Namaste Atanu-ji,
I dont wish that we miss an opportunity to discuss this just because of difference of opinions. Let us be open and not miss a discussion in
fear of contfronting each other views. You are all very knowledgeable guys and know what you are saying. I am an active debator on some
forums with dvaitins, dvaitAdvaitins and even other advaitins and I know how many different POV exist - each person is a philosophy.
You have somehow assumed that there is exactly one version of Advaita and seem to accuse me straying from the principles of Advaita. Let me
tell you that there are atleast these variants of advaita:
advaita-K ( kEvalAdvaita of Sri shankara )
advaita-G ( advaita of Sri GowDapAda ),
advaita-A ( from AnandaGiri )
advaita-M ( from MS - advaita siddhi ),
advaita-Nn ( from neo-vedAntins ),
advaita-PV ( from PadmapAda , prakAshAtman of the vivaraNa school ),
advaita-SN ( from SurEshwara naishkarmya-siddhi ),
advaita-VB ( from vAcaspati Mishra of the bhAmatI school ),
advaita-VI ( from vimuktAtman of the IshTasiddhi school ),
advaita-GB ( from gangApuri bhaTTAraka ),
advaita-AD ( appayya-dIkshita)
advaita-P ( prakAshAnanda ),
advaita-KS ( kAshmIraka sadAnanda )
In addition to these there are
advaita-V ( from Vivekananda)
advaita-Y ( Yogananda school)
advaita-R (Ramana) and more...
Adding to the confusion, we have
advaita-RL ( from Rajalakshmi)
advaita-AT ( Atanu's )
advaita - SH (Sharabhanga) etc
You might think that the differences between the variants is superficial, but unfortunately no.
I found to my great surprise that there is a variant of Shankaran advaita that denies jagat mithyatava.
I found to my great surprise that there is a variant that denies the very concept of jIvanmukta, and claims that no jIva has ever been liberated yet!(advaita-P)
I found to my great surprise that there is a variant that called Lord Krishna to be in avidyA mode.
So, we need to clarify many things before we call ourselves advaitins. This is advaita, this is not advaita - does not cut it.
In addition to the above factors, advaitins like me also do not accept veda apourusheyatva as taught by the tradition, and I beleive that there can be new revelations now and in future. Most traditional advaitins deny the authenticity of all upanishads except the principal sixteen, while many of us accept the muktika canon. Most the material written on this forum( like cakra, samAdhi etc) would be rejected by the classical advaitin, In that respect, this is a great forum that allows great variety in thought - where every idea is not opposed and rejected just because it is not there in the principal upanishads.
There are four states of 'enlightened consciousness'.( or supra awareness)
shAnta jAgrat - is also called restful wakefulness or peaceful wakefulness.
jAgrat-svapna - lucid dreaming or wakeful dreaming
jAgrat-shushupti - wakeful deepsleep
turya - Absolute non dualty.
The state of each of these have been furnished in the mANDUkya. shAnta jAgrat is the super awareness of gross nature. At its limit, it can confer on you complete knowledge of the entire physical universe called bhU loka, bhuvar loka and part of suvar loka. jAgrat-svapna is the super awareness of subtle nature, i.e the world of mind and subtle element, also known as manomaya kosha. This covers suvarloka, maharloka and janarloka. jagrat-shushupti is the super awareness of the causal( and super casual nature) , i.e vijnAnamaya kosha and Anandamaya kosha. This covers taparloka, satyaloka, and other lokas of Ishvara all up to param padaM of vishNu. turya is the indescribable Absolute. VishvarUpa darshana has been refererred to as:
manyase yadi tachchhakyaM mayA draShTumiti prabho .
yogeshvara tato me tva.n darshayAtmAnamavyayam.h (11.4)
Note the word 'avyayaM' in the request of Arjuna. It means Arjuna desires to see the complete form of Ishvara. This vision is a special one, not available to most Yogis on earth.
sudurdarshamidaM rUpaM dR^iShTavAnasi yanmama .
devA apyasya rUpasya nitya.n darshanakAN^kShiNaH (11.52)
The word 'sudurdarshamidaM' shows that the vision is extremely rare. And it also mentions that even devatAs rarely get to see this form of Ishvara.
na tu mA.n shakyase draShTumanenaiva svachakShuShA .
divya.n dadAmi te chakShuH pashya me yogamaishvaram.h (11.8)
Arjuna is given divya chakshuH to experience this form of Ishvara. divya chakshuH is nothing but the third eye of Rudra- the higher AjJa cakra.
There is considerable dualty in the experience as anyone reading this adhyAya will find, but vishvarUpa cannot be described because it is the infinite form of Ishvara with all his infinitely manifested opulences. With all the above reasoning, we can safely conclude that vishvarUpa is the highest possible experience of mAyA. It is certainly dualistic because mAyA is characterised by dualty. Therefore, this experience is that of jAgrat-shushupti only.
Can you classify vishvarUpa as vishva or taijasa, which can hardly be classifed as the complete, most difficult to see, third eye vision? Also note this:
mayA prasannena tavArjunedaM
rUpaM paraM darshitamAtmayogAt.h .
tejomayaM vishvamanantamAdya.n
yanme tvadanyena na dR^iShTapUrvam.h (11.47)
It states that no one prior to Arjuna had experienced such a form of Ishvara, and cannot be anything short of the full glory of Ishvara. Yoga vAsishTa classies Arjuna as a jIvanmukta at the asaMsakti level. Bhagavata also mentions Arjuna to be a jnAni. What vishvarUpa darshana implies is that, Arjuna has infact realized 'almost' the Self at this point, amidst the dualty - temporarily. And withdrawn due to his vAsanas. It is not turya because there is knower-known distinction in that vision. So it is a dvaitAdvaita experience of the Self( not the highest possible which is possible only in identity).
mANDUkya is very difficult to understand. Two perspective are implied for evey state - both from the individual and the cosmic perspective. The cosmic perspective can be experienced by us only in samAdhi. prAjna is a very deceptive term as rightly pointed out by Sri Sarabhanga. It has many connotations and unless one knows all the implications of this word, mANDUkya's import will be lost.
~RL
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