The Gaudapada Tantra

When the mind is on, there is dreaming. When the body is on as well, it’s called waking (waking-dreaming) and when the body is off, it’s called dreaming (or dreaming-dreaming).

When the body is off and the mind is off, it’s called deep sleep. But what is it called when the mind is off and the body is on? Gaudapada does not address this ecstatic orgasmic state.

It is certainly sexual, and possibly that’s why it’s ignored in his extremely logical presentation. Tantra is not Advaita's thing. Also, it’s not in the territory of dreaming, which is one of the main points of his karika.

If this ecstatic state of the body-mind is to be included, then turiya is not to be called turiya but the sanskrit equivalent of the fifth. Other than that, nothing changes. Brahman is beyond causality, the world is still maya, and all is atman.

green river

you can't practice love;

any practice of peace is essentially violent.

between knowing love and witnessing maya,

this green river is flowing.

when i was a child i believed religiously.

no longer a child, it's simply unbelievable.

pure consciousness (brahman) is the witness.

reflected consciousness (isvara) is the i-am.

ignorant consciousness (avidya) is the person.

enlightened consciousness (tattvamasi) is pure consciousness.

ndc240223. New Hampshire (Quartet for Robert Frost)

01. Peaking Mount Chocorua

Obviously this Mount Chocorua

reflecting in Chocorua Lake

is not the true Chocorua

02. The Old Man

First there was an Old Man of the Mountains

and then there wasn't—

Cannon Mountain-May 2003 spacetime

03. Memorial Day 1976

By the time we got to

Kancamagus Pass—

all the trees were bare

04. Mount Lafayette-June 1993

After breaking through the wall

looms the timberline of my devotion—

the Pemigewasset Wilderness is waiting on the eastern side

Peaking Mount Chocorua

They say realization is being real and not being the real.

Being the real implies an awakening to the knowledge of the real, as in an object being known in the world.

On the other hand, being real is like being the unknown.

One way is pure consciousness. The other way is still reflecting consciousness.

Obviously, this Mount Chocorua reflecting in Chocorua Lake is not the true Chocorua.

nonduality comics 240220

01. Crazy Cat, Crazy Cat, What

This consciousness is

to reflected consciousness

as a mirror will reflect

light on a wall

and drive all those cats crazy.

Like they know

the light

shining

on the wall

is nothing but light.

02. Ode to Snake and Rope

In the old advaita

snake and rope analogy

the snake is nothing

but an appearance

in the rope

like magical reality—

there’s never anything

but the one

reality of rope.

03. ATTN

They say

the subtle body

(organic chemicals and

functional compounds)

reflects awareness

and is experienced

as consciousness,

the reflection of pure

     consciousness,

attention,

I am.

04. untitled part ii

before,

during,

and after the movie,

there is nothing there

but a movie screen—

and the same witness

witnessing the dream

is witnessing

deep sleep as well.

05. ode to brahman

nirguna brahman is

pure consciousness.

saguna brahman is

universal consciousness—

individual consciousness is

avidya.

every appearance in brahman is

brahman

and nothing but brahman.

06. attn est

attention

is

nothing but

pure consciousness

blended with thought—

this ‘i am’ is the reflection

of pure existence

similarly metaphysical

Reading the Lighting on the Wall

1.

They say the subtle body (organic chemicals and functional compounds) reflects awareness and is experienced as consciousness, the reflection of pure consciousness, attention, I am.

This consciousness is to reflected consciousness as a mirror will reflect light on a wall and drive all those cats crazy. Like they know the light shining on the wall is nothing but light.

And attention is nothing but pure consciousness mixed with thought. And this ‘I am’ is the reflection of pure existence in a similarly metaphysical fashion.

2.

Nirguna Brahman is pure consciousness. Saguna Brahman is universal consciousness. Individual consciousness is avidya. All appearances in Brahman is Brahman and nothing but Brahman.

In the old advaita snake and rope analogy, the snake is just an appearance in the rope, like magical reality. There’s never anything but the one reality of rope.

Before, during, and after the movie, there is nothing but a movie screen. And the same witness witnessing the dream is witnessing deep sleep as well.

Crazy Cat, Crazy Cat, What

This consciousness is

to reflected consciousness

as a mirror will reflect

light on a wall

and drive all those cats crazy.

Like they know

the light

shining

on the wall

is nothing but light.

Ode to the Mahavakyas

Original sin is not some evil. It’s avidya, original ignorance, identification with the body-mind.

This original ignorance is not only passed on from parent to child, it’s in the DNA.

Only knowledge for consciousness, by consciousness, and of consciousness shall dispel this ignorance and see through the snake of avidya.

Thus there are these mahavakyas: Prajnanam Brahma, Tat Tvam Asi, Ayam Atma Brahma, Aham Brahma Asmi.

ndc240217

01. not an ai haiku

the universe is one cause and one effect

isvara is the cause and maya ten thousand effects

brahman (tattvamasi) is causeless

02. 240217b

dreaming is for the dream by the dream and of the dream

brahman is beyond dreaming

like seven continents can't imagine the one great sea

03. 240217c

When I was a child, I thought my God was out there.

When I was a man, I thought my God was a woman.

Now that I know I'm neither, what a long strange incarnation it's been.

04. 240217.2337

When I was a child, I thought my god was out there.

When I was a man, I thought my god to be a natural woman.

I now know I am neither.

The Grasshopper Epistles

1. triangulating consciousness

Either the world makes consciousness; 

consciousness creates the world; 

or consciousness is neither cause nor effect.

2. the consciousness trinity

The first ilk is called materialist—scientific, atheistic, postmodern. 

The second is called spiritualist—orthodox, modern, new age. 

And the third is nameless—changeless, birthless, nondual.

3. ode to maya

Although the world isn’t real, it’s not unreal either. 

This illusion (snake-rope, mirage-desert) is the essence of Maya. 

As Brahman is the name for the nameless, Maya is the name for all the names appearing in the nameless.

4. to nonduality and beyond

Yes, pure consciousness (aka awareness) is nameless and nondual

but the absolute is beyond nonduality as well. 

After the first thorn has been removed by the second thorn, both roses are thrown away, grasshopper.

Abhinavesa and Beyond

Karma is not the truth. Karma is an appearance in the truth. Karma appears to be the truth because people believe in because. This belief is one of the primal beliefs of avidya. Gaudapada uses the sanskrit word, abhinavesa, to describe it.

“Abhiniveśa is not merely a persistent belief, but an intense mental preoccupation with an ardent faith in a false knowledge sustained and nurtured by a totally laughable ignorance.” ~Chinmayananda

Causality is the fool of ten thousand koans and the liar behind every paradox. The universe is the cause and the universe is its result, crow caws the causelessness of crow. Not only is the absolute beyond causality, it's beyond beyond.