[Advaita-l] The Foundations of Adhyāsa - 8 (The Three States)

[S Jayanarayanan]

 (Continued from previous post.)
 
 
As already established, Adhyāsa or Superimposition (in Advaita Vedānta) is confusing the unconscious Body that is an instrument of
Perception, with the conscious Self that is the Ground of Perception. Three States of Consciousness are experienced by all:
Waking, Dream and Deep Sleep. In the first two states (i.e. Waking and Dream), one perceives a Body, hence Adhyāsa occurs. In the
third state of Deep Sleep, there is no Body (or for that matter, any “other”) perceived. What exactly does Advaita Vedānta say
about the state of the Deep Sleep?
 
Sankara declares in his Upadeśasāhasrī 1.16.18:
  
  jāgratsvapnau tayobījaṃ suṣuptākhyaṃ tamomayam .
  anyonyasminnasattvācca nāstītyetattrayaṃ tyajet ..
  
  “The seed of the Waking and Dream States is contained in the darkness of Deep Sleep.
  None of these Three States is real, as they (i.e. each of their experiences) mutually
  contradict one another. Hence all the Three States should be renounced.”
 
The “seed” of the Waking and Dream states is said to be within the Deep Sleep state. Sankara also covers the relationship
between cause and effect (Ibid. 1.14.19):
  
  ātmā hyātmīya ityeṣa bhāvo’vidyāprakalpitaḥ .
  ātmaikatve hyasau nāsti bījābhāve kutaḥ phalam ..
  
  “The thoughts such as ‘me’ and ‘mine’ are Superimposed on the Self owing to Ignorance.
  They cease to exist when the Self is known to be One. Without a seed, how can a fruit emerge?
  (i.e. How can an Effect be without a Cause?)”
 
As no fruit can emerge without a seed, there must be a “seed” in Deep Sleep that causes one to arise out of it, and into the
Waking or Dream states. This is called “Mūlāvidyā” – the Seed Ignorance that covers the Self during Deep Sleep. Mūlāvidyā cannot
be Existence (“Bhāva”, which only the Self is) or Non-existence (“Abhāva”, e.g. horns of a hare, which are never experienced),
hence it falls under a third ontological category called Existence-Like (“Bhāva-rūpa”). An analogy may help explain this:
imagine a parent trying to describe a zebra to a child who has never seen one. The parent being skilled in art, draws a zebra
on a piece of paper. The child says it looks like a horse. The parent replies, “The zebra is different from a horse, but is a
horse-like animal!” Similarly, Mūlāvidyā is neither Existence nor Non-existence, but Existence-Like.
 
Therefore, Adhyāsa in the Waking and Dream states, takes on the form of Mūlāvidyā in Deep Sleep. Sankara's exhortation is to
renounce all Three States and rest in the Fourth State called Turīya, the true nature of the Self. 
 
 
(To be Continued)