[Advaita-l] additional doubts!!

[Satish Arigela]

Can you please avoid the God word? The word is both misleading and annoying at 
times.
I recommend using the words brahman or Ishvara, or something similar.

{{And further this would prompt us to say, anybody, at any point of time through 
any 

means can get this realization..this stand  goes against the convictions 
held by sampradAyavit-s.}}

In theory this seems to be a possibility. But very rarely does this happen.

>finally, can a person be a non-dual jnAni but still a nAstika

What is your understanding of the word Astika & nAstika? A thiest and an 
atheist? If so then there is lot of misunderstanding.

In India and Indic traditions the two words have the following meaning: Astika - 
who accepts the authority of veda-s. nAstika - Those who dont accept the veda-s.

In India and in Indic-traditions(i.e Astika traditions + bauddha + jaina + 
tribal)) elsewhere in the world, a nAstika is not an atheist. He/She will 
believe in many devata-s, mantra, tantra etc. So he might attain chiita shuddhi 
by worshipping his own(many times these devata-s overlap or just a variation of 
various AstIka devata-s) set of devata-s. So now since he has chitta shuddhi he 
may be ripe for brahma GYAna if he has other qualifications and the GYAna might 
dawn on him, under some favorable circumstances. No one can tell for sure.

What about those who are atheists in the western sense. - I currently do not 
have an answer but I seriously doubt such kind getting anywhere close.

>dont we have any jnAni-s outside hindu Astika saMpradAya ??

Very hard to tell and no way to verify. Only a GYAni might be able to recognise 
his kind.

{{(c) prior to jnAna, is it mandatory requirement for the advaita sAdhaka to 
believe in god's existence & to have unconditional faith in sacred hindu 
scriptures or whether he has to  be a hard core theist ?? }}

Again usage of the word god and theist is problematic and best avoided.

I think some traditional vedAntin-s do hold such a position.