[Advaita-l] Sadanandaji's article

Siddhartha Annapureddy annapureddy at gmail.com
Sat Apr 1 21:38:43 CST 2006


Shree Sadanandji,
          I had a few questions on the Mandukya Karika series that you
have been presenting.
-- Up until now, you said that all knowledge is only attributive
(conjured by our mind for
daily transactions), and that the substantive reality behind it is
Brahman. So, what does it
mean to say that someone attains Moksha? What is the concept of
liberation in this theory? Is it not the case that the human mind
perceives Brahman (vide Brihadaranyaka 4.4.19)? Are you saying that
the mind is capable of perceiving only the attributive reality?
-- What is the status of animals in Advaita? Is it that the humans alone have
the mind to perceive Brahman, and hence animals cannot attain moksha?
But if it is not the mind that perceives Brahman, then why are the
animals unfit for Moksha? Why the acceptance of human birth as a
pre-requisite for liberation?
-- How also is this theory different from VishishthAdvaita? You did
mention your disinterest
in arguing over these doctrinal differences (and I understand that),
but I just wanted to know how the two positions differ, more so to
validate my own understanding of these theories. VishishthAdvaita also
seems to claim that an object can only be identified through its
attributes (the human mind is limited in this respect), that the human
mind cannot think of an object apart from its attributes, and that
when someone attains liberation, He can see this entire world as
Brahman with the Jivas and the Jadas as Its attributes. Please do let
me know if something's amiss.

Thanks.

A.Siddhartha.



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