I set up this page as a place to post general comments, rather than to the “About” page, where people had been posting them.
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I set up this page as a place to post general comments, rather than to the “About” page, where people had been posting them.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
@ chuckee -
…and what’s dog spelled backwards?
sat chit ananda = being consciousness bliss
Many definitions say:
Sat is existence
Chit is consciousness
Ananda is bliss.
Too involved and complicated to go into the ‘existence vs. being’ issue.
Ch’am ‘no-mind’ has no qualities.
correction: ‘Ch’an ‘no-mind’.
@ Steve … Yes, as the three inseparable ‘qualities’ are inseparable, then they are indeed One … my point being that IT exists, regardless of what it is named, or how it is modeled, even if it is named Non-being. … beyond which of course we are getting into the nameless.
@ Gerry … yeah, we may just be getting hung up on the preferred ontological terminology. To me, ‘non-manifest’ does not mean ‘non-existent.’ Of course, when we are limited to words, then non-being/existence vs. being/existence, just becomes another duality. That which transcends all dualities, the One that Self is, defies all description and naming. But however ineffable it may be that doesn’t mean it does not exist. It doesn’t need a name to exist. I’m using, Existence as being synonymous with Brahman, as in: The world is maya. Brahman alone exists. Brahman is the world. But again, languaging will inevitably fail here.
On the topic of God vs. Dog
According to the the meaning that I’ve used of ‘existence’:
Existence is manifestation.
No manifestation, no existence
Self ‘is’ – It doesn’t ‘need’ to manifest/exist.
It doesn’t need to ‘know’ Itself.
Even concerning, Awareness:
What does awareness ‘know’ about itself?
What ‘qualities’ does it have?
or ‘attention’, for that matter?
@ Gerry … Ok, now I get ya! You are equating ‘non-manifest’ with ‘non-existent.’ Which is fine. Whereas, I am expressing the idea that just because it is not manifested, doesn’t mean it does not exist. Again, IMO, to say that Self ‘is,’ seems pretty much the same as saying that Self ‘exists’ — whether manifested or not. So it is really just a preferred choice of expressions.
“qualities” was the wrong word…I should have used “aspects”.
The nature of Self remains the same.
@ Steve … yeah, I think we’re both on the same track here. ‘Aspects’ works. The words can be a bitch … not referring to the doggy kind
@ snowleopard -
“The world is maya. Brahman alone exists. Brahman is the world.”
Those statements are true, but Ramana, in his teaching of Self Inquiry, told us to bring our attention away from the world (thought) and to Self (Brahman) for a reason.
Yes, understood, there is a good reason for focusing on that teaching, as long as Brahman seemingly exists apart from the world, which is the spell of maya. But once the teaching has served its function, and the spell is no more, the world and Brahman exist as One — although of course they never were not.
I have to get picky one more time. It isn’t that Brahman seemingly exists apart from the world, it’s that we, as “individuals”, seemingly exist apart from Brahman. As long as we take ourselves to be a separate individual, we are maya.
And you’ll probably be glad to know that’s it for me tonight!
OK…goddamnit! I can be just as picky as anyone else on this site,
As long as we EXCLUSIVELY take ourselves to be a separate individual, we are maya.
‘FORM IS VOID, VOID IS FORM.’
Jus’ foolin’.
The spell of an individual apart from Brahman, the spell of the world apart from Brahman, the spell of anything apart from Brahman, are all the same spell. There is nothing apart from Brahman.
*>snowleopard on February 21, 2012 at 7:52 pm said:
“There is nothing apart from Brahman.”
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Well, actually – and I was never going to mention it, but – I have a red guitar pick that is apart from Brahman.
And…itz the ONLY ONE in the world.
Itz a red guitar pick that an extraterrestrial gave me.
Brahman does not exist in their universe.
Lol … Next time you see that ET could you ask where it found that pick? It’s strange because I once lost a red guitar pick during an alien abduction attempt, when I narrowly escaped after launching into my version of ‘Ground Control to Major Tom.’ Apparently not big fans of David Bowie, or my singing, they then quickly threw me off, but in the ensuing melee I dropped the pick.
^^^snowleopard on February 21, 2012 at 9:03 pm said:
Lol … Next time you see that ET
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It died. A member of its crew told me, last week.