[Advaita-l] Inward and outward contemplation

[H S Chandramouli]

Namaste.

Sri Jaldhar Ji wrote

Reg  << Certainly "who am I?" should be the question every sadhaka should
ask but why should that require only "inward" contemplation >>.

As per the Advaita Sidhanta advanced by Sri Bhagavatpada,  Realization is
possible ONLY through  जीवब्रह्मैक्यज्ञानम् (jIvabrahmaikya j~nAnam). Hence
"inward" contemplation  is compulsory.

Reg  <<  It
should defintely include inward focus but sometimes I think it gets
forgotten that Brahman is "pervades all this and ten fingers beyond" as
the purushasukta puts it.  The root bR^inn from which brahman is derived
also means growth or increase.  Brahman is as much "out there" as "in
here." >>

But for successful  "inward" contemplation leading to जीवब्रह्मैक्यज्ञानम्
(jIvabrahmaikya j~nAnam), Vairagya is an essential sAdhana. This is aided
by जगन्मिथ्यात्वज्ञानम् (jaganmithyAtvaj~nAnam). It is essential to
understand that what is “out there” is mithyA.

Reg  << Some experience a massive collapse of sense of self
where one seems to be nothing at all >>,

This does not represent Realization.

Reg  << Others have an equally massive
expansion of consciousness where one becomes everything >>,

This indeed is Realization.

According to Sri Bhagavatpada, Realization or the answer to “Who am I”  is
not possible without recourse to Shruti.

Above is my understanding.
Regards

On Wed, Aug 25, 2021 at 12:03 PM Jaldhar H. Vyas via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> (was Re: [Advaita-l] Anugita bhasya)
>
>
> Owing to all kinds of things going on in my life most of all Shravana masa
> where daily abhishek takes precedence over everything, I am way behind in
> taking part in this list.  Hopefully over the next few days I can remedy
> this.
>
>
>
> On Thu, 24 Jun 2021, Ven Balakrishnan via Advaita-l wrote:
>
> >
> > On Ramana it always seemed to me that the quest of ‘who am I’ is the
> > fundamental question that Advaita is trying to address.  His essay "Nan
> > Yar” essentially summarises the key aspects of advaitic teaching,
> > without going into the logical reasoning that Sankara does.  Also this
> > ‘who am I’ diving inwardly contemplation, strikes me as comparable to BG
> > in its recommendation to have a constant stream of thought towards the
> > Self.  It is also I think the implication of Brhad Up 3.5.1 when it
> > talks about living on the strength of that knowledge and dwelling on it
> > - as Sankara says in Brhad Up 4.5.15:  neti, neti and renunciation is
> > the final conclusion of it all.
>
> Certainly "who am I?" should be the question every sadhaka should
> ask but why should that require only "inward" contemplation.  It
> should defintely include inward focus but sometimes I think it gets
> forgotten that Brahman is "pervades all this and ten fingers beyond" as
> the purushasukta puts it.  The root bR^inn from which brahman is derived
> also means growth or increase.  Brahman is as much "out there" as "in
> here."
>
> I think where the emphasis gets placed depends a lot on the experience of
> individual mystics.  Some experience a massive collapse of sense of self
> where one seems to be nothing at all. Others have an equally massive
> expansion of consciousness where one becomes everything.  Think of Arjunas
> vishvarupa darshana (though that experience did not go well for him.)  One
> of the reasons I think Ramana appeals to more "modern" types is that in
> the current culture one is taught to think of oneself as an individual,
> and the conditions of modernity leave many as alienated individuals at
> that.  Personally though I am also steeped in modernity, my group
> identity(ies) is/are more important to me and perhaps that's why I don't
> "get" Ramana the way others do.
>
> --
> Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
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