[Advaita-l] The essence of advaita

[Ramanathan P]

--- prabha <prabhagc at gmail.com> wrote:

> I have been told that Advaita is different and gives
> you the most logical
> answer to the difficult questions. 

Prabha-ji, actually Advaita gives a logical "cannot be
explained" answer to some difficult question. Please
find out (from learned people here) what that question
is and whether it matches with yours, and why Advaita
considers anirvachaniya to be logical answer. 

>  how could the Atman which, in essence, is the same
infinite, 
> impenetrable, unaffected, unassailable, all-knowing
> Brahman be deluded into a miserable state? 

You should also find out why Brahman is said to be
unassailable, all-knowing, etc. These are terms that
are perfections of what applies to the mind-body-world
(jiva/jagat). To apply them to Brahman may have a
non-literal purpose. 

Similarly for your suggestion that Brahman is deluded
to a miserable state. If we speak of atman, then we
have preaffirmed jiva and jagat, and in the light of
scripture, we may say that the "jiva" is deluded; a
beginningless delusion for it is simultaneous with
"jiva" or "atman" (time, causation, etc correspond to
jiva-jagat alone). 

There is really no talk of Brahman at this stage,
except for intellectual guidance. Rather say ishvara,
maya, etc. which are valid assessments parallel to
atman/mind-body and "its" misery. To talk of Brahman
and duality simultaneously (or in a causal manner) may
be abuse of terminology and can lead to ill-founded
questioning. Verify such possibilities.

Ramanathan


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