‘sAdhana in Advaita’ – 3/6:
[Part – 2] Our mind is accustomed to get the impression of an object which has a finite shape (form). It is easy for the mind to think of finite forms. But AtmA is formless. Further, if AtmA were to be...
View Article‘sAdhana in Advaita’ – 4/6:
[Part – 3] If the world is the superstructure, like what is seen in a magic show, the Magician is the Knower, the Substratum! A seeker on the Knowledge Path pierces through the multiple layers of the...
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pratibandha-s – part 1 of 6
Here begins the promised article on pratibandha-s. It is actually one of the topics in the book that I am currently writing called ‘Confusions… for the seeker in Advaita Vedanta’. The book will be in...
View Article‘sAdhana in Advaita’ – 5/6:
[Part – 4/6] ‘pratyabhijna’ and ‘pravilApana’ form the two limbs of Advaita sAdhana. We have to practice these two with full involvement and clear understanding. Total commitment and unswerving focus...
View Articlepratibandha-s – part 2 of 6
Read Part 1 prArabdha The ideas that the person ‘ends’, mind is ‘destroyed’ etc. when one gains enlightenment all contradict one of the key teachings of Vedanta – karma. Of course, if one takes the...
View Article‘sAdhana in Advaita’ – 6/6:
[Part – 5] One may think that the household and other responsibilities are impediments standing in the way of Non-dual practice. If one has followed this talk carefully, it can be seen that those are...
View Articlepratibandha-s – part 5 of 8
Read Part 4 vij~nAna Shankara differentiates what might be called ‘ordinary’ or ‘intellectual’ knowledge (j~nAna) from ‘transformative’ knowledge (vij~nAna). The knowledge becomes transforming – i.e....
View ArticleDebate with a crypto-buddhist – 6
S. Almost every Buddhist school recognizes Madhyamika as important teaching, but it is almost always subordinate to the direct teaching of the Buddha or the teacher you study with. Every Buddhist...
View Articlepratibandha-s – part 6 of 8
Read Part 5 The ‘mixture of Atman and mind’ While the body-mind remains alive (i.e. continues to be animated by Consciousness), the person is a mixture, as it were, of both. If I am enlightened, I know...
View Articlepratibandha-s – part 7 of 10
Read Part 6 Apologies for the delay in continution of this series. I had to do some more background research and I have also been switching to Windows 10 and a new PC for the past 3 weeks!...
View ArticleAbhAsa vAda
This is effectively Part 6 1/2 of 10 in the pratibandha series. It follows on from the heading of “The ‘mixture of Atman and mind’”. Apologies for the misleading and changing part numbers. This is the...
View ArticleThe Ignorance that Isn’t – 1/8
1. Introduction: We are all familiar with our gross physical body. It is available to our direct perception and it gives us our ID. Vedanta tells us that we are blessed with two more bodies — the...
View ArticleThe Ignorance that Isn’t – 2/8
Part 1/8 4. Ignorance is Indeterminate: Ignorance is like a gossamer sheath that covers up and conceals our true Knowledge. An analogy may help. Think of a muslin cloth in which a few pieces of...
View ArticleThe Ignorance that Isn’t – 3/8
Part 2/8 5. Discriminating the Self (Atma) from the not-Self (anAtma): That which cannot perceive, but can become an object of perception is anAtma (not-Self). For example, our body is inert. It has...
View ArticleQ. 482 What happens after videha mukti?
Q: When the jIva removes the ignorance of his real nature, and realizes Atman is his Real unchanging Self, if the body dissolves, what happens afterwards? If there is no further birth, do we then...
View ArticleIs a single neuron conscious? (From Quora)
A short discussion. M. Advaita Vedanta’s perspective is better seen from the top-down rather than from the bottom up. Consciousness or awareness can be considered (there is a consensus on this) as a...
View ArticleThe Ignorance that Isn’t – 4/8
Part 3/8 7. Self is The Knower of All Experiences: Any feelings, like joys or sorrows, that we experience are not what we are. They are experienced by us. Everything is known by that one no-thing...
View ArticleThe Ignorance that Isn’t – 5/8
Part – 4/8 8. Self is never in Bondage (Contd.): Shankara is very categorical in his observation that “Very rare is the person who attains discriminating wisdom. The ignorant don’t follow the man of...
View ArticleThe Ignorance that Isn’t – 6/8
Part – 5/8 What we have are clearly two entities. They are the kShetra, the field comprising all that which is the knowable, and the kShetrjna, who is the Knower. If ignorance and misery were to be...
View ArticleQ. 445 Experience and brahman
Q: What exactly (in Reality – i.e. Brahman is the only reality) is experience? I know that there is a relative level where there are jIva-s and objects and minds and Ishvara, but if we talk about the...
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