New member introduction: Jitendra Paul

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Thu, 3 Oct 2002, vaidya_sundaram at i2.com wrote:

> I do not know how I will introduce myself. I do not have any knowledge
> about
> Advaita Vedanta. But I am a seeker of the TRUTH.

Well done. This is the first and foremost prerequisite to knowing anything.

> I do not know meditation, I do not know how to fall in Samadhi. But I know
> God cannot be realised through this mind. HE can only be realised when the
> body-consciousness and all the functions of the mind can be stopped. This
> is
> my belief. I believe God is infinite and we can think with the mind about
> the finite things only. So it is not possible to realise god with the help
> of mind which can think only finite objects.
>

You might like to read some conversations we've had on this topic in
recent months.

Samadhi is orthogonal to the goal of Advaita Vedanta which is moksha.  The
functions of the mind cannot be stopped  (short of death or a coma. etc.)
At best the yogis can temporarily arrest them.  This is called samadhi.
And it is useful insofar as it gives stability or tranquility for pursuit
of the real goal.  But we Advaitins do not believe it can be a permanent
state.  To achieve moksha one must have jnana -- the total and unshakeable
belief that all names and forms are one only -- with or without samadhi.

--
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
It's a girl! See the pictures - http://www.braincells.com/shailaja/