NidhidhyAsanam on Aham B rahmAsmi

[Guest guest]

Namaste, Sri

Shyamji,

 

Thank you Sri

Shyamji for your kind note.

 

I would like to say

the following on what you said:

 

<<CULTIVATE

THEM, they being the means leading to the state

of transcendence>>

 

Is the state of

transcendence another state like Waking, Dreaming and Deep Sleep? Does it refer

to Turiya? As I understand, Turiya is not a state at all but it pervades all

the other states. The Teaching helps one to recognize that.

 

If it is a state,

then it is subject to change like the other states.  Whenever one wants to

be free, does he have to enter the state of transcendence, and if that is the

case, does it not mean such freedom is not Real?

 

These are my doubts.

 

Again,

 

<<DIRECTED

EFFORT yatnasadhyatvaat>>

 

With regard to yatna

or effort, I remember our learning by heart the multiplication tables.

Initially when the teacher asks you “What is 16 x 7†you start from “16x1,

16x2. 16x3….till 16x7†and then only you are able to answer it. As the time

goes, and as you apply the table every now and then, you do not have to start

from “16x1, 16x2. 16x3.. . . etcâ€. The answer is spontaneous. This is the

way I

think when one dwells on “Aham BrahmAsi†as NidhidhyAsanam, in due course,

there is no further necessity of such NidhidhyAsanam, and the wisdom of this

knowledge shines spontaneously, without any effort. That is why I said, the

durvasanas etc, get dropped themselves.

 

I hope I am not

confused.

 

With kind regards

and Hari Om

 

Mani

 

 

 

 

 

 

R. S. Mani

 

 

India has a new look. Take a sneak peek http://in./trynew

 

 

[Guest guest]

Dear Mani-ji

Namaskarams.

*****************

<<CULTIVATE

THEM, they being the means leading to the state

of transcendence> >

 

Is the state of

transcendence another state like Waking, Dreaming and Deep Sleep? Does it refer

to Turiya? As I understand, Turiya is not a state at all but it pervades all

the other states. The Teaching helps one to recognize that.

 

If it is a state,

then it is subject to change like the other states. Whenever one wants to

be free, does he have to enter the state of transcendence, and if that is the

case, does it not mean such freedom is not Real?

*****************

My response:

You are absolutely correct that any state where there is a coming and going

cannot be permanent. However let me give you my perspective.

 

To begin with that statement in quotes <<CULTIVATE

THEM, they being the means leading to the state

of transcendence> > is not my words but the words of Shankara. And Bhagwan

Shankara again is referring to Bhagwan Krishna's words in that particular

reference - which words? - " esha brahmi sthitih Partha " " that is the state of

being established in Brahman " ...and further " nainaam prapya vimuhyati " .. " One

does not become deluded after attaining this " . How does one understand this in

congruence with the fact that any state can only be impermanent?

 

First let us see how Bhagwan Shankara glosses this:

 

Sah puman, that man who has become thus, the SANNYASIN, the man of steady

wisdom, the knower of Brahman; adhi-gacchati, attains; santim, peace, called

Nirvana, consisting in the cessation of ALL the sorrows of MUNDANE existence,

i.e. He becomes One with Brahman; yah, who; vihaya, after rejecting; sarvan,

ALL; kaman, desires, without a trace, FULLY; carati, moves about, i.e. wanders

about, making efforts ONLY for maintaining the body; nihsprhah, free from

hankering, becoming free from ANY longing EVEN FOR the maintenance of the body;

nirmamah, without the idea of 'me' and 'mine', without the DEEPROOTED idea of

'mine' EVEN when accepting something needed MERELY for the upkeep of the body;

and nir-ahankarah, devoid of pride, i.e. free from self esteem owing to learning

etc.

This steadfastness in Knowledge, which is such, is being praised:

O Partha, esa, this, the aforesaid; is brahmisthitih, the STATE of being

established in Brahman, i.e. continuing (in life) in identification with

Brahman, AFTER RENOUNCING ALL ACTIONS. Na vimuhyati, One does not become

deluded; prapya, AFTER attaining ; enam, this Rcchati, one attains;

brahma-nirvanam, identification with Brahman, Liberation; sthitva, BY BEING

ESTABLISHED; asyam, in this, IN THE STATE of  Brahman-hood as described; api,

even; anta-kale, in the closing years of one's life. What need it be said that,

One who remains established only in Brahman during the whole life, AFTER having

espoused MONASTICISM even from the stage of celibacy, attains indetification

with Brahman!

 

Clearly there is mention here, by Bhagwan Krishna, and resoundingly reiterated

by Bhagwan Shankara, of the attainment of a transcendental personality, bereft

of the deeprooted ideas of me and mine, with no desire whatsoever, not even for

the maintenance or continuation of the bodily existence. So - to restate your

question - if one attains to this " state " then can such an attainment be said to

be permanent - like any other " phase "   will it not have an end, being a

" state " ? How to say there is no return then? no end?

 

The answer - incredible as it may seem is this - that the time-bound state is

the one WE ARE ACTUALLY IN! - this mundane samsaric existence we call life IS

the " time " - " bound " existence -we are all bound in the pasha of Kala. And being

time bound it does have an end - the end being signified by the rise of and the

establishemnt in Knowledge, in the Absolute.

 

Until such time, being bound to Time or Kala by the tethers of Maya we are bound

to be helplessly tossed about, akin to a carcass being mercilessly tossed by a

crocodile that has firmly held it in its teeth. Only after lifetimes of strife,

when we fall at the feet of Mother Maya - and surrender in toto - does She

empower us with her Grace to end this time-bound state - the " state " of

samsara-hood.

 

So yes - the Brahmi-sthitih is not a timebound state - indeed it is the ONLY

state not " time " -bound - because it transcends time. It is our pristine

unalloyed Existence - the Beatitude which is our very eternal Nature.

 

And that " attainment " and the " freedom " is not Real - not because it is a new

state that seems to have been arrived at - but because our current bondage is

not Real, our current existence being a fictitious dysmorphism. What is Real is

ever the Self that is our very nature.

 

*****************

Again,

 

<<DIRECTED

EFFORT yatnasadhyatvaat> >

 

With regard to yatna

or effort, I remember our learning by heart the multiplication tables.

Initially when the teacher asks you “What is 16 x 7†you start from “16x1,

16x2. 16x3….till 16x7†and then only you are able to answer it. As the time

goes, and as you apply the table every now and then, you do not have to start

from “16x1, 16x2. 16x3.. . . etcâ€. The answer is spontaneous. This is the

way I

think when one dwells on “Aham BrahmAsi†as NidhidhyAsanam, in due course,

there is no further necessity of such NidhidhyAsanam, and the wisdom of this

knowledge shines spontaneously, without any effort. That is why I said, the

durvasanas etc, get dropped themselves.

*****************

What you desrcibe Mani-ji is fluency at a learned skill-set. You can also take

the example of bicycle-riding - where-as initially you struggle and put great

effort at it and subsequently it comes " naturally " - the example is to an extent

valid, provided one considers the constraints of its applicability. Aham

brahmasmi is not a new skillset, that I learn, and get fluent at. It is my

intrinsic nature. It is not a thing I memorize, or get better at, or learn anew.

I simply UN-Learn that which I am not, but think myself to be secondary to the

hypnosis of beginningless avidyA. Like an actor lost in his role, lost in the

drama, I harbor a deeprooted conviction in my identity as being the role that I

am playing, and in the costume that I am wearing. Now and then, [perhaps during

a brief commercial break ] I might get a glimpse of the real me bereft of my

mask, but it is ever so-fleeting - what does it take to recognize the real me

and abide in that

recognition - on being told that this role that I am playing is not me - drop

the mask, drop the costume, and walk away form the drama. Why? In order to wipe

out my deeprooted conviction in my assumed pseudoidentity - that thanks to

infinte number of prior births - and the Holy sprinkle of Maya's dust - is so

deep-rooted in me, that it is immanent in my every breath, cemented in my every

step. Unless I take time and effort, in breaking off from the samsaric drama,

and introspect, with the aid of a teacher, it is impossible for me to overcome

this conviction born of an utter and beginningless infatuation of the non-self.

Hence alone is nidhidhyasana a committment unlike any other, and more

importantly incompatible with karmas, which are ever tethered to the ahankara.

Only then does nidhidhyasana efface the viparita-bhava of me being this

body/mind and replace it with the sarvatma-bhava of the Univeral Self-hood.

 

See what the sage of Kanchi says " However much the mind and intellect might have

matured, until the Brahman Realisation happens, mAyA does not spare you.

Realisation is the apex of all sAdhanA. It cannot be achieved unless all karma

is extinguished. "

 

Hari OM

Shri Gurubhyoh namah

Shyam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--- On Tue, 10/20/09, R.S.MANI <r_s_mani wrote:

 

 

R.S.MANI <r_s_mani

NidhidhyAsanam on " Aham B rahmAsmi "

" group " <advaitin >

Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 12:54 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

Namaste, Sri

Shyamji,

 

Thank you Sri

Shyamji for your kind note.

 

 

These are my doubts.

 

 

I hope I am not

confused.

 

With kind regards

and Hari Om

 

Mani

 

 

 

 

 

 

R. S. Mani

 

India has a new look. Take a sneak peek http://in.. com/trynew