[Advaita-l] Unmanifest and its Secrets

[rajaramvenk at gmail.com]

In BhG 7.24, what do avyaktam and vyaktam refer to? 
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-----Original Message-----
From: Swami Sarvabhutananda <swami.sarvabhutananda at gmail.com>
Sender: "Advaita-l" <advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2013 15:58:28 
To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta<advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
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 <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Unmanifest and its Secrets

OM
Appreciate the understanding!
wishes nd love.
Swami Sarvabhutananda.


On Tue, Jul 2, 2013 at 12:53 PM, V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>wrote:

> 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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