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Part 6: Interpreting Scripture
Swami continued: Some people have criticized Śaṅkara saying that He presents His own concept first and then quotes the scripture. Thus, He makes the scripture follow His concept by the force of His scholastic ability. This criticism is not justified. Generally, people expect that the scripture should be quoted first and that the concept should be drawn from it through analysis. But Śaṅkara’s path is correct in this matter. This is because, one should not seek to merely interpret the scripture. Instead, one should seek to correctly interpret the scripture. We must believe that the scripture is written by...
Shri Anil asked: Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmi! In Your recent message You preached “The Veda says that God crosses boredom with the help of His self-ignorance (avidyā) and gains His original nature by realisation (vidyā), whenever necessary to perform a miracle (Avidyayā mṛtyuṃ tīrtvā, vidyayā'mṛtamaśnute…—Veda)”. In this context I would like to ask You; while Human incarnation of God preaches the divine knowledge, what will be His state: ‘avidyā’ or ‘vidyā?...
Swami has said that the difference between the imaginary world of a soul and the external world created by God is that the imaginary world does not appear as real as this external world appears to God.
Śrī Lakshman commented: I also think that there is another difference. The imaginary world of a soul is not as continuous as this external world is. Yet another difference is that God can multiply Himself in His creation, which is imaginary to Him. He can simultaneously exist as many Human Incarnations of God. But a soul cannot do so...
[Kum. Laxmi Thrylokya asked: The Veda says “Ātmanaḥ ākāśaḥ sambhūtaḥ…”, which means that space arose from (was created by) Ātman. This creates a doubt whether space arose from God or the soul, since the word Ātman can refer to either God or the soul. If the Veda would have used the word Parabrahman instead, there would not have been any doubt.]
Swāmi replied: Ātman means the mediated God in this context. The unimaginable God has no form, nature or address. So, one cannot refer to Him directly. If we try to refer to the unimaginable God, there is every danger of the the souls receving the knowledge misunderstanding the statement. Since the unimaginable God cannot be known or even imagined, they might think...
Śrī Phani asked: This question is related to the discussion during a satsang about the concept that the creation appears real to God. It is said that māyā (mithyā) is that which is neither real (sat) nor unreal (asat) (Sadasat vilakṣaṇā māyā—Śaṅkara). The world is both real (sat) and unreal (asat) from the perspective of God and also from the perspective of the soul. God may subject Himself to 99% illusion...
Śrī Ganesh asked: In a discourse given by You in response to Dr. Nikhil’s question, You have explained how time can be represented in terms of space. The last time I met You, You said that Einstein was wrong when he said that without matter, space cannot exist. But when I think about the explanation given by You, I recall that You implied that time cannot exist without matter. Time is meaningless without matter. Since time and space are basically the same thing (space-time), space...
Śrī Anil Antony asked: Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmi! Śaṅkara used a simple logic to prove to atheists that God exists. He said: You are God and you exist; so, God exists. How did atheists get convinced with this logic in the absence of any practical experience that they were God? Did they practically get some mental peace or miraculous powers, at least? Without any practical experience, how did the atheists simply believe this concept, which was basically a lie meant to uplift them?
Swāmi replied: Śaṅkara told that the world is unreal if God (or atheistic soul) withdraws His absolute existence from the world. Based on this fact, the only existing God will have absolute peace. Śaṅkara said that since world is unreal if it is isolated from God...
Śrī Anil Antony asked: Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmi! You have said that we can experience both unreal and real things, giving the example of a rope which appears to be a snake. We can experience the real rope as well as the unreal snake (illusion) due to dim light. What exactly do the snake and the rope refer to? Can You please give another practical example to explain how we can experience both real and unreal things? Can a soul experience the unreality of creation at any time?
Swāmi replied: Soul can never experience the fundamental unreality of the creation. The reality of a snake seen...
Śrī Anil Antony asked: Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmi! The Śūnya Vāda philosophy of Nāgārjuna states that everything is unreal. How can this philosophy be true when, even after the death of a soul, this universe continues to exist to other living souls? That one soul died, but the universe remained. This means that the soul is temporary and hence, unreal, whereas, the universe is permanent, and hence, real. So, even when the soul is alive, the soul should be unreal with respect to this universe.
Swāmi replied: The unreal world is real for the unreal soul. Reality is real for another reality. Similarly, unreality is real for another unreality...
Part 5: True Advaita in the Incarnation
Swami continued: I never said that the Advaita of Śaṅkara is completely impossible. I am only saying that Advaita or monism does not exist in the case of every soul. This is because, the relatively-real soul can never become the absolutely-real God, by its own effort, no matter how strong the soul’s ambition to become God is. What Śaṅkara preached was the monism of a rare soul with God. That rare monism is granted by God alone and it can never be achieved by the soul’s own effort. The conversion of the soul which is an imaginable relative reality into God, who is the unimaginable absolute reality...
Part 4: Individual and Cosmic Illusions
A person (soul) having little knowledge might be under an illusion about himself. But even such a person is able to remember and recognize his true nature when he is reminded about it. Then how can the omniscient and omnipotent God ever be affected by even a trace of ignorance or illusion? Even the theoretical ignorance of the true knowledge, which is known as the ajñāna āvaraṇam is impossible in the case of the omniscient God. God can never...
Part 3: Vast Differences Cannot Be Disregarded
Swami: Suppose person X earns ten lakh rupees per month and person Y earns ten rupees per month. If the Advaita philosopher has to select between X or Y as the bridegroom for his daughter, will he say that X and Y are equal? Will he say that they are one and the same because the common point between X and Y is that both earn money? Does the vast difference between their earnings...
Part 2: Relatively-Real Awareness is not the Absolute God
All the logical feats of Advaita philosophers are tremendous and highly appreciable. But all these feats are limited only to the boundary of the relative reality (vyavahāra sattā). My point is only this much. I appreciate all your logical high jumps and long jumps. But I say that you have done all of them while only remaining on the ground. You could not reach the treasure hidden under the ground. This unattained treasure is the unimaginable absolute reality (paramārtha sattā), which is introduced by Śaṅkara Himself. In fact, it was Śaṅkara, who introduced the concept that the absolute God has an unimaginable nature. He said that the unimaginability of the absolute God...
[Dr. J.S.R. Prasad is Professor of Sanskrit at the Central University of Hyderabad and he specializes in logic. Dr. J.S.R. Prasad asked: The logic presented by Advaita philosophers seems to be very powerful and in that case, how can we say that the soul (or individual soul) is not God?]
Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! The logic presented in the Advaita philosophy came from Śaṅkara, who was an Incarnation of God Śiva. Naturally, the logic is as powerful as the fire from the third eye of God Śiva, which is the eye of knowledge. Śaṅkara was Śiva and Śiva is Īśvara, who is the Creator, Maintainer and Destroyer of this entire creation. This world was created...
Śrī Bharath Krishna asked: Padanamaskaram Swamiji! You said that creation is real for all the souls as well as for God. Creation appears to be real because it has borrowed its real nature from its creator, the unimaginable God, who is absolutely real and who is the only truth. After learning this from You, I remembered sūtras 92-94 from the Parabrahma Sūtras composed by You. There You have explained the relationship between mud and the pot made out of it. In that example, the properties of the mud enter the pot. Likewise, can I say that the reality of this creation is a property obtained...
[Śrī Phani asked: Can we say that a cause-and-effect relationship (kārya-kāraṇa sambandha) exists between the following two cases (1) unimaginable God and an ordinary soul, (2) unimaginable God and a Human Incarnation of God?]
Swāmi replied: In the first case, we take the unimaginable God to be the cause and the imaginable soul to be the effect.
[This question is based on the discussion of some devotees on a discourse given by Swami in response to Kum. Mohini’s question about māyā, maha māyā and mūla māyā.
Śrī Anil Anthony asked: Swami, is mūla māyā itself the awareness of God?
Śrī J. S. R. Prasad asked: Is the term mahā māyā the same as that the concept explained in the Gītā as “Prakṛtiṃ svāmadhiṣṭhāya...
Śrī Balaji asked: Namaste Swami! Kindly explain the concepts of vidyā & avidyā, and asambhūti & sambhūti which occur in the Īṣāvāsya Upanishad. Following are some excerpts from the Upaniṣad:
andhaṃ tamaḥ praviśanti…vidyayāṃ ratāḥ
andham tamaḥ praviśanti…sambhutyām ratāḥ
Here, in both cases, it is said that those who are engaged in vidyā (knowledge) and in sambhūti (manifest) go into a greater darkness than those engaged in avidyā (ignorance) and asambhūti (unmanifest). In the subsequent hymns, the correct path...
Dr. JSR Prasad asked: Svāmipādebhyaḥ sāṣṭāṅga praṇāmāḥ! Recently, on a social media platform, there was a discussion on the concept of the Creator and creation in Vedānta. A member had asked questions like “Is creation different from the Creator?”, “How did the Creator go about creating creation?” and so on. A few Advaita scholars replied that creation is not different from the Creator...
Swāmi replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Why has spiritual knowledge become unpopular, even though it is the most important subject that helps all souls forever? The reason is that souls are not interested in reading the contents of spiritual philosophy. What is the reason for that? The only reason is that writers make the subject complicated and confusing because the writer himself...
Śrī Phani asked: You have said that the soul, which is awarenesss, is the result of inert matter and inert energy. It means that it depends on inert matter and inert energy. Yet it is aware, which gives it some freedom to choose its action. That freedom is only 0.1% since the awareness depends on inert matter and inert energy. Its dependence is to an extent of 99.9%. As such the soul, which is a product of inert matter and inert energy should not be aware, and yet it somehow is aware and possesses that 0.1% freedom. Is that tiny freedom due to God’s māyā?]
Swāmi replied: As mentioned earlier, this 0.1% freedom is the effect of the unimaginable power of the unimaginable God. This means that God alone has given that little freedom to the soul or the individual soul. We must remember...
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