[Advaita-l] Need explanation

[Praveen R. Bhat]

Namaste Kartikji,

Sw. Krishnanandaji was an excellent orator and writer and during his time
he stood tall even in Western Philosophy! Here, he has expressed the
Vedantic truth in what seems to be the style of the Kant's critique. This
is what the good Swamiji states:
1) A likely objection is noted that the neti neti method would end up in
shUnya but the (scientific) method is tending to reach the absolute by real
evolution. By this it is said that the continuous improvement is real and
it would tend to become absolute, but never become absolute, since
evolution is a continuous process, and the individual is ever-expanding to
infinity but never really infinity!

2) The response starts with a jab at dualists that considering duality as
real, one can blame each action of his on the Lord who prods as the
indweller. However, the happenings in the world and the world itself is not
a creation by the Absolute, since He doesn't act. It is the very nature of
the Absolute to appear as the world (ref Mandukya Karika in 1st chapter on
देवस्य स्वभावः)। However, being an appearance, it is never separate from
the absolute and so not an eternal second entity to be called dual, since
the presence of another entity itself contradicts absoluteness of the
absolute.

3) The absolute includes diversity of appearances and rejecting these
finite individual appearances doesn't lead to nihilism. That individuality
also is not an assertion of the absolute but something wrongly assumed to
be real. In the process of negating the duality at many levels of
association, if one doesn't immediately understand one's absolute nature,
still it is an improvement even in the progress. Swamiji uses an
interesting logic to refute these individuals now: since there is an
infinite set of various "finites" spread across space, they cannot really
be divided and thereby, have to remain undivided! Being undivided, there
cannot really be duality. Such duality can be asserted wrongly, but cannot
be proven.

4) Some say that one has to really become the absolute (bhedAbhedavAdins
perhaps). This is refuted as being impossible since a limited thing cannot
really become absolute. It is to be known and experienced as aparokSha/
immediate. It is unfolding one's own nature to oneself by negating what one
is not. The truth is one absolute existence and all other words that
indicate gradations are figurative, since there is only one absolute
reality even when one thinks oneself limited.

5) The truth alone is (through "satyameva jayate").

6) Taking the diversity as real leads to all the adversities of saMsAra,
starting with limitations and wanting what the others have, etc.
viShiShTadvaita stance of a relation between individual and total is also
refuted, since the truth is one and it cannot be twofold to have relations.
Since the levels of realities are different between the apparent and the
real, the latter doesn't contradict the former. Then why even is there an
appearance of the world? To this, he says that there is no eternal plan
that can be said to be there but only as a tool to help those who subscribe
to duality without choice conforming to the world (naisargika), so that
they can outgrow through the understanding of appearance of one non-duality.

7) The truth spoken of as absolute /ultimate or relative are only
concessions for slow and middling intellects (adhama and madhyama
adhikAris). The brahman expressed as the world is not outside of brahman,
since space itself is brahman in which the entire world appears. Since
everything is in space and time, which are themselves expressions of
brahman, there is no duality. If there were a real dual entity, it can
never become brahman since one thing cannot really become another separate
thing. What Swamiji has left unsaid is that if such change is accepted, it
will be temporary and the attainment of absolute (mokSha) has to
necessarily be permanent. brahman is the consciousness of one's being and
what can be really said about that is that absolute consciousness just is!

Hope this helps.

​gurupAdukAbhyAm
,
--Praveen R. Bhat
/* येनेदं सर्वं विजानाति, तं केन विजानीयात्। Through what should one know
That owing to which all this is known! [Br.Up. 4.5.15] */

On Thu, Dec 28, 2017 at 3:39 PM, Kartik Vashishta via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Hari OM!
>
> I have been reading the classic book "The Realization of the Absolute" by
> Sri Sri Swami Krishnananda and am trying to understand the section titled
> "Critique of Duality":
> http://pastebin.centos.org/478826/
>
> Is it possible for someone to kindly explain me what the esteemed Swami is
> conveying.
>
> Pranam,
>
> OM
> Kartik Vashishta
> OM
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