[Advaita-l] 'Ishwaro'ham' and 'IshwarabhAvaH'

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

> 
> Once his mind comes back to normal from the state of devotion, the form
> re-appears. <quote>Then, the form of Narasimha reappeared and My breathing
> resumed.....I now felt extremely intimate with Narasimha. </quote>
> 
> Mahaperyava explains that he saw the lord in the place of his disciple when
> he was in trance. 

 

The event being talked about here is a case of mantra-siddhi for a master yogi. It
cannot easily be equated with bhakti in the kind of philosophical stance that you
are taking. At least, it is unclear to me how you can draw equivalences for bhakti
with stages along a yogic path.

 

On another note, perhaps you can see from this account why we advaitins naturally
put our gurus on a pedestal. It still does not mean that we elevate them over the
gods. 

 

> RV: Please read carefully what Sankara says. He is a paroksha jnani who is
> on the path to the supreme brahman. <quote> 'I am verily Vasudeva, the
> Lord, and none else', that man of Knowledge asthitah, *is set on the path
> leading to*, he is engaged in ascending to, going to; mam eva, Me alone, *to
> the supreme Brahman;* who am the anuttamam gatim, super-excellent Goal to
> be reached. </quote>


Whichever way one interprets it, again, it is unclear what you are driving at. The 
basic issues of formlessness vs. your notion of eternal form still remain.

 

Vidyasankar