[Advaita-l] Nidhidyaasana

[Nithin Sridhar]

Thank you very much Chandramouli ji.

On Wed, Feb 15, 2017 at 1:32 PM, H S Chandramouli <hschandramouli at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Namaste Sri Nitin Ji,
>
> You can refer to Vichara Sagara of Sadhu Nishchala Das in hindi which has
> a sanskrit commentary by Swami Vasudeva Brahmendra Saraswati. This is
> available for download from the Web. In the beginning of the fourth
> chapter,lakshana of a Uttama Adhikari is mentioned, and in the beginning of
> the fifth chapter, lakshana of a Madhyama Adhikari is given. I think
> lakshana of Adhama Adhikari is in the sixth chapter.
>
> Regards
>
> On Tue, Feb 14, 2017 at 8:43 AM, Nithin Sridhar via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
>> Can the learned members share references from Upanishads or works of any
>> of
>> the Acharyas about Uttama, Madhyama and Adhama adhikaris with respect to
>> sravana etc. ?
>>
>> Regards,
>> Nithin
>>
>> On Tue, Feb 14, 2017 at 8:19 AM, kuntimaddi sadananda via Advaita-l <
>> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>>
>> > PraNams to all
>> > I had posted this before couple of years back discussing the obstacles
>> for
>> > Self - Realization. I am posting it again for those who are interested.
>> > -----------------------------------Obstacles for Self-Realization -7.
>> >
>> >  We are discussing about the madhyama adhikaari, who has sufficient
>> > four-fold qualifications, saadhana chatuShTaya sampatti, to have clear
>> > understanding of Vedanta, but not sufficient enough to have the jnaana
>> > phalam or the fruits of the knowledge. Most of us fall into this
>> category.
>> > Thus he has jnaanam but not jnaana phalam to be a jiivan mukta. The
>> mind is
>> > still habitually entangled in the changing diversities of the world. ‘To
>> > change continuously’ is the nature of the world. To expect the changing
>> > world to remain conducive all the time to ones likes and dislikes is
>> > inherently faulty. Not to be affected by the changing world requires a
>> > disciplined frame of mind that can witness the events happening in the
>> > world objectively, without emotions getting on the way. Even though
>> jnaani
>> > understands he is pure existence-consciousness-limitless, due to
>> > lingering vaasanaas or habitual notions due to praarabda, emotional
>> > transformation of the mind is incomplete. In effect, the emotional mind
>> > does not abide in the knowledge of the intellect or the habitual notions
>> > come in between the mind and the intellect. For such a person only
>> > nidhidhyaasana is prescribed by Vedanta. Hence nidhidhyaasana is not for
>> > gaining any new knowledge but for making the emotional mind to abide in
>> the
>> > knowledge that has already been gained through shravana and manana.
>> >
>> >
>> >  Nidhidhyaasana is not for manda adhikaari. For manda adhikaari who has
>> > saadhana chatuShTaya sampatti at the lowest level, karma and upaasana
>> yoga
>> > are prescribed. Nidhidhyaasana is not needed for uttama adhikaari since
>> he
>> > gets both jnaana and jnaana phalam by shravana and manana, since his
>> mind
>> > has already been purified by saadhana chatuShTaya sampatti. Hence
>> > Nidhidhyaasana is required for madhyama adhikaari who has half-baked
>> with
>> > four-fold qualifications. He gains the knowledge but not the fruits of
>> > knowledge due to lingering vaasanaas. How do I know that I have jnaanam
>> but
>> > not jnaana nishTa. After the study of Vedanta under a competent teacher
>> and
>> > understood the essence of Vedanta without an iota of doubt then I have
>> > learned what needs to be learned. In principle, that is all what is
>> needed.
>> > However for many of us, the mind seems to get agitated whenever we are
>> > transacting with the world. This is due to emotional involvement with
>> the
>> > world due to attachments to things and people. This implies that the
>> > saadhana chatuShTaya sampatti needed is incomplete. Hence
>> nidhidhyaasana is
>> > prescribed by the scriptures to internalize the learning that has
>> already
>> > been taken place. It is like current switch is on and the bulb is in
>> good
>> > condition, but still no light is coming. The brighter and brighter light
>> > will start beaming forth as one starts rotating the rheostat switch
>> slowly.
>> > Thus knowledge is there but for it to express in all its glory, the
>> > obstructive emotional attachments or raaga dveshas have to be reduced
>> > further.
>> >
>> >
>> >  What is to be done in Nidhidhyaasana: Nidhidhyaasana is defined as
>> > dwelling upon the teaching that has been gained via shravana and
>> manana, by
>> > remaining in the teaching, as often as possible, as intensely as
>> possible,
>> > as long as possible, as repeatedly as possible. It is essentially
>> living in
>> > the teaching itself. This dwelling on the teaching can be done by
>> selecting
>> > any or all of the methods listed here. These include: 1. Repeated
>> listening
>> > to scriptures – shravana – mind to dwell on the teachings. 2. Repeated
>> > reading of the Shaastras or reading the notes prepared. 3. Repeated
>> > writing, while the mind dwells upon the teaching 4. Discussions of the
>> > Shaastras with those who have shraddhaa on the teaching
>> (advaita-list-serve
>> > comes in handy in this regard) 5. Teaching of the Shaastras to others,
>> if
>> > one can manage to get some one to listen to. 6. Contemplating on the
>> > teaching in a secluded place (essentially meditation on the teaching).
>> In
>> > all these saadhanas, mind is essentially dwelling on the Vedanta
>> teaching.
>> > Since the teaching is centered on the self-itself as Brahman or the
>> > totality, whatever is not aatma (which then is anaatma) is slowly
>> reduced
>> > to mithyaa that includes the likes and dislikes.
>> >
>> >
>> >  In the nidhidhyaasana, the physical posture is of secondary
>> consideration
>> > as it is predominately a mano vRitti, i.e., a contemplation using the
>> mind.
>> > Therefore mind should be awake and available without getting high
>> jacked by
>> > any other thought. Any physical posture that keeps the mind conducive
>> for
>> > contemplation on the teaching without falling asleep is the right
>> posture.
>> > In essence, the posture should be such that mind should not be dwelling
>> on
>> > the posture or become conscious of it during contemplation. In this
>> regard,
>> > one can also employ aShTaanga yoga meditation stages to keep the mind
>> alert
>> > and contemplative. Shankara discusses the application of the ashTanga
>> yoga
>> > steps for self knowledge in his aparokshaanubhuti text. Here chitta
>> nirodha
>> > involves only withdrawing the mind from the extroverted pursuits and
>> > investing in the teaching of mahaavaakya gained through Shravana and
>> manana
>> > or enquiry of the nature of the self.
>> >
>> >
>> >  Therefore, nidhidhyaasana is not silencing the mind, but involves
>> mental
>> > inquiry or vichaara on the essence of the advaitic teaching – Brahman
>> > satyam- jagat mithyaa and jiivaH bhramaa eva na aparaH, Brahman alone is
>> > real and the world is just apparent projection on Brahman and jiiva is
>> none
>> > other than Brahman. To abide in this understanding, any or all of the
>> above
>> > methods can be practiced at the seat of meditation. One can even
>> meditate
>> > on anaatma that is a worldly object with name and form to see the truth
>> > behind that object. When I meditate on anaatma, I have to see the
>> mithyaa
>> > aspect of the name and form and shift my attention to the Brahman or
>> pure
>> > existence as the reality that lends existence to the object.
>> >
>> >  The next question is how one should meditate? Bhagavaan Ramana gives
>> > illustrative examples. He says in Upadeshasaara- aajyadhaarayaa srotasaa
>> > samam, sarala chintanam virala tatparam. He says the contemplation
>> should
>> > be – like a flow of ghee or flow of river. The ghee example is to
>> > illustrate sneha bhaava or love for the goal, just as ghee sticks to the
>> > fingers, the mind has to stick to the goal. The river example is given
>> to
>> > emphasize the persistence to reach the goal, in spite of small or large
>> > obstacles that invariably come on the way. For small obstacles the river
>> > joyfully jumps over with gurgling joyful noise, and for large obstacles
>> she
>> > gracefully goes around, even taking few steps backward, without loosing
>> > sight of the ultimate goal to reach, namely, the ocean where its
>> identity
>> > with name and form gets dissolved. The mind should be constantly
>> dwelling
>> > in the understanding of the truth, in spite of any incidental obstacles
>> > that arise. Hence Bhagavaan Ramana says it should be continuous flow of
>> > thoughts (sarala chintanam) rather than with starts and stops (virala
>> > chintanam). Initially it will be of the later type but as the mind gets
>> > absorbed more and more it becomes continuous flow of thoughts. Abhyaasa
>> > (constant practice) and vairaagya (withdrawal from attachments) that
>> Shree
>> > Krishna emphasizes again and again are the essential ingredients -
>> > abhyaasenatu kounteya vairaagyena ca gRihyate.
>> >
>> >
>> >  To be continued
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Nithin S
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>


-- 
Nithin S