Still Confusion regarding Shankara’s co

[Cameron Reilly]

At 22:28 25-01-97 -0500, Jaldhar wrote:

>First of all as you made clear this is a Buddhist view not a Vedantic one,
>certainly not an Advaita one.  In Advaita the pot is *not* devoid of
>objective reality.  Hit yourself over the head with a pot and see if it
>disappears or not.

I disagree. In advaita, the pot neither IS devoid of objective reality, nor
is it NOT devoid of objective reality. Both are merely matters of
perspective. Seen from the perspective of the Absolute, the pot does not
exist as an object. It is one with Brahman. Seen from the perspective of
the subjective split-mind, the pot certainly does exist, as does the head
which you hit it against. Both perspectives are absolutely correct, if
understood as flip sides to the coin of the Infinite.

>> We're told there are two ways of accomplishing this: either by devotional
>> surrender of the 'I' (parabhakthi marga) or hunting down the truth of the
>> source of 'I' by asking "Who am I?" (jnana marga).
>
>This view may be acceptable to some of the other schools of Vedanta but as
>far as Advaita is concerned jnana and jnana alone can be the path to
>moksha.  The best we can hope to achieve from bhakti is rebirth in a world
>where jnana will be easier to achieve.

Again I disagree. Bhakti can certainly result in moksha. True Bhakti
results in the assimilation of the ego into the absolute. "Thy will Lord,
not mine."

And ego-less functioning is exactly the result of jnana, just come at from
a different path.

Ego-less functioning will in itself result in the dissolution of the
individual into the Absolute.

Regards,


Cameron Reilly
The Robert Adamson Centre for Non-Duality/Advaita Studies
Direct Lineage of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Melbourne, Australia
Email: cjreilly at ozemail.com.au