The state of the soul?

[HareRama123 0]

<TABLE id=table2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=redTitle align=left color="#ff0000"></TD></TR><TR><TD class=anubhavTitle align=left>What happens to the soul after it is departed from the body? </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Guest guest]

What is the soul?

[Guest guest]

 

<TABLE id=table2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=redTitle align=left color="#ff0000"></TD></TR><TR><TD class=anubhavTitle align=left>What happens to the soul after it is departed from the body? </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

First, there is a sadness for the life you left behind, then there is forgetfulness, where that life is like a distant dream to you. Then there is deep sleep. Then, there is gradual awakening in a new body, and a new life.

 

Sometimes the experiences are different, but this is a fairly typical scenario.

[Guest guest]

[qoute]First, there is a sadness for the life you left behind, then there is forgetfulness, where that life is like a distant dream to you. Then there is deep sleep. Then, there is gradual awakening in a new body, and a new life.[/qoute]

 

Who experience this?

[Guest guest]

The "soul that left the body"

 

or

 

other people?

[mohankrishna 0]

 

[qoute]First, there is a sadness for the life you left behind, then there is forgetfulness, where that life is like a distant dream to you. Then there is deep sleep. Then, there is gradual awakening in a new body, and a new life.[/qoute]

 

Who experience this?

 

Everyone experiences it. Just becuase you do not remember something happend does not mean it did not. I'm sure any one who indulges in alcohol will be able to tell you that.

Reincarnation - amazing evidence exists for it. There are many scientific studies and reports on it. Very compelling evidence.

 

Mohnkrsna

[Guest guest]

 

[qoute]First, there is a sadness for the life you left behind, then there is forgetfulness, where that life is like a distant dream to you. Then there is deep sleep. Then, there is gradual awakening in a new body, and a new life.[/qoute]

 

Who experience this?

 

You will

[theist 1]

 

You will

Yes guest111. YOU are the soul. It is not that you have a soul YOU ARE THE SOUL.

 

I would recommend checking out www.near-death.com for present day accounts.Also the Tibetan Book of the Dead is written from a very espteric perspective. You must have your Buddhist to Vaisnava internal translator turned on though.

[Gaurasundara 0]

 

Yes guest111. YOU are the soul. It is not that you have a soul YOU ARE THE SOUL.

Just an aside, but a recent issue of TIME magazine had a very good section on consciousness/neurology studies. There was a fantastic article by Steven Pinker, who is a leading author and researcher in consciousness studies.

 

According to this, the latest research in the field of consciousness studies suggest that it's all in the brain. Here's a sample quote:

 

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Although neither problem has been solved [Read the article to understand the problems], neuroscientists agree on many features of both of them, and the feature they find least controversial is the one that many people outside the field find the most shocking. Francis Crick called it "the astonishing hypothesis"--the idea that our thoughts, sensations, joys and aches consist entirely of physiological activity in the tissues of the brain. Consciousness does not reside in an ethereal soul that uses the brain like a PDA; consciousness is the activity of the brain.

I'm involved in consciousness studies so I found this quite astounding. The entire article is worth a read though.

[Guest guest]

 

According to this, the latest research in the field of consciousness studies suggest that it's all in the brain. Here's a sample quote:

 

<!--StartFragment -->

 

 

From a purely mechanistic perspective, the following sentence originated from my computer:

 

"I am not this brain, I am the user of this brain"

 

You can trace all of these characters (letters) to the particular computer through the analysis of elecrical impulses recorded by ISP. Yet it is not my computer talking, only it's user.

 

There will never be a physical proof of consciousness - only your conscious perception of it. Consciousness can only be physicall proven through an indirect experiment.

[Gaurasundara 0]

 

From a purely mechanistic perspective, the following sentence originated from my computer:

 

"I am not this brain, I am the user of this brain"

 

You can trace all of these characters (letters) to the particular computer through the analysis of elecrical impulses recorded by ISP. Yet it is not my computer talking, only it's user.

 

There will never be a physical proof of consciousness - only your conscious perception of it. Consciousness can only be physicall proven through an indirect experiment.

Yes this is the general consensus in consciousness studies. However, the concept of a "user" in the brain/computer is known as Cartesian Dualism, an idea which was popular for a while but then subsequently disproved.

 

The brain is an extremely complex (and wondrous) organ. Neurological studies have shown that it is indeed the brain that is the origin of consciousness, but no evidence points to a soul. I figured it was because the soul is supposedly made of spiritual substance and thus beyond the reach of scientific instruments (like, duh! ).

 

But this is all very interesting, I wrote something up about "devotional neuroscience" a couple of years ago on another forum and I'm still curious about the neural processes of religion. I'm thinking of going for a qualification in neuroscience.

[Guest guest]

 

Yes this is the general consensus in consciousness studies. However, the concept of a "user" in the brain/computer is known as Cartesian Dualism, an idea which was popular for a while but then subsequently disproved.

 

I would like to see their proof of a brain floating up during an out of body/near death experience observing and recording in memory what happens to the body.

 

There were so many "proven" theories that were later "disproven" by others, it is hard to get excited about such claims anymore.

[Guest guest]

 

I would like to see their proof of a brain floating up during an out of body/near death experience observing and recording in memory what happens to the body.

 

There were so many "proven" theories that were later "disproven" by others, it is hard to get excited about such claims anymore.

 

How can the brain observe anything? Eyes and ears are required for that. If the brain can float outside the body and observe stuff, then we must stretch this to say the eyes and ears floated out as well!

 

Of course, if this were possible, then we must be able to see with our eyes closed and hear with our ears shut. This will mean distance is no barrier. I must be able to see for millions of miles and hear sounds from the other side of the world. We can accept all of the above or we can simply conclude they are false stories.

 

Many seem to think it is necessary to believe in supernatural occurences to retain their belief in God. I question that...why?

[Guest guest]

Souls need not necessarily be sad. Exit from the body can give a pleasurable feeling. The body is like a piece of heavy baggage that one has to lug along the arduos path called "Life" .

 

I have heard that a person who dies does not take birth immediately. He can

linger on in another plane and join his loved ones after they die and if the attachment is intense, they are born together again in the next life....

[theist 1]

 

Just an aside, but a recent issue of TIME magazine had a very good section on consciousness/neurology studies. There was a fantastic article by Steven Pinker, who is a leading author and researcher in consciousness studies.

 

According to this, the latest research in the field of consciousness studies suggest that it's all in the brain. Here's a sample quote:

 

<!--StartFragment -->

I'm involved in consciousness studies so I found this quite astounding. The entire article is worth a read though.

 

Haven't check the article yet. No way is it all in the brain. Reminds me of reading about Francis (dna) Crick in Siddhasvarupa's book Who Are You?. Crick spent the last so many years of his life looking for the self in the brain. Studying every possible neuron in his quest. Naturally unable to find the self in the brain he concluded and set out lecturing on how there is no self. Just see how maya makes an idiot out of a bright man inspite of his big brain.

 

Gaurasundara, yours is a higher calling. Continue with studying neuroscience. Become the best in that field even, but then somehow use that knowledge in Krsna's service by building a bridge past the brain to the mind and from there to the self in some way that scientists will accept.

 

You are already light years ahead of these guys despite their scientific jargon. Please don't go backwards brother.

[Guest guest]

hi

 

few thinghs to say:

 

about OBE and similar- looking "scientificly", it is all happening during the functioning of brain!

 

so that does not prove anything...i guess- when brain is working, you can experince.

 

 

 

___________________

 

Crick spent the last so many years of his life looking for the self in the brain.

 

im really very interested in your thoughts about research of Richard Strassman (DMT spiritual molekule)

there is a book, but also this video

ttp://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8233698910875437752&q=navigating+afterlife&hl=en

 

regards

[Guest guest]

-what is the meaning of snake(cobra?) between the pharaons eyes, just above

 

-what did people on DMT experinece?

 

-what is simmiliar in egyptian explanation of afterlife and vedic?

[yogesh 0]

 

hi

 

few thinghs to say:

 

about OBE and similar- looking "scientificly", it is all happening during the functioning of brain!

 

so that does not prove anything...i guess- when brain is working, you can experince.

 

 

 

___________________

 

 

im really very interested in your thoughts about research of Richard Strassman (DMT spiritual molekule)

there is a book, but also this video

ttp://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8233698910875437752&q=navigating+afterlife&hl=en

 

regards

I have read of NDE as occuring even when the machine recording brain activity showed no activity.

That tells me that the brain was inactive.

 

Brain is just an organ as far as I now. Like heart, lungs etc..

 

It is a central processing unit.

[gHari 0]

Srila Prabhupada in San Francisco 1967:<blockquote>If you want to enjoy this material world by changing different... Because you have to change your body. You are making your next body in this body. There is no certainty what kind of body you are making, but you are responsible for making your next body. As I have several times discussed that the, at the time of death, the mental condition will help you to have another next body, mental condition. So if your mental condition is very nice, whatever you think, God has given you chance: you get next immediately. Similarly, if you think of KRSNa, then your next body is like KRSNa. Therefore KRSNa consciousness is so important. What is the advantage of KRSNa consciousness? If you acquire the body like KRSNa, sac-cid-Ananda vigraha [bs. 5.1], eternal, blissful and full of knowledge, then your botheration of this constant change of bodies, bhUtvA bhUtvA pralIyate [bg. 8.19], you become relieved from this business. Nobody wants this, but because we want to enjoy this material world, so we have to accept it. So this is going on. Sarvasya cAhaM hRdi sanniviSTo [bg. 15.15].

buddher jAgaraNaM svapnaH

suSuptir iti vRttayaH

tA yenaivAnubhUyante

so 'dhyakSaH puruSaH paraH

[sB 7.6.25]

Now he's giving another hint, that "We have got our three stages of activities." What are those? Intelligence. We are working intelligently while we are awake. Just like we are not asleep, so whatever we work, oh, we work very intelligently, as far as we have got intelligence. Then when we sleep, our intelligence stops. Then mind works. So according to the mind, mind is taking me sometimes somewhere. I am thinking that "I am flying." I am thinking, "I am on somebody's place" or "I have become king." Or "I have become poverty." Or "Somebody is... Some tiger is eating me," and so many things, you sleeping, you dreaming. This is another stage, active stage. Then sleeping stage. And then another stage is which is called deep sleep, deep sleep. Just like you are under chloroform or LSD. That is a kind of sleep only. It is not, does not mean that you have become free from this material bondage. You are simply under some mental condition, sleeping condition. SuSuptiH. Just like our death. What is this death? Death means a sound sleep for seven months. That's all. A sound sleep for seven months. As soon as I give up this body, I enter into another body in sound sleep. And sound sleep, just like you are sleeping sound, somebody is taking you away to another place. You do not know. I have got experience. I have got, underwent some, some surgical operation. So I was under chloroform. So I did not know when I was operated, when I was in the operation table, then who brought me again to my bed. And in this way I did not... But when gradually I got my consciousness, I remember still, that I am sleeping, and then I am dreaming. Then I come to consciousness, active consciousness. This is the position.

So there are three stages. So when you are very sound sleep, you do not know what is happening, but you are still there. You are not dead. Therefore soul is never dead, even it is unconscious. Just remember this chloroformic condition. You were not dead. Similarly, when you change your body, by nature's way, you wanted certain kind of body, so nature takes you. Nature takes you to such a father and mother and you are placed into the semina of similar father, and by sexual intercourse the father puts the semina in the mother's body, and the mother develops your body, particular. If you are put into the mother dog, then you develop the body of a dog. And if you are put in the mother god, then you develop the body of a god. This the process. Daive, uh, daiva-netreNa. That carrying out, from this body to another body, that is not in your hands. That is not scientific, scientist's hand or experimental, I say, philosopher's hand. It is completely under the hand of the material nature. Therefore Bhagavad-gItA says that daivI hy eSA guNa-mayI mama mAyA duratyayA [bg. 7.14]. The material nature is so powerful that your so-called fighting against the material nature is simply waste of time. You cannot. You cannot, by material science, transfer yourself from this planet to another planet or according to your desire. No. That will be managed by laws of nature, material nature. So you are transferred. You are transferred to a certain body, and you develop a similar body, and then you come out and enjoy. Because you wanted to enjoy certain type of things, so unless you have got certain type of body... Just like the hog: it wanted to eat certain types of nonsense, so therefore it has been given the body so that it can very pleasantly eat stools. You see? Without that hog's body, nobody can eat stool.</blockquote>

[theist 1]

 

hi

 

few thinghs to say:

 

about OBE and similar- looking "scientificly", it is all happening during the functioning of brain!

 

so that does not prove anything...i guess- when brain is working, you can experince.

 

 

 

___________________

 

 

im really very interested in your thoughts about research of Richard Strassman (DMT spiritual molekule)

there is a book, but also this video

ttp://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8233698910875437752&q=navigating+afterlife&hl=en

 

regards

 

Well the brain registers the experience and allows for some of the OBE to come into so-called waking consciousness (our day to day thinking zone) sometimes. Most OBE's are not even registered in the brain at all, just fragments of some.

 

Brain researches see these responses in the brain and wrongly conclude that they are the cause of the experience. A rough analogy; when I turn up the bass in stereo certain lights become more active and when I turn up the treble other lights become more active. That doesn't mean the lights are the cause of the increased experience of increased bass or treble.

 

So the neuroscientists see and record certain groups of neurons giving off light response showing actiity when someone is supposedly having an OBE and conclude wrongly the neurons are the cause.

 

These people are engaged in very gross experiments no matter how sophisticated they may appear to us with all their gadgets Phd.s and white coats. They still are engrossed in the study of the gross material elements.

 

What really throws them off is that when they stimulate these same centers they get certain reactions that they then claim are the religious or out of body experiences themselves. When looked at these experiences are nothing like OBE's or spiritual experiences but they use forced logic to make it appear so. Something like UFO sightings being written of a "swamp gas". lol

 

We can experience wiithout a brain just like I can experience life without this computer. The computer is necessary for my to communicate with others in cyberspace which is the same as the brain being necessary to communicate with embodied souls.

 

We experienced life before the formation of the brain and we will experience life after the brain matter has dissipated into other forms following death

 

I have heard of these DMT expeiences and have no problem accepting the reality of them. I had similar experiences on LSD which forever altered how I look at the world of matter. Interdimensional contact with other living beings is a fact and this DMT may be a great faciltator of the experience.

 

But is it what we want? Those souls in other dimensions are also trapped by the rules and limitations that govern their world. So who wants to just learn what the prisioners in another wing of the prision are living like? We want to have communication and indeed move into the life experience of those who live in freedom. We must stay focused on the liberated dimensions of Vaikuntha and not get sidetracked.

 

So may things are possible to be be experienced in this material dimension. The possibilities are without limit. But our goal is to become indifferent to all that is heard and to be heard in this phenomenal world and step into eternity and live and experience life there.

 

Hare Krsna

[HareRama123 0]

doesnt the soul go into the vaious lokas, including heaven and hell accoriding the papa and punya?

[dattaswami 0]

 

What is the soul?

 

First of all we should analyse the soul. The soul is made of pure awareness. The vibrations of pure awareness are called as feelings or qualities. Therefore all the characteristic qualities are associated with the soul and are made of pure awareness.

What is pure awareness? It is only a special form of inert energy. When we eat the food, it is oxidised by the oxygen received through the respiratory system. When the food is assimilated in the digestive system, it is oxidised by the Oxygen from the respiratory system, which is carried by the blood in dissolved state through Haemoglobin. The oxidation of food is exothermic reaction and liberates inert heat energy. This inert heat energy is converted into a special form of energy called awareness by the nervous system.

The electricity is produced by the generator and enters the tube light. The electrical energy is converted into light, which is another new form of energy. The heat energy produced by the interaction of digestive and respiratory system is called life energy (Pranamaya kosa). When this heat energy is converted into awareness by nervous system the awareness or mind is produced (Manomaya kosa). This awareness which is in the purest state is called as the soul (or Atman). This awareness is propagated in the form of pulses and these pulses as a bundle is called as Jeeva. The bundle of pulses of awareness is called as simply Jeeva from the point of pulses, is called as Atman from the point of awareness and is also called as Jeevatman from the point of both the pulses and awareness.

The constant propagation of pulses is called as mind (manas). The impressions of strong pulses are called as Chittam. The production of strong of pulses by the interaction of several weak pulses is called as intelligence or determination or Buddhi. The strong pulse that keeps the identity of the body is called as Ahamkara or ego. When you say the word Jeeva, it refers only to Manas, Chittam, Buddhi and Ahamkara (Antahkaranams). Therefore the soul and Jeeva together called as Jeevatma is only a special form of energy i.e., generated by the interaction of digestive, respiratory and nervous systems. Thus Jeeva representing the bundle of characteristics and Atman representing the special form of energy or Soul can be only the items of creation and not the creator. You are worried about the generation of Soul but there need not be any worry because Soul is an item of creation. In this creation there is conversion of matter into energy.

There is conversion of one type of matter into another type of matter through a chemical reaction as done by chemists. There is also conversion of one form of energy into another form of energy as done by physicists. There is conversion of matter into energy as done by technologists and engineers. Now if the Soul is generated, what is there to worry? This topic comes under the realm of creation and is within the boundaries of the creation. Gita says that the Soul is Paraprakruti. Prakruti means creation. Para means the finest part of creation. Therefore the transformation of Soul or division of Soul or generation of Soul is only topic of science and is not a topic of spirituality. Spirituality deals with creator who is beyond the creation. Veda says ‘Annat Purushah’, which means that the Soul is produced from the food. It is conversion of matter into Soul, which is energy.

[dattaswami 0]

 

<table id="table2" border="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="redTitle" color="#ff0000" align="left"></td></tr><tr><td class="anubhavTitle" align="left">What happens to the soul after it is departed from the body? </td></tr></tbody></table>

The individual soul (Jeeva) is a bundle of various qualities, which are different proportions of the three basic qualities called as Sattvam, Rajas and Tamas (Nanyam Gunebhyah…Gita). The material of these qualities is awareness or nervous energy called as Chit and this material is known as soul (Atman), which is beyond these qualities (Nirgunam) and the same is stated in Gita (Gunebhyascha param….). The individual soul is always contains the basic material and hence can be called as Jeevatman, which is like calling water-waves. The awareness is a special work form of inert energy and this inert energy is produced by the oxidation of food. This inert energy on functioning in the nervous system becomes the awareness. When the nervous system takes rest as in deep sleep, the awareness is not generated in the deep sleep. In the state of dream, the awareness is generated and the qualities play as the dream. In the awakened state, the awareness is generated, which contains the qualities but the awareness is in interaction with the external world. In the state of perfect meditation, the awareness is generated but the qualities are subsided temporarily.

All the qualities constitute the plane of mind (Manomaya Kosha). These qualities may be strong or weak. The strong qualities constitute the eternal Jeeva (Ajo nityah..Gita). This Jeeva leaves the gross body in the death (Manomayah Prana Sharira Neta…Veda, Utkramantam…Gita) and the individuality of the Jeeva is maintained which is eternal. This Jeeva undergoes the enjoyment of its good and bad fruits. The individuality of each and every soul is thus protected and maintained in this divine system of creation. However, the weak qualities disappear after some time, which do not materialize into actions. Thus, the weak part of Jeeva or mind is not eternal and disappears every day after the deep sleep (Manastejasi… Veda, Natvam vettha..Gita). Gita refers to this weak part when it says that Jeeva is born and dead every day (Atha Chainam Nitya Jatam…). Thus, Jeeva is eternal as well as non-eternal in view of the qualities, which are strong and weak respectively.

In the deep sleep all the qualities exist as impressions in the plane of inert energy. Mind is the plane of qualities, which vary, and intelligence is the plane of qualities, which are fixed due to decisions. The impression of individuality (Ahamkara) is also a quality only. In deep sleep the mind, intelligence and individuality exist as impressions on a cassette even though the current is absent and hence mind, intelligence and the individuality are categorized under the inert nature only (Mano Buddhirevacha Ahamkara Itiyam…Gita). The awareness-current is called as Paraprakruti, which is the Chit or Chittam. The awareness is transformed in to basic inert energy in deep sleep and thus it is not eternal. Even the qualities are not really eternal because the Advaita Philosopher attains the complete destruction of qualities in the state of Avadhuta (Manolaya Yoga). The Avadhuta after death dissolves here itself completely and the individuality of the soul is forever destroyed. His awareness is transformed into inert energy and thus such a soul is dissolved here itself (Ihaiva Pranah …Veda).

In the case of an ordinary soul, all the weak qualities and the awareness are converted in to inert energy in the body and finally the individual inert energy merges in the general cosmic energy (Tejassati…Veda). However, the individual soul and the awareness existing within the individual soul as the material is not destroyed, which leaves the gross body to the upper world. But in the case of Avadhuta, the individual soul is also destroyed because even the strong qualities are destroyed and the awareness existing in the individual soul is also transformed into inert energy, which merges with the cosmic energy. The Advaita Philosopher claims such complete destruction of the individual soul as the complete salvation and this is the climax of foolishness! Burning the house containing the rats is the final solution of Advaita Philosopher!

He removes misery of the soul by destroying the soul completely and forever! The solution is to capture the rats with the help of a cage and live in the house with happiness and enjoyment. The Advaita Philosopher praises the primary state of God or Brahman before creation (Nirguna Brahman) and such state of God was without any entertainment, which was neither praised by Veda nor appreciated by God (Ekaki Naramate..Veda). The advanced state of God is association of God with His own creation containing both happiness and misery like sweet and hot in the meals. If the meals contain only sweet, one gets bored. The hot dish is created to remove such boring and therefore you should like the hot dish also. You do not like the hot dish (Misery) and you are bored with continuous sweet dish (Happiness). The solution of Advaita Philosopher in this case is to fast by avoiding the meals completely! The real solution is to enjoy both happiness and misery like God. God created both happiness and misery to have real and continuous entertainment. If you are trying to avoid the misery, you are criticizing God for His activity of this creation, which contains both happiness and misery.

A person (God) cooked food containing sweet and hot dishes (created world containing happiness and misery), served it on the plate (rules the world) and eats the entire food (destroyed the world). An ant (the human being) entered the plate (exists in the world) and tastes the food. The ant criticizes the hot dish and likes the sweet dish for some time but gets bored with the sweet. The ant can neither cook nor serve and nor eat the entire food. If the ant enjoys both sweet and hot dishes, the ant resembles the person at least qualitatively in this one aspect of enjoyment. Similarly, the individual soul can neither create nor rule and nor destroy this world. If the soul is able to enjoy both happiness and misery with equal attitude, at least in this aspect the soul can resemble God in a micro scale (Matbhavayopapadyate….. Gita). Otherwise, the soul does not resemble God in any way and if the soul says that it is God; it is the climax of foolishness. The soul can attain God at least in this one aspect and such attainment is called as Yoga (Samatvam Yogauchyate..Gita). The human beings should understand that God creates this world for His own entertainment and this is not for the entertainment of any soul. If some ants criticize that the person does not exist, the criticism of such ants is not even heard by the person. Similarly, God is not at all bothered about the atheists or theists who criticize the misery.

The human being is like a tape recorder and the current in it is like the awareness (Soul). The recorded cassette in it is Jeeva. A recorded cassette without current and the current without recorded cassette is useless. The cassette may contain a good song or a bad song. You have to replace the bad song by a good song in the cassette. Similarly, you have to replace the worldly qualities by the divine qualities in your mind. You are trying to destroy the cassette and tape recorder to remove the bad song and you are not prepared to enjoy any song. This is the state of the Advaita Philosopher. First, he is removing the song from the cassette by erasing it and maintains the current in the tape recorder, which does not generate any song. Similarly, he is erasing all the qualities from the mind and the awareness without any quality is like the current with a blank cassette. After erasing the bad song, you have to record a good song in the cassette. Similarly, after erasing the worldly qualities in the mind, you have to fill the mind with devotion to the God. Instead of doing this, you are keeping silent with the pure awareness (clean mind) after removing the worldly qualities from mind.

Your spiritual effort stopped in the middle stage only. First, you have to erase the worldly attachment from the mind. First, you have to clean your house by removing the waste, which produces bad odor. Such removal of waste is work (Karma) and this is the first step in the spiritual path (Arurukshoh Muneryogam Karma Karanamuchyate…Gita). Now the house is clean without any bad odor and in this state even the good scent is absent. This is the intermediate state of pure mind, which is devoid of both bad and good qualities, which is termed as perfect peace (Shama). This intermediate state is the pure awareness without any quality and is called as Nirguna Brahman or pure Atman. Here the word Brahman does not mean God. Any greatest item in a category can be called as Brahman. Veda, the greatest among the scriptures is called as Brahman in Gita. Awareness (Soul or Atman) is the greatest item in this world due to its special quality of knowledge and hence is called as Brahman. This possibility of calling any soul as Brahman was exploited by Shankara to attract the atheists towards spiritual path. Remember that Shankara was surrounded by lot of atheists in His time. Shankara called this intermediate state as Chitta Shudhi or purity of mind, which is a pre-requisite for the knowledge and attachment to God. The cleanliness of the house is a pre-requisite to sprinkle scent in the house. If the scent is sprinkled in a dirty house, there is no use of it, because the good odor of scent cannot be enjoyed by any one in the house in the presence of bad odor created by the dirt. Removal of every thing in the house refers to the removal of bad material only. When Shankara used the word Nirgunam, it means only removal of worldly qualities from the mind. If the ultimate aim of Shankara is only Nirguna Atman or Pure awareness without any quality, He should have stopped His message with the commentaries only.

 

Shankara composed several prayers on God, which represent the good scents to be sprinkled in the house after complete cleaning. You must take the total personality of Shankara and should not confine to His partial activity of writing commentaries only. You cannot confine yourself only to His composition of commentaries and neglect His composition of prayers on God. The God referred in His prayers was with qualities (Saguna Brahman) and this proves that the God associated with world for entertainment is a better-advanced state than the primary attribute less God (Nirguna Brahman). The commentaries represent the process of cleaning the mind and attaining pure awareness by removing the worldly attachment. The prayers represent the next process of filling the clean mind with devotion. You cannot enjoy the devotion when the mind is contaminated with the worldly attachment, as you cannot enjoy the scent in the presence of bad odor produced by the dirt. Therefore, the reason for your enjoyment of devotion is only the cleanliness of the house as stated in Gita (Yogarudhasya tasyaiva shamah karanamuchyate…). The perfect peace of the mind after removing the dirty attachment to the world is responsible for the bliss that is enjoyed in the devotion. Shankara, in His commentaries referred to the primary state of God before creation, which is the perfect peace without any quality or thought. His commentary was aimed at the atheists (Buddhists and Purvamimamsakas) who were attached to the world denying God other than themselves. First, Shankara wanted to remove the attachment to the world from their minds due to which only they were not interested in God.

 

If you want to change the ignorant fellow in one aspect, you must accept to his other ignorant aspects. This is the psychology of ordinary human beings. For any teacher, the psychology is very important which gives the tactful plan of removal of ignorance in a gradual way. You have to remove the layers of ignorance one by one only. When you are removing one layer, you must accept to all the other layers. Then only the ignorant student will come in to your grip. For a preacher (Guru), the ultimate aim is not to establish the total truth in the beginning itself, by which there is no use in any way. His ultimate aim is to uplift the soul and for that, He follows the gradual process of removing the layers of ignorance one by one and in every stage He accepts to the other layers. Shankara, being the incarnation of God is the real Guru (Satguru) and His aim is only to uplift the souls, which are His issues. Therefore, Shankara accepted to one point i.e., the soul is God and there is no God other than the soul. Even here, Shankara being the top most genius used the word Brahman, which stands for God as well as the greatest item in any category. Shankara told that the soul is Brahman. Atheists took the word in the sense of God and were satisfied. They became friends to Shankara and liked Him. This brings the grip of the teacher on the students. Now Shankara proposed the primary state of God, which is devoid of all qualities. It is obvious that God is having no quality or thought before creation. Therefore, to become God, one has to clean himself from all the qualities. Since, all the qualities in the atheists are worldly items only, all the qualities mean worldly qualities only in the context of atheists. Therefore, the word Nirgunam (devoid of any quality) means removal of worldly qualities only since in the context of atheists, all the qualities were of world only. After Shankara, this word Nirgunam is misunderstood for removal of all good and bad qualities because the context of atheists disappeared. Therefore, you can understand Shankara only if you can understand the context in which He existed.

You are leaving the misery of the world and on attaining God, you think that you will derive the bliss, which is the eternal happiness. By leaving the worldly attachment, you have left the minus. Then, you have attained the intermediate state of absolute peace, which is zero. Now on attaining God, you have attained the plus, which is bliss in your view. The plus is a double minus in which, two signs of minus are arranged one over the other at right angles. This double minus indicates that you have to work more and face more misery in the service of God. The work and misery in the worldly affairs is very much less compared to the misery in work of God. The plus sign indicates the cross and the servant of God has to sacrifice even his own life to please God in the divine mission. You need not sacrifice your life for the sake of your family at any time. Unless you have developed the attitude of enjoying the misery, you cannot face misery in the service of God. Sugriva lost his wife because Vali has taken away her by force. Sugriva did not go to Vali to fight with him for the sake of his wife due to the fear for his life. His life is more valuable than his wife. But the same Sugriva went to Lanka to fight in the war taking the full risk of his life for the sake of getting back the wife of Lord Rama from Ravana.

 

Thus, one has to sacrifice even his life for the sake of God even though he may not sacrifice the same life in any worldly matter. Jesus says that unless one is prepared to carry on his own cross for the sake of the Lord, one cannot be His dearest disciple. The plus sign appears as double negative to threaten you by its facial expression. The final result of plus is not negative at all because its value is only positive. Similarly, if you are prepared for the double minus and intensive sacrifice in the case of God, you will derive the bliss at the end. God tests you to find out your attitude. God wants to know whether you have approached Him for bliss or to work and do the total sacrifice for His sake. Once God is fully convinced about the reality of your attitude, the result is quite different from the test. Finally Sugriva was given a place in Brahma Loka (Vaikuntha), where Sugriva lived with bliss. Ramayana is always taken as guidance in pravrutti (worldly life) by taking Rama as a good son, good husband, good father, good friend etc. Rama was always taken as a human being externally and the inner form of Rama as Lord was always hidden. All the monkeys were incarnations of angels and hence they could recognize Rama as Lord. No Advaita Scholar has become Brahman so far except Hanuman who served Rama as the Lord in the form of the contemporary human incarnation. Only Hanuman became Brahman, who still says that He is the servant of Rama. Therefore, Ramayana, which gives the path to any soul to become Brahman, is the only scripture of Advaita Philosophy in practical sense.