AI and Consciousness

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With the increasing use of AI, questions have been raised about its responses to various issues, flagging up mistakes, misunderstandings and potential dangers of various magnitude, with end-of-the-world scenarios as the ultimate concern. Anyone with some familiarity with using Large Language Models on the Internet will share these worries to varying degrees; certainly in the context of AI having any control over defense systems, performing operations or Air Traffic Control, for example. There have already been reported incidents of driverless cars making serious errors.

One of the most interesting questions relates to its human-like ‘behavior’. The computational strength of these AI models is so great that they are able to respond to questions in a style that mimics that of a human. They can appear to exhibit empathy. They may seem to sympathize with the questioner’s frustration or echo their elation at solving a problem. Introverted and socially inept people may even seek a simulated friendship with AI. It has been reported, if we can believe it, that people are ‘marrying’ an AI simulation!

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ChAndogya Upanishad (Chapters 6 to 8) Part 7(2)

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Part 7(1)

Part 7(3)

From the lowest degree of manifestation, one has to gradually ascend step by step. The name of an object includes every kind of information about the object.  Sanatakumar asks NArada to have a complete descriptive knowledge of objects. One has to master it, not by excluding it or disregarding it, but by having a thorough knowledge of it, to the extent their names and forms are concerned. A common mistake is that a seeker lacks patience and tries to skip the stages or does not finish the intermediary stages. Knowledge does not mean ignorance of any particular aspect of experience. It is a total comprehension. When I am bound, I must know the reasons of bondage. It is immaturity to say that I am concerned with freedom and not concerned with the stages of bondage.  Freedom is the knowledge of the causative factors behind bondage. The cure is by removing the causative factors. Bondage is the devil which operates in a particular realm.

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The jñānī after enlightenment

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In my last post – The Barren World – Venkat and Michael made some comments about the status of the jñānī after enlightenment and I suggested that we make this the subject of another post so as not to confuse the issues.

Conicidentally, Sri V Subrahmanian has just made the following post to the Advaitin List. In it he lists numerous quotations from the scriptures and Shankara which clearly indicate the continuance of the world and the jñānī ‘s continued activity in it. I thought that this could form the basis of any further discussion on this aspect and Subbu-ji has kindly agreed for me to post it here.

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ChAnyadogya Upanishad (Chapters 6 to 8) Part 7(1)

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Part 6(2)

Part 7(2)

Chapter 7
Introduction
In chapter 6, knowledge of supreme Reality as Being is imparted and it is said that all that is perceived and conceived is nothing but Being, i.e., pure existence. It is Sat-vidya. In chapter 7, reality is graded beginning from name and ascending to prAna so as to reach Being designated as Bhuma. All the lesser degrees of reality are only forms of Its manifestation and is a lower order of reality. The higher includes the lower, and the highest is everything and is all-inclusive.
If the lower grades of reality are not described, one may think that there are things other than the Being though unknown. The intermediate realities are graded in a manner value and expanse of a reality is more than those of preceding one until the highest reality Bhuma is ascertained. Bhuma means infinite which is bliss also. The teaching is in the form of a dialogue between NArada and Sanatakumar as student and teacher respectively forming a worthy-duo.

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Surefire Way To Liberation – Part 2

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[Part 1]

2.  With One Stop Over:

The Unfailing Universal Rule:

Krishna reveals the universal rule, that governs with no exception, the next birth of a creature.  The rule is:

यं यं वापि स्मरन्भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेबरम् ।
तं तमेवैति कौन्तेय सदा तद्भावभावितः ॥  —   8.6, BG.

Meaning: Of whatever Being thinking at the end a man leaves the body, Him alone, O son of Kunti, reaches he by whom the thought of that Being has been constantly dwelt upon.

Therefore, his promise is: “Whoso, at the time of death, thinking of Me (Vishnu, the Supreme Lord) alone, leaves the body and goes forth, he reaches My being (My real being as Vishnu); there is no doubt in this as to whether he reaches or not (8.5, BG; 7.30, BG.).” Continue reading →

The Barren World

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In my last post, I promised that I would provide another (clinching?) argument as to why the world does not disappear on enlightenment. Here it is. I use this in the book that I have just completed, which provides lots of examples of how many modern teachers misrepresent the various topics in Advaita, leading the seeker on a merry path that is unlikely to lead to enlightenment. (I have only just sent this to the publisher so it will not appear until the end of next year at the earliest. It will be called: ‘Finding the Self: A Guide Through the Minefield of Modern Advaita’.

The metaphor often used by those who maintain that the word does disappear is the rope-snake. The ignorant traveler sees a snake in front of him and is afraid. When light is shone onto the object, it is revealed as a rope and, they say, the snake ‘disappears’. Similarly, the ignorant seeker initially believes that the world is real. But when the knowledge of Advaita illuminates the issue, the world disappears. (Interestingly, they do not say, by direct analogy, that what was thought to be the world is realized to be Brahman, which would be the true situation.)

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BrihdArnyaka Upanishad (Part 5)

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Part 4

Part 6

2.1.18                                                                                                                         During dream, the mind projects a dream world out of latent tendencies in it formed out experiences in the waking state. There are 72000 nAdis (like blood vessels) emanating from the heart through which prAna shakti travels to different parts of the body. The sense organs are not functional as they are resolved in the nAdis. The jIva (the reflected consciousness in the mind) travels through the nAdis and experiences the dream world projected out of the latent tendencies in the mind. In the dream, what are the ‘achievements’ of the jIva. He is, as it were, a king or a noble brAhmana or an animal. There are states of high and low. The achievements are false. It is to be noted that the jIva remains in the nAdis and does not reach the heart. If it reaches the heart, then it is the state of sleep.

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Surefire Way To Liberation – Part 1

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Surefire Way To Liberation:

  1. Non-stop Direct:

One attains (eternal and irreversible) identification with brahman by being established in brahman *even in the closing years of one’s life* — 2.72, BG.

Essential Requirements:

a) Should be free from all desires, be free from hankering, without the idea of (‘me’ and) ‘mine’, and be devoid of pride — 2.71, BG.

Shankara comments at 2.71, BG: Only that man attains peace (Liberation) into whom all desires enter, from all directions, like waters entering into a sea, without overwhelming him.

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World disappearing and mithyā

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Not a lot of discussion on the site recently. I thought maybe the time was ripe for a little controversy again. Recently I queried ChatGPT for Shankara references on this topic. I also encountered just a few days ago, a devastatingly logical argument against this idea, but I will save that for a later post. Here is the (single post) AI contribution. Of course, you may argue, AI is presenting its position so as to support my own view – a recognized problem with AI at present). Perhaps, then, Ramesam or Venkat could tackle AI with essentially the same query to elicit a response in keeping with their belief? That would be interesting!

Q: Where does Shankara define what he means by the word मिथ्या and what does he say?

A (ChatGPT): Adi Shankaracharya, the great Advaita Vedanta philosopher, defines the concept of mithyā in several of his works, particularly in his commentaries on key Vedantic texts. The term “mithyā” generally refers to the idea of falsity or illusoriness. It’s crucial in Advaita Vedanta because it relates to the nature of the phenomenal world and how it is perceived in relation to the ultimate reality, Brahman.

One of the most explicit definitions of mithyā is found in Shankaracharya’s commentary on the Brahma Sutra (Brahmasutra Bhashya) in the section known as the Adhyasa Bhashya. Here, he describes mithyā as something that is neither completely real (like Brahman) nor completely unreal (like the horns of a hare), but rather something that appears real under certain conditions but is revealed as unreal upon closer examination or when true knowledge is attained.

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ChAndogya Upanishad (Chapters 6 to 8) Part 6(2)

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Part 6(1)

Part 7(1)

ShankarAchArya answers the question: Who is Svetaketu, denoted by the word ‘thou’?
“It is he knows himself as, ‘I am Svetaketu, the son of Uddalaka’, and who after hearing the instruction, thinking over it and understanding it, asked his father for knowing what has not been heard of and thought of, and remains unknown, ‘Venerable sir, how is that instruction imparted?’ He who has become entitled to be the hearer, the thinker, and the knower, is none other than the supreme Deity himself, who, in the form of reflection has entered into the aggregate of body and organ made up of fire, water, and food, like a person in the mirror or like sun, etc., in water etc, for the sake of manifesting name and form.”

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