[Advaita-l] Inward and outward contemplation

[Ven Balakrishnan]

Except that Sankara often says that neti, neti is the final teaching; once that is absorbed, one should direct attention towards that (BG), and should live on the strength of that (Brhad).  Sruti takes one to the point of neti, neti; thereafter it seems he is saying it is about absorption in knowledge.  That is what ‘who am I’ is doing.

> On 7 Sep 2021, at 11:11, Bhaskar YR <bhaskar.yr at hitachi-powergrids.com> wrote:
> 
> praNAms Sri Ven Balakrishnan prabhuji
> Hare Krishna
> 
>> I don’t know whether Sri Jaldhar prabhuji replied this.  Just sharing my thoughts.  
> 
> The beauty of ‘who am I”, is that it is the most proximate thought-feeling that we have, from which everything else sprouts.  So asking that question goes to the root of addressing “tvam”, because it the “twam” that is the fundamental misconception.
> 
>> and the very important means for this query should be based on shAstra with the guidance of shrOtreeya brahmanishTa jnAni so says tradition.  At any point of time "it should not be tried on your own".  So, IMHO, when any mahatma persistently asked us to do self-enquiry (AtmAvalOkana) that jignAsa should be done through shAstra and AchAryOpadesha.  Otherwise query about tat (you) would lead us to nowhere.  
> 
> Asking who is the Sun, carries no meaning; it is not something that is actionable.  But who am I can be done moment to moment, every time a thought - desire, fear - arises, it brings attention back to the ‘I’ that has that desire / fear, and away from the body-mind.  It implicitly carries viveka and vairagya within it.
> 
>> agreed, but our senses are made in such a way it has its natural tendency to go out.  Hence shAstra also first wonders, kuta AjAta, kuta eyaM visrushtiH etc.  And nyAya prasthAna after jignAsa adhikaraNa immediately introduces janmAdhyadhikaraNa ( janmAdyasya yataH and immediately after that shAstra yOnitvAdhikaraNa.  Tough brahman is adreshyaM agrAhyaM and aprApya manasa saha, we have to start somewhere to know the unknown hence shruti declares satyanchAnrutaNcha satyamabhavat yadidam kiMcha.  The outgoing tendency of the senses with the help of this shruti vAkya ( ofcourse there are plenty) would atleast realize this what is there OUTSIDE is nothing but one and only substratum.  The dialogue between shwetaketu uddAlaka also roams around what we see outside and the sva-rUpa behind it.  Is it not??  Having said this I am not denying the efficacy of AtmAvalOkana or sva-svarUpa anusaNdhAna but it has to be in a traditional way.  When I said in a traditional way, I hope you know what I am referring to.  
> 
> Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
> bhaskar