[Advaita-l] waking, dreaming, sleeping, as mutually supportive

[Kathirasan K]

Namaste

Swamiji is an example of a Vedantin who has fused the practices of Hatha
Yoga which is part of the Shaiva Natha Sampradaya into Vedanta. It is very
interesting to note how Vedanta and Tantra have merged in spite of its
teachings being mutually exclusive during the times of Shankara and
Matsyendranatha (the principal teacher of the Hatha Yoga School).

Kathirasan

2009/10/12 Ramesh Krishnamurthy <rkmurthy at gmail.com>

> Here is a relevant excerpt from the book "Yoga, Enlightenment &
> Perfection of Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamigal". My comments in
> [..]
>
> Quote
> -----------------------------
> "A weary traveller may hear from a trustworthy person familiar with
> the region that the water he is seeing in the desert is a mirage.
> [Comment: This is equivalent to shravana]. He may then reason that
> such should be the case. Yet his wanting to assuage his thirst may
> impede his firmly realising that only desert sand stretches in front
> of him. Were he to move on to a new position and the sun were to be
> temporarily blocked by a thick layer of clouds, he might see just sand
> where he once saw the mirage. He might begin to perceive the mirage
> again a little later. Nonetheless, the temporary disappearance of the
> mirage would highly facilitate his firmly realising the truth of what
> he had been told and reflected upon [Comment: compare this with
> shravana-manana]. The thorough vanishing of duality during samadhi
> would, for Me, be helpful, like the temporary disappearance of the
> mirage for this hypothetical traveller."
>
> [Comment: The Acharya goes on to describe several instances of NS he
> achieved over a period of 5 days in the year 1935. The first such
> instance is described as follows:]
>
> "Sitting in the siddhasana, I performed two cycles of pranayama
> together with the jalandhara, uddiyana and mula bandha-s to promote
> mental tranquility..........I felt myself expanding and becoming like
> space. The sense of I nearly vanished and My mind entered savikalpa
> samadhi.
>
> The bliss was very great. However, with effort, I restrained Myself
> from being overwhelmed by it and thought, "I am not the one
> experiencing bliss but am bliss itself." In a trice, a sharp change
> occurred. Awareness of the distinction of the concentrator,
> concentration and the object of concentration completely disappeared.
> No more was there any sense of individuality or of space, time and
> objects. Only Brahman, of the nature of absolute existence, pure
> consciousness and ultimate bliss, shone bereft of the superimposition
> of even a trace of duality............Though the bliss of savikalpa
> samadhi was by far greater than the joy of any worldly enjoyment, it
> was nothing compared to the absolute non-dual bliss of nirvikalpa
> samadhi"
> ----------------------------------
> Unquote
>
> Later, he makes two very interesting statements:
>
> 1. "That Brahman is all was as clear as a fruit in one's palm".
> [comment: this is of course a commonly used metaphor]
>
> 2."I should not become attached to nirvikalpa samadhi under the
> delusion that for its
> duration I become one with Brahman". [comment: this is a clinching
> statement to show that samadhi per se is not mukti. One is always
> Brahman, irrespective of whether one is in samadhi or not. The clear
> understanding of this is mukti. Samadhi, as illustrated above, can
> help in gaining this understanding. But in itself it is neither
> necessary nor sufficient.]
>
> Thanks
> Ramesh
>
> 2009/10/12 Michael Shepherd <michael at shepherd87.fsnet.co.uk>:
> > Rameshji,
> >
> > Abhinava's book is out of print already. Could you offer a very brief
> account of the incident you mention ? Others might like to hear of it too.
> >
> > Michael
> >
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-- 
Kathirasan