The 'God Consciousness' described by Maharishi is based on Sri Vidya principles: The Absolute as the creative source - the divine Mother, Tripura, which is the main doctrine of both Sri Vidya and Kashmere Shivaism.
Tripura can be an anthropomorphic deity, but the subtler tantric practices are directed towards Tripura as the formless - that is, the fourth state which is beyond or transcendental to, the three gross states (three cities) symbolized by AUM in the Mandukya Upanishad and the cogent commentary by Gaudapadacharya.
In Sri Vidya, the Sri Yantra is the map of the seven states, which agrees with MMY's layout, with the bindu at the center. According to Tantra, the bindu is the highest state of transcendence.
Swami Rama on the Mandukya Upanishad: 2) Sarvam hyetad brahmayam-atma brahma soyamatma catushpat. "Atman has Four Aspects: All of this, everywhere, is in truth Brahman, the Absolute Reality. This very Self itself, Atman, is also Brahman, the Absolute Reality. This Atman or Self has four aspects through which it operates." Work cited: 'Enlightenment Without God' Mandukya Upanishad By Swami Rama Himalayan Institute Press, 1982 Other titles of interest: 'The Secret of the Three Cities' An Introduction to Hindu Sakta Tantrism By Douglas Renfrew Brooks University Of Chicago Press, 1998 'The Triadic Heart of Siva' Kaula Tantricism of Abhinavagupta in the Non-Dual Shaivism of Kashmir By Paul Eduardo Muller-Ortega State University of New York Press, 1989 On 10/5/2013 4:16 PM, iranitea wrote:
Wow, you read the Life Divine in 1966, that's really impressive, I wasn't even in puberty then. Maybe you should have done a re-read later on, it is difficult to imagine you could grasp the whole content then. Anyway, everybody has his own path.I first heard of Mirra Alfassa in 1973, when she died, and I had just started TM. You could have visited her still.But I have to agree with Richard, that Kevala Advaita of Shankara represents only a fraction of the Indian philosophies. Maybe Aurobindo misinterpreted Shankara to some extend, but then how about Ramanuja and all the other Vaishnava Acharyas? Didn't they study Shankara extensively? Also, basically all other, similar Indian systems of philosophy, like Shaiva Siddhanta of the south, Kashmir Shaivaism, and all the Tantras disagree with Shankara on the issue of Maya. So, Aurobindo is actually much closer to them, seeing Shakti, Mahamaya as a Divine creative force, much as Aurobindo defined it, only that he connected it with the idea of evolution. To say, I read Aurobindo in 1966, and I'm done with him, is not at all doing justice to him, you would actually also experience what he describes, in order to understand him.To me it seems that Maharishi makes quite a few allusions to Aurobinoen philosophy, in some of his more esoteric and advanced lectures, which usually not in the public domain. For example when he speaks of the realization of Shiva (the transcendent), Brahman, and finally the Divine Mother, going beyond the former two, and then adds, 'and there is no end to the Divine Mother'. Which shows the influence of tantra and shaktism in his system. He also probably borrowed some of Aurobindo's thoughts, when he spoke about the absolute body. There he is probably more near to siddha philosophy and Aurobindo, than to Kevala Advaita. So, I think Richard is quite right.Today is the first day of Navaratri. So cheers and Jai Guru Dev :-) ---In [email protected], <emptybill@...> wrote: I'm not sure what you are claiming by these posting these quotes.I started reading Autobindo's Life Divine and Synthesis of Yoga in the fall of 1966 when I was a freshman in college. After starting TM, we couldn't understand why MMY never referenced him. Now we know why. Aurobindo never understood Shankara’s Advaita but rather interpreted it in terms of 19^th -20^th Century Western Idealist philosophy.By the way, all your quotes from A.C. Bhaktivendanta simply demonstrate how shallow your knowledge of the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya is in the larger constellation of Indian darshanas. One of my friends was an early disciple of Prabhupad (1968). Over a 20 years period he spend 12 years traveling and doing sadhana in India. He also did specialized training in Pancharatra Vidhi in Udipi, South India to become a Western pujari. In fact he installed my own shivalingam with a traditional Pancharatra ceremony, replete with immense devashakti.I have read Rupa Goswami, have you?Wiki Willy may look impressive to people who don’t understand the principles involved but not much for those know even a little sad-dharma.Wake up and smell the Prairie Dog ganja. ---In [email protected], <punditster@...> wrote:"The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance. "Invocation: http://vedabase.com/en/iso"The Ultimate Reality is two fulls - 200% of each. One who knows nescience side-by-side with the transcendent, can pass beyond repeated birth and death, and can enjoy the full blessings of immortality."Work cited: 'Isha Upanishad' Translation by Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust Pondicherry, India 1914 On 10/4/2013 9:03 AM, iranitea wrote:The commentary of the Isha Upanishad, actually a very short Upanishad, was later expanded by Aurobindo and served as the starting point of The Life Divine, which is really his magnum opus. You are right, he didn't subscribe to Shankaras Kevala, but would call his philosophy to be based on Bhedabheda.Could you say, where you actually cite, and where you paraphrase? I didn't find : the Ultimate Reality is two fulls - 200% of each. One who knows nescience side-by-side with the transcendent,in his Isha commentary.Richard wrote:Because many of these good fellows (sadhus) do not ascribe to the illusiontheory, 'maya' proposed by the Adi. According to Sri Aurobindo, this Transcendental Person is not false - He is real, not an illusion. Isha Upanishad: "The face of Truth is covered with a brilliant golden lid; that do thou remove O'Fosterer, for the law of the Truth, for sight." - Isha v 2 The term 'Isha' refers to Ishvara, the cosmic person, Paramatman or Brahman. Ishvara is the supreme controller. Sri Aurobindo wrote that the Ultimate Reality is two fulls - 200% of each. One who knows nescience side-by-side with the transcendent, can pass beyondrepeated birth and death, and can enjoy the full blessings of immortality.Work cited: 'Isha Upanishad' Translation by Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust Pondicherry, India 1914---In [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>, <punditster@...> <mailto:punditster@...> wrote:So, since Krishna is the Absolute, he is in fact 'indescribably different', (Acyenta Bheda Bheda). At first this seems to be non-sensical, but if you think about it, it makes more sense, and if you remember what MMY said in CBG 1-6.According to MMY, Lord Krishna is the 'Transcendental Person', mentioned inBhagavad Gita. That means that He is beyond, or transcendental to, phenomenon - the relative world of change. Many of the Vedantists who composed the Vedic literature were dualists or qualified-dualists, and others were mixed dualists and some were qualified-dualists. While all the Upanishadic thinkers were transcendentalists, not all of them ascribed to the Advaita philosophy, non-dualism. In fact, there is good reason to doubt the Advaita of the Adi Shankaracharya.Because many of these good fellows (sadhus) do not ascribe to the illusiontheory, 'maya' proposed by the Adi. According to Sri Aurobindo, this Transcendental Person is not false - He is real, not an illusion. Isha Upanishad: "The face of Truth is covered with a brilliant golden lid; that do thou remove O'Fosterer, for the law of the Truth, for sight." - Isha v 2 The term 'Isha' refers to Ishvara, the cosmic person, Paramatman or Brahman. Ishvara is the supreme controller. Sri Aurobindo wrote that the Ultimate Reality is two fulls - 200% of each. One who knows nescience side-by-side with the transcendent, can pass beyondrepeated birth and death, and can enjoy the full blessings of immortality.Work cited: 'Isha Upanishad' Translation by Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust Pondicherry, India 1914 Notes: nescience adjective from Latin nescient, present participle of nescire not to know, from ne- not + scire to know — more at no, science. 1. lack of knowledge or awareness 2. ignorance Synonyms benightedness, cluelessness, incognizance, innocence, ignorance, obliviousness, unawareness, unfamiliarity Examples: "The appalling nescience of today's high schoolers concerning international affairs." http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nescience
