Universal Consciousness and subtle vibration theory is called /"spanda"/
in the /Trika/ philosophy of Kashmere. Trika refers to the three states:
waking, sleeping, and dreaming; and a fourth state (turyia) which is
beyond the "three cities" - Transcendental Wisdom /(srividya)/. Spanda
is the idea being that every thing, substance or entity in that exists
has a vibration of some kind; from this vibration come consciousness,
mind, ideas, name and form /(nama-rupa)./ Thus everything is sound
vibration - no matter how gross or fine.The Indian philosophy that
supports this practice is Yoga.
In this philosophy of sound the supreme (para) subtle vibration is the
first cause, which set in motion the myriad other sounds and hence other
sounds - the whole phenomenological universe is sound vibration starting
with a single primordial vibration which set the cosmos in motion.
So, the whole creation is made up of sound currents; from the original
subtle sound vibration down to objects and hence to human speech. The
original vibration did not contain any grossness but when entering the
plane of relativity takes on a coarseness, experienced as the human word
arranged in speech.
MMY called this "the science of subtle sounds", which produced /"Vac"/,
the Goddess of Speech and /"Chit"/ universal consciousness, as
/"Saraswati"/, the Goddess of Knowledege, which is one and includes the
whole: Shiva - creation, dissolution, and maintenance. The spiritual
exercises of yoga meditation includes silent repetition, /"simran"/ on a
seed (bija) by means of repetition (bhajan) and meditation given in
initiation by a guru. Bija mantras are not words but subtle vibrations,
the most subtle of which are the imperishable letters of the Sanskrit
alphabet, which were cognized by the ancient rishis and are revealed to
us as devine sounds.
According to /Swami Sivananda Radha/, in order to attain
single-pointedness of mind, a mantra can be used in the following ways:
by chanting (japa) speaking (vaikhari japa), whispering or humming
/(upamsu japa)/ or by writing /(likhita japa)/, or by silent mental
repetition /(dhyana). /
>
We do not really know exactly when Shankara and Guadapada lived and
died - it's mostly speculation. There isn't even any historical proof
that Shankara founded four monasteries in the first place. All we have
is some manuscripts that were preserved and an oral tradition. We do
know that Shankara quoted Chandrakiriti, the famous Buddhist logician.
The distinctions between Advaita and Vajrayana are just too subtle for
most causal readers. That's about all I can say at this point. Perhaps
if you get time you can explain it in more detail. Apparently both
Gaudpada and Shankara were cryoto-Buddhists: Nirvana is Brahman, /the
pure non-dual consciousness./ There may be some finer details to
consider, but this is the main gist of the doctrine.
The only doctrine to discuss would be the nature of /maya/ as
propounded by the Adi Shankara. There is just no reason I can
determine that would justify a presupposition that Brahman is the
ultimate reality, since it isn't an a priori notion, but everyone can
experience the nature of /Pure Consciousness,/ call it what you will.
There is just nothing in the Vedic literature that would suggest the
doctrine of non-dualism previous to Gaudapada. Madhva, Ramanuja,
Vallabha, Nimbarka and Chaitanya all agree on this - all were dualists
or quasi dualists. All of the Upanishads were composed after the
historical Buddha's passing. And all of the Upanishadic thinkers were
transcendentalists. Apparently Gaudapda adopted the Buddhist
doctrines that /ultimate reality is pure consciousness/ and that the
nature of the world is the four-cornered negation. Gaudapada adapted
both doctrines into a philosophy of the Mandukaya Upanisad Karika,
which was further developed by Shankara. The Vajrayana similarities
are unmistakable, according to Raju and Sharma.
Compare:
Excerpt from /mANDUkya kArikA IV by gauDapAda:/
"Duality is only an appearance; non-duality is
the real truth. The object exists as an object
for the knowing subject; but it does not exist
outside of consciousness because the distinction
of subject and object is within consciousness."
Excerpt from /vijnApti matratA siddhi by vasAabAndhu: /
"Reality is Pure Consciousness; external objects
do not exist outside thought. Reality can be
directly realized by transcending the
subject-object duality." - vimshAtika-Vrtti on kArikA
Work cited:
Raju 1992, Raju, P.T., /The Philosophical Traditions of India/,
Motilal Banarsidass, p. 177.
Sharma, Chandrahar, /A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy/, Rider,
p. 245-246.
