[Advaita-l] Karma yoga: the kinder, softer preparation for self-inquiry and surrender

[H S Chandramouli]

Dear Venkat,

Reg  << I think we are in agreement? >>,

Oh no. Far from it. I am sorry if I have conveyed such an impression though
I do not still see how.

Reg  << Ramanamaharishi taught that by being constantly aware of thoughts
as they arise, they attenuate - thereby leaving the ‘I’-thought, which,
with nothing to cling to, subsides.
Isn’t that in essence what Sankaracharya’s commentary to Brhad Up 3.5.1
means >>,

No. The quote from BU 3.5.1 above is in the context of the need for
shravana,manana,nididhyasana terming them compulsory for Realization.
Whereas according to you Sri Maharshi  proposes a method  which does away
with the need for any recourse to Shrutis for Realization. That is not
admitted in the Advaita Sidhanta as advanced by Sri Bhagavatpada.

Same is the case with the other citations in your post.

I have not discussed them in detail as it would take us away from the topic
under discussion. There is no difference in the final conclusion as to what
constitutes Realization as between Sri Bhagavatpada and Sri Maharshi. The
difference we are discussing concerns the means for such Realization. This
is how I have understood. The difference as I understood has been explained
above.
Regards

On Sun, Mar 21, 2021 at 4:54 PM Ven Balakrishnan <ventzu at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> Dear H S Chandramouli
>
> I think we are in agreement?
>
> Ramanamaharishi taught that by being constantly aware of thoughts as they
> arise, they attenuate - thereby leaving the ‘I’-thought, which, with
> nothing to cling to, subsides.
>
> Isn’t that in essence what Sankaracharya’s commentary to Brhad Up 3.5.1
> means:
>
> "Since scholarship regarding the Self cannot come without the elimination
> of desires, therefore the renunciation of these is automatically enjoined
> by the knowledge of the Self . . . It is only the fool with- out the
> strength of knowledge, who is attracted by his organs to desires concerning
> objects, visible or invisible. Strength is the total elimination of the
> vision of objects by Self-knowledge; hence the knower of Brahman should try
> to live upon that strength.”
>
> Similarly his commentary on Gaudapada’s Mandukya Karika 3.40:
>
> "Sarvayoginam, for all Yogis; abhayam, fearlessness; is manasah nigraha
> yattam, contingent on the control of the mind; and so also is
> dulukhaksayah, the removal of misery. For there can be no extinction of
> sorrow for the non-discriminating people so long as the mind, brought into
> association with the Self, continues to be disturbed.”
>
> And in his commentary to Brhad 4.5.15 Sankaracharya concludes:
> “Since in spite of the truth being presented in a hundred ways, the Self
> is the last word of it all, arrived at by the process of neti neti, and
> nothing else is perceived either through reasoning or scriptural statement;
> therefore the knowledge of this Self, by the process of neti, neti and the
> renunciation of everything are the only means of attaining immortality.”
>
> Best wishes.
>
>
>
>