[Advaita-l] Advaita-1)Body is the disease

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

> > Now who is ignorant? - very simple without going out all this rigmarole.
> > The one who does not understand that  I am Brahman is the one who is
> > ignorant of the fact that I am Brahman. Brahman means one without a second.
> >
> >
> I guess that cannot be the answer. Because, the moment one say "The one who
> does not understand..." makes that person himself ignorant, for he already
> sees difference between himself (who thinks he knows the answer) and other
> person who is asking that question. Since difference is due to avidya, the
> person answering comes automatically under the spell of avidya. So, this is
> really not an answer.
> 

Not if the person asking the question is the same as the person providing the answer.

Alternatively, the person asking (Sishya) sees the difference and is therefore under avidyA,
agreed. But the person answering (guru/Sruti) knows that the difference is not real, thus
avidyA is not real, and teaches the Sishya accordingly. Now it is up to the Sishya to remain
under the spell of avidyA or to cast it off and understand that there is no difference really
between oneself and the self of the guru, because difference itself does not really exist.

The choice of the Sishya is the difference between saMsAra and moksha. As long as you
accord reality to avidyA, so long does avidyA continue to keep you in its spell. The guru who
is brahmanishTha only accords so much value (not reality) to difference as required for the
momentum of prArabdha karma to dissipate. It is up to the Sishya to realize that as well.
 
Regards,
Vidyasankar