Advaita summer discussion group - IV
Following on the lines of the post I wrote after our previous meetings, here is a brief synopsis :
- This session was pretty much a continuation of the last one. The main issue discussed was the problem of Adhyasa, which is the central problem in Advaitic metaphysics. Adhyasa means superimposition and Advaita holds that the phenomenal world of plurality is perceived only because we superimpose this erroneous world view on top of the one nondual unconditional nameless formless consciousness denoted by Brahman. So then the problem with this theory is that how did the process of Adhyasa first begin. Advaita holds that Adhyasa is coeternal with Brahman, which is better, and more honest, than the metaphysics of those monotheistic systems in which creation begins at a specific point in time, and is a non-cyclical, one-off affair. But then, if Adhyasa is coeternal with Brahman, then you no longer have a nondual view of reality but a dualistic view like the one espoused by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras.
- The best succint introduction to the problem of Adhyasa is given by Adi Shankara in the introduction to his Bhasya on the Brahma Sutras. This remarkable introduction (to a remarkable commentary) has earned a name for itself - Adhyasa Bhasya. In recent times, a thorough discussion occurred on the advaitin email list at yahoo in 2002 when a certain atmachaitanya108 provided a tour-de-force analysis of advaita/vishistadvaita (nondualism/qualified monism) polemics. This discussion has been compiled into a pdf file and is available here : Whence Adhyasa?
Btw, this atmachaitanya108, following in the lines of the impersonal anonymous identies of the upanishadic sages of yore has remained anonymous.
- Like any other spiritual path, Yoga Vasishta in the end recommends "realizing the nondual truth after which all questions about adhyasa will be resolved."
Posted at 12:19 pm by levitatingyogi
