EXPRESSIONS (OR PARTIAL INTUITIONS AND LIMITED FORESHADOWINGS) OF THE SEVENTH STAGE OF LIFE
A.The Tradition of Advaita Vedanta 1.The Ancient Advaitic (or Non-Dualist) Tradition, Shankara, and the Tradition of Shankara 2.Modern Teachers of Advaitism What Is Required to Realize the Non-Dual Truth?: The Controversy Between the "Talking" School and the "Practicing" School of Advaitism Certain proponents of Advaitism (or of the Truth of non-dualism) , even some who may be genuine Realizers (but only in the sixth stage sense) of the Great Truth of Advaita Vedanta, generally represent or advocate what I call the "talking" school of Advaitism. That is to say, their contact with disciples is primarily one of conversation, and the process in which they engage their listeners is basically (and even exclusively) a matter of attendance to verbal argumentation. (And this emphasis on, or even confinement to, the verbal context of Advaitism stands in dramatic contrast to the real practicing ordeal and deep meditative process that many "talking" school Teachers, such as Atmananda and Nisargadatta Maharaj, have endured as the context of their own sixth stage process of Advaitic Realization.) There is even a kind of "Emperor's New Clothes" syndrome associated with the "talking" school. It is said that, yes, there are many practices (other than listening) that could be engaged, but such practices are only necessary for those who are immature (or whose minds are not yet ripe for the "Truth-Taking") . Few, of course, want to acknowledge their immaturity or unreadiness for the One Thing desired by all. Therefore, the proud listeners doggedly refuse to acknowledge the necessity of their own self transcending ordeal of sadhana, and so they merely listen (again and again). Unlike the "talking" school, the original tradition of Advaita Vedanta requires great preparations and real qualifications for the Advaitic (or non-dualistic) Realization, and such preparations (or qualifications) include practical self-discipline, the development of a disinclination toward the search for (and attachment to) the conditional satisfactions associated with what I have described as the first five stages of life, and the achievement of a clear-minded and profound motivation toward Transcendental Self- Realization. Indeed, only individuals who were thus prepared would, in the strictest traditional setting, be welcomed even to listen to (and to seriously "consider") an Advaitic Teacher's discourses on Transcendental Truth. In any case, the practice of listening is traditionally called "sravana". All proponents (both traditional and modern) of the "talking" school tend to isolate (or idealize) this first (or initial) stage of the total process and thus make it the Only Method (or the one and only context of possible Realization). And they (especially the modern proponents of the "talking" school) do not generally require the traditional preparations or qualifications (whether as a prerequisite or an eventual attainment) on the part of their listeners. (Even modern proponents of the original tradition, or what I call the "practicing" school, generally do not require the traditional preparations as a qualification for listening, but effective disciplines and real qualifications are expected to appear over time. There is a tradition that expects Advaitins to accept sannyasa, or the life of an unmarried, or socially detached, celibate, but the modern trend is to return to the classical orientation of the Upanishadic era, which calls both sannyasins and householders, or even Tantric practitioners, to the practice and the Realization of the non-dualistic Way.) The complete traditional process of "practicing" Advaitism goes on from the "talking" and listening stage of sravana to the advancing stages of manana (or profound examination of the Teaching arguments, to the point of hearing, or intuitive understanding) and nididhyasana (or deep contemplation, to the degree of true and stable Realization of Inherent Samadhi, or Inherent Identification with Consciousness Itself). Although the proponents of the "talking" school generally look for some kind of understanding, or hearing, to develop in their listeners, the great practice and the Great Realization associated with the traditional discipline of nididhyasana appear to be generally neglected (or even disdained) by them. This distinction between the "talking" school (or Teachers of the "talking" school) and the "practicing" school (or Teachers of the "practicing" school) points to a basic controversy within the tradition of Advaitism. At least since the time of Shankara, both of these two schools (or interpretations of Advaitism) have existed. The "talking" school generally attracts those who have a minimal capability for (or capable impulse toward) renunciation, Yogic (or Spiritual) discipline, and deep meditation, but who otherwise are habituated to constantly talk, listen, and think. The "discipline" and the "Realization" in the "talking" school (especially in its modern form) are generally minimal, weak, superficial, temporary, and merely mental (or intellectual) , and the "talking" school is (and has been) rightly criticized because of this. The modern "practicing" school of Advaitism is clearly represented and advocated by such Teachers as Swami Gnanananda, Brahmajna Ma, and Ramana Maharshi. Such Teachers also "talk", and their disciples listen, but real qualifications (including practical self-discipline) are expected (at least over time). Likewise, the Teachers of the "practicing" school clearly indicate that hearing (or fundamental understanding) is not itself Ultimate Enlightenment (or an end in itself), but it is only the beginning of practice (or the seed of Ultimate Enlightenment). Therefore, according to the Teachers of the "practicing" school, hearing must lead to right (and most profound) enquiry into (or direct Identification with) the Inherent and Transcendental Nature, or Perfectly Subjective Condition, of the apparent conditional subject (or conditional self)Which Transcendental, or Perfectly Subjective, Self- Condition inherently transcends the apparent conditional subject (or conditional self). And such right enquiry necessarily (and spontaneously) becomes deep (object-transcending) meditation, or "dhyana", and (at least eventually) "Jnana Samadhi", or most profound, and thoroughly object-excluding, Identification with Consciousness Itself, and (potentially) even sixth stage "Sahaj Samadhi", which is the basis for the apparent premonitions, or partial intuitions and limited foreshadowings, of the seventh stage of life that have sometimes been expressed within the traditional sixth stage schools, and which is a matter of deeply Abiding in the basically and tacitly object-excluding (and, thus, conditionally achieved) sixth stage Realization of the Transcendental Self Condition, while otherwise naturally experiencing the natural arising of mental and physical objects, and naturally allowing the performance of mental and physical activities. (However, as I have Revealed, the necessary, but only preliminary, or sixth stage, Process is finally and Most Perfectly Fulfilled and Completed only in Divine Self-Awakening, or What I call "Open Eyes", or What may, using the traditional reference, be called "seventh stage Sahaj Samadhi", and Which Is utterly and inherently non-exclusive, and not conditionally Realized, but Non- conditionally, and Inherently, and Inherently Most Perfectly, Realized, Transcendental, and inherently Spiritual, and necessarily Divine Self-Realization and effortless, or Non- conditionally, and Inherently, and Inherently Most Perfectly, Realized, Transcendental, and inherently Spiritual, and necessarily Divine Self-Abiding, even, should they arise, in the apparent context of the arising of all conditional phenomena and all conditional, or psycho-physical, states, and always, spontaneously and Inherently, and Inherently Most Perfectly, Recognizing all apparently arising conditional phenomena and conditional, or psychophysical, states as transparent, or merely apparent, and unnecessary, and inherently nonbinding modifications of the Transcendental, and inherently Spiritual, and necessarily Divine Self-Condition Itself.) Some interpreters of the Teaching of Shankara propose (or may seem to propose) that Shankara himself was an advocate (indeed, the chief proponent) of the "talking" school. Swami Satchidanandendra Saraswati, for example, many of whose writings on the Teaching of Shankara appear in this "Sixth Stage" section of The Basket of Tolerance, affirms (on the basis of Shankara's own Teaching) that listening to the Mahavakyas, or the Upanishadic Principal Declarations (such as "Tat Tvam Asi", which means "That Thou Art"), or listening to the Great Upanishadic Truth as expounded by a Transcendentally Self- Realized Teacher (such as Shankara) is sufficient for (sixth stage) Realization (of the Inherent Samadhi of Consciousness Itself), but (and Swami Satchidanandendra also cites the textual evidence for this) Shankara did not otherwise propose (or dogmatically affirm) that listening (to the point of hearing) is the Only Method for such (sixth stage) Realization. Clearly, Shankara did affirm that listening could be sufficient for (sixth stage) Realization. Indeed, it is true that, in the case of some rare and uniquely prepared individuals, listening, particularly listening to a true Realizer, or listening to insight itself, however that insight may be communicated or originated, is sufficient for (sixth stage) Realization of the Inherent Samadhi of Consciousness Itself. The Awakening of Ramana Maharshi is a modern example of such sudden Realization. And, for some others, the Darshan, or seeing, or mere sighting, of a true Realizer is sufficient for such Realization. However, Shankara clearly indicated that only exceptionally prepared individuals are qualified even to listen (or to practice sravana), and he likewise clearly indicated that only certain unique individuals (in whom the mind no longer effectively limits the possibility of Inherent Samadhi) can or will Realize Inherent Samadhi directly and immediately via listening. Shankara clearly indicated that a broad range of preparations are necessary before listening (to the Vedantic Great Truth) can be either appropriate or effective. Those necessary preparations include the development of the power of discrimination (particularly between the Real, or the eternal or permanent or Merely Existing, and the un- Real, or the conditional and temporary) , the power of renunciation (or, as I have indicated, even the transcendence of all purposes and results associated with the first five stages of life), the power of equanimity, and the motivepower of longing (for Liberation, or Freedom Itself) . Likewise, Shankara clearly indicated that, even in the case of individuals specifically prepared in the manner described, the Inherent Samadhi of Consciousness Itself will not necessarily (or even likely) Awaken through sravana (or listening), but the further stages of manana and nididhyasana will, in the general case, be necessary. Thus, Shankara in fact Taught in the broad context of the "practicing" school. And, as indicated in various of Shankara's own original (or otherwise traditionally, or even recently, attributed) writings and commentaries (such as The Chapter of the Self, as presented by Trevor Leggett, Bhala Govindam, Prabodhasudhakara, and the Tantric text SaundarvaLahari, Shankara even advocated, or otherwise approved, fourth and fifth stage practices as possible preparatory means (for removing, or otherwise transcending, the apparent obstructions to sixth stage Realization). Shankara himself intuitively Realized the inherently actionless (or Transcendental) Brahman, or Consciousness Itself. He did not affirm (as Ultimate Reality) the mere (and exclusive, or individual) atman (the "soul", or the separate but permanent self-entity), but he Realized that what is conventionally (or previous to Realization) presumed to be the atman, or the "soul", or the separate conscious self Is (Inherently, and by virtue of Realization) Only SelfExisting and Self Radiant Transcendental Consciousness itself (or Brahman). However, Most Ultimate (or Inherently Most Perfect) Enlightenment Is Only That Realization and Demonstration That Is Absolute Freedom, Self-Existing and SelfRadiant As Consciousness Itself, All and Infinite As Love- Bliss. And That is no small matter or state of mind, but It Is What ~ (Ultimately), and That Is (Truly Most Ultimately, and Inherently Most Perfectly) Revealed Only By (or In the Shine Of) the Inherently Most Perfect (and by Divine Grace Given) Sacrifice (or Inherently Most Perfect, and by Divine Grace Given, transcendence) of the conditional self. At last, Only This Most Ultimate (or Inherently Most Perfect) Realization Truly, Finally, Completely, and Most Perfectly Reveals The (Inherently) One and (Inherently) Real God, or Great (Obvious, or Always Already) Truth, or Ultimate (or Inherently Perfect) Reality. That Most Ultimate (or Inherently Most Perfect) Realization Is Unique to the by Me Revealed and Demonstrated seventh stage of life and to the by Me Revealed and Demonstrated and Given Way of the Heart. And Only That Most Ultimate (or Inherently Most Perfect and Complete) Realization, Awakened and Demonstrated, can Finally Fulfill (or Most Perfectly Complete and End) the Ordeal of Man. ------------------------ Yahoo! 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