Hajime Nakamura on Mandukya Karikas

But since there presently exists no independent work earlier than these Kärikäs, the work is the most important source for clarifying the thought of the early Advaita school. In particular, we must carefully note how it at times presents an extremely systematic and organized exposition, and also on occasion is highly polemical. While absorbing the ideas and being influenced by the thoughts of various schools, it also sharply criticizes and attacks other philosophical standpoints. It profoundly influenced later Indian thought, and in subsequent periods was considered to be itself a sruti, thus having an authority equal to that of the Upanisads. It is not only an extremely important work in the history of the development of Indian thought, but apart from that, the work itself has the sparkle of genius. Very directly and loftily it proclaims with bold assurance that it is the Truth. Certainly it is one of the brilliant lights in the history of human philosophical thought.

~Hajime Nakamura (A History of Early Vedanta Philosophy, Part Two)

towards brahmavidya (nonduality comics 240206)

01. inventing satcitananda.

Nihilism is not a new belief. Neti neti crashes too. This is why satcitananda was invented.

Beyond the body is pure existence, beyond the mind is pure consciousness, and beyond enlightenment is ananda, satcitananda.

Materialism says that something comes from nothing. If that’s not magical thinking, then what is?

02. say ah.

In the sea of maya floats a world of the mind and in this world there lives avidya.

In avidya they call their second state of dreaming being awake. Ha!

Aha! Both enlightenment and dreaming use the mind but dreaming is of the mind too.

03. on being brahman.

Real knowing is not at the level of mind, thought. Real knowing is at the level of consciousness, being.

Real knowing is not at the level of mind, belief. Real knowing is at the level of consciousness, being.

Although it's true one can't conceive of brahman, one may be that brahman. This is called brahmavidya.

04. the declaration of moksha.

With mind on, there's either dreaming-dreaming, waking-dreaming, or enlightenment.

The only difference between deep sleep and nirvikalpa samadhi is avidya being on or off.

To turn off avidya, the mind must deconstruct the mind.

Before deconstructing the mind, one needs faith in pure existence.

All the material empires prefer you not.

There are three unalienable rights: sat, cit, and ananda.

Nobody can take them away from the self but yourself.

Belief is the expression of ignorance

If there’s nothing to do, there’s nothing to say. So why are they saying there’s nothing to do?

Although no rituals are required, there’s still knowledge needed—to rid avidya and know there’s nothing to do.

Ignorance is the root of all samsara. So believing there’s nothing to do is easy like samsara. Knowing there’s nothing to do is not.

The Advaita Five (ndc 240203)

01. (that witness of deep sleep)

Attention isn't pure awareness—

attention is mind reflecting awareness.

This is ordinary awareness in avidya

but pure awareness is that witness of deep sleep as well as dreaming.

02 (believe it or not)

It takes some high kind of thought to deny existence—

in amanibhava, there is nothing but existence.

It takes the intelligence of maya to make a universe—

it takes avidya to believe it or not.

03 (not samsara)

Ananda is not to be defined as bliss

but as the locus in which bliss is.

Brahman is that locus.

Ananda is not samsara.

04. (dreaming)

The mind is turned off in both nirvikalpa samadhi and deep sleep—

samadhi has nothing to do with avidya.

From the default state of deep sleep— 

as the mind turns on, it’s called dreaming, and as the body turns on, dreaming is called waking.

05. (there's atman)

All duality is false but every trinity points to truth—this is called the power of three. Two trinities is called the power of seven, and so on.

In Advaita Vedanta, that Christian god-the-father is existence-awareness, asexual and nondual.

God the son is this self-luminous sun of that absolute awareness unknown by the mind and so called black hole. Maya is obviously the holy ghost.

God the ground is nirguna brahman. Universal consciousness is saguna brahman, aka Isvara.

Maya is the manifestation of absolute intelligence as te is to tao.

The big bang of yin and yang equals avidya.

First there is avidya, then there is no mountain, then there’s atman.

Absolutely Satcitananda

Absolute existence is the ground of the universe. The universe itself is nothing but name and form.

Because of the functional compounds and organic chemicals present in the great turning of this reflexive universe,

absolute consciousness, as well as that absolute existence, is the ground of the subtle body present in all sentient beings.

As absolute existence is the ground of material insentience and absolute consciousness is the ground of sentience, absolute ananda is the ground of ineffable enlightenment.

Switchwork and Earthmaya

(switchwork)

There are three toggles when it comes to the switchwork of our states of consciousness: body, mind, and ignorance (avidya).

First, in the state of deep sleep, the mind is turned off (body off, naturally). This is like our vegetative state.

Then there are two dream states in which the mind is turned on for both. One is called dreaming, and the other, ironically, waking—

it’s actually waking as in the body is on; in the first kind of dreaming, called dreaming, the body is off.

All three states occur with avidya turned on. There is a so-called fourth which is not a state of consciousness but pure consciousness itself, the atman. Avidya off.

With avidya off, mind may be off or on. Mind-off is nirvikalpa samadhi. Mind-on is called no-mind, in the mind but not of the mind, enlightenment.

(earthmaya)

Dreaming is magical thinking. The sun literally rises and sets like our god in heaven.

Waking is in the materialistic vein. The revolution of the earth is cause of night and day!

Awakening is like the sunlight of consciousness—of which earthmaya is made and in which it is appearing.

footnotes:

avidya on, mind off = deep sleep (vegetative)

avidya on, mind on, body off = sleeping dream (sunrise and sunset)

avidya on, mind on, body on = waking dream (earth revolving)

avidya off, mind on, body on = enlightenment (sunlight of consciousness in which earth appears)

avidya off, mind off = nirvikalpa samadhi (black hole of absolute awareness-existence)

Gaudapada's Asparsa Yoga (excerpts from K3,31-39)

Duality is never perceived when the mind ceases to act. (amani-bhava)

The mind, after realizing the knowledge that Atman alone is real, becomes free from imaginations. (atma-satya)

The immutable and birthless Brahman is the goal of knowledge. The birthless is known by the birthless. (akalpakam-ajam jnanam)

The mind which, being endowed with discrimination and free from illusions, is under control. (nigrhitasya manaso)

The controlled mind is verily the fearless Brahman. (brahma jnan-alokam)

Brahman is birthless, sleepless, dreamless, nameless, and formless. (ajam-anidram-asvapnam-anamakam-arupakam)

Atman is beyond all expression by words, and beyond all acts of the mind. (sarva)

Brahman is free from mental activity and hence from all ideas of acceptance or relinquishment. (jnanam-ajati) 

This yoga, which is not in touch with anything, is hard for yogis in general to attain. (asparsa-yogo)

~K3,31-39 (tr-Nik.)

A Commentary on 31-33

Duality is dependent on the mind. When mind is no-mind, there is no duality. Mind becomes no-mind not through yogic effort but by the knowledge of Atman being realized. This knowledge of Brahman is the goal of nonduality. And this unborn truth is only known by this unborn truth.

Nikhilanada's complete translation

31 All the multiple objects, comprising the movable and the immovable, are perceived by the mind alone. For duality is never perceived when the mind ceases to act.

32 When the mind, after realizing the knowledge that Atman alone is real, becomes free from imaginations and therefore does not cognize anything, for want of objects to be cognized, it ceases to be the mind.

33 Knowledge (Jnana), which is unborn and free from imagination, is described [by the wise] as ever inseparable from the knowable. The immutable and birthless Brahman is the goal of knowledge. The birthless is known by the birthless.

34 One should know the behaviour of the mind which, being endowed with discrimination and free from illusions, is under control. The condition of the mind in deep sleep is not like that but is of a different kind.

35 The mind is withdrawn in deep sleep, but it is not so when the mind is controlled. The controlled mind is verily the fearless Brahman, the light of whose omniscience is all-pervading.

36 Brahman is birthless, sleepless, dreamless, nameless, and formless. It is ever effulgent and omniscient. No duty, in any sense, can ever be associated with It.

37 Atman is beyond all expression by words, and beyond all acts of the mind. It is great peace, eternal effulgence, and samadhi; It is unmoving and fearless.

38 Brahman is free from mental activity and hence from all ideas of acceptance or relinquishment. When knowledge is established in Atman it attains birthlessness and sameness.

39 This yoga, which is not in touch with anything, is hard for yogis in general to attain. They are afraid of it, because they see fear in that which is really fearlessness.

On No-Mind

1.

Atman is neither ordinary nor godlike. But space, time, and all the gods are atman.

The truth is never nihilistic. The truth is that existence in which nihilism appears.

Black holes are to the substrate as groundwater is to ground, Basho.

2.

Neither wind nor flag but mind, duality is nothing but mind.

No-mind is neither deep sleep nor samadhi. The mind need not be turned off.

No-mind is like lucid dreaming—turned on and seeing through itself.

Absolutely Sweet Tattvamasi

Resolved, absolute awareness is not cognition although the ordinary person thinks it so.

This is not to say awareness is not the support of all cognition. Awareness is the substrate of all manifestation including mind.

In fact, awareness is the substrate of all three states of ordinary consciousness including that unbelievable one of deep sleep.

This supernatural awareness is beyond all forms of natural awareness. The natural is the mind. The supernatural is beyond the mind.

Astonishing but the actual awareness of both dream states (mind on, body on or off) is the same awareness of deep sleep (mind off).

Thus awareness is not what you ordinarily would think it is. For awareness is beyond the mind, supernatural so to speak.

And one is exactly that absolute awareness. Atman is neither ordinary (natural or unnatural) nor super (god or scientific theory) but tatvamasi.

Advaita Agonistes

Nirguna Brahman is basically God the Father as mainstream Trinitarian Christianity names it, except It’s absolutely beyond dualities of cause and effect.

On the other hand, God the Son is Isvara, the Wielder of Maya. And Maya is the Holy Ghost, the Superimpositionor of Snake on Rope.

Further, Paramatman is pure consciousness and the Universal Atman is reflected consciousness within and without the subtle body of Maya.

Thus non-duality is a myth wrapped within a dream. Self-awareness is the evolutionary intent of universal consciousness. And Avidya is the process.

Seeing through Avidya is one thing. Living with Maya is another. This is the way of the Jivanmukta, the so-called Bodhisattva. It’s basically in the world but not of the world.