[Advaita-l] How can prANa be Brahman?

[Venkatraghavan S]

Namaste Chandramouliji,

One additional point I would like to make to your previous email.

Shankaracharya does not say that the experience of sorrow or delusion by
the mind itself is the cause of samsAra, but that the transposition
(adhyAsa) of that experienced sorrow / delusion on to oneself by saying - I
am sad, I am deluded etc - is the cause of samsAra. Therefore the
eradication of mental sorrow or the begetting of mental happiness are not
the aims of Vedanta - it is freedom from the notion that "I" am unhappy or
deluded, and learning to say the mind is unhappy / deluded when such
conditions arise in the mind.

That being the case, after the rise of jnAna, if due to prArabdha, the mind
of the jnAni experiences sorrow or delusion, he does not transpose that
sorrow or delusion on to himself. In my view, in JIvanmukti Viveka, Swami
VidyAraNya is not saying that further vAsanAkshaya / manonAsha is needed
for a jnAni to avoid the adhyAsa itself, because that would imply that
something other than jnAna is required for moksha.

On the other hand, the role that vAsanAkshaya / manonAsha plays is in
training the mind to limit the negative reaction to external circumstances,
which reaction manifests itself as sorrow / delusion. Therefore the
conditions that can lead to the destabilising of jnAna, namely the
experience of sorrow / unhappiness in the mind, are minimised.

Would be interested in hearing your comments.

Regards,
Venkatraghavan


On Fri, Sep 9, 2016 at 9:31 AM, H S Chandramouli <hschandramouli at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Sri Ravi Kiran Ji,
>
>
>
> Namaskaram.
>
>
>
>  Reg  << However, if one claims, based on pramAna and sva anubhava, that
> this ekatva jnAna from Sruti is necessary but not sufficient for
> experiencing Brahman (prajnA) and the need for secondary jnAna (Atma
> sAkshAtkAra or AtmAvagati or Atma darshana) through nirvikalpaka samAdhi
> (NS) for destroying further avidyA beeja remnants/residues ( not destroyed
> or sublated from the ekatva jnAna attained from Sruti mahA vAkya, which is
> only an indirect knowledge obtained from instruction manual), would be
> interested to hear more details of such NS jnAna, one has attained in NS.
> >>,
>
>
>
> I must clarify I have not mentioned about any such “NS jnAna, one has
> attained in NS”. Attainment of jnana mentioned by me also is not “the
> ekatva jnAna attained from Sruti mahA vAkya, which is only an indirect
> knowledge obtained from instruction manual”, but the
> aparokshajnana(intuitive,immediate) without any pratibandhaka etc(any
> other restrictive qualifications one may like to add) as per accepted
> adavaita sidhanta.  Your statement “However, if one claims, based on
> pramAna and sva anubhava, that this ekatva jnAna from Sruti is necessary
> but not sufficient for experiencing Brahman (prajnA)” is also not in
> accordance with what  I have mentioned. I quote from my earlier post.
>
>
>
> Quote  << Second is “freedom from bondage”. This mainly concerns, in
> addition to the above, absolute eradication of sorrow and begetting
> happiness. No doubt these also ensue on attainment of jnana >>.  Unquote.
>
>
>
> This is “experiencing Brahman (prajna)”. The sAdhaka who attains jnana
> does indeed experience this bliss at that time. In fact attainment of jnana
> is nirvikalpaka samAdhi (NS) according to advaita sidhanta ( I do
> anticipate strong opposition to this statement. I only request that if so
> the issue may be takenup as a separate thread and not mixedup with this
> thread).  The further practices prescribed for jivanmukti are NOT for
> gaining any “secondary jnana’(using your terminology) but ONLY for ensuring
> constancy and stability of this NS. I recap from my earlier post.
>
>
>
> Quote  << but according to the text Jivanmuktiviveka by Swami Vidyaranya,
> in the case of sAdhakas who have not fully cultivated वासनाक्षय
> (vAsanAkShaya) and मनोनाश (manonAsha), due to absence of rigorous
> practice and being influenced from time to time by fructifying
> prArabdhakarma that leads to enjoyment, eradication of sorrow and begetting
> of  happiness is not consistent and stable. Depending upon the intensity of
> prior practice of वासनाक्षय (vAsanAkShaya) and मनोनाश (manonAsha), they
> frequently lapse into the normal mode of vyavaharika experience.Thus they
> partially lose the benefit of jnana attained by them.>>.  Unquote.
>
>
>
> This stand is considered by many advaitins as admitting to avidyabeeja
> after attaining knowledge which according to them is not acceptable. I had
> pointed this out earlier also and mentioned that Swami Vidyaranya has
> justified his stand by providing pramana from Sruti,Smruti,Yogavasishtha,Sutaamhita
> etc.
>
>
>
> Regards
>