Vaj wrote: > ...yoga-darshana's traditional culmination is turiyatita > or Cosmic Consciousness in TM parlance (in some contexts > referred to as jivan-mukta). > The culmination of yoga-darshana is *isolation* (kaivalya). There's no "turiyatita" in the Yoga Darshana; that term is from Gaudapadacharya, the first expositor of Adwaita.
The tern "jivan-mukta" is also from Adwaita and is not used in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. > In schools which use a yogic and tantric approach to > the advaita View (of reality) one will see a first stage > of turiyatita which then culminates in videha-mukti or > Brahma-cetana (Unity Consciousness). Mahesh's main > innovation (or deviation depending on your POV) is GC, > bhagavata-cetana, which is the traditional enlightenment > state of devotional, bhakti yogins. > There is no notion of "enlightenment" in the devotional sects - individuals who follow the bhakti path don't even aspire to enlightenment - their goal is seva and devotion to a Personal God, not liberation from God "while yet living". Bhaktas aspire to Brahma-loka when they die. > These are all covered in the Badarayana sutra and it's > various commentaries. > There is no mention of "bhakti" in the work of Badarayana. The bhakti sects came much later, during the Gupta or Golden Age of Hinduism. > In fact, this is where Mahesh got the idea for seven > states of consciousness. > In fact, the notion of "seven states of conciousness" comes from the Nath Siddhas and Kundalini Yoga propounded by Matsyendranath - seven chakras. > There is a rare tape where Mahesh does discuss a seven > chakra system. > Maybe so, but if you are mistaken about the facts of Indian history you may be mistaken about this as well. Titles of interest: 'An Introduction to Hinduism' by Gavin D. Flood Cambridge University Press, 1996 'The New Cambridge History of India' by Burton Stein Cambridge University Press, 1990 'A New History of India' by Stanley Wolpert Oxford University Press, 2003 'A History of India: Volume 1' by Romila Thapar Penguin Classics, 1990 'Cultural History of India' by A. L. Basham Oxford University Press, 1999
