[Advaita-l] chid-aabhaasa

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

Michael - PraNAms

Here is my understanding.

Brahman - is pure consciousness - one without a second. Hence it is infinite and part-less. It is pure existence - sat and pure consciousness - chit and limitless which is same as pure happiness.

If I see, know etc something other than Brahman, then that is not sat but not asat (non-existent either) and it is called mithyaa. Mithyaa  is not a conscious entity. Therefore anything that is not conscious entity is inert. Hence all mithyaa is inert. BMI is seen or known and therefore comes under mithyaa. Every mithyaa should have a basis for its existence and that existence part comes from Brahman only. Hence BMI IS  or the world IS - the is-ness comes from Brahman. In that sense all idams or objects and thus the world you see are superfically different but substantially nothing but Brahman - To have that 'vision' of Brahman in everything that I see or transact with is the knowledge.
 
Hence Body, Mind and Intellect all comes under 'idam' and 'known' and whatever that exists - the substantive is Brahman - the rest, the name and form is mithyaa - like pot on clay or ring on gold. Pot is nothing but clay but still pot is different from mass of clay - it has its own name and form different from jug which is also clay. Similarly all objects are nothing but names and forms on the substantive Brahman.

Mind and intellect - are part of subtle body - Being subtle they can reflect the light of consciousness much better than the gross body. The reflected consciousness in the intellect is called chidaabhaasa. The rest I have described in terms of knowledge takes place. For perceptuality condition (see the knowledge series) the existence of the object and the consciousness of the subject have to get 'united' for one to be conscious of the existence of the object. In that process vRitti or a thought arises - with reference to say pot - 'three IS a pot' and with reference to the knower of the pot - 'I know there IS pot' - called idam VRitti and aham VRitti. Both happen in the pool of intellect. The rest I have described in my previous post.

Hari Om!
Sadananda





--- On Thu, 2/26/09, Michael Shepherd <michael at shepherd87.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:

     
One further question about Panchadashi 8 and chid-aabhaasa please, since I
don't have the Sanskrit or a transliteration :

In such phrases as 'the intellect is inert' is 'buddhi' the word translated
intellect/intelligence ?

English blurs the distinction in translation between manas, buddhi and
chitta, with words like 'mind' or 'intellect', and it's rather vital to
understanding this operation of 'reflection'.

Michael




 


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