I have been allured by Reality since I can remember and need to provide an update to what I have blogged elsewhere (https://satyaadvaita.wordpress.com/).
To determine the nature of reality, the simple approach is the best. Is there a God and if so is He of any use to me. This is better than imagining the universe and one’s mind being conscious of that universe and its method of preservation. When one uses the first method of determining the Nature of Reality, it is found to be an arduous task and not accessible unless one is steadfast in one’s determination to seek the truth. The Reality that emerges from that is bheda abheda, in that one determines what it takes for God to leave His work and attend to the needs of the sadhaka in his quest for knowledge. It shows that there is simultaneous oneness and separateness between the sadhaka and God even when total union is attempted. The consciousness that develops is that of God as Sri Krishna who clarifies dharma and charts the path to perfect existence in total awareness.
There is nothing higher than God as Sri Krishna. Brahman is partly nirguna in that it consists of energy and partly saguna as the energy comprises the guna consciousness triad deities of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva with its devi counterparts to whom ordinary human relate in their normal lives and get their inspiration for actions. If one wishes real awareness and knowledge as a gyana yogi, one must transcend Brahman to reach Sri Krishna (synonymous to Durga) and then all is revealed.
The standard view is that of Nirguna Brahman being the advaitic reality. My question to that was how is it possible for a Live Entity (saguna Brahman/God) to emerge from an inert Entity (Nirguna Brahman)? On the other hand evil is tamasic; good is sattvic; and routinal is rajasic; all gunas that derive from Brahman as guna consciousness. We come from God through the consciousness energy of Brahman which has two components: life force and soul force. God alone decides whether something is alive or dead in this chain. Here is a write up: https://dispersalofhumanityfromhomoegaster.wordpress.com/2015/01/09/consciousness-energy-of-the-universe/. Brahman consists physical energy and consciousness energy which in turn is made up of guna consciousness (tamas, rajas and sattva) that is powered by Sri Krishna to generate deities like Jesus, Brahma, Shiva, Allah, Saraswati that people relate in their normal lives so it is not impersonal: Brahman therefore is partly nirguna (physical energy) and partly saguna (consciousness energy). Further, If Brahman is pure consciousness how can it have the power to manifest itself into something else unless there was a guiding hand doing it. That guiding hand and maya (creative power) is that of Sri Krishna with his mind that utilises the physical energy and consciousness energy to generate the physical world and life forms.
I do not know who created God: God just is – in existence and has always been. The universe is withdrawn into God and then released for another birth when God chooses.
My understanding is quite simple and complete to enable me get on with my life of performing my dharma. For dharma rakshati rakshita: dharma protects when perfected. The reality is that one can only know as much as God would like one to know in the course of needing to live to fulfill one’s dharma: that is the most important thing. Of course if one has no idea of wanting to go about determining the ideal dharma (not the self-imagined dharma) one does not believe in God and so does not know that God alone is the source of all true knowledge and wisdom. As atheists therefore such people would do their endless pontifications that only go to satisfy their agendas and have no real value.
I would not say that my opinions are conditioned. I am freethinking. My opinions are based solely on what I have experienced until the age of nearly 61. I did study the scriptures and only selected the ones that corroborated what I experienced. If something has worked for a person, why should he abandon it for a reality that is hearsay from a sage or guru or master?
If people who do not know God tell me that I am mentally ill for following God, what effect should that have on me? Should I make myself popular by doing what they want me to do or should I go my own way knowing what I do know to be the truth? I follow truth come what may. It charts my future. I am unconcerned about what others tell me about my mental state. For I was engrossed in science and published 35 scientific papers when God told me to stop that noddy work and move onto something higher. So I did that. And I have been following God ever since. Thus, I would recommend that one should start by knowing as much science as possible with as much up-to-date analysis from the scientific angle. Then if one finds that that does not answer all the questions, it is time to turn to religion to explain the universe.
Today I am a free man with an adequate income from my pension and a very good family life within which I perform my dharma.
In Religious Forums the following was posted: First batch of SC-ST priests ready to take charge at Tirupati temples – Times of India
I think this is overdue. Ever since Brahmin priests had difficulty making a decent living, or simply say a much better living, outside the priesthood, the entire religion has suffered. Small village temples have closed, no priest to even do the basics. This gives decent and respectable employment to people in need of it, as well as keeps the numbers of priest up.
A while back there was another program elsewhere (Gujarat, Maharashtra?) for women.
Thoughts? My reply was: I am very pleased about this development. Anyone should be allowed to do any job they want to, which is what priesthood is. Seeking religion is another matter. One goes to a guru for guidance on that, which is not the same as going to a temple to be served by a priest doing his rituals. Some may think however that it is impure to allow people who are not initiated in religion to serve the people through the priesthood. They can then go to another temple where they will find Brahmin priests doing these chores. So everyone will be served in a temple of their choice.
ajay0 said: ↑ Any Tom, Dick and Harry with superficial credentials and fragile theories with numerous holes, cannot come up and state one fine day, that they are creating a new stream of vedanta, to an audience ignorant about vedanta. My reply: The reality is more important than theories of vedanta. To know reality it requires a combination of scholarship and the capacity and amenability to adopting the revealed religion, if one is revealed that is. If it is not revealed than one is stuck with Consciousness or some other form of advaita as far as one’s knowledge limit is concerned. If the religion is revealed one has attained the highest reality, namely Bhaktivedanta.
Advaita describes the varying procedures that may be adopted in the quest to attain reality, which is the purpose of Vedanta, the goal: Am I right or wrong?
ajay0 said: ↑ How do you interpret reality ! My reply: Reality is subjective: it is the knowledge that you live by come what may.
27 December 2017 Update:
The philosophers sit in their ashrams and hermitage seclusion and let thoughts come to their mind. It is when you have to live in the real world with its harsh realities that one is better able to know what is true and what is false. If someone could find a hole in my conception I would recommend him for the Nobel Prize: what cannot be answered is for God to reveal in due course if this is for the betterment of mankind.
Ajay0 said that the sanskrit terms for awareness and consciousness are long-established in Hinduism, and to discredit Awareness or Brahman as pure consciousness hence is pure delusion and quackery. I say that from my understanding the energy that the universe is composed of is therefore consciousness. But why should one consider it pure consciousness? It has components, such as physical energy and consciousness energy. And energy is not everything. There is intelligence that guides and powers it. Where does the intelligence come from? From deities of guna consciousness or from a Supreme Power that overrides that.
To know Reality one needs to determine whether there is a God hidden in consciousness. This can only be done in the faith of surrendering to the unseen Power by giving the benefit of the doubt that there is a God in ones consciousness. If He comes through to confirm this one sticks to the surrender mode because one is taking guidance from Him as to one’s dharma in this life. This gives us the ethics of living. To perform dharma one needs his continuing help in the form of guidance. That is the only philosophy that matters. When one is performing ones dharma at the peak of devotion and attainment one faces enemies in the material world. So one is in even greater need for hard physical help that matters so that one is safely getting on with ones dharma oblivious of what everyone else does. When one performs ones dharma as guided one runs into enemies who try and crush you. So compelling is the attachment to the Supreme that one lives in total reliance on Him as a refuge. It is when one faces really evil enemies that one is in need for help from the Supreme. That help comes from being guided with intelligence that we humans do not possess. It leads to bhaktivedanta. When one has not perfected dharma one has no evil enemies and is not looking for help from a divine source. But it is not for everyone for who wants to surrender ones freedom and free will unless one is steadfast in one’s pursuit of the the correct dharma and truth and is devoted to the truth realised. Then one finds the existence of a benevolent God residing inside and outside the human being and you surrender to survive the persecution faced. You surrender because you know it to be the truth that will protect you.
It is when one runs into pure evil which prevents one from living a peaceful life that the reality of who God is is investigated, as we should be able to appreciate from a study of the epics the Mahabharatta and Ramayana.
Evil is made of dark forces that generate adharma which gives people wicked intentions to harm others living peacefully in order to live to high materialism, and it cannot be eradicated by the means you suggest as it is ingrained and is born of the tamasic guna taking its cues from this aspect of consciousness. The only way to deal with evil is for sattvic guna people to pray for divine guidance in order to squash it. And luckily as it says in the Bhagavad Gita, God will make this happen from yuga to yuga when adharma becomes the norm because evil has had it too good for too long and has become widespread.
6 January 2018 Update:
On Atman
At Religious Forums, sayak83 said: ↑
Chapter 2 verse 23 Katha Upanisad
This Atman cannot be attained by the study of the Vedas, or by intelligence, or by much hearing of sacred books. It is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one Atman reveals Its own form. He who has not first turned away from wickedness, who is not tranquil and subdued and whose mind is not at peace, cannot attain Atman. It is realised only through the Knowledge of Reality.
My comment: This is very profound. It is saying that Atman, the interior One, chooses a person to whom knowledge is revealed and to him the form of the Atman is revealed in so far as Atman decides should be revealed. What the person does with that knowledge to translate it to ethics and action (develop his dharma) depends on the individual in that he/she has to understand the guidance that is received. So Atman cannot be realised until It has decided to intervene in the life of an individual. So Atman is being presented as a personal God.
The features required for a person to attain Atman is described. It is very accurate from my own personal experience. Yes, I have attained Atman without a shadow of doubt through intense perseverance.
sayak83 said: ↑
Chapter 2 Verse 8 Katha Upanisad Atman, when taught by an inferior person, is not easily comprehended, because It is diversely regarded by disputants. But when It is taught by him who has become one with Atman, there can remain no more doubt about It. Atman is subtler than the subtlest and not to be known through argument.
My response: It takes years of incessant endeavours to examine Atman and get to know It. It is indeed very subtle but on surrender wholeheartedly protects the individual from falling away from his path of dharma that he/she has learnt. One becomes one with Atman by surrendering to ones inner guide.
Salixindendium wrote: Who is It that is the Atman who is choosing? Who are you?
My reply: Atman is the inner Consciousness that a jiva can connect with. A jiva is the body and mind of a living being. When the search for inner Guide is strong, the Atman (Consciousness) makes itself Personal and allows the jiva to develop his/her knowledge of the Reality in which he/she lives. In doing so Atman is choosing the person for special guidance. Atman will prompt the jiva into the search and action. So you can say that it is synonymous to God-Consciousness to whom bhakti develops because the guidance is perfect for the individual concerned.
I am nothing but a jiva with a body and mind. Atman is therefore God’s Consciousness to whom we as jivas can transcend our gunas for attaining.
In this exposition from Katha Upanisad, one is being pointed to Dwaita Vedanta.
sayak83 said: ↑
Katha Upanisad Chapter 2 Verse 9 This Knowledge cannot be attained by reasoning. Atman become easy of comprehension, O dearest, when taught by another. You have attained this Knowledge now. You are, indeed, a man of true resolve. May we always have an inquirer like you!
My response: This verse points to the need to have inquiry at the heart of the path chosen by the individual. You enquire sincerely and devotedly for truth and leave the rest to Atman to provide. But there is a set way in which the mind needs to be trained for the task of enquiry. I have found that path. It is easy, but requires determination and long term commitment. It works, but one needs to adhere to the path with devotion. The complexity of Atman is so incredible and so subtle that there is no room for doubt. You just progress on and on. It is non-intellectual. It is not based on reasoning. It is the seeking of Reality, and Atman obliges if the inquiry is genuine and conducted in faith. It becomes a way of life.
8 January 2018 Update:
At Religious forums Ajay0 asked: Who is your Guru or teacher who taught you this, and which tradition does he belong to!
My reply: I was always interested in Knowledge: external and internal through swadhyaya (self-examination). I learnt from various sources throughout my adult life. I call my tradition satya-advaita, or oneness with truth. No one I have known practices it.
27 January 2018 Update:
Jiva is just the term used for the individual being meaning the human being living a life. Jivatman is the body, the mind and senses in which the word atma or atman means soul force that comes from consciousness energy which is differentiated into the gunas rajas, tamas and sattva (Brahman being physical energy and consciousness energy combined). Atman is totally blended with the body, the mind and the senses which then constitutes the life of the individual. Beyond this jivatman is the Paramatman (Sri Krishna Consciousness) with which the jivatman connects if he or she surrenders to God and God as Paramatman then comes into the life of the individual and guides the individual in his or her daily activities through the atman or soul force. Advaitists equate Atman with Brahman but Brahman is more than just Atman or Consciousness energy.
Thus, in the above discussion relating to Katha Upanishad the term Atman should be replaced with Paramatman.
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December 16, 2017 - Posted by shantanup | Uncategorized | Edit
2 Comments »
1. “No one I have known practices it.”
There is a reason for this.
o What the mind does not know the heart does not grieve: https://satyaadvaita.wordpress.com/2018/01/13/the-supreme-position-of-vishnu/.
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