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

[Bhaskar YR]

Humble sAshtAnga praNAms Sri Vidya prabhuji
Hare Krishna

Sri Vidya prabhuji :

We can all sit and talk or write about Atman and brahman
and we can intellectually appreciate the thrust of
"vijnAtAram are kena vijAnIyAt". But do we really grasp
it the way Sankara intends (anubhava-avasAna)? In other
words, are we indulging in an academic discussion of
philosophy or are we seeking liberation? Assuming the
latter, I feel we do have to pay attention to yoga. And
given all the contradictory opinions there are about yoga
and its relationship to vedAnta, it behoves us to examine
the issue without prejudice.

bhaskar :

How true these statements are!!  yes, prabhuji, I whole heartedly agree
with your observation...we are all simply engaging ourselves in defending
our own prejudices in one way or the other...we are (atleast me) not really
trying to intuitively assimilate our AchAryOpadesha..I do agree with you
that mere mental gymnastics do not get us anywhere..However, since we are
trying to adopt the teachings of our mUlAchArya it is better to know what
exactly his teachings are..I think this is a genuine interest of a sincere
aspirant who want to follow his mUlAchArya-s teachings to the core.  I dont
say here,  after shankara, advaita Acharya-s taught entirely a different
thing or methodology ...But these Acharya-s, by mutually contradicting
themselves,  presented their siddhAnta & declared in a manner like : this
alone is exclusively the real meaning or import of the original
bhAshya...what a jignAsu should do under these circumstances ??  I think,
it is not a big crime to going back to mUlAchArya's work for certain
clarification. May that be about the concept of avidyA, utility of yOga,
experience of NS etc....By going in this direction, I think we can arrive
at a proper well knit and systamatically organized way of teaching of our
mUlAcharya without getting confused with mutually contradictory
vyAkhyAna-s. Again, I am not saying here by following other vyAkhyAna-s we
are not going to get Atma jnAna...But someone (you can point your finger at
me :-)) wants to attain that jnAna through the teachings of bhagavatpAda,
though later vyAkhyAna-s are equally capable of eradicating one's ajnAna.

Sri Vidya prabhuji :

This is exactly what I mean by getting hung up on terminology.
Sankara bhagavatpAda does not have to use the word samAdhi
in his discussion at bRhadAraNyaka 1.4.7 at all. However,
where do you think the term citta vRtti nirodha comes from
and what do you think is its relationship to samAdhi?

bhaskar :

When context is different & when terminology also not used where it is
intended, then what are we going to achieve with superfluous interpretation
(like vyAkhyAna I quoted y'day) prabhuji. For example when pUrvapaxi here
clearly saying chitta vRutti nirOdaha is a *tantrantara*..what is the need
for us to knit this in vEdAnta??  prabhuji dont you think here shankara
saying that nirOdha (if at all it is required) will automatically happens
after the dawn of Atma vijnAna??  Dont you find any significant difference
between this contextual usage of chitta vRutti nirodha in shankara bhAshya
& classical PY's declaration *yOgAh chitta vrutti nirodha??

Sri Vidya prabhuji :

Regarding your quotation of a vyAkhyAna with respect to samAdhi and
saMyama, I will post separately.

bhaskar :

As always, you are very kind to me prabhuji..Kindly do share your thoughts
on this vyAkhyAna.  And if possible, I also request you to share your
thoughts on paNchadashi's verses 53 to 61 in the first chapter.

Your humble servant
Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar