Jivanmukti in advaita - Post 1

[elmec]

Hari Om,
Sri Gurubhyo namaha .

Jivanmukti in advaita by Vidyaalankaara Prof. S.K.Ramachandra Rao

Dharmatma Sri V.Vaidyasubrahmanya Iyer  Endowment Lectures  for  1978.

Lectures delivered in 1978 at Madras on the occasion of the Vardhanthi
of the then Jagadguru of Sringeri Sri Sri Abhinava Vidyathirtha
Mahasannidhaanam.

( I think I had wrongly mentioned it as the occasion of Shankara
Jayanthi, 1979. Sorry )

The book was published by  I B H  Prakashana, Gandhinagar, Bangalore,
for the Shankara Educational Trust, 'Navasuja', Raja Annamalai Puram,
Madras - 28.

This is the first assignment of this sort which I have taken up and I do
not know where to start and how much to reproduce here, because each and
every page is interesting, containing valuable information. However, I
shall first produce here some points at the beginning of the book as an
introduction and then go straight to the point upon which our discussion
revolves.

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

Traditional Indian thought, whether orthodox or otherwise, centres round
the idea of Liberation. Liberation from what ?  From 'Samsaara'. It is a
peculiar Indian word, which is hard to translate into any other
language. However, it can be roughly rendered as ' trans-migration '.
The idea is that we wander about aimlessly in this world, obtaining
innumerable births, and suffering untold miseries in the bargain. The
idea refers to our phenomenal existence and involvement.There is,
however, no suggestion that the world is wicked or that life is evil. In
fact, human life is regarded as a welcome opportunity for working out
ones destiny, for correcting ones errors, and for helping others. The
idea of Samsaara is by no means a crutch of the misanthrope ; it is a
charter for adventure.

Why then must one get liberated from it ?
...........................................
A sense of being a helpless victim caught in the blind vortex of
powerful undercurrents of karma looms large in human existence. This
dread and anxiety are inevitable aspects of Samsaara. A deliverance from
them is what is sough. In other words, the idea of liberation emphasizes
the bondage character of phenomenal invovement or "being-in-the-world",
an expression of the Existentialists. 'Being' is freedom, but,
'being-in-the-world' is bondage, for 'being' is then constrained,
confined and conditioned.....................

Death does not put an end to phenomenal existence. It is only a link in
the chain; it is only a door through which the individual will pass into
another unit of existence. ......................Liberation is an
attempt to snap this chain, by undoing the 'karma' potentiality and by
obviating its sourse,viz, the basic ignorance (avidya or
ajnaana)...............

Most thinkers think that the physical death, which marks the cessation
of phenomenal existence, is an inevitable pre condition for liberation,
provided the individual in the mean time has also relieved himself of
the karma-necessity and has removed the basic ignorance. This is
technically known as "Videha-mukti" or liberation after
death.....................................

There is another view, which insists that liberation has meaning only
when it is experienced during ones own life time. Liberation after death
can only be hypothetical and conjectural; and hence lacks experiential
certainty....................
That it is possible for one to be liberated even while phenomenally
existing.............is technically known as "jivan-mukti", liberation
while one is still alive..................This liberation is here and
now;.............From the moment of liberation till his death, he can
consciously experience the state of liberation. He can be in the world,
but not bound by it.

That it is possible for one to be freed from the fears and fetters of
phenomenal involvement here and now, while one is still
alive,.................is one of the grandest idea that human mind has
been able to conjure up.............it projects an integrated and
meaningful image of man's destiny, and provides the aspirant with
sufficient motivation............

A systematic formulation of the thory of 'jivan-mukti' as well as the
essential details of the practice involved in it was the work of great
Shankara (655-687 A.D.).................Advaita vedanta developed this
theory into a doctrine, which is undoubtedly the most significant of its
contributions to the world thought....................

(to be contd.)

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

 I will now skip the next few chapters (very reluctantly) and straight
away go to the point of why there are differences in the individual
lives of the jivanmuktas and their modes of conduct. The chapters
inbetween are so very interesting that I feel lke reproducing the whole
book here which is not possible. I recommend everybody to read this if
you are lucky enough to catch hold of a copy. ( I may require two -three
days time to make the next posting )

Regards,
Latha Vidyaranya
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