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[Prashant Sharma]

On Fri, 14 Aug 1998, f. maiello wrote:

> Prashant Sharma wrote:
> >
> >         Yes, but isn't this human nature simply a manifestation of mental
> > conditioning? Isn't the slate wiped out clean when jnAna is attained? So
> > what truth lies in these experiences other than that similar experiences
> > lead to similar feelings. But since attainment of jnAna is not an
> > experience, rather a dissolution of the experiencing structure, how can
> > you extrapolate this similarity?
>
> Yes, it is technically not an "experience," since there is
> no identifiable subject witnessing an objectifiable event.
> I can only speak from my own "experience" associated with
> what I had previously undertook in Zen Buddhism, which was
> an unfoldment of the intuitive faculty embracing what is
> referred to as kensho (which is the precursor to satori,
> being a temporary visitation [to the satori state], which is,
> in turn, the Zen equivalent of sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi).
> And this so-called kensho was *identical* to my subsequent
> repeated visitations of the turiya state, via savikalpa
> samadhi (where the ahamkara is temporally transcended yet
> remains latent due to vasanas and thus continues to reappear).
> So that, there was the pattern for an identical outcome as
> a result of undertaking two different approaches.  This is
> why I maintain that non-duality is universal, in principle
> as well as "experience."  It's interesting to note the
> parallels infact associated with these respective methods:
> Zen postulates the satori state to be a direct product of
> mu-shin or no-mind.  Advaita postulates the sahaja state
> to be a direct product of manonasa or destroyed mind.
> Zen utilizes the paradoxical koan to affect this end, while
> advaita calls for tracing the ego-mind to its source, via
> Self-enquiry.  The marked [superficial!] difference between
> them is that Zen refuses to even acknowledge the existence
> of the atta or reincarnating soul; whereas advaita proclaims
> its eventual dissolution (viz. of the jivatman).
>
> I will not comment further on this, since I must respect
> Ravi's parameters in this forum.

        Thank you for your very sincere responses. I have much respect
for your experiences but doubt still remains.

>
> namaste
>

Prashant.