[Advaita-l] Eternal Loka

[Shrinivas Gadkari]

Namaste Shri Jaldhar,
 
These are somewhat hand waving answers and will take lot
more time and effort to formulate them in a much more
rigorous manner using more precise technical terms. They 
nevertheless should capture the essence of what I wanted to convey.
 
Paradigm 1: nirguNa brahma reached the state of 
"nirguNa brahma" by perfecting and transcending every possible 
aspect vyavahAra.
 
Paradigm 2: nirguNa brahma is completely disconnected from
vyavahAra.
 
The parama-purushArtha (PP) common to both paradigms is :"strive
to get as close as possible to the highest state of nirguNa
brahma".
 
When one interprets the PP, in light of paradigm2, there is no
clear directive about how one should go about activities in
vyavahAra. This directive is got in via back door entry: 
- do your daily activities in a selfless manner to attain
  chitta shuddhi. Then on a sufficiently shuddha mind, brahma
  will reveal itself ...
 
Here, perfecting activities in vyavahAra is not necessary. This
paradigm does not oppose it, but it also does not actively support it.
 
In other words we have given the spiritual licence to enable 
progressive degradation of vyavahAra (by making the perfection of
activities in vyavahAra optional).
 
Now coming to interpretation of PP in the light of Paradigm 1. Here 
achieving perfection in the assigned karma and then transcending it
given utmost importance. Note transcending a particular karma 
means moving on the next set of karma for which the karma you have
perfected is only a building block.
 
Here, the answer to the question on how one should go about in 
activities in vyavahAra follows naturally.
 
Even if you look at the charitra of Shri Adi Shankara, you will 
not miss that he has perfected and then risen above every activity 
in vyavahAra that he had to deal with.
 
Hope I have not been too vague.
 
One more point that will help clarifying issues here:
One should not mix "duality" with "plurality". In fact
"infinite plurality" can coexist with "absolute non-duality".
And THIS is the advaita that appeals, atleast to me.
 
 
Regards,
Shrinivas
  

________________________________


Namaste Shri Subrahmanian,

I VERY STONGLY disagree with your statement below. On the 
contrary, nirguNa brahma has EVERYTHING to do with EVERY
single aspect of creation. 

I do not know when this devastating paradigm entered into 
the Indian spiritual thinking? At least I do not sense this
being around from the overall outlook of main characters
in mahabhArat and ramayana.

It is however true that in last 1000-1200 years this thought
seems to be around. I would give this paradigm (and its
devastating implications) almost all the "credit" of 
briging Hinduism/ Vedic religion from "the glory that
it was", to "the glory that it is".

I would request anyone who is interested in restoring glory
of the Vedic religion, to carefully note this.

One can subscribe to a-dvaita flavour of Vedanta wherein
nirguNa brahma is interested in creation. I do.


Hari om,

Regards,
Shrinivas

  

Please explain exactly what you mean and why you think it is so 
"devastating." 
-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas