The fundamental difference between the experience of most of us & the Sages is expressed by Sri Ramana in Verses 17 & 18 of Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu:
"[Both] to those who do not know themself [&] to those who have known themself, the Body [is] indeed "I". [However] to those who do not know themself "I" [is limited to] only the extent of the Body, [whereas] to those, who have known themself within the Body, "I" itself shines devoid of limit [boundary or extent]. Understand that this indeed is the difference between them. [Both] to those who do not have Knowledge [that is, true Self-Knowledge] [&] to those who do have [true Self-Knowledge], the World is the Reality. [However] to those who do not know [themself]
the reality is [limited to] the extent of the World, [whereas] to those who have known [themself] the Reality abides [or pervades] devoid of form as the ādhāra [support, substratum, foundation or base] to [the imaginary appearance of] the World. Understand [that] this is the difference between them."
That which limits a finite thing is only its form, because its form defines its extent in Time & Space, & thereby separates it from all other forms. If we are a definite form, we are limited within the confines or extent of that form, but if we have no definite form, we are Un-limited or Infinite.
Because we imagine our self to be the form of this Body, we have seemingly limited our self within a certain extent of Time & Space, & hence we feel our self to be separate from everything that exists outside this limited extent of Time or Space. Moreover, because we imagine the form of this Body to be "I", we mistake it to be real, & hence we mistake all the other forms that we perceive outside this Body to be real.
Since Sri Ramana & other Sages teach us that we are not the Body that we imagine our self to be, & that the World is not real as we imagine it to be, it is reasonable for us to infer that such Sages do not experience their Body as "I" or this World as real. Why then does Sri Ramana say in these 2 Verses that to Sages, who are those who have known themself as they really are, their Body is "I" & the World is real ?
To understand why Sri Ramana says this, we have to understand the exact meaning of what he says in the 2nd half of each of these 2 Verses. In Verse 17 he says that, for Sages, "I" shines devoid of any limit, boundary, or extent, thereby implying that in their experience "I" is the Infinite Reality that is the Essence or True Substance of everything, including this Body.
The above themes & 2500 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through www.jpstiga.com
short-cut: http://sdrv.ms/YPOgkX or http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58 link directly to free E-book PDF files
Different blogs available on:
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"There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth."
– the "no creation" school of Gaudapada Nome – Ajata Vada
for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see: www.ajatavada.com/
[A brief note of explanation – the other Blog noted below is entitled "Non-Duality & Science", & so the more Science oriented pages (from what I like to think of as a "comic book") have been posted there, while other chapters have been posted here. Science is a mental discipline that attracts some worthy admirers & participators. Some of these, too few, are good prospects for the ancient teaching introduced here in many ways. Otherwise certain Science topics like the Anthropic Principle, reinforce the general Theism which is a good idea in this materialistic age. A few other topics in Science, such as the Copenhagen II – Max Born – Von Neumann – Wigner model of Quantum Mechanics, are worthy entries to the extent that they introduce Consciousness into the physical Sciences. All that aside, the real topic here is the pinnacle as Advaita Vedanta, Non-Duality – that pinnacle being Ajata Vada, No–Creation. The great Teachers of the same include Sri Shankara & Sri Ramana Maharshi. Both would support Theism in general & adaptations of Vedanta, such as Vishishtadvaita Vedanta – Qualified Non-Duality, for those not making headway in Ajata Vada, their present course of growth might be better served with a temporary involvement in Qualified Non-Duality. The scientist who perhaps best expresses the influence of Qualified Non-Duality in Science, for instance, would be the quintessential "New–Age" Quantum Physicist, Amit Goswami. And so to that source, & the Quantum Activism he currently advocates [with a 1–course degree program], along with more than a half-dozen good books & former participation in the controversial What the Bleep movie, to him I extend enthusiastic endorsement, for that Qualified Non-Duality described in the context of Science. I do not stand so much "with him", as much as nearby saluting his good work. Again, as here, the goal is inserting Consciousness into Science & "saving the World."]
also: Most of this material will be long searchable via "John Stiga" etc, on the "Wayback Machine" Internet Archive.
Also related to these topics, there are now 8 Kindle books on "Amazon.com", reference-able by the author "John Stiga", each indicated as non–copyrighted, public–domain, & priced at the minimum $0.99 each.
[A brief note of explanation – the other Blog noted below is entitled "Non-Duality & Science", & so the more Science oriented pages (from what I like to think of as a "comic book") have been posted there, while other chapters have been posted here. Science is a mental discipline that attracts some worthy admirers & participators. Some of these, too few, are good prospects for the ancient teaching introduced here in many ways. Otherwise certain Science topics like the Anthropic Principle, reinforce the general Theism which is a good idea in this materialistic age. A few other topics in Science, such as the Copenhagen II – Max Born – Von Neumann – Wigner model of Quantum Mechanics, are worthy entries to the extent that they introduce Consciousness into the physical Sciences. All that aside, the real topic here is the pinnacle as Advaita Vedanta, Non-Duality – that pinnacle being Ajata Vada, No–Creation. The great Teachers of the same include Sri Shankara & Sri Ramana Maharshi. Both would support Theism in general & adaptations of Vedanta, such as Vishishtadvaita Vedanta – Qualified Non-Duality, for those not making headway in Ajata Vada, their present course of growth might be better served with a temporary involvement in Qualified Non-Duality. The scientist who perhaps best expresses the influence of Qualified Non-Duality in Science, for instance, would be the quintessential "New–Age" Quantum Physicist, Amit Goswami. And so to that source, & the Quantum Activism he currently advocates [with a 1–course degree program], along with more than a half-dozen good books & former participation in the controversial What the Bleep movie, to him I extend enthusiastic endorsement, for that Qualified Non-Duality described in the context of Science. I do not stand so much "with him", as much as nearby saluting his good work. Again, as here, the goal is inserting Consciousness into Science & "saving the World."]
also: Most of this material will be long searchable via "John Stiga" etc, on the "Wayback Machine" Internet Archive.
Also related to these topics, there are now 8 Kindle books on "Amazon.com", reference-able by the author "John Stiga", each indicated as non–copyrighted, public–domain, & priced at the minimum $0.99 each.
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