[Advaita-l] Meditation (dhyAna), knowledge (jnAna) etc. in Sankara's advaita

[Sundaresan, Vidyasankar (GE Infra, Water)]

>The difference between dhyAna (meditation) and jnAna (knowledge) is
quite
>subtle & Sankara makes it clear in Sutra bhAshya (1-1-4)that jnAna is
vastu
>tantra & dhyAna is purusha/kartru tantra. 
Dear Bhaskar,

No one disputes that jnAna is vastu tantra while dhyAna may not be.
However,
I think that many critics of dhyAna/yoga have not grasped the full force
of what
our bhagavatpAda says about citta vRtti nirodha and its relationship to
Atma-
vijnAna-smRti-saMtati (bRhadAraNyaka bhAshya 1.4.7). Needless to say,
that
leads to major misunderstandings about the term samAdhi also, but we
have
already gone over all that on this list, two or three times.

>Without knowing this subtle difference if we simply harp on these
>terminologies, there is no purpose served & noway we can deduce a
siddhAnta
>that goes in line with Sankara's advaita siddhAnta...

It seems to me that those who harp on the terminologies are the ones who
are
running scared of the shadow of pAtanjala yoga. They have grasped the
subtle
difference between vastu tantra jnAna and kartR tantra dhyAna, but they
have
NOT grasped the much higher level of subtlety where AtmajnAna and citta
vRtti
nirodha coalesce. They get caught up in the vidhi aspect of the
meditation issue
and throw out dhyAna along with the vidhi. They don't seem to understand
why
our bhagavatpAda not only says Atma-vijnAna-smRti leads to citta vRtti
nirodha,
but also gives a niyama vidhi status to it. 


Those who have understood this higher subtlety are the only ones who are
truly
in line with Sankara's advaita siddhAnta (in my opinion, of course...
you are free
to think otherwise).


There is no need to deduce a siddhAnta in line with Sankara's advaita
siddhAnta,
because Sankara's advaita siddhAnta is available for our direct grasp,
through the
*sum total* of his writings and through the teachings of his disciple
lineage.

>Anyway, as said above, this is only my understanding & I humbly submit
that
>I donot have even an iota of aversion on those who follow patanjala
yOga in
>the name of Sankara vEdAnta. 

Equally humbly, I would request you to share with us whom you have in
mind, as
examples of those who follow pAtanjala yoga in the name of Sankara
vedAnta.

Thanks,
Vidyasankar