[Advaita-l] Unmanifest and its Secrets

[V Subrahmanian]

The term 'unmanifest' is more widely known in Vedanta to mean 'mAyA' /
prakRli.  The state of this shakti prior to manifesting as the observable
universe is given the name 'avyaktam'.  The vyaktam is the seen universe.
There are many verses to denote this in the Bh.Gita.  For example 8.18.
However, it is also not wrong to call the Supreme Brahman avyaktam,
unmanifest, because It does not become an object for sense perception.
This meaning is also found in a verse in the Bh.gita: 8.20 which reads:

parastasmAttu bhAvo anyo avyakto avyaktAt sanAtanaH
yaH sa sarveShu bhUteShu nashyatsu na vishashyati

Here the first occurring 'avyakta' denotes Brahman, the Supreme, which is
of a higher status than the second occurring term avyakta which denotes
mAyA.
While the former is the one which pervades everything in creation, and also
persists even when everything else has perished, being kUTastha nityam,
the latter is of a pariNAmi nityatvam.  It is the teaching of the 13th
chapter of the GitA  and the verse 2.16 of the BG that the former is satyam
and the latter mithyA, from the ultimate standpoint.  Both are unmanifest,
avyaktam, but in different senses.  So one should be careful about which
avyaktam one is talking about at a given juncture.

regards
subrahmanian.v




On Tue, Jul 2, 2013 at 11:30 AM, Sony Krishna Swamy <
sony.soman.pillai at gmail.com> wrote:

> Please read the article: Unmanifest and its Secrets written by Anand V.
> found here:
>
> http://advaita-space.org/77-advaita-articles/189-the-unmanifest-and-its-secrets
>
> We perceive the mundane world and live in it. We enjoy and suffer, get
> excited and dejected, live and die in it. The lives of most people pass
> away in their struggle to live in the mundane world. They never care to
> enquire about the other world or life after death. They give it a passing
> thought on encountering some failure or bereavement in their lives. But
> some discriminative people seriously think of death and the after life.
>
> Even most of them get satisfied with the description of heaven and hell,
> believe in them, stop their enquiry. Only a very few are really inquisitive
> of the Unmanifest. Their belief in the perceivable ‘Manifest’ is not firm,
> is shaky. They doubt its reliability. They yearn to know the ‘Unmanifest’
> that can put an end to all their troubles.
>
> The sublime truth is that this ‘Manifest’ universe has for its substratum
> the ‘Unmanifest’. The ‘Manifest’ includes all that can be perceived- the
> world, the body, senses, mind, intellect, prana (vital breath), ego and
> even Nescience or Avidya felt during deep sleep as ‘nothingness’. These can
> be otherwise described as the three bodies- the gross (sthula), subtle
> (sookshma) and causal (karana). The Unmanifest is pure consciousness or
> awareness that is the witness of all these. That is the ‘Unmanifest’ is the
> awareness that is simply aware of all these and their functioning. It is
> the light that illuminates the mundane world together with the mind-body
> –ego complex.
>
>
> The Vedas (Purusha Sooktha) says that while the ‘Manifest’ is confined to
> say ¼th of the creation, 3/4th of it is the ‘Unmanifest’. It further states
> that this 3/4th fraction (Unmanifest) abides as immortal, self effulgent
> divinity.
> The Lord too says in the Gita-
> “Or, what will you gain by knowing all this in detail, Arjuna? Suffice it
> to say that I stand holding this entire universe by a fraction of My yogic
> power. (10, 42) ”
> This proves that the ‘Manifest’ emerges, is sustained, nourished and merges
> back into the ‘Unmanifest’.
> The real nature of the soul as well as God is ‘Unmanifest’ consciousness.
> The Gita says on this-
> “ This soul is unmanifest; it is unthinkable; and it is spoken of as
> immutable. (2, 25)”
> On the nature of God the Lord says-
> “ Not knowing My unsurpassable and undecaying supreme nature, the ignorant
> believe Me, the supreme Spirit beyond the reach of mind and senses, the
> embodiment of Truth, Knowledge and Bliss, to have assumed a finite form
> through birth.”
> The Lord cautions us with His inherent great affection for us that we
> should not mistake Him as a finite, conditioned Super –personality. We
> should not confound Him to a finite being possessed of all powers. He can
> never ever be limited; for He is infinite immortal awareness. Any other
> belief contrary to this truth is self deception which is more pitiable than
> suicide. You may accept a beautiful enchanting form for the Lord to worship
> and meditate. But it should be carefully remembered that He is never
> limited to that form alone. He pervades everything everywhere and yet
> abides as the Transcendental Absolute never ever tainted by anything
> whatsoever. The Gita too speaks of this sublime truth when it says in the
> ninth chapter- 4th, 5th and 6th verses-
> “The whole of the Universe is permeated by Me as Unmanifest Divinity, and
> all beings rest on the idea within Me. Therefore, really speaking, Iam not
> present in them.
> Nay, all those beings abide not in Me; but behold the wonderful power of My
> divine Yoga; though the Sustainer and Creator of all beings, Myself in
> reality dwells not in those beings.
> Just as the extensive air, which is moving everywhere ever remains in ether
> (space), likewise know that all beings (who have originated from My
> thought) abide in Me.”
>
> In this same chapter the Lord again cautions us not to be deceived by His
> human semblance.
> “Fools, not knowing My supreme nature, think low of Me, the Overlord
> (Master) of the entire creation, who have put on the human semblance. (9,
> 11) “
> Finally Vedanta says that all creation (the Manifest) is unreal like the
> illusory serpent imagined on the real rope in semi darkness during the
> twilight period. Thus the ‘Unmanifest’ consciousness alone is real. All
> other things are perceived due to delusion or want of knowledge of the real
> nature of the Unmanifest. All creation appears due to the incomplete
> knowledge of their substratum. In other words only ‘awareness’ or the
> Unmanifest alone exists. The Gita voices this basic fundamental truth in
> the following manner-
>
>
>
> “The unreal has no existence, and the real never ceases to be.”
> All the charm, beauty and attractiveness perceived in the Manifest creation
> really come from the transcendental beauty of the ‘Unmanifest’. To be aware
> of this fact itself is to cherish, admire and adore the ‘Unmanifest’. The
> inspiring, enchanting beauty of any entity or object opens for us a portal
> to the Divine Transcendental Unmanifest for the time being. A glimpse of It
> is had. But to permanently abide in the Unmanifest conscious detachment and
> dispassion are much needed. Even the ego or personality should not entice
> oneself for that. This happens by the supreme grace of God. Till it
> happens, till we retrace our source restlessness and dissatisfaction are
> inevitable. Only the conscious knowledge of the ‘Unmanifest’ can bestow
> Supreme fulfillment and eternal satisfaction that we are ceaselessly
> hankering for. But the great paradox is that we are That even now. We ever
> abide as That ‘Unmanifest’. Only we have to recognize this soul elevating,
> sublime truth.
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Sony Krishna Swamy
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