Thursday, March 8, 2012

Spiritual Observations on Bliss





I want to thank my friend Ken Sendo  for causing me to turn my attention to higher ground.
These are some few observations I made on his bringing the Ananda Sutram by Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar to my attention. (link to Chapters 1-4 Below) 



Pages 38 and 39 of the Ananda Sutram are perhaps the best place for my  comments on the Ananda Sutram or Philosophy  of  Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar .
>>> In the Ananda Sutram a subtle distinction or difference is made between Mukti and Moksha, I also make this distinction that If one ,even while still in the physical has seen through  illusion or maya (accepting unreal things as real) that is Mukti, while freedom from the repeated cycle of birth and death or samsara is Moksha or Liberation.

>>> In the Ananta Sutram Sankaracharya or Sankara the great expounder of Advaita Vedanta is mentioned for stressing the importance of Pure Knowledge over "religious rites". The doctrine of advaita vedanta as expounded by Sankara can be summed up in half a verse: Brahma Satyam Jagan Mithya Jivo Brahmaiva Na Aparah" — Brahman (the Absolute) is alone real; this world is unreal; and the Jiva or the individual soul is non-different from Brahman. This is the quintessence of his philosophy. According to Sri Sankara, whatever is, is Brahman. Brahman Itself is absolutely homogeneous. All difference and plurality are illusory. 




 >>>And Who is Sri Krsna?  , Speaker of the Bhagavad Gita who showed his Universal form to Arjuna, and who is according to the Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.28 krsnas tu bhagavan svayam > Krishna is the source of all other incarnations and forms of God.   
Some also believe that Krsna is the the 8th Incarnation of Vishnu (the Brahma,Vishnu,Shiva trinity of Godhead),depending on which Vedanta  tradition or Sampradaya one follows.

In the Ananda Sutram, Krsna is mentioned for stressing Self-Knowledge over so called "religious practices". Krsna says: Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender to Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear. BG 18:66. Which Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar  refers to also, Quote: "Lord Krsna has been quoted in the Giita If a stark sinner takes my refuge leaving aside his everything, liberate him from worldly bondages." 

This is a good place to consider how The Bhagavad Gita's diverges from the Sankhya/Samkhya system:

First came prakriti’s will (buddhi) to manifest itself. Then, as a result of this will, came individuation (ahamkara) whereby prakriti broke up into various separate entities. These entities were divided into two worlds, organic and inorganic. The organic world consists of mind (manas), the five senses of perception (hearing, sight, touch, taste and smell), and the five organs of action (the hands, the feet, the tongue and the two organs of excretion). The inorganic world consists of the five subtle elements (sound, form, touch, savour and smell), and the five gross elements (ether, wind, fire, water and earth).

This is the Sankhya system in its cosmological form. But the system also provides a schemata which explains how human beings function in the world. Thus the senses perceive the inorganic world, then pass those perceptions on to the mind. The mind in turn processes and organises the senses’ perceptions into information which is passed through the ego to the intellect. The intellect, on the basis of this information, decides what is to be done and, by its will, that decision is relayed via the ego back to the mind which has the decision executed by the organs of action. It can be seen, therefore, that in the Sankhya system the cosmological macrocosm is reflected in the human microcosm.

The Bhagavad Gita accepts all the demarcations of manifest prakriti indicated above. What it does not accept is the Sankhya system’s concept of the relationship between purusha and prakriti. For the Sankhya philosopher prakriti manifests the universe and all its multiple forms, and purusha divides itself to give each particular form an individual spirit. The two principles are thus equal but separate, working harmoniously, but intrinsically independent. This is not the Bhagavad Gita’s view.

The Bhagavad Gita’s concept is that purusha is identical with Brahman (God), and that unmanifest prakriti is a part of Brahman, being the cosmic seed which Brahman manifests as the universe. Thus the purusha existing within each form is a particle of Brahman itself. The universe, and all the creatures in it, are therefore absolutely dependent on Brahman, being manifestations of Brahman, sustained by Brahman, and returning to Brahman when the cycle of cosmic manifestation is complete. Hence nothing exists but Brahman, which simultaneously transcends, pervades and manifests as the universe.

Ananda Sutram  quote: Nirviija Samadhi is that state in which new reactive momentum does not originate from past actions and there is total modification of psychic propensities. also: Samadhi is a stage when the Citta is completely devoid of any objective thought.  
In the Bhagavad Gita 6:22 -23 The stage of perfection is called trance, or samadhi, when one's mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This is characterized by one's ability to see the self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the self. In that joyous state, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness and enjoys himself through transcendental senses. Established thus, one never departs from the truth and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty. This indeed is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact.
Ananda Sutram Quote: To Caitanya Mahaprabhu even a so-called low born man is superior even to high caste man if he hasinfringeable faith and unshakable devotion in Hari.

‘Hari’ means ‘He who unties [harati] the knot of material desire in the hearts of the living entities’ >>




And just who is Lord Caitanya? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaitanya_Mahaprabhu
Lord Caitanya's philosophy is acintya beda-abeda tattva, which means inconceivably simultaeously monist and dualist at the same time. That is His presentation of who God really is. Srimad Bhagavatm has many places where God's impersonal feature is described, and at the same time it has many places where God's personal feature is described.

Source of Ananda Sutram quotes: http://www.scribd.com/doc/7684472/Ananda-Sutram

These are observations made from my point of view looking at the transcendental ocean of knowledge. May you all achieve success on your path of Self Realization,
Namaste 


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