neti neti

[Gummuluru Murthy]

Namaste.

If an aspirant is in ajnAna and still says or thinks that he/she is
not in ajnAna, he/she is still in ajnAna, irrespective of what the
"claim" is. The "claim" does not matter. AjnAna/jnAna is not measured
by what a jeeva says or claims. I think it cannot be measured. A true
test of jnAni is to be oblivious to and above these measures.

On Wed, 25 Mar 1998, Anand Hudli wrote:

>  What I have been arguing for is a sincere acknowledgement
>  from every aspirant that he/she is afflicted by ajnaana and that
>  he/she needs to wipe out that ajnaana by means of jnaana. An

I do not deny that (please see further below). The only acknowledgement
jnAni makes is to the inner Self. To no one else, because there is nothing
else. That acknowledgement to inner conscience is all that matters.

I think there is a middle ground in this discussion. I get the
impression that each of us is pushing the other person's viewpoint to
one extreme (mis-reading that the other person is holding an extreme
view on that matter).

Anand is viewing me as saying "JeevAs are not afflicted by ajnAna,
and jeevAs can claim they are jnAnis, a consequence of which is
irrelevance of vedanta studies.". I never said that. What I am saying is
"At some stage in advaitic studies and contemplation (may not be in other
philosophies), an aspirant can let go of the thought "I am ajnAni". This
depends entirely on the spiritual evolution of the aspirant. The thought
"I am ajnAni" would  drop by itself (it seems to me) without any input or
effort by the jeeva in that direction."
Anand does not dis-agree with at least the first part of what I am saying,
as indicated by his response of yesterday. The second part (how the
thought "I am ajnAni" drops out) may be debatable.

I have read into Anand's statements that an aspirant has to make repeated
acknowledgements "I am ajnAni" and then only the aspirant is eligible to
"receive"(?) jnAna. Now, I read (correctly I hope) Anand saying that the
thought need not be held for ever. It is still not clear to me how and
when this thought would be dropped. Is it sudden, or gradual, voluntary,
or involuntary (of the jeeva).

I enjoyed reading the analogy of ajnAna with a disease and the need of
proper medication and discipline in getting rid of the disease. That is
a very nice one. Taking this analogy further, does that mean that we
are all roga-bhUyishhTa (born with disease of ajnAna) to start off ?

>
>  Anand
>

Regards
Gummuluru Murthy
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yadaa sarve pramucyante kaamaa ye'sya hr^di shritaah
atha martyo'mr^to bhavatyatra brahma samashnute   Katha Upanishhad II.3.14

When all the desires that dwell in the heart fall away, then the mortal
becomes immortal, and attains Brahman even here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------