[Advaita-l] BrahmaGYAna and jIvanmukti - 3 (Non-contradiction with other Vedantic texts)

[Amuthan]

namo nArAyaNAya!

On 11/19/06, S Jayanarayanan <sjayana at yahoo.com> wrote:
>   ...
>   "But most modern students, even with no previous practice of
>   meditation (upAsana), just out of curiosity, suddenly attempt to
>   attain enlightenment. They accomplish effacement of latent
>   impressions and the dissolution of the mind for the time being.
>   And with that also accomplish study, reflection and meditation
>   (shravaNa-manana-nididhyAsana) of VedAnta by repeated and vigorous
>   practice which in turn leads to the destruction of ignorance,
>   doubt and opposite ideas and consequently the knowledge of Truth
>   arises perfectly. ...
>  ...
>  ...
>  ...
> One doesn't have to look too far or hard to find those who study
> VedAnta without perfect qualifications. For this, a little
> introspection would suffice. Most of us in this list have not
> performed the Karma and upAsana that has been enjoined on us, but
> instead have begun studying VedAnta quite prematurely. SV's statement
> about "modern students" deviating from Sankara's prescribed
> rAja-mArga and taking to VedAnta out of "curiosity" applies very well
> to most (all?) of us in this list, if not to all modern students of
> VedAnta. Therefore, the relevance of the JMV in the modern context is
> hardly debatable.

but let us also not underestimate the 'modern students' mentioned by
svAmi vidyAraNya by equating them with the present day 'armchair
vedAntins' who study vedAnta as an intellectual exercise out of mere
curiosity without the necessary renunciation and culture of mind that
it demands. those 'modern students' mentioned by SV achieved, even
though temporarily, vAsanAkShya and manonAsha. temporary vAsanAkShaya
and manonAsha is possible either during samAdhi or deep sleep. SV is
obviously not referring to the latter :). what this means is that the
'modern students' mentioned by SV - the akRtopAsti-s - are excellent
yogIs who have great powers of concentration, but lack the necessary
vairAgya to effect the complete cessation of the activities of the
body, mind and speech after the dawn of samyagaparokShaj~nAna. they
are strong in abhyAsa, but not so in vairAgya. a significant fraction
of current students of vedAnta have neither abhyAsa nor vairAgya to
their credit.

both kRta- and akRtopAsti-s are great yogi-s, but what distinguishes
the former from the latter is the achievement of an 'almost-perfect'
vAsanAkShaya and manonAsha as a result of upAsanA. in other words, the
kRtopAsti-s outscore the akRtopAsti-s with their dRDha vairAgya though
both are almost equal as far as yogAbhyAsa is concerned.

as an aside, i agree with you 100% that the relevance and importance
of JMV in the modern context is hardly debatable.

ahaM tvam idaM sarvaM cha vAsudevaH,
aparyAptAmRtaH.