[Advaita-l] Fw: RE: Query [continued]

[Suresh Marur]

Question: "question if I am Brahman, then who is controlling my birth,
death, this
world, life, and infinite no. of activities that are happening?
And suppose we assume that I am Brahman, then By etymology I am
 Greatest. So am I controlling everything?"

My attempt for an answer:
The question is flawed from a Vedantic perspective. When the Shruti states,
"Aham Brahma Asmi", it is stating that the Aham which is "Sat Chit Ananda",
the core of your being is non-different from Brahman (that tat). We in our
ignorance super impose on the real "I" our mind, body, intellect (BMI) and
then ask the question -- does that mean that I (in this context the ego)
control everything"?

The whole process of Vedanta is to remove these superimpositions that is the
nature of Maya. Any understanding that does not conform to the Shruti must
come from our own ignorance, implying further sadhana and purification of
the mind. This comes from Shraddha and if we were to reject Vedanta because
it does not fit "my understanding", then the search ends there for the
individual.

The key is to refine our understanding so that ALL the Brahma vakyas make
consistent sense to us. Hence, we ought to be able to reconcile all the
statements, "Tat Tvam Asi", "Pragyanam Brahma", "Brahman Satyam, Jagat
Mithya, Brahmo Jeevaiva na parah" and "Aham Brahman Asmi". All contemplation
will lead us back to one of these Brahmaa vakyas...

Shri Sadananda has been writing wonderful articles in this mailist list
(titled "Perspectives") which are incredibly concise and is a great benefit
to any sadhaka who is committed to the Vedantic teaching. So starting
another thread to me seems redundant. We are better off critiquing his
commentaries and evaluate and debate our own understanding in that context.

Hope this helps.

Hari Om.

- Suresh

On Wed, Dec 9, 2009 at 10:34 AM, Shakthi Prashanth <
shakthi.prashanth at ymail.com> wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> Thank you so much for such a great response from all of you.
>
> But I have also heard an interpretation like this:
>
> "Aham Brahmasmi"
> ham - means reject-able            [in Sanskrit.]
> Aham - means Non-reject-able   [in Sanskrit.]
> Brahma - Greatest                    [in Sanskrit.]
>
> So, it comes to a conclusion that,
> The one which is Non-reject-able  is the Greatest.
>
> But that is not Me. Because, Narayanopanishat says
>  that,
> Padmakosha prateekasham hrudayachapyatho mukham
> Tasyaanthe suhiram sookhmam tasmin sarvam pratishtitam
>
> That means,
> There is just-born lotus flower being held inverted [pointing to heart],
> and there is pin point space in it which is omnipotent.
>
> My
> question if I am Brahman, then who is controlling my birth, death, this
> world, life, and infinite no. of activities that are happening?
> And suppose we assume that I am Brahman, then By etymology I am
>  Greatest. So am I controlling everything?
>
>
> Please answer this. I am very thirst to know about it.
>
> Shakthi
>
>
>
>
>      The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage.
> http://in.yahoo.com/
> _______________________________________________
> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
>
> To unsubscribe or change your options:
> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>
> For assistance, contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>