Re: All this is Brahman
Namaste everyone.
I think Mithya has expressed the nature of Brahman very well: for one who was debating that Brahman and Consciousness are material, he has come a long way, so we need to encourage this new member and not snub his points of view.
Brahman by his very nature is only NirguNa Brahman. SaguNa Brahman is only a projection on the Absolute Reality of Brahman. The Absolute Reality of Brahman is essentially Consciousness which is expressed in terms of Sat-Chit-Ananda. SaguNa Brahman multiplies himself into the world of forms and entities using his IchChA-JnAna-KriyA shaktis and the three guNas Sattva-Rajas-Tamas inherent in him.
Here is what I think of Mithya's pov:
Originally Posted by
mithya
It doesn't mean the cup you see in front is Brahman. Because you define the thing you see in front as a cup based on color, shape, size, form etc. And that itself is based on sensory input, eyes in this case. In other words, without eyes, there's no color, shape, form. Without ears, no sound. Without the nose, no smell, and so on and so forth.
The object that we know as a cup is only due to our sensory-mental perception in the waking state of our existence. However, the observation "Without ears, no sound." etc. is only partially right because we can and do perceive sounds and shapes and color in our mind, so the perception is also mental.
Originally Posted by
mithya
Therefore, the cup is not really a cup, it's a cup as far as the eyes are concerned. Else, what is it? It's got to be the formless, attributeless entity, Brahman. The same goes for objects pertaining to other sense organs as well.
I think Mithya only speaks of the NirguNa Brahman here, not SaguNa. The 'material' of the 'cup' (in the question Yajvan has posed) is found in Mithya's expression "formless, attributeless entity, Brahman." This is in otherwords not the Prakriti that exists for us in the cup but the Consciousness of Brahman. And this also agrees with the statement "ekaM sva advitIyam" because there is only one thing here which is the Reality. Yajvan's question "All is One, except for cups?" has the answer "Yes, all is One and the cups are only its forms."
Originally Posted by
mithya
The latter is an illusion, while the former alone is real. Brahman Satya, Jagat Mithya.
Unfortunately, most neo-Hindus and even self-proclaimed vedantins don't ever say the world is false, that everything we perceive is false, and that the Formless alone is real. They speak a dubious language to convince their audience, thereby diluting the greatness of advaita.
This is where Mithya misses the point. Sankara said "brahma satyaM, jagat mithya" but by the term 'mithya' he meant only the conditional reality of the world ('vyavahArika satyam'), which is the nature of SaguNa Brahman. So the Hindus who perceive the world this way instead of as an illusion are not at all at fault.
रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥
To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.
--viShNu purANam
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