[Advaita-l] waking, dreaming, sleeping, as mutually supportive

[Ramesh Krishnamurthy]

Dear Michael,

I did not really understand your question at all, but a few points:

There is really no such thing as an "experience" of turiya. The term
turiya is only used to indicate that which is common to, but not
affected by (and hence "transcends") the regular mental states such as
waking, dreaming and deep sleep. In short, turiya is nothing but the
Atman, which is present in all states. So if at all, we may say that
turiya is "experienced" all the time, in all our regular states.

If you claim to had a specific experience of turiya, it could have
been some kind of samadhi, perhaps a foretaste of samadhi. However,
samadhi per se is not mukti. Mukti in advaita is jnana only. Samadhi
when understood properly can be a powerful aid in assimilating jnana
(a beautiful example is provided in the book "Yoga Enlightenment &
Perfection of Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswaminah") but in itself it
is neither necessary nor sufficient.

Ramesh



2009/10/11 Michael Shepherd <michael at shepherd87.fsnet.co.uk>:
> I have aired this question before, and received answers that were
> immaculately Advaitic, but theoretical : i.e. all these states are part of
> maya, illusion; only Brahman is real..
>
> So I'll come at it from another angle. I have experienced turiya, the fourth
> state -- or a shadow or hint of it, not to make false claims. The experience
> was of blissful freedom, where all three states were present : the senses
> were fully present, but quiescent; the mind was present, but quiescent --
> and there was enough residual mind to be aware that there was total freedom
> as to whether to have a thought, or not...; and the rest was so profound
> that there was no need to close the eyes; after 24 hours without sleep, 20
> minutes of this was all that was needed.
>
> Such experiences only explain themseves fully over time. But it has raised a
> question, of -- in our normal level of daily consciousness -- to what extent
> these states are mutually supportive of sadhana.
>


-- 
na nirodho na ca utpattiḥ na baddho na ca sādhakaḥ I
na mumukṣur na vai muktaḥ ity eṣā paramārthatā II
-- Māṇḍūkya 2.30