[Advaita-l] Inward and outward contemplation

[Bhaskar YR]

praNAms Sri Ven Balakrishnan prabhuji
Hare Krishna

I find that SSSS interprets Sankara in a straight-forward, faithful manner, without the mental acrobatics that others seem to go through.  

>  Thanks for clarifying your stand on Sri SSS's works.  

But as I do not claim to be a jnani or a teacher, all I can do is raise what others I respect have said; my opinion is irrelevant - ask me if I become a jnani about no-mind and the perception of the world.  Until that point it is speculation.

>  you are right prabhuji.  But IMHO instead of speculating it is better to stick to what our paramAchArya said on the state of jnAni-hood and with the help of shruti, shrutyanugraheeta yukti & anubhava we can discuss these issues for our own self aggrandizement 😊 

I would note that throughout BSB and Brhad bhasya, Sankara frequently points out that the Self alone presides in deep sleep, and the limiting adjuncts only arise during the waking and dream states.  So in essence, what we really are is That which remains in deep sleep, and everything else is a superimposition of ignorance.  Sankara also frequently talks about the absence or particularised consciousness in deep sleep, and compares it to when Knowledge arises.  Hence SSSS can talk about the no-mind state in the quote I referenced.

>  If we want any debate on this we may have to answer mUlAvidyA which is in other terms avidyA beeja shakti which is the upAdAna kAraNa for the adhyAsa (kAraNAvidyA) quite existing in bhAvarUpa in sushupti.  Hence sushupti merger is not with kAraNa (para) brahma but only kArya brahma and hence prAjna is quite different from tureeya.  Anyway, this issue is done and dusted somany times in Sri SSS's works.   

In this vein, it is useful to quite Sankara in BSB 4.1.3 (translated by Sw Gambhirananda):
"The criticism is also unfounded that no one will be left over to practise the Vedantic path and that direct perception etc. will be outraged. For the transmigratory state is conceded before enlightenment, and the activities like perception are confined within that state only, because texts as this, "But when to the knower of Brahman everything has become the Self, then what should one see and through what?" (Br. II. iv. 14), point out the absence of perception etc. in the state of enlightenment.”

Figurative or literal?  No point in discussing until we get there, at which point it won’t matter.

>  Yes, only jnAni knows jnAni and his / her so-called behavior/actions in this world but we still don’t want to live his life hence painstakingly paint him with avidyA lesha😊 

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar