[Advaita-l] Reconciling current research with Advaitic theory of mind

[Amuthan]

namo nArAyaNAya!

dear shrI pravIn bhaT,
  let me add a little to what you had written earlier.

On 2/24/07, Praveen <bhatpraveen_at_gmail.com> wrote:
> ...
> What I grasp from Tripura Rahasya is that the consciousness
> itself is split, so to say, into a still part of the mind and the
> moving part.
> ...

but one should be careful to distinguish between aha~NkAra, which
gives a semblance of continuity and stillness, and the actual essence
of the mind which is still. i believe you are referring to those
portions of the tripura rahasya which deal with presence of samAdhi at
each and every instant of life. this, when interpreted properly, is
acceptable to advaita. however, it is more systematically stated in
bhagavAn vyAsa's bhAShya (VB) on pAta~njala yoga sUtra-s (PYS) and its
vivaraNa (attributed to sha~Nkara). i quote the relevant portions
below (translations taken straight from trevor leggett's, emphasis
mine):
--------
bhAShya (for PYS 1.1):
'yogaH samAdhiH. sa cha sArvabhaumashchittasya dharmaH.'
'Yoga is samAdhi. It is a quality of the mind in **all** the five
mental states.'

bhAShya vivaraNa (for VB 1.1):
'sAmAnyabhUtatvAtsamAdheH. bhUmInAM cha visheShatvAt. yathA kShiptaM
tiShThati mUDhaM tiShThati vikShiptamekAgraM cheti kShiptAdi bhUmiShu
sthitiranuvartate sAmAnyam. **sthitishcha samAdhiH**.
tasmAtsAmAnyarUpaM sarvAsu bhUmiShu prAdhAnyena vartata iti.'

'Because samAdhi is common to all, whereas the other states are
distinct from each other. We say that now there is the impulsive
state, now there is dullness, now changeability and now
one-pointedness; all these states, while they last, have the common
character of persisting. **And persistence is samAdhi**. So it is the
common feature which exists as each one comes to predominate.'
--------

it is this character of the mind to persist which is observed as the
still part of the mind. by default, every time the mind is observed,
the aha~NkAra also simultaneously arises giving the notion '*i*
persist'. this is *not* the still part of the mind since it vanishes
during suShupti. samAdhi in the above quoted bhAShya and it's vivaraNa
refers to the innate stillness of the mind and is independent of
aha~NkAra.

vAsudevaH sarvaM,
aparyAptAmRtaH.