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#2616 - Tuesday, October 17, 2006 - Editor: Jerry Katz
http://www.monkfishpublishing.com/books/Metaphysical%20Intuition-info.htm
The metaphysical intuition
Seeing God with Open Eyes
Commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita
Swami Siddheswarananda
Translated by André van den Brink
Included in this book, co-published with Arunachala Press, are notes on the Mandukya Upanishad of which an excerpt is reprinted below with permission of the publisher and exclusive to The Nondual Highlights:
The Mandukya Upanishad is the only Upanishad that is purely metaphysical. It teaches the Ajata Vada,
the way of the non-born, of noncausality. For that reason it is sometimes called Karika Vedanta -- this is
contrary to the classical Vedanta -- after the famous commentary (karika) on this Upanishad by
Gaudapada, the guru of the guru of Shankaracharya. Shankara himself has only commented upon the
Mandukya Upanishad and on the karika of Gaudapada.
In the metaphysics of Vedanta a distinction is made between (1) the reality (tattva), that which does not
change and which persists through all of our experiences, and (2) truth (mata), of which, according to the
the Vedanta, there may be any number. Swami Vivekananda explains this with the example of the sun.
Somebody is travelling towards the sun and at each stage he takes a picture. The images are all
different, but nobody will deny that they all show the same sun. The reality always stays the same,
whereas the truths, although all true at their own particular level, are relative. As such the other is as
much entitled to have a place for his standpoint as we do by occuying a place with our own standpoint.
The Mandukya Upanishad is a philosophy of the totality (sarvam) of existence, which is not the same as
the sum total of a number of separate entities or data added together. It seeks the knowledge (jnana) of
that totality, which endeavours to solve the greatest problem of philosophy, namely the contradiction
between life and death.
The reality is the totality of existence which is showing itself under two aspects: (a) the manifested
aspect (vyakta), and (b) the nonmanifested aspect (avyakta). The aim of the Mandukya Upanishad is to
prove that, irrespective of the level of existence at which one may find oneself, it is only the one reality
which is (sat). Nevertheless, from the standpoint of the practice of spirituality (sadhana), the waking
state is of superior value to us.
Non-dualism
The dialectics of the Vedanta, such as used by Shankara, does not serve to establish non-dualism
(advaita) as a position. A dialectic which seeks to establish a position is, in fact, propaganda. We just
cannot establish non-dualism as a position within temporality, because within the relativity of the
temporal everything is constantly subject to change. If, by means of dialectics, you are establishing a
position, then such a position is destined to be refuted again in the course of time. The dialectics of the
Vedanta merely serves to destroy our ignorance (avidya) and negation (ajnana) regarding the non-dual
nature of the one reality.
So non-dualism is not a philosophical system, but a metaphysical intuition. Each explanation or
description of the reality is only voiced by the language of defeat, for here we stand before a wall... In
every explanation there is a deceiver and a deceived! Sri Ramakrishna used to say that only Brahman,
the absolute, cannot be sullied by the tongue.
Since advaita is not a thesis, it never takes up a position. As in Zen Buddhism, it expresses itself
through silence or through paradox. We are unable to establish a dialectics of the absolute. However,
through knowledge (jnana) we are able to realize the one reality as non-duality. In order to do so we
have to arouse within ourselves the power of the buddhi (the faculty of metaphysical discrimination) by
means of spiritual practices (sadhana). The realisation to be attained should (a) be free from
contradictions, (b) be self-evident, and (c) be universal, not being subject to the limitations of time and
space.
As there is only one reality, it must to non-dual by nature, and in this non-duality absolutely no relations
are possible. That is why the Mandukya Upanishad speaks of Asparsha Yoga, the yoga of no-contact, of
no-relation. This is in contrast to our everyday life, which consists of relations and rapport only. The
problems in the life of an individual are always relational problems. It is only through relations and
rapport that we can have (relative) knowledge, normally speaking. Therefore you may keep this as
keystone for the study of the Mandukya Upanishad, that everything is relations, everything is rapport.
~ ~ ~
[An excerpt from a different section of this book will appear in this editor's next Highlights issue.]
http://www.monkfishpublishing.com/books/Metaphysical%20Intuition-info.htm
The metaphysical intuition
Seeing God with Open Eyes
Commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita
Swami Siddheswarananda
Translated by André van den Brink