[Advaita-l] jIvanmukti (liberation right in this life) - A State or Status

[Ramesam Vemuri]

Namaskarams, Subrahmanian Garu.

Thank you for your kind and prompt response. Maybe I should explain a
little more on what I was trying to say.

The question in my post is more about the duration of the period one spends
as a* jIvanmukta*. Is it only for a short duration before he leaves the
body "as a slough shed by a snake" (as the mantra 4.4.7 *brihadAraNyaka*
says) before the realized individual becomes  *videhamukta* or does the
seeker, after being liberated, continue to live and "hope to live a long
life" as a *jIvanmukta*.



The  6.14.2,chAndogya says that the life as a *jIvanmukta* is for a short
period only. ( *तस्य **तावदेव **चिरं **यावन्न **विमोक्ष्येऽथ **सम्पत्स्य **इति
**॥* - "For him, only so long is the delay as he is not liberated (from the
body) and then immediately he is merged in Being."). In other words, one
does not continue to live in the body for a long time after the attainment
of Self-realization, akin to the examples of the potter's wheel etc.



In contrast, some of the modern teachers seem to speak about living the
life as a *jIvanmukta* reaping the rewards of *jnAna phalam*.



Of course, there are special historical, *purAnic *and* itihAsic*
"personalities" specifically working for the betterment of society as
liberated individuals, but that is a different situation altogether.  I am
not referring to such individuals.


A seeker primarily aims at liberation. S/he does not "hope" at spending the
life as a* jIvanmukta*. Is there a discernible shift in the teaching?

***

Thanks Roberto Mallon Fedriani for the reference. I am familiar with  Prof.
L. E. Nelson's paper on the subject.



regards,


On Tue, Mar 24, 2020 at 10:42 AM V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
wrote:

> The Jivanmukti Viveka of Swami Vidyaranya holds that JM is the ideal that
> could be achieved by effort.
>