[Advaita-l] Isn't Bhakthi, Dyana & Karma sufficient for attaining Moksha ?

[Raghav Kumar Dwivedula]

Namaste Mahadevan ji

On Fri, 8 Jan, 2021, 6:55 pm Mahadevan Iyer via Advaita-l, <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Pranams,
>
> Thank you very much for your reply Raghav ji.
>
> But, I wanted to know, What makes GYAnam more significant than other
> approaches like Dhyanam, Bhakthi etc.


....

> Bhakthi, Dhyanam etc.. just give the

experience of being in the state of Advaita. This experience depends
> upon the act of doing it. Hence such approaches cannot give Moksha.
>

Apart from the fact (which you rightly mentioned) that such states are
"produced" by effort and hence temporary (nAstyakRtah kRtena), there is
also another important fact.

  The "states of advaita" fostered by dhyAnam and high emotional states of
bhakti are not regarded as directly effective in the removal of avidyA.
Because, when the root cause of suffering is understood to be *avidyA* ,
the solution has to be *vidyA* (I.e., GYAnam). Not elimination of thoughts
and some fine emotional states.

Vidya is the opposite of avidyA therefore it removes it.  Any advaitic
"state" or sAttvika bhakti experience is not opposed to avidyA, and can
co-exist with avidyA. These experiences help purify the mind.

But GYAnam is necessarily *shAbdam*. (i.e., Words of shruti are used as a
mirror to see oneself transcending the direct meanings of those words. Like
transcending the glassy surface of the mirror and looking *in to* the depth
of the mirror to see one's reflection in it.) The popular criticism that
advaita is verbal/intellectual does not hold water because the words are
used to transcend the words. In the mirror analogy, We are not asked to
keep looking at the mirror (frame, surface glass etc) but we look in to the
depth of the mirror.

Just as, to remove darkness, requires switching on the light. No amount of
sweeping or brooming the room will remove darkness. Why does sweeping or
cleaning a room not remove the darkness in the room? Because of lack of
connexion between sweeping a room and removing darkness in the room.
Similarly if a person without the benefit of shravaNam and advaita
guru-upadesha, undergoes certain peak experiences of dhyAnam and bhakti, he
will 'come out' of those states refreshed and joyful saying "I practised
certain sadhanas and experienced the bliss of oneness" ;  but doership and
enjoyership continue for him, i.e., avidyA is not thereby removed. Whereas
if an aspirant with sufficient prior advaita clarity experiences those very
peak states, he would come out with greater conviction saying "I am
brahman", and experience greater freedom from his mind's habitual dualistic
thinking and emoting habits. He will not say, "I 'experienced' advaita".
One advaitic acharya used to say, "All experience by itself is dumb. It is
only as useful as your understanding of it, which comes from teaching by a
Guru".

Please note that no one entirely lacks the "experience" of advaita. Deep
sleep (advaita+tamas), intense anger (advaita+rajas), deep bhakti/dhyAnam
(advaita+sattva) etc., are all immersive advaitic experiences with
different predominant guNas according to Patanjali's principles. (Patanjali
tradition says that samAdhi is chittasya-*sArvabhauma*-laxaNa). But these
advaita states too come and go. The mind temporarily resolves in such
states. But that does not attend to the root cause - avidyA.

 Like I said we should first focus on the root cause of human suffering and
then it becomes clear why vidyA alone destroys avidyA. Bhakti-based
Emotions, Thought-free states etc., do not by themselves destroy avidyA -
although they may facilitate the arising of vidyA through the advaita
upadesha from acharyas (a cognitive input).




> But as GYAnam is self-evident. First, it removes the ignorance, then it
> removes itself, leaving only the Truth.
>

For context, we can say, GYAna vRtti arises in the duality of Guru student
etc. It arises and removes avidyA and is itself dissolved like a stick used
to kindle a flame which itself is finally consumed in the flame, as they
say. GYAnam does not go away.  It was, is, and will be. But GYAna vRtti
arises, does its job, and goes away.

>
> The self knowledge acts on the false knowledge which is in the MIND of
> the JIVA is it not ?
>

AvidyA is cause of the mind itself, and is also in a sense encapsulated in
it.

>
> ❓ My doubt is that, GYAnam can remove the ignorance only when one is
> (appears to be) in the state of duality. When one reached the pinnacle
> of Bhakthi, Dyanam etc, there is no such duality as the mind does not
> indulge in any kind of discrimination. We may call it "spiritual
> experience" or "meditative state". The purpose of GYAnam is to remove
> the veil of Ignorance. But in such a state GYAnam cannot remove the veil
> of ignorance because the person don't have any false knowledge in the
> first place.
>

That is why it is asserted that GYAnam removal does not take place in such
advaitic states. It needs guru and instruction. Where there is total
absence of duality like in sleep/samadhi, no GYAna-vRtti can take place for
removal of avidyA.

>
And we also note that while there is no duality in deep sleep, the mere
absence of *duality* is not the same as removal of avidyA ( the seed of the
dvaita buddhi, the sense of being a doer and enjoyer - all are termed
dvaita buddhi). Even if a person were to sleep or unfortunately slip in to
a coma, there is no duality for him, but the avidyA together with the
infinite number of unfructified sanchita karmas will lead to future janmas
and consequent suffering.

>
> Now, suppose a person is so refined that he can indulge in such a
> Bhakthi, Dyanam etc... for every moment rest of his life, and die a
> natural death depleting all his karmas.
>

Sri Shankara in taittiriya presents a somewhat similar vedic ritualistic
(mImAmsaka view) as follows. " If a person does the necessary nitya karmas
to prevent new papa arising and also he exhausts the current life prArabdha
depleting his karmas which have already fructified, will he not get
mukti/eternal svarga upon death?" The answer given there which applies to
your question too, is that the dormant sanchita karmas do not get exhausted
in one lifetime. And as long as the *kartRtva-buddhi* (I am a doer)
continues (caused by avidyA), it will create continued embodiment to work
out those sanchita karmas. So Videha Mukthi does not happen.

Also, the refined bhakti and dhyAnam states you mentioned are characterized
by absence of duality of thinker, thought and thinking. So by definition
such refined states are displaced by the arising of tripuTi triads of
thinker, thought, thinking, as is wont to happen in a normal lifestyle.

Please note that such refined bhakti and dhyAnam states can still not rule
put subsequent arising of dvaita buddhi and raga dveShas w.r.t the forms of
Ishvara etc., as in the case of key figures in dualistic theological
systems. Or Patanjali's error in insistence on multiple jeevatmans and
absolute reality of the world etc.

Sri Shankara in mANDUkya says, for that matter, the cessation of thought
forms is not even possible without GYAnam. So Patanjali's
chitta-vRtti-nirodha is still one step short of GYAnam and the absolute
cessation of human suffering.

They (thought-free and bhakti type meditative practices) can only
asymptotically approach the ideal. On the other hand, GYAnam can accomplish
chitta-vRtti nirodhah by removing the root cause of mental oscillation.

Although, really speaking, Advaita is the truth of oneself in spite of the
experience of duality and thoughts.

Apologies that my post went longer than intended.

Om

Raghav


>