[Advaita-l] Ramana Yoga Sutras (4)

[S Jayanarayanan]

(Continued from previous post)
 
3. Some say that thoughtlessness itself is the state of
Atman realization. It isn’t. We have no thought when we
enter sleep or when experiencing a fit. Surely those states
are not the state of the Atman. Buddha calls this state only
‘sunyata’, or void. But Atman is a positive conception.
 
Hindu philosophy explains that the divine has an
indefinable power called maya. Maya should not be
equated with illusion. These two are not the same. Maya
has two powers. It acts as a sheath to the Atman. This
power is called ‘avarana sakti’. There is another
correlated power. This is the power of manifestation, of
becoming many. That power is called the ‘vikshepa sakti’.
Now, in sleep we are not in command of our own mind,
that is, of the totality of thoughts. Our will does not function.
We are then said to be in a state of tamas.
 
4. To attain Realization we must have awareness! We
must be wakeful and get the experience. We must have
the sattva guna.
 
The state of the void is called ‘tamasi’ or maya by
the Advaitins. Buddhists call it the sunyata. Modern Indian
philosophers have made a total confusion between the
two. They mistakenly proclaim that sunyata is Brahman.
No. One may or may not get the sunyata state before
Realization. Tripura Rahasya says that there are six
different states before attaining the final realization.
 
5. In yoga also, in nirvikalpa samadhi, one gets a
state of thoughtlessess, and practically the glory of Atma
realization is experienced then. The only difference
between that state and the state of Atma realization
advocated by Bhagavan is that in the former one eventually
slips back to normal consciousness. But when once
Realization, or atma nishtha is attained, one never departs
from it.
 
(Continued in next post)