[Advaita-l] Fw: anubhava

[bhaskar.yr at in.abb.com]

praNAms
Hare Krishna

Y'day posted but not appeared in the list...Hence, reposting...

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar


----- Forwarded by Bhaskar YR/BAN/INABB/ABB on 05/23/2007 08:45 AM -----
                                                                                                   
                                                                                                   
                05/22/2007        Bhaskar YR/BAN/INABB/ABB                                         
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                               Subject:  Re: [Advaita-l] anubhava(Document link: Bhaskar YR)     
                                                                                                 



This information is contained in the shAstras, presumably here the tantra
shAstra. HH went on to say that this information is also *anubhava-siddha*,
meaning there have been real life examples where people did the prayoga for
a shloka and got the stated
benefit.

praNAms
Hare Krishna

This reminds me HH Sri Bharati Tirtha mahAsannidhAnaM's (Jagadguru,
DakshiNamnaya, Shrungeri Sharada Pita) anugraha vachana last Saturday at
Shankara Mutt, Bangalore where other pITAdhipati-s (uttara, pUrva,
paschima) & Yedathore Shankara bhArati swamiji  etc.  were also present &
gracing the occassion of vEdAnta Vidvat gOshTi.     HH said during the
discourse that all other schools of thought  including nAstika and Astika
darshana, do find support from shruti vAkya-s for the propagation of their
respective theories...Even those who do not believe in vEda prAMANya
(nAstika school like  bouddhA-s) just to substantiate their claims do show
references from our scriptures  itself like *asadvA* idamagra Asit etc.
Likewise, even dualistic schools holding the *same* shruti as pramANa &
declaring that what they teach is indeed *real* vEdic siddhAnta*
....Despite seeming controversies in shruti-s, HH concluded in his
discourse that *shankara's advaita siddhAnta* is what the *final verdict*
of shruti-s.   It was an enlightening *anugraha vachana* from
mahAsannidhAnaM.  HH Sri Nishchalananda Swamiji  too gave a forceful
presentation of shankara siddhAnta.

After coming back from this function, I was just  wondering what exactly
makes *shankara* special among all the other great Acharya-s (like
rAmAnuja, madhva, chaitanya mahAprabhu etc.)  of vEdic saMpradAya.   The
immediate thought came to my mind in the form of consoling answer is :
other Acharya's siddhAnta is kEvala shraddhA mAtra & can be verified only
after janmAtara, lOkAntara & kAlAntara but my AchArya bhagavatpAda's
siddhAnta is *anubhavagamya* vEdAnta, its efficacy  can be realized HERE
and NOW!!!  The Acharya-s from other schools believed *shruti vachana* to
be pramANa and merely on the basis of this *blind faith* they have
propagated their siddhAnta & asked their disciples to goto some mysterious
lOka-s like golOka vrundAvana, vaikunTa, kailAsa to get the
mOksha...Whereas, shankara, the great teacher,  unlike other Acharaya-s,
with a clear tone declared that 'just like the rest of the pramANa-s
(pratyaksha, anumAna) , shAstra  is also a pramANa and therefore the main
purport it signifies should necessarily be in consonance with anubhava
(universal intuitive experience) alone...Shruti & shankara's speciality
exactly lies here..they never asked us to believe anything blindly......I
think shankara, who is a staunch sanAtana dharma follower, is the first
person to declare that  " if the shruti vAkya is opposed or contradictory
to anubhava or yukti (in consonance with anubhava) then that shruti vAkya
can never be a pramANa at all "   See shankara how boldly makes this
revolutionery statement in gIta bhAshya ' na hi shruti shatamapi
shItOgniprakAshO vEti bruvatprAmANyamupaiti' - even if a hundred shuti-s
say that fire is cold and not shining, they (shruti-s) can not hold any
validity.  I think this clearly shows how rational shankara was in his
siddhAnta pratipAdana.

Shankara never ever demanded his followers  to believe in something ONLY
coz. shAstra telling it !!  Even to prove our ultimate nature i.e. yEkamEva
advitIyatva, shankara sticked to lOkAnubhava & never said since shAstra is
telling *ahaM brahmAsmi*, *tattvamasi* etc. you have to believe that  with
mere shraddhA in shAstra vAkya!!!  For example in mAndUkya upanishad
bhAshya   shankara takes the example of sushupti  to prove how Atman is
advitIya & says that the chaitanyarUpa does not change whatsoever under any
circumstances.  To a question that in  deep sleep even this consciousness
disappears ?? shankara answers, No, coz. this state is also being
experienced!!!...(sushupta syAnubhUyamAnatvAt)....See, how he explains
upanishadic mahAsiddhAnta with common experience of sushupti...has he asked
here to undergo any special experience like sAkshAtkAra, samAdhi etc. to
experience this non-dual nature of ours ?? has he forced us to believe
blindly the advitIyatva of Atman ONLY coz. shAstra telling it??  has he
said " no this advitIyatva can be realized only after sometime, at some
place in the subsequent janma/s not here & now ?? No, he has simply taken
the common experience of everybody & analysed it with sAkshi vivEka to make
things simpler & more anubhavAtmic :-))

My few thoughts....

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar