Jivan Mukti and Advaita

[Vaidya Sundaram]

namaskaram.
 funny that I recd this mail when I was typing my own in this regard!! anyways,
my question relates more to a criticism on non-advaitins on advaitic tenets -.
 the criticism is: if the person realsises His essential "non-dual" nature, he
is fully aware that HE ALONE EXISTS - rest all is only mAyA. However, there are
teachers of advaita - if they have attained advaitic reaisation of ONENESS< whom
do they teach it to? if they have not realised, are they teaching what they do
not fully understand?

 I was guessing that the answer to this is the obvious presence of Jivan muktas
- realised ones, whose bodies do exists in the phenomenal world (or vyavahara)
and hence they are both here and there

 sri shankara in His vivekachUdAmani discusses excellently about a jivan muktA
and His joy. (verses-529-545 or so ..) note esp. v 545: "inactive though acting;
experiencing fruits of actions, yet not enjoying them; though embodied, yet not
afflicted by the body; he is every where though localised" and verse 552 "
without attachments to the body, the jivan mukta moves about amidst objects of
enjoyment like a samsarin due to the vasanas wrought by the fruition of prArabda
karmas. He lives dumb like a witness unmoving like the nave of the wheel."

- this answer however, treads water, since we will be mixing the realms of
pAramArtika and vyavahArika ...
 I was hoping knowledgeable list members will throw light on this.
Thanks.
bhava shankara desikame sharaNam
Vaidya.




Ashish Chandra <ramkisno at HOTMAIL.COM> on 09/16/99 11:28:36 AM
Namaste All,

Some time back, I read a post here that said that Jivan Mukti is *essential*
for Advaitam. Could someone please post whether this has a scriptural basis
(did Adi Shankaracharya comment on this). Could you also explain why this is
held to be true, if at all it is so.

ashish

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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