On Maya, Turiya, and Satcitananda

In the world of Maya, there are three states of consciousness (waking, dreaming, and deep sleep as they are named in the Mandukya).

From a relative point of view, these three states exist within a fourth state, pure consciousness, named turiya.

This fourth state is the state from which the other three states are states of, in a mystical way of speaking.

From an absolute point of view, there are no three states of consciousness, never mind a fourth stateless state.

There’s only pure consciousness named brahman, the nature of which is existence, consciousness, and bliss, satcitananda.

This is three-fifths of the world as people know it. The other two are Maya, named name and form, or namarupa.

footnotes

it's only 3/5 of the world but I love it

the reflection of consciousness in this other 2/5 is a red hot mass of consciousness felt as I am

an altered state of consciousness is still within the waking state of consciousness

nonduality is nothing without duality

the mystical is nothing but paradoxical ananda

the absolute by its very nature of being absolute is neither non-existent, unconscious, nor unwell

they say the buddha said the world is suffering. suffering is the true definition of being unwell.

nonexistence is not exactly existence but it must do as a name.

unconsciousness is not exactly consciousness but it must do as a name.

non-suffering is not exactly bliss but it must do as a name.

thus existence-consciousness-bliss must do as a name. that's why it's called satcitananda.

satcitananda is not the name of a tripartate brahman. brahman is not a trinity. satcitananda is the nature of brahman. brahman is nondual.

Another name for pure consciousness is awareness. Another name for the reflection of consciousness is awareness reflected in consciousness.

Advaita vedanta warns that written words of revelation (sruti) may result in spontaneous self-realization. Caveat emptor.

Upanishads, bhagavad gita, and brahma sutra are like the gospels. The bhashyas and prakaranas are like epistles. Ramana and nisargadatta are like revelations.

Ice says begin at the unborn. What would alice do.

When it comes to english translations of advaita vedanta, chinmayananda is a go-to. His translations almost always incude sanskrit transliteration. This in itself is invaluable for ultimate digestion. Look, his commentaries may be wordy but often contain profound revelations.

Nikhilananda always.

As an aside, nikhilanda was basically joseph campbell’s guru.

Tejomayananda and gambhirananda are also excellent.

Then we come to dayananda.

Basically modi’s guru I guess. I know nothing of indian politics. I’m still trying to forget the american version.

Dayananda left the chinmayananda mission to begin his own. His spiritual right wing is respect for the original sanskrit.

Dayananda’s english translations are impeccable. And they do not suffer fools.

Dayananda almost never deviates from this wonderful fusion of sanskrit and english. His translations of the vivekacudamani and tattvabodah are revelatory, urging one to study his lessons in sanskrit in order to dive deeper into his advaitic commentary.

But the institution he left behind is beginning to release his basement tapes. To be fair, dayananda not edited by dayananda is not dayananda.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s better than no dayananda, if you’ve completed your degree in dayananda. Otherwise he’s with all of the above.

Advaita ashrama, chinmayananda mission, and arsha vidya old school are still trustworthy imho

Tmp mahadevan writes unbelievable monographs spanning guadapada to vidyaranya to ramana maharshi

Faith is not belief. Faith is like a map. One has faith in a map as long as the map is trustworthy. Sooner or later, you see, you’re the only map you trust