[Advaita-l] Advaita vEdAnta - Unit (31)

[Krishnamurthy Ramakrishna]

In Unit 28, we studied turIya
In Unit 29 and 30 we reviewed the pancha kOsha - the five sheaths
surrounding the jIva; arrived at jIva as a sAkShi in the vyaShTi realm.
In Unit, we will continue with exploring who jIva is?

Now we have to understand who is this sAkShi or witness experiencing the
activities of the segregate (vyaShTi) body of five layers. So far we have
rejected that the jIva is none of the five  - aA, pA, mA, vA or AA - of the
vyaShTi jIva. But his existence cannot be negated. So now we will have to
turn our attention towards the samaShTi (aggregate) jIva. Let us review an
example to understand the relation between vyaShTi and samaShTi jIva.
There are multiple water drops on a surface. The sun is reflected in each of
the water drops. There are multiple reflections of sun. Each reflection is
vyaShTi. After a while, the multiple drops of water coalesce to form a
puddle. Now we see a single reflection of sun. There is no difference
between the reflected sun in each drop of water vs. the reflected sun in the
puddle of water. The reflected sun in the puddle of water is the samaShTi
(aggregate) reflection of the vyashTi reflections in each drop of water and
there is no difference between the vyaShTi and samaShTi reflections.
Likewise the body (and hence five layers) of the vyaShTi jIva is made of the
five elements - AkAsha etc. The bodies of all jIvas is made out of the same
five elements. Therefore, there is no reason to separate out and claim an
individual body as his body. The jIva is not only the body he is encased in,
he is also encased in all other bodies. Therefore the bodies of all jIvas is
his body (compares to reflected sun in the puddle) - samaShTi body. So the
Jiva has to identify himself with the annamaya kOsha of the samaShti body.
That means he has shed the limited identification (association with sarvAtma
bhAva). Now from the identification with the samaShTi annamaya kOsha, he has
to reject that he is not the samaShTi aA, then on to rejecting he is not the
samaShTi pA, samaShTi mA, samaShTi vA (mahat tatva - the intellect of
hiraNya-garbha), and finally samaShTi AA (hiraNya-garbha). Finally the jIva
is not even the samaShTi AA, because the shruti says that the enjoyment (of
bliss) of hiraNya-garbha is a fraction of the bliss of Brahman (tE yE shatam
prajApatEh AnandAh, sa EkO brahmaNa Anandah - taittirIya upanishat, dvitIya
prashna ). So he rejects that he is not hiraNya-garbha; he comes to the firm
cognizance that he is the tail (support) and ego of hiraNya-garbha, who is
no other than Brahman (brahma puccham pratiShTa). The jIva who has this firm
cognizance and experience is a jnyAni and is the Brahman. The process of
negation of samaShTi entities is described in the illustration below.

sAkShi -> reject (he is) samaShTi annamaya Atma -> reject (he is) samaShTi
prANamaya Atma  -> reject (he is) samaShTi manOmaya Atma -> reject (he is)
samaShTi mahat tatva -> reject (he is) hiraNya-garbha  -> Brahman.

Jiva realizing this Brahman is the culmination of the spiritual discipline,
we discussed very early in the study and repeated below; practice the
discipline of sAdhana chatuShTaya - four step discipline of vivEka,
vairAgya, shamAdi shat sampat and mumukShatva. 

1)	shravaNa - learning scriptures through a teacher
2)	manana - reflecting on and confirming the knowledge learnt through
scriptures
3)	nidhi-dhyAsana - internalizing the knowledge of scriptures through
contemplation
" vijAtIya dEhAdi-pratyaya-rahita advitIya-vastu sajAtIya pratyaya pravAhah
nidhidhyAsanam - the train of thoughts focuses on (at the level of ) the
non-dual Brahman, excluding the non-Brahman entities like body etc. is
nidhidhyAsana or contemplation.

1)	In this process, the seeker uses bhAgalakShaNa to understand 'tat'
and 'tvam'.
2)	the meaning of the three words (tat, tvam and asi) are the same;
they are all describing the Brahma chaitanya (Pure Consciousness)
3)	The adhikAri - one who has qualified through the pre-requisites
(vivEka, vairAgya, shama-damAdi shat sampatti and mumukShatva) and matured
in shravaNa and manana - resolves to the following;

jIva -> reject annamaya Atma -> reject prANamaya Atma -> reject manOmaya
Atma -> reject vijnyAnamaya Atma -> reject Anandamaya Atma -> experience
sAkShi or witness;
sAkShi -> reject samaShTi annamaya Atma -> reject samaShTi prANamaya Atma ->
reject samaShTi manOmaya Atma -> reject samaShTi vijnyAnamaya Atma -> reject
samaShTi Anandamaya Atma -> Brahman.

He then comes to experience the following;
a.	I am nitya - ever present
b.	I am shuddha - free from ajnyAna
c.	I am buddha - opposed to inert, self-luminous, and of the nature of
knowledge
d.	I am mukta - freed from all upAdhis, always free
e.	I am satya - indestructible and not void
f.	I am paramAnanda - all the pleasures from sense objects to
chaturmukha Brahma are action derived pleasures; are therefore temporary and
short lived. Brahman exceeds all these in bliss; I am paramAnanda.
g.	I am ananta - limitless, not limited by space and time.
h.	I am advaya - there is no second object other than me.
i.	I am Brahman - I am that -'tat', described by the guru; "aham
BrahmAsmi".

*** These uninterrupted or unbroken thought waves rise in the mind like
waves of ocean ***

When these thought waves of Brahman remove the ajnyAna that he is different
from the Pure Consciousness Reality or parabrahman, then all the upAdhis
drop off; just as a cloth burns when the threads making up the cloth are
burnt, so the ajnyAna is destroyed. When the ajnyAna is destroyed, all its
effects (kArya) are destroyed; with the kArya, even the waves of thoughts of
Brahman are also destroyed (in the supreme non-dual state, there is no room
foe even thoughts of non-duality; otherwise it is opposed to shruti and a
violation of advaita). The logic is as follows.
Just as the light from a lamp unable to illuminate sunlight, looses its
luster (merges with the sunlight), similarly, in the midst of the waves of
Brahman, the luster displayed by consciousness experienced by the waves of
thoughts, will not be able to illumine the Brahman, he is, and will loose
its luster (merge with the illumination of Brahman). The waves of thoughts,
being upAdhi to the consciousness will be lost. With this, Brahman, which is
not different from pratyagAtma (jIvAtma) alone remains.

In the next unit, we will review samAdhi.

Om shAntih, shAntih, shAntih 

( Om peace, peace, peace).