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

[Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian]

On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 9:59 AM, Vidyasankar Sundaresan
<svidyasankar at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> To Michael's question,
>
>> > > Would you agree that turiya/atman is closer to us than we pretend?
>
>
> Ramakrishnan responded,
>
>
>> > It is actually the other way around. Turiya is "further away" than
>> > many of us like to pretend!
>
>
> to which AnbuSivam rejoins,
>
>
>
>> Thinking it is difficult is the greatest impediment. Guru is indeed needed
>> but the Guru is no substitute for the person who should first have the
>> craving. How can one crave if the intellect raises obstacles?
>
>
>
> I can only quote muNDaka 3.1.7, dUrAt sudUre tad ihAntike ca
>
>
> Remember the Atman beyond the usually experienced jAgrat, svapna and sushupti states is brahman. It is nearer than the nearest and is farther than the farthest!
>

I deliberately put "further away" in quotes for the very same reason.
As made clear in the mANDUkya bhAShya, turIya is the underlying
reality, not the 4th separate quarter as in the quarters of a coin.
The issue is that it is near for the sAdhaka with the right 4-fold
qualifications, the Atman is indeed near. Turning the mind inwards
does not come easy, which is why we have all the different karmas and
upAsanas. If I hear once more about how we just have to give up the
idea of NOT being realized to become realized, I'll barf all over my
screen.

Rama