[Advaita-l] Shortest Sentence in English is a Mahaa Vaakya?

[RAMESH RAMANAN]

Pranams to Venkatesh Murthyji,
i agree with Sreenivasa Murthygaru when he says that the sign itself is not the destination, but only a pointer to a destination. That is why, Sri Ramana dissuaded his disciples from repeating or chanting soham, shivoham, etc., as mantras, instead of pursuing self-enquiry as a discipline. He advised many of his disciples to spare just enough time for self-enquiry, as much as they devote to prayer and meditation and promised them that a diligent and ceaseless practice of self-enquiry would definitely repay one's time spend on it. But your view of considering 'i am' as a Mahavakya is quite interesting. I enjoyed reading your post on the subject. Sri Krishna says in Verse 22 of Chapter 10 of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita:"I am the Consciousness or Intelligence Principle among human beings." Now, when you analyze this carefully, we find that inside our human bodies, we are the consciousness, as we are not the body, mind, intellect or senses. Therefore, as Sri Krishna says that he is the consciousness in human beings and as logically, there can not be two consciousnesses in a single human body, we are absolutely identical with  Sri Krishna, according to this verse. Therefore, though the topic of issue of self-enquiry or atma Vichara is not a new one (many Upanishads do touch upon self-enquiry), we are indebted to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi for expounding it in such great detail, as the same was hidden in aphorisms and in Sanskrit Literature, not easily accessible to all of us. 
Just some view of mine. 

Pranams, 
Ramesh Ramanan. 

     On Monday, 16 March 2015, 12:18, Venkatesh Murthy via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
   

 Namaste
On Mon, Mar 16, 2015 at 11:45 AM, sreenivasa murthy <narayana145 at yahoo.co.in
> wrote:

>
>    One can accept it as a mahavakya. But what is the use? It will add
> some more weight to the already carrying burden in the mind. That is
> all. Does mere acceptance of a mahavakya confer upon him Atmajnaa? Until
> and unless one becomes AvRuttacakShuH he cannot cognize the vastu
> viz.,one's true svarUpa and thereby he will never get Atmajnana. A
> mumukshu's sadhana should be directing his attention to that which exists
> prior to the appearance of the varna, word, phrase and sentences.
> Do you agree?
>

I agree words and sentences will not themselves give Atma Jnana because
Upanisad also says 'Yato Vacho Nivartante Aprapya Manasa Saha' the Atmaa
cannot be described in words and understood by mind. But Mahaa Vaakyas can
point to Atmaa.

Like you see a sign in the road. If you follow the sign it will take you
destination. But the sign is not the destination. By seeing that sign you
cannot say you have reached destination. Similarly the Mahaa Vaakyas should
be Heard, Reflected and Meditated. Then you will get Atma Jnana. Following
the Sravana, Manana and Nididhyasana of Mahaa Vaakyas will give Atma Jnana.

I agree also simply listening to Mahaa Vaakyas and repeating like it Mantra
will not be useful. Reflection and Meditation are very necessary. Without
them there will not be Atma Jnana.

In Advaita tradition the Mahaa Vaakyas are playing an important role. The
senior Swamiji will give Mahaa Vaakya Upadesha to junior Swamiji. The
Brahma Jnana will be from Sravana Manana Nididhyaasana of the Mahaa Vaakya
only. Because of this the Swamijis become Jeevan Muktas.




> With warm and respectful regards,
> Sreenivasa Murthy
>


>
>  ------------------------------
>  *From:* Venkatesh Murthy via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
> *To:* A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
> *Sent:* Monday, 16 March 2015 10:23 AM
> *Subject:* [Advaita-l] Shortest Sentence in English is a Mahaa Vaakya?
>
> Namaste
>
> I got a Whatsapp message from a friend. The shortest sentence in English is
> 'I am'. Looking at it I feel it has a Advaita message in it. If you say 'I
> am a man', 'I am the son of So and So', 'I am tall', 'I am short', 'I am
> fat', 'I am slim', 'I am intelligent', 'I am stupid', 'I am young', 'I am
> old', 'I am fair', 'I am dark', 'I am rich', 'I am poor' and so on it is
> all because of MAAYAA only. None of the sentences are TRUE.
>
> But the sentence 'I am' is TRUE. It is only saying I Exist. It is never
> False.
>
> What is a Mahaa Vaakya? It must be pointing to the Paaramaarthika Satya but
> not Vyaavahaarika Satya. The Upanisad Mahaa Vaakyas are all meeting this
> requirement. That is Aham Brahmaasmi, Tat Tvam Asi, Ayam Atmaa Brahma and
> Prajnaanam Brahma are all meeting the requirement. They are all pointing to
> Brahman the Advaita Reality. The shortest sentence 'I am' is also pointing
> to Paaramaarthika Satya Sat. Sat is Pure Existence.
>
> Can we accept  'I am' is a Mahaa Vaakya in English?
>
> --
> Regards
>
> -Venkatesh
> _______________________________________________
> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
>
> To unsubscribe or change your options:
> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>
> For assistance, contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>
>
>


-- 
Regards

-Venkatesh
_______________________________________________
Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita

To unsubscribe or change your options:
http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l

For assistance, contact:
listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org