mahamahat

originate?.If Maya either comes from somewhere or something other

than Brahman or if Maya actually *is* something different than

Brahman then we have duality (ie. Brahman AND Maya). I found the reply

by Shri Ram Chandran interesting and relevant to the ongoing

discussion of maya and duality. It is sometimes worth fishing in the

sea of advaitin messages. He writes:-

 

" You have raised some interesting and fundamental questions on the

logic of Advaita Vedanta.First, Brahman is beyond all logic and

Advaita Vedanta fully recognizes that the Vedanta philosophy is also a

part of the illusory world. Since Brahman is beyond logic one has to

be a Brahman to understand when/why does Maya originate. Consequently

neither I can explain nor you can understand and this debate will

continue until you and I become the unified Brahman!

 

Let me quote the following from Shri Parthasarathi's book: Vedanta

treatise

The philosophy of Vedanta is also said to be like a dream lion.

Imagine a lion appears in a dream. The lion-in-the-dream is part of

the dream world experienced by the dreamer. But the lion-in-the-dream

has one peculiarity. One distinctive character which none of the other

objects of the dream possess. And that is its capacity to catapult the

dreamer from the dreaming state of consciousness to the waking state

of consciousness. When the lion appears in the dream, the dreamer

eperiences a kind of nightmare. He is startled. He is horrified. The

lion wakes him up as it were. The dream lion is no doubt a part of the

dream but it swallows up the entire dream. In doing so dream lion also

vanishes! That is the characteristics of the dream lion. Similarly

Vedanta plays the role of the dream lion in this world. Vedantic

knowledge is admittedly a part of this illusory world. But then it

dissolves the entire illusion of the world. Reveals Reality. It

unveils your real SELF. It transports you from the plane of

world-consciousness to the plane of God-consciousness. "

 

As long as we are in the plane of world-consciousness, duality appears

real and duality dissolves itself (like the lion-in-the-dream) when we

wake up and attain the plane of God-Consciousness. Non-duality applies

only at the Paramarthika (Absolute Truth). Truth according to Advaita

metaphysics is of three types: pratibhasika (apparant), vyavaharika

(practical) and paramarthika (the highest level). When we wrongly

perceive the upright ears of a hare as its horns, it is 'pratibhasika'

satta. This world of senses is vyavaharika satta since it is real for

all practical purposes. Brahman or God which is the highest and

unchanging truth is 'paramathika' satta.Let me stop here. Let us all

contemplate instead of conducting academic exercises! he ends.

 

I request that along with this members read messages 1747 by shri

sadanada and 1749 by <ac@>. May lord Krishna bless us all.

 

baskaran