[Advaita-l] Sleep, tamas and brahman

[V Subrahmanian]

On Wed, May 2, 2018 at 1:16 PM, H S Chandramouli via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> ​Namaste.
>
> I think it is useful to bear in mind that there were advaitins even at the
> time of Sri Bhagavatpada who held the view that the Atman of Sushupti,
> namely AnandamayAtman, is indeed Brahman. No doubt this was refuted by Sri
> Bhagavatpada. However it is not uncommon to find even contemporary reputed
> advaitins advancing the view that it is only Shudha Brahman that is
> "obtaining" in Sushupti. Beyond saying this I would not like to name any in
> this context. Hence I think there is no justification for being too
> critical of members in this group as well for holding on to such a view.
>

Thanks Chandramouli ji for being too diplomatic :-)  Leaving aside the ones
that the Bhashyakara criticised, do you think these two groups you have
stated held the view that the Mandukya and the Br.U. gave out two entirely
different teachings? Did the second group also hold that sushupti itself is
the highest, liberated, state?  One has to examine works like 'Shuddha
shaankara prakriyaa' or 'Mandukya taatparya vivechini' of Sri SSS to see if
the Turiya is held to be identical with sushupti avasthaa. I am sure he
would not hold that absurd ideas. In fact Shankara has clearly stated in
the BSB 2.1.14 that the Brahmatmabhava (which is called sarvatmabhava also
in Br.U. etc.) is not a 'state':  न चायं व्यवहाराभावोऽवस्थाविशेषनिबद्धोऽभिधीयते
इति युक्तं वक्तुम् , ‘ तत्त्वमसि’ इति ब्रह्मात्मभावस्यानवस्थाविशेषनिबन्धनत्वात्
;  He says here: the idea of no-vyavahara is not an avasthaavishesha,
tattvamasi etc. teach us the state that is not an avasthaavishesha. So, by
any stretch of imagination the Upanishad or the Bhashya cannot be held to
be teaching the sushupti, which is evidently an avasthaa, a  state, having
a beginning and an end, to be the same as liberation, which has neither a
beginning nor an end.

regards
subbu

>
> Regards ​
> _______________________________________________
> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
>
> To unsubscribe or change your options:
> https://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>
> For assistance, contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>