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

[Bhaskar YR]

praNAms Sri Sadananda prabhuji
Hare Krishna


1. There is nothing other than Brahman, by definition.

>  Yes, shruti also says this sarvam khalvidaM brahma, satyan chAnrutaMcha 
satyamabhavat, yadidaM kiMcha..

2. Hence if some thing apparently exists the locus for it cannot but be 
Brahman.

>  Yes, if anything apparently exists the Ashraya for it is nothing but 
that brahman only. 

3. If ignorance is root cause for karma which forms the basis for 
creation, then the locus for ignorance cannot but be Brahman since there 
is nothing else other than Brahman.

>  here we have to make a note that, according to sl.no. (1) above, not 
only ignorance, creation, jeeva everything is brahman only there exists 
nothing apart from THAT. 

4. At the same time Brahman cannot be locus for anything, since Brahmna is 
infinite homogenous pure existence-consciousness. 

> Yes, this is pAramArthika svarUpa of brahman, but when shruti talks 
about srushti, Ishwara, jeeva etc. the originatation would goes back to 
root cause that is ekamevAdviteeya brahma. 

5. Hence Brahman cannot be locus either for ignorance or for opposite of 
it - Jnaanam.

>  Yes, there is no jnAnAjnAna vyavahAra in Atman / brahmas as it is sarva 
vikAra rahita, nirvishesha brahman. But at the same time siddhAnta says 
there is no second chaitanya that can be called bhrAnta. 


6. Hence Brahman is neither sarvajna or ajnaani.

>  and sarvajna Ishwara or the ajnAni jeeva in reality nothing but that 
brahman only. bangle, necklace etc. gold only but gold is neither bangle 
nor necklace. 

7. Statements 2 and 3 and 5 and 6 are not really contradictory, even if 
they appear to be so.

>  Yes, considering the fact that Atman is only one without the second.

8. The apparent contradiction is resolved if we recognize that 
ontologically Brahman and avidya/jnaanan are not of the same order of 
reality.

>  the apparent contradicition can be resolved if we correctly understand 
the sUtra bhAshya vAkya : brahma svabhAvO hi prapanchaHa na cha prapancha 
svabhAvO brahma. 



9. Brahmna with maaya is Iswara who can be sarvajna and being Iswara he is 
maayaavi or wielder of maayaa. Hence it is under his control. At this 
stage it is better to call maayaa only than avidya (out of respect for 
Iswara).

> yes, I agree prabhuji..And equating mAya with avidyA atleast in this 
context totally unwarranted..


10. In the creation process, there is anupravesha statement, after 
creating the various lokas and various bodies depending on the karma, 
Brahman AS THOUGH enters as jiiva. In essence the Brahman (all pervading 
pure consciousness) get reflected by the subtle body as chidaabhaasa. 
Subtle bodies are many and therefore reflections are many. 

>  And as we have observed earlier, parama siddhAnta from all this 
shrushti para shruti-s is nothing but kArya-kAraNa anayatvaM or 
AtmaikatvavAdam. 


10. After entering Brahman - AS THOUGH - forgets his real nature due to 
anaadi avidya and identifies with the upaadhis that are refection the 
consciousness as the original consciousness. It is like moon considering 
himself to be self-luminous body in the sky not knowing the luminosity is 
due to reflection of the original sunlight. 


11. The wrong notions are with the chidaabhaasa - not with Brahman nor 
with Iswara. 

>  Well said prabhuji, as per Sl.No. 3 above, ghatAkAsha is nothing but 
that mahAkAsha only. 

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. 

>  yes, this is what shankara says 4.1.3 sUtra bhAshya. 

Hence anyone feels he is an individual separate from the rest of the 
world, is the one who has ignorance. His ignorance includes not knowing 
who he is and what is this world and who is Iswara. All questions get 
resolved when He understands using tat tvam asi - statement that I am 
Brahman - aham brahmaasmi. He will also understand there is or was really 
no ignorance to begin with - na ca mastaani bhuutaani, pasyam me 
yogamaiswaram.

>  Again, I fully agree with this prabhuji. 

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar