Advaita Sudha

On Vidyaranya’s note on sixfold transcendental Meditation

Vidvan is one who is illumined with atma jnana says Mundaka. He who realized the true purport of ‘Aham asmi’ as Brahman. Moreover he knows what ‘pranasya prana’ is. Pranasya Prana Sankaracarya (in his Mun Basyam) defines ‘Para Iswarah’ (Narayana) hi esah – one who shines vibhati – diversely. Such a vidvan cannot be identified with those who claim what they don’t deserve. Sankaracarya says ‘Such a vidvan does not become Ativādi ! who is an ativādi ? ajnani is ativadi. One who talk more. A talker is an ativadi. Acarya defines ‘atitya sarva anyanvadhitum silamasyethyathivādi’ iti meaning ‘one who runs behind everything else (other than ātma). Vidvan too talks tall, in the sense he talks more on the ‘aparoksa anubhava’ that he has seen within ‘BrahmAhamasmi’. Such a vidvan is one who is Bhuma vidvan as he says ‘ayam to vidvan na atmano anyat pasyati; na anyat shrnothi; na anyatvijānināthi’ – ‘he who sees nothing other than atman; hears nothing else; cognizes nothing other than Self’. Such is the Bhuma Vidya the seventh adhyaya of Chandogya Upanishad wherein Narada initiates sanatkumara to Bhuma Vidya. Section 24 of that adhyaya speaks ‘yatra nanyatpasyati nanyat shrnothi nanyatvijanathi sa bhumatha yatra anyat pasyatyanyatshrnotyatanyatvijanati tadalpam yo vai Bhuma thadamrthamatha yadalpam tanmartya ..’ ‘Where one cannot see another, where one cannot hear, where one cannot intuit another, that is Bhuma (great); where one can see another; where one can hear another; where one can intuit another that is Alpa (small)’ says Narada.

Sathyānrtha mithuni karana is the idiom used in adhyāsa bhāsya to indicate the nature and cause for samsara. This includes objective and subjective dimensions of mix-ups. Vedanta Sravana generated the viveka jnana is that which corrects ajnana. Nithya trptah – objective Nirāsraya – subjective. These both get together as the jivanmuktha laksana. Such a subjective objective corrections are sought by Nidhidhyasa says Vidyāranya. ‘Tat chintanam tat kathanam anyonyam tat parodhanam .. brahmābhyasam vidubudhah’ every act of human life must involve nidhidhyāsana. Every act has the primary component of Nidhidyāsana of Brahmābhyasa. This abhyāsa reveals that the nitya suddha Buddha muktha svabhāva of a mumuksu. Nidhidhyāsa makes the seeker realize the release already in him. He merely recollects his freedom on Mahāvakya sravana. Mahāvakya asserts the ‘Tatvamasi’ and not ‘Tat tvam bhavishyasi’. Moksa is not a future occasion but a present event. Vidyāranya enumerates six types of samadhi. 1) āntara-drsya anuviddha-savikalpa-samādhi. 2) āntara-sabda-anuviddha-savikalpa-samādhi 3) āntara-nirvikalpa-samādhi 4) bāhya-drsya-anuviddha-savikalpa-samādhi 5) bāhya-sabda- anuviddha-savikalpa-samādhi 6) bāhya-nirvikalpa-samādhi. This is a special contributuion of Vidyāranya. With these sad vidha samādhi, the satchitananda tatparah is achieved. Segregating the nāma rupa which is invariably mixed with sat-chit-ananda is tatparah state. Each of these samadhi’s will be dealt with in the subsequent posts.

Samādhim Sarvada Kuryadh – engage in absorption always. Absorption in one’s own heart – thoughts. This is āntara samādhih abhyāsah. The meditation on thoughts is āntara. The same meditation on the external objects is bāhya samādhi abhyāsa. Each of the above two is classified further into two each. Savikalpa and Nirvikalpa ie, with and without divisions (bedah) respectively. Thus samādhi is now four. Savikalpa-āntara, savikalpa-bāhya and Nirvikalpa-āntara, Nirvikalpa-bāhya. Such a division is divided further in relation with two more entities namely, drsya and sabda anuvedhana. Anuvedana is the associative power. Sabda anuviddha is in association with akandakara, asanga, suddha svarupas. Now āntara-drsya-savikalpaka-samādhi. This meditation can be done at the initial stages. In a dark room, have a small dipa lit in the middle. Concentrate on the dipa, while the prakasa pervades the hall. Only with this light we now see some objects in the hall. The dipa-praksa illumines the object. The dipa is suddha and akanda. Objects are sasanga while dipa is asanga. Gradually withdraw the sasanga and absorb the light in you. This is āntara-drsya-anuviddha-savikalpaka-samādhi.

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