hari o
~~~~~~
namasté

from post 20 above,

As svāmī lakṣman-jū mentions , it is setting the conditions for the mind to become ‘no mind’.
This ‘no mind’ is called out in gauḍapādacharya’s commentary (ṭīkā) called māṇḍūkyopaniṣatkārikā, also known as gauḍapādiyakārikā. It says the following in the 3rd chapter:
आत्मसत्यानुबोधेन न संकल्पयते यदा ।
अमनस्तां तदा याति ग्राह्याभावे तदग्रहम् ॥ ३२

ātmasatyānubodhena na saṃkalpayate yadā |
amanastāṁ tadā yāti grāhyābhāve tadagraham || 32

this says,
when the mind does not imagine on account of the knowledge of the Truth which is ātman, then it ceases to be mind ( ‘no mind’) and becomes free from all idea of cognition, for want of objects to be cognized.

  • amanastāṃ = a+manas+tāṁ = no+mind+to stop = ‘no mind’
  • mind in the widest sense of the term of mental powers = intellect , intelligence , understanding , perception , sense. Some call it the internal organ, the faculty or instrument through which thoughts enter.


The insight that is hidden from view
First note that this śloka is not describing an approach (abhyāsya1) or method, but of the sādaka, or one adapted to a purpose, that has arrived at his/her sādhya1 i.e. we are now in the presence of the jñānī2

Let’s look at what has been said
On account of the Truth ( code for 1st hand knowledge, direct experience) of ātman of Self, Being, pure awareness, when that awakening (bodha) occurs, the mind becomes ‘no mind’ (amanastāṁ) & there is an absence of an objects to be perceived. What is this saying? The mind no longer conceptually imagines (na saṁkalpayate3). In ‘street talk’ terms the mind no longer just percolates ideas, thoughts, emotions , etc. on its own like the every-day person on this good earth. It is quiet, it is no more.

Yet there is something even more interesting in this. In very simple terms :
  • It is the mind that creates the difference between you and the world
  • when ‘no mind’ (for the jñānī ) is the ~norm~ no distinction or boundary exists between what he/she perceives and their very selves
  • from a philosophical point of view there is no distinction between ‘me’ and ‘this’.
    • the notion of ‘this’ is this world, this tree, this earth, this pot, this sky, this (______ fill in the blank)

  • due to this revelation of now having an unbounded experience the jñānī proclaims wholeness, the unity of every thing as his/her daily experience. Even to the point of a non-distinction of wake-dream-sleep.


What is the ahhh-ha! here?
The apparatus called mind is that ~organ~ that causes all the mischief, yet it is only doing what it was designed to do: create ~apparent~ diversity. One could strongly argue this is the actual machinery of māyā. Everyone talks of this māyā from a philosophical point of view but it is ( or was) gauḍapādiyakārikā who was able to call out the mechanics behind it. This is why he is a luminary within advaita vedānta and called out as part of the holy tradition4.

iti śivaṁ

terms
1. abhyāsya & sādhya – see post 20 above
2. jñānī – one who knows Self as himSelf.
3. saṁkalpa - conception or idea or notion formed in the mind; hence ‘na saṁkalpa’ = without conceptions or ideas being formed
4. the advaita lineage of luminaries ( masters)
नारायणं पद्मभवं वसिष्ठं शक्तिं च तत्पुत्रपराशरं च।
व्यासं शुकं गौडपदं महान्तं गोविन्दयोगीन्द्रमथास्य शिष्यम्॥

nārāyaṇaṃ padmabhavaṁ vasiṣṭhaṁ śaktiṁ ca tatputraparāśaraṁ ca|
vyāsaṁ śukaṁ gauḍapada
mahāntaṁ govindayogīndramathāsya śiṣyam||

श्री शंकराचार्यमथास्य पद्मपादं च हस्तामलकं च शिष्यम्।
तं त्रोटकं वार्त्तिककारमन्यान् अस्मतगुरून् सन्ततमानतोस्मि॥

śrī śaṃkarācāryamathāsya padmapādaṁ ca hastāmalakaṁ ca śiṣyam|
taṁ troṭakaṁ vārttikakāramanyān asmatagurūn santatamānatosmi||