My Mandukya Math

1.

The nature of nirguna brahman is sat (being, existence, presence), cit (consciousness, awareness, intelligence), and ananda (holistic, infinite, bliss). These are not qualities. Such is the province of saguna brahman. It's more like wetness is the nature of pure water.

Satcitananda is reflecting on the subtle body of the so-called individual: the reflection of sat is the ‘I am’; the reflection of cit is the complex of mind, attention, and intelligence; and the reflection of ananda is simply love and happiness.

2. 

There are five basic states of the body-mind: deep sleep, dreaming, waking, enlightenment, and nirvikalpa samadhi. Both body and mind may be switched on or off. Avidya operates similarly.

For the table of these states below, note that the number zero indicates off and 1 indicates on. Also, m equals mind, b equals body, and a equals avidya:

Deep sleep: a1 m0 b0;

Dreaming: a1 m1 b0;

Waking: a1 m1 b1;

Enlightenment: a0 m1 b1;

Nirvikalpa: a0 m0 b0.

3.

Table note 1: the difference between deep sleep and nirvikalpa samadhi is: in deep sleep, avidya is latently on. In other words, deep sleep is the absence of duality, and nirvikalpa is the presence of nonduality.

Table note 2: both the dreaming and waking states are states of dreaming. A better terminology could be sleeping-dreaming and waking-dreaming. Of course the common element in both states of dreaming is mind turned on (avidya on).

Table note 3: this Enlightened One is called the Jivanmukti in Advaita Vedanta. Like Jesus being in the world but not of the world, that’s in the mind but not of the mind, in Maya but not of Maya.

4.

PS: sat is to insentience, as cit is to sentience, as ananda is to enlightenment.

In the name of Nirguna Brahman, Isvara, and the Holy Ghost of Maya, Aum