[Advaita-l] How can prANa be Brahman?

[Venkatraghavan S]

Namaste Sri Raghav ji,

I made that clarificatory statement in parenthesis- yoga based vedAnta
nidhidhyAsana - not with a view to restrict nidhidhyAsana to only a yoga
based one, but with a view to say that the yoga based nidhidhyAsana has a
role to play for those adhikAris who still have some pratibandhakas that
prevent them from enjoying the benefits of jnAna that has been gained
during shravaNa. Where such pratibandhakas are deep rooted psychological
obstacles that are not easily dismissed by manana and shravaNa, a course of
samAdhi rUpa nidhidhyAsanam may be required.

However, nidhidhyAsanam need not necessarily be restricted to only the
samAdhi rUpa nidhidhyAsanam that is prescribed in yoga shAstra and
mentioned in Chapter 6 of the Gita. Even repeated shravaNam, reading,
writing, discussion, teaching vedAnta, trying to imitate a jivanmuktA's
habits and way of life until it becomes natural can all be practiced as
nidhidhyAsanam by a skilful practitioner.

Like Krishna says in Chapter 5.8 and 5.9 - नैव किञ्चित्करोमीति युक्तो
मन्येत तत्त्ववित् । पश्यञ्शृण्वन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपञ्श्वसन् ॥ ८
॥
प्रलपन् विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि । इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु
वर्तन्त इति धारयन् ॥ ९ ॥
Practicing the above on a constant basis is nidhidhyAsanam only - one
doesnt have to sit in one place, close their eyes and enter into some
mystical state of ecstasy for it to be termed as nidhidhyAsanam.

Regards,
Venkatraghavan

On Wed, Sep 7, 2016 at 11:36 AM, Raghav Kumar <raghavkumar00 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Namaste Sri Venkatraghavan ji
>
> You had written - 'For such people, nidhidhyAsanam  (yoga-based
> vedAnta nidhidhyAsanam)  can be helpful to get rid of notions of viparIta
> bhAvana, through a process of mithyAtva nishchaya.'
>
> Just to clarify - can we say nidhidhyasana is necessarily yoga-based? (
> the pratyaya-ekatAnatA in such yoga-based nidhidhyasana would presumably be
> the shabda-pramANa prApta jnAna vRtti without phalavyApti etc. Such a
> restriction can arguably make the practice different from manolaya or even
> the standard pAtanjala samAdhyabhyAsa in both of which there is little
> scope for vedAnta-pramANa-vyApAra. )
>
> Is there any non-yoga-based nidhidhyAsana which would be discernibly
> different from the first type mentioned in the previous para?
>
> (One could perhaps adopt a 'result-oriented' approach to what constitutes
> nidhidhyAsana and say that whatever practice weakens or removes viparItA
> bhAvanA-s is nidhidhyAsana. In such a 'liberal' definition of
> nidhidhyAsana,  other non-yoga-based practices which deliver the goods
> could also come under the ambit of nidhidhyAsana. I have not come across
> any textual references related to such a putative non-yoga based
> nidhidhyAsana. But it does sound plausible.)
>
> Om
> Raghav
>
> P.S.
> 'This is where I differ from
> the various yogic upanishads you quote that cite the requirement for jnAna
> and yoga.'
>
> On a lighter note - Given the bout of 'authenticitis' that is prevalent on
> the list can we say that the yoga upaniShads have been 'authenticated' by
> the fact the muktikopaniShad lists them. I am under the impression that the
> dakShiNAmnAya tradition accepts yoga upaniShads.
> Namaste Sri Ravi Kiran ji,
>
> In addition to the references provided by Sri Chandramouliji a description
> of a jIvan mukta's life (sthita prajna) is provided in Bhagavat Gita
> 2.55-2.57 and it's bhAshya.
>
> The reasons why the body continues to exist (conventionally) for a jIvan
> mukta are discussed in Brahma Sutra 4.1.15 and the related Chandogya
> 6.14.2.
>
> Katha 2.3.14 (अत्र ब्रहम समश्नुते) and it's bhAshya is often cited as a
> pramANa for jIvan mukti but it's only a brief reference.
>
> Regards,
> Venkatraghavan
>
> On 7 Sep 2016 6:48 a.m., "H S Chandramouli via Advaita-l" <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> > Sri Ravi Kiran Ji,
> >
> >
> >
> > Reg  << Have you come across any references from bhAshya on the second
> > type..? >>,
> >
> >
> >
> > Specifically the word जीवन्मुक्त (jIvanmukta) appears in the Bhashya in
> > only one place BG 6-27 ब्रह्मभूतं जीवन्मुक्तम्, ‘ब्रह्मैव सर्वम्’ इत्येवं
> > निश्चयवन्तं ब्रह्मभूतम्
> >
> >
> >
> > (brahmabhUtaM jIvanmuktam, ‘brahmaiva sarvam’ ityevaM nishchayavantaM
> > brahmabhUtam)
> >
> >
> >
> > (brahmabhUtam, also termed jIvanmuktam,  one who has the conviction that
> > everything is Brahman only).
> >
> >
> >
> > This is in the context of the result accruing to one who has attained the
> > second type. However there are other references in the Bhashya concerning
> > the second type while referring to the sAdhanas takenup for achieving
> this
> > state. For example BU4-5-1/2,4-5-15 ( Yagnavalkya leaving for
> > sanyAsa),3-5-1(kahola brahmana). These are cited by Swami Vidyaranya. He
> > quotes extensively from the Srutis जाबालोपनिषत् (jAbAlopaniShat) and
> > परमहम्सोपनिषत्  (paramahamsopaniShat) for which as you very well know Sri
> > Bhagavatpada has not written BhAshya, as well as many Smrutis for his
> > stand.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Also Sri Bhagavatpada has dealt with the subject of जीवन्मुक्त
> (jIvanmukta)
> > extensively in Viveka Chudamani.
> >
> >
> >
> > Pranams and Regards
> >
> >
> >
> > >>
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