Life and Soul \ Brahman

[MANTRALAURA at DELPHI.COM]

sarvebhyo namaH,

Brahman = The one self-existent impersonal
Spirit, the one universal Soul (or one
divine essence and source from which all
created things emanate or with which they
are identified and to which they return),
the Self-existent, the Absolute, the Eternal
(not generally an object of worship, but
rather of meditation and knowledge;
also . . . paramaatman, aatman, adhyaatma,
pradhaana, kShetra-j~na, tattva.

  The "taittiriiyopaniShat.h" states in
verse II.i.1. -

  satyaM j~naanam-anaantaM brahma |

 "Brahman is truth, knowledge, infinite."

  In the commentary, "As for satya a thing is
said to be satya, true, when it does not change
its nature that is ascertained to be its own . . . .
  From this it may follow that (the unchanging)
Brahman is the (material) cause (of all subsequent
changes) . . . .j~naana means knowledge, conscious-
ness . . . . Consciousness is not dependent on
any other cause (for its revelation), for it is
by nature eternal (light)."

  Note: Later in this upaniShad, "aananda" is used
instead of "anaantaM" as being "Bliss". Swaami
Dayaananda explains that this Bliss is in the
nature of limitlessness or fullness. Therefore,
the equivalent of "satyaM j~naanam-anaantaM" is
(the nature of Brahman being) - sat (existence,
limitlessness), chit (awareness, consciousness,
knowledge), aananda (bliss, fullness, known content).

  A quote from "yoga vaasiShTha":

  tadaa stibhitigambhiiraM na tejo na tamastatam.h |
  anaakhyamanabhivyaktaM satki~nchidavashiShyate ||

  "What remains after dissolution is an unmoving and
ungraspable, unnamed and unnamable, unmanifest,
indefinite something, beyond light and darkness,
and all-pervading."

(To be continued)

dhanyavaadaH,
  Mantralaura

>From  Thu Feb 19 08:02:07 1998
Message-Id: <THU.19.FEB.1998.080207.0500.>
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 08:02:07 -0500
Reply-To: chandran at tidalwave.net
To: "Advaita (non-duality) with reverence" <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
From: Ram Chandran <chandran at TIDALWAVE.NET>
Organization: Personal
Subject: About Appaya Dikshita
Comments: To: Advaita List <Advaita-L at tamu.edu>
Comments: cc: "Jaldhar H. Vyas" <jaldhar at BRAINCELLS.COM>,
        "Vaidya N. Sundaram" <sundaram at ECN.PURDUE.EDU>
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Greetings Jaldhar and Vaidya:

Thanks for your excellent articles on Appaya Dikshitar.  Let me add some
additional observations on Appaya Dikshitar's contributions. He was the
guiding spirit of a movement in which he organized the services of a
large band of volunteers who could disseminate among the masses the
philosophy of Shiva advaita and the worship of Lord Siva. Dikshitar
believed in Saguna Brahman and according to him, the philosophy of
Advaita is the Grace of Siva! Though he is a great devotee of Siva, he
also worshipped "Varadaraja Perumal," temple deity at Kanchipuram, Tamil
Nadu.  He was a mighty intellect and he led a life of karmaa, bhakti and
jnaana, setting a model for posterity to follow. Interested readers can
refer to the following WEB sources for more details on Appaya Dikshitar.

I want to specifically thank Jaladhar for bringing Appaya dikshitar, the
great Tamil Saint to the attention of Advaita list members.

Bhakti Archives -- March 1997:
http://thondar.busi.utc.edu/bhakti/archives/mar97/0031.html
http://thondar.busi.utc.edu/bhakti/archives/mar97/0055.html

Hinduism Today: Issue 94-03: Article on - Saivism: Six Schools
http://www.spiritweb.org/HinduismToday/94-03-Saivism_Siva_Advaita.html


--
Ram Chandran
9374 Peter Roy Ct.
Burke, VA 22015
Ph: 703-912-5790