Appearance and Reality – As Properties

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“In order to understand a new material, one has to understand its Intrinsic properties as well as its Assumed (Transient) properties.  The intrinsic properties of Brahman are Sat (Reality), Chit (Consciousness) and Ananda (Bliss).  His transient or assumed qualities are Creation, Sustenance and Dissolution.  One should know both these qualities of Brahman in order to understand him.  It is very difficult to directly comprehend or talk about the intrinsic qualities of Brahman.  That’s why, at many places, the Vedas firstly talk about the assumed, temporary or transient qualities of the Brahman and then explain Brahman in terms of his natural intrinsic qualities.

The following quote from Taittiriyopanishad is very pertinent in this context among all the statements in the Vedas about the transient qualities of Brahman:

यतोवा इमानि भूतानि जायन्ते
येन जातानि जीवन्ति
यत्प्रय्त्यभिसंविशन्ति ||    —   III-1-i,  taittirIya upanishad

It means: “Brahman is that from which all the five major elements like the sky are born, by which all that were born are sustained and into which all those sustained finally enter and unify with it.”

The properties of creation, sustenance and dissolution do not always adhere to the Brahman. Therefore, they are to be called as temporarily assumed characteristics.  Both Vasishta and Valmiki Maharishis prepared the scope of their teachings in YogavAsiShTha keeping this fact in mind. ”  — From: p: 1-2, Yogavaasishta, Part III – Sustenance, K. V. Krishna Murthy, (English translation Dr. Vemuri Ramesam), Avadhoota Datta Peetham, Mysore, India, 2006.

The transient qualities are the Appearance.

The intrinsic qualities are the Reality.

The Only Reality – Consciousness

Quote

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Your consciousness of your world is all there is to your world.

Consciousness isn’t a word. It is literally the very “Substance” wherein all existing goes on. Consciousness is actively aware and alive as all Presence, the only real “Place” there is. It is the one, essential “Stuff” without which your everyday affairs and entire universe wouldn’t even appear to exist.

Consciousness has to be Reality, for nothing else is really being to be Reality. Reality isn’t a far-off state one ultimately becomes conscious of. Reality simply is what really is—which is Consciousness effortlessly being, right here, now.

Consciousness is All, Ch. 1

Appearance versus reality

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28548_web_R_by_Gitti_pixelio.deIf now our happiness consisted in doing, I mean choosing, greater lengths and avoiding smaller, where would lie salvation? In the art of measurement or in the impressions made by appearances? Haven’t we seen that the appearance leads us astray and throws us into confusion….?  Plato – Protagoras, 356 d.

Eikon (image or appearance) is a versatile concept in Plato’s usage, always referring to the external or material – temporal, finite – world (1), as against the ideal – eternal, infinite – one. Eikon is either an image of an image, such as reflections in water or polished surfaces, or the material objects themselves. These latter are images of the only reality there is, that of eide (Ideas or Forms) – the ‘Intelligible world’, the former one being the ‘Sensible world’ – that of appearances or phenomena … (1) Elsewhere time is seen as an ‘image’ of eternity.

(From an unpublished article)   Gitti@pixelio.de (photo)

Q. 359 – Some potential practices

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sleeperQ: As a long-time Krishnamurti fan, I often “practice” awareness (mindfulness): when a thought arises I watch it live out its life and disappear; when I sip coffee I am aware of the feel of it, the taste, the fact that I am sipping coffee, etc.

 1. Is it okay for me to continue doing this while I am studying Advaita Vedanta? (OK in the sense of not undermining the Advaita learning process.)

 2. Does Advaita hold that is valuable/beneficial to practice this kind of nonjudgmental awareness? Is there a similar practice in Advaita?

A: According to (traditional) Advaita, you are supposed to have gained sAdhana chatuShTaya before you embark upon the formal path of self-enquiry (shravaNa-manana-nididhyAsana). This includes shamAdi shakti sampatti, the sixfold ‘accomplishments’. And the first of these are shama and dama, tranquil mind and sense control. This is obviously a similar sort of idea to mindfulness. So any practice which helps bring the mind under control, so it is not thinking about something else while supposedly giving attention to Advaita, is fine. But very definitely the idea is become disciplined first, so that you can direct the whole of your attention. If you try to do it at the same time, you will end up doing neither well! Continue reading →

Waves on the water

Quote

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All the objects in the world are Brahman. ‘I’ am Brahman. Such being the case, both passion and dispassion, craving and aversion are but notions. Body is Brahman, death is Brahman, too: when they come together, as the real rope and the unreal imaginary snake come together, where is the cause for sorrow? Similarly, body is Brahman and pleasure is Brahman: where is the cause of rejoicing when body experiences pleasure? When, on the surface of the calm ocean, waves appear to be agitated, the waves do not cease to be water! Even when Brahman appears to be agitated (in the world appearance), its essence is unchanged and there is neither ‘I’-ness nor ‘you’-ness. When the whirlpool dies in the water, nothing is dead! When the death-Brahman overtakes the body-Brahman, nothing is lost.

The Supreme Yoga: Yoga VasiShTha, translated by Swami Venkatesananda, Chiltern Yoga Trust. ISBN: 8120819640. Buy from Amazon US, Buy from Amazon UK.

Appearance versus Reality

Quote

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189937_web_R_K_B_by_Samy13_pixelio.de

Just as one sun is reflected in numerous puddles, each showing a separate image of the same sun, so the unlimited and ever-present light of pure Knowing is reflected in seven billion minds as the feeling ‘I am,’ giving rise to the appearance of seven billion selves.

 Rupert Spira

Photo credits: Samy13@pixelio.de

Topic of the Month – Appearance and Reality

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dubrovnik_wallThe topic for June 2014 is Appearance and Reality.

Things are not necessarily how they initially seem to be!

Everything apart from Consciousness (brahman-Atman-turIya) is mithyA; only That is satyam. The metaphors of dreams and rope-snakes are highly relevant!

Please submit your quotes, short extracts or personal blogs on this topic!

Sanskrit for Seekers now available

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sanskrit_for_seekersMy guide to Sanskrit, for seekers who do not want to learn the language but would like to be able to look words up in the dictionary, is now available in Paperback or Ebook format.

For the paperback: Buy from Amazon US – Buy from Amazon UK.

And for the Kindle Ebook: Buy from Amazon US – Buy from Amazon UK.

I believe other Ebook formats are available but you will need to search.

More information and extracts available here.

Spontaneous thoughts

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You may recall my earlier Post on “Two Genres of Thought” in Dec 2013.

A just published research study says:

Spontaneous thoughts, intuitions, dreams and quick impressions — we all have these seemingly random thoughts popping into our minds on a daily basis. The question is what do we make of these unplanned, spur-of-the-moment thoughts? Do we view them as coincidental wanderings of a restless mind, or as revealing meaningful insight into ourselves?

A research team from Carnegie Mellon University and Harvard Business School set out to determine how people perceive their own spontaneous thoughts and if those thoughts or intuitions have any influence over judgment. Published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, their research found that spontaneous thoughts are perceived to provide potent self-insight and can influence judgment and decisions more than similar, more deliberate kinds of thinking — even on important topics such as commitment to current romantic partners.

The (perceived) meaning of spontaneous thoughts.
Morewedge, Carey K.; Giblin, Colleen E.; Norton, Michael I.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, May 12 , 2014,

Awakening and non-knowing

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“The timeless non-state cannot be achieved because 
the mind cannot evolve towards it. The mind can only 
bring you to the threshold. Awakening comes 
unexpectedly when you do not wait for it, when you 
live in not-knowing. Only then are you available.”



                                                                      ~Jean Klein