Guest guest Posted November 3, 2008 Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 Namaste Advaitins, Do we understand what superimposition is? When we are offered the analogy of confusion to give us the sense of what superimposition is have we thereby understood superimposition? Or is it the case that we cannot comprehend superimposition? It is something that we cannot understand because understanding must be from a subjective perspective? Because the superimposition for which confusion is an analogy works on account of the unity of the substratum, the subjective grasp which is at the core of an intellectual understanding cannot comprehend superimposition. The very success of the analogy of confusion or the fact that it is readily intelligible, misleads us into thinking that we now have got what superimposition is. What we are doing then is turning the analogy into a parallel an error which Sankara corrects frequently. From Preamble to B.S.B.:Opponent:..... For everybody superimposes something else on what is pereceived by him in front....Advaitin: ......Nor is there any rule that something has to be superimposed on something that is directly perceived through the senses.... Best Wishes, Michael. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 3, 2008 Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 Namaste Michael-ji. A very astute observation, indeed, Michaelji. AdhyAsa analogies have become so obsessive with us that they are now a virtual superimposition on actual adhyAsa itself! The result is a mutual mix-up of adhyAsa and analogies. High time we recognized the imperfections of each analogy vis-a-vis Knowledge (brahmajnAna), which is Perfecton, and returned to the crucible of thinking (your own expression from the past) to subjectively understand what adhyAsa really is. Analogies are inert in themselves. They need something from our inside to light up and reveal their real import. And that something is nothing other than our self-evidence. By the way, can someone tell me where or by whom in our tradition was this word 'adhyAsa' first used? Although we have discussed adhyAsa ad infinitum, no one, at least to my knowledge, seems to have mentioned anything about the entry of the word from Sanskrit lexicon into vedAnta. Best regards. Madathil Nair ________________ advaitin , " ombhurbhuva " <ombhurbhuva wrote: > Do we understand what superimposition is? When we are offered the > analogy of confusion to give us the sense of what superimposition > is have we thereby understood superimposition? Or is it the case > that we cannot comprehend superimposition? It is something that > we cannot understand because understanding must be from a > subjective perspective? ...... > The very success of the analogy of confusion or the fact that it > is readily intelligible, misleads us into thinking that we now > have got what superimposition is. What we are doing then is > turning the analogy into a parallel an error which Sankara > corrects frequently. ........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 3, 2008 Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 advaitin , " Madathil Rajendran Nair " <madathilnair wrote: > By the way, can someone tell me where or by whom in our tradition was > this word 'adhyAsa' first used? Although we have discussed adhyAsa > ad infinitum, no one, at least to my knowledge, seems to have > mentioned anything about the entry of the word from Sanskrit lexicon > into vedAnta. > > Best regards. > > Madathil Nair Dear Michael-ji and Nair-ji, The word `adhyAsa' has been used by Shri Shankara himself in his adhyAsabhAShya. This is not a concept exclusive to advaita. Each system of philosophy has its own explanation of how superimposition takes place. Shri Shankara has referred to some of these views in his adhyAsabhAShya. What we refer to as adhyAsa is referred to also as khyati, meaning that it is nothing other than erroneous cognition. I have given short notes on the various theories of erroneous cognition at http://www.geocities.com/snsastri/khyati.pdf Best wishes, S.N.Sastri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.