[Advaita-l] advaitaanubhuti and aparokshanubhuti

[Amuthan]

namo nArAyaNAya!

dear shrI kRShNa chaitanya,

--- King Krsna <krsnachaitanya_at_yahoo.co.in> wrote:
>   
>   What is aparokshanubuti?  Is Advaitaanubhuti same
> as  aparokshanubuti?  What does anubhuti in
> advaitaabuhuti  means?  Does that really mean
> experience or some thing else?   If it is
> experience, then what is the 'thing' that is being
> experienced  and 'who' is the one experiencing?
>     

anubhUti is the condition of being the self.
aparokShAnubhUti is a condition where there is no
wrong superimposition on the self. it is the same as
advaitAnubhUti as far as advaita vedAnta is concerned.


a clarification is necessary here. strictly speaking,
we are always the self. hence, anubhUti is ever
present and is not something new. however, we normally
identify our self with the body-mind-intellect-ego
complex (a personality in short) because of avidyA.
with reference to this false identification,
aparokShAnubhUti is the state where all such limiting
conditionings disappear and when we remain just as the
true self. 

to put it in other words, from a pAramArthika dRShTi
(absolute viewpoint), there is no such thing as
'aparokSha' anubhUti. brahman alone is. however, from
a vyAvahArika dRShTi, aparokShAnubhUti can be
identified with a state where our personality vanishes
(even if the state is temporary) and when the ever
present truth shines forth. when the mind emerges
back, the fact that we were always the self is
'imprinted' on it. 

it is for this reason that the word 'anubhUti', which
itself refers to the condition of being the self, is
qualified with the word 'aparokSha'. it is intuitive,
direct and self-evident as against any bookish
knowledge that we are brahman. 

all of us have 'parokSha' anubhUti even now, for we
have never doubted our own existence. this becomes
'aparokSha' anubhUti when our personality is
destroyed. thus, anubhUti always exists.

since aparokShAnubhUti is the condition of being the
self without superimposing anything else on the self,
there is no such thing like an experiencer, an object
that is experienced or an experience in
aparokShAnubhUti.  
 
--- King Krsna <krsnachaitanya_at_yahoo.co.in> wrote:
>
>     Can advaita tatva be explained by logic?  If not
> how far can shaastras take you to in attaining
> aparokshabuti?
>     

advaita cannot be explained completely based on logic.
the truth of advaita is self-evident (svataH siddham).
logic, however, can be effectively used if we accept
some basic tenets of advaita as true based on faith. 

as explained earlier, anubhUti is something that is
always present. for an uttamAdhikAri, shAstropadesha
can directly remove aj~nAna and hence cause
aparokShAnubhUti. for others, shAstra-s can give the
necessary j~nAna (in this case, parokSha j~nAna) and
vairAgya to attain aparokShAnubhUti. 

--- King Krsna <krsnachaitanya_at_yahoo.co.in> wrote:
>
>     You have the firm conviction in shaastras and
> then ( or Guru with the  help of shaastras ) explain
> advaita tattva and you have to complete  what you
> have heard (from Guru) by experiencing it in 
> nididhyaasana.  Is this right?  What do you get by 
> nididhyaasana?  Is that aparokshanubuti?  How is 
> aparokshanubuti connected to Moksha?  Is it one and
> the same?
>     

for normal people (= non-uttamAdhikArI-s),
nididhyAsana is necessary for aparokShAnubhUti.
nididhyAsana is essentially a process of removing
avidyA. aparokShAnubhUti is the culmination of this
effort.

from a pAramArhika dRShTi, mokSha is the very nature
of the self. hence, it is ever present and is the same
as anubhUti. from a vyAvahArika dRShTi, mokSha is the
destruction of avidyA and hence is the same as
aparokShAnubhUti.

--- King Krsna <krsnachaitanya_at_yahoo.co.in> wrote:
>
>     Can this aparokshanubuti be given to a disciple
> by Guru just out of  grace.  Can this be attained
> even without the earlier two stages  of Sravana and
> Manana.  Where does the advaitaanubhuti experience 
> give to Swami Vivekananda by Sri Ramakrishna fall in
> these whole scheme  of things?
>   

yes, a guru can destroy avidyA by his grace alone. as
mentioned earlier, with the destruction of avidyA,
aparokShAnubhUti results naturally. 

in the rarest of cases, aparokShAnubhUti may occur
without shravaNa and manana. a perfect example of this
type is ramaNa maharShi. (some say that he finished
his shravaNa, manana and nididhyAsana in his previous
lives.)

regarding svAmi vivekAnanda, it's quite possible that
he had aparokShAnubhUti the moment paramahaMsa touched
him on his chest. it is rare indeed to have such a
perfect disciple and such a perfect guru. it is
certainly not impossible since traditionally it is
accepted that dakShiNAmUrti imparted the knowledge of
the self to sanaka etc. through silence alone. if it
is possible through silence, it is certainly possible
through a touch :-)  

vAsudevaH sarvaM,
aparyAptAmRtaH. 


		
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