[Advaita-l] Pervade-ness

[V Subrahmanian]

Namaste.

The question regarding 'entering', 'pravesha', of Atma/Brahman/Self is very
deep and is an involved discussion in the Taittiriya Upanishad Bhashyam for
II.vi.1.  You can find the entire discussion on pages 351 - 357 of the
English Translation by Swami Gambhirananda.

The gist of the discussion is this:

The Upanishad wants us to Realize Brahman for attaining Moksha.  It teaches
Brahman is 'available' in the intellect, buddhi-guhA.  The Upanishad also
teaches, 'Brahman created and entered'.  This 'entry'  means: In order to
enable us to realize It, Brahman has made itself 'available' to us in the
form of our intellectual activity consisting of: seeing, hearing, thinking,
knowing, etc.  All these activities are based on chit, chaitanyam.  The
Upanishad wants us to realize Brahman 'through' the medium of these
activities.  By undertaking the enquiry on the lines of 'what is it that is
behind all these activities like thinking, hearing, knowing, etc.?  These
cannot be without a sentient power.  That power is Brahman.'  Brahman is the
substratum on which these activities take place.  By disregarding these
patent activities one should discern the latent pure consciousness that is
Brahman.  Thinking, knowing, etc. are only saguNa manifestations of this
NirguNa Jnana svarUpam Brahman.

This 'availability' of Brahman for all of us to so easily recognize it is
what is called 'pravesha' of Brahman.  Shankaracharya gives this meaning
consistently in all the Upanishads wherever 'pravesha' is taught.

Om Tat Sat


On Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 2:25 AM, Karen <karens at i.ua> wrote:

> Dear members of this honour list.
>
> There are Sruti text:
>
> "The Self is resplendent, formless" Mundaka
> also "Without parts, devoid of activity" Svet.
>
> How Is It conceived of this Self *entering* into the manifested universe,
> when the Self already completely pervaded it? We know that only limited
> thing can enter into an "empty" space. But Brahman already there. Even
> the word *pervade* is not valid here for pervadeness is Brahman- substratum
> (Soul) of manifested Universe.
>
> Thanks for your clarification in advance.
>
> With warm regards,
> Karen
>
> <karens at i.ua>
>
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