Consciousness

[nanda chandran]

The word "Consciousness" is a much used term in discussions on Advaita
Vedanta. It's generally said that when the mind and it's adjuncts are
supressed all that's left is pure consciousness. Further sometimes even
Brahman is described in terms of consciousness. Personally I think the
word is very misleading and not quite the way to describe the state
beyond. Let me explain.

Consciousness in it's elementary sense involves two entities - a subject
and an object. We're conscious of somebody behind us. We are conscious
of the tree before us.  So the We or the I is the subject, which is
conscious of an object that is somebody behind or the tree. Even when we
meditate, most people meditate on something - an ishta deivata or some
object like the flame of a candle etc Here, our mind or even better We
are the subject and the object of meditation is the object. So
definitely there's consciousness involved.

Vasubandhu in his Trimsatika states that the Ego, mind, consciousness
and the intellect are but words referring to the same entity. I
wholeheartedly agree. When I initially tried meditating, in a few weeks
I realized something - the mind has to dwell on something. When we try
not to think ie to go beyond the mind, the fun begins. Initially there's
the thought not to have any thought! When we close our eyes, the eyes
still see the eyelids or the play of light like a kaleidoscope and
that's the object of our mind. With more practice when we concentrate to
still the mind, the object is the tightening feeling on our forehead.
Finally when you are able to just sit still without any thought, even
then it's for only a few seconds, before we're engulfed in thought waves
again. Lately I've realized the best way is to take a few deep breaths
and relax! Yes, it works and atleast for a few seconds I'm able to
remain without any thoughts. IN THIS STATE THERE'S NO OBJECT. Strictly
speaking there's no subject either (for even the consciousness of 'I' is
ultimately a thought), but then in an explanation without referring to
this as a subject there's a risk of slipping into absurdity. So here we
can say there's only the subject without any individuality and it's
DEFINITELY NOT CONSCIOUSNESS. It's just being or even better just
existing.

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>From  Mon Aug 31 19:36:08 1998
Message-Id: <MON.31.AUG.1998.193608.0400.>
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 19:36:08 -0400
Reply-To: ramakris at erols.com
To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
        <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
From: Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian <ramakris at EROLS.COM>
Subject: Re: Consciousness
Comments: To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
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nanda chandran wrote:

> The word "Consciousness" is a much used term in discussions on Advaita
> Vedanta. It's generally said that when the mind and it's adjuncts are
> supressed all that's left is pure consciousness. Further sometimes even
> Brahman is described in terms of consciousness. Personally I think the
> word is very misleading and not quite the way to describe the state
> beyond. Let me explain.

Thanks for letting us know that you know more than the R^ishhi-s who
said, praGYAnam brahma. Thanks also for letting us know that you know
better than the shukarahasyopanishhad which says this is one of the four
mahAvAkyAs. A million thanks for contradicting sha.nkara and sureshvara
who follow the same and repeat it in the pa.ncIkaraNam and the vArttika
on it. Not to mention various other places they insist that brahman is
pure consciousness alone.
I guess the last 4-5 weeks you spent away from the list you have
attained total nirvANa, eh? You must have really done something to know
stuff better than shruti itself!

> Vasubandhu in his Trimsatika states that the Ego, mind, consciousness
> and the intellect are but words referring to the same entity. I
> wholeheartedly agree. When I initially tried meditating, in a few weeks

[ ... ]

Thanks for quoting Vasubandhu a Buddhist philosopher who sha.nkara begs
to disagree with. Reading the paragraph you have written, it's clear you
have understood neither sha.nkara nor vasubandhu.

I guess some people just can't follow any rules, eh? Perhaps, a course
on elementary comprehension techniques should be made a must for people
who join the advaita list.

Finally, my congratulations to you on becoming the first person to be
kill-filed by me. As I mentioned before, due to my lack of communication
skills, I don't want to get drawn into these extended arguments. Au
revoir.

Rama

>From  Mon Aug 31 19:59:20 1998
Message-Id: <MON.31.AUG.1998.195920.0400.>
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 19:59:20 -0400
Reply-To: ramakris at erols.com
To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
        <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
From: Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian <ramakris at EROLS.COM>
Subject: Re: Request: upamanyu
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Ravisankar S. Mayavaram wrote:

> In shankara dig vijaya, shrI AryAmba also refers upamanyu when
> shankara's father shrI shivaguru worries about not having a
> child. She tell him that Lord shiva is a  kalpataru, HE will
> fulfil the needs of his devotees, do not you remember the
> incident related to upamanyu?
>
> Can someone tell me more about shrI upamanyu?

Sorry for the late reply. I have been really busy the last few weeks.

Upamanyu's story is related in the anushAsana parva in the mahAbhArata.
His mother was a devotee of shiva and was an ascetic. One day Upamanyu
went to a nearby hermitage and was given milk and found it very tasty.
When he came back he asked his mother for it later. She replied that
they were ascetics and could not afford it. She also said that he should
ask shiva for it and he would give it to him. There is a very good
stotra by her, which follows the pattern of the rudram. In it she says
that though he is in the heart of everyone many are unable to understand
that. Upamanyu performed a severe penance and shiva to test him came in
the form of Indra. He offers him whatever he wants. But Upamanyu was
very firm that he wanted to see only shiva. So he refused. Pleased by
his one-pointed devotion shiva gave him the milk-ocean itself. Later
Upamanyu became a GYAni and also gave to the world the famous
shivasahasranAma taught to him by the great Markandeya muni.

As a side-note shiva is fond of playing such games with devotees. Eg, he
tested pArvatI by coming to her in the guise fo an ascetic and taunting
shiva (himself), he came to arjuna as a hunter when he was worshiping
him to get the pAshupata Astra and fought a duel with him. One can also
cite the story of thiruGYAnasambandar, who was robbed by shiva and his
gaNas when he was making his way to thiruvaNNAmalai!

Rama.

>From  Mon Aug 31 21:03:21 1998
Message-Id: <MON.31.AUG.1998.210321.0400.>
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 21:03:21 -0400
Reply-To: ramakris at erols.com
To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
        <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
From: Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian <ramakris at EROLS.COM>
Subject: shrI daxiNAmUrti: the symbolism and his worship - 1
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In the famous shrI vedapAdastavaH (verse 6) the great Jaimini Maharshhi
says,

pa.nchAxaratanuM pa.nchavadanaM praNavaM shivaM |
apArakaruNarUpaM gurumUrtimahaM bhaje ||

"I praise the form of the guru, who has the five sylabled mantra (namaH
shivAya) as his body, with five faces (described by the mahAnArAyaNa
Up), (who is) the symbol Om, the auspicious one, who is a great ocean of
mercy."

In a single verse Maharshi Jaimini captures, to the extent possible by
words, the true nature of shiva. Shiva is identified as guru and also as
the symbol Om. This is in accordance with the saying in the
shvetAshvatara Up,

yasyadeve parAbhaktir yathA deve tahA guro |
tasyaite kathitA hyarthAH prakAshante mahAtmanaH ||

"Whoso hath highest love for Ishvara, and for the guru as for Ishvara,
to that great soul, the truths here taught shine in full." (translation:
A.M.Sastry, Dakshinamurti stotra of Sri Sankaracharya, page xix).

It is also known from the mANDUkya Up that Om is both the higher and the
lower brahman. As per Jaimini, this brahman is shiva and he is the
teacher also. In many other texts also, shiva is described as teacher
par excellence and as the one who is easily pleased (Ashutoshin).
In the mAnasollAsa (I.30) shrI sureshvarAchArya says:

Ishvaro gururAtmeti mUrtibhedavibhAgine|
vyomavavdyAptadehAya daxiNAmUrtaye namaH ||

To him in the different forms as Ishvara, Guru and Atma,
To him who pervades like ether,
To (that) daxiNamUrti, (my) salutation.

Naturally, the form of shiva as teacher, is one of the most important
of his forms, especially for advaitins. I'll post a series of articles
on this form of shiva. The outline of the series is:

-Lord shiva as guru - daxiNAmUrti
-Significance of the name daxinNAmUrti
-Various forms of daxiNAmUrti
-Significance of the GYana daxiNAmUrti form
-Sha.nkarabhagavatpAda, the avatAra of daxiNAmUrti
-The 108 names of daxiNAmUrti
-The daxiNAmUrti stotra of Sha.nkarAchArya
  - importance of the poem
  - overall structure and significance
  - detailed analysis of each stanza

Each of the sections will not be of the same length, e.g., the last
section will have to be quite lengthy.