Hindu Religious Experience II: Monistic Mystical Experience
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Hindu Religious Experience II: Monistic Mystical Experience Michael Sudduth I. The Philosophy of Advaita Vedanta A. Advaita (not‐two), Vedanta (end of the Vedas). Systematized by Sankara (circa 800 CE), but based on the texts of the Upanishads (600‐300 BCE), Bhagavad Gita (200 BCE), and Brahma Sutras (200‐100 BCE). B. Brahman: there is only one reality. It is Brahman (Sat‐chit‐ananda: being, consciousness, and bliss). This is the state of total non‐duality. Note: sat = enduring existence. Hence, sat‐chit‐ananda may be translated as enduring blissful consciousness. Ananda = fullness, completion, wholeness, or not needing, and hence “bliss.” B. Atman: There is a true Self (atman) for each person. This true self is not the empirical ego, which is embodied dual consciousness. Atman is pure non‐ differentiated consciousness. Atman is the reality behind the mind, as the mind consists of consciousness in various forms determined by contact with material nature. The atman of each empirical ego is the same, and atman and Brahman are identical. “Tat tvam asi – You are that!” (Chandogya Upanishads 6.8.7) C. Maya: Brahman appears as both the physical universe and the personal god of the devotee, but both are illusions (maya), for reality is non‐dual. “Brahman alone is real. Everything else is illusion.” “Illusion” here means temporary. Sankara’s technical term is mithya, a temporary reality and an appearance of something that is sat (enduring). Asat is the term that means non‐existent. The world exists, but only as a temporary existent. D. Samsara and Moksha: Liberation (moksha) comes about by realizing one’s identity with Brahman. Only moksha brings an end to the cycle of death and rebirth of consciousness (samsara). II. The Path to Liberation A. The goal for Advaita Vedanta is the realization of the Self (Atman) as Identical with Brahman. The goal is the experience of non‐differentiated consciousness— absolute non‐duality. This is the essential phenomenological feature of monistic mystical experience. B. State of Avidya (ignorance): in maya pure consciousness becomes differentiated and is dual (suibject‐object). It is in ignorance of its true nature as sat‐chit‐ananda. Consciousness + contact with material nature = the mind‐body being. Attachment to sense objects results in consciousness becoming various thought forms, e.g., sense states, feeling states, memorial states, states of purpose or intention. The goal of Advaita is therefore to get behind the mind to Atman. C. Prerequisites to Dissolving the False or Empirical Ego: Be born as a human, have a longing for liberation, and acquire a guru. One then practices yoga (“to yoke” or “unite”), the spiritual practice that brings about God realization or union with God. D. Jnana Yoga and Dhyana Yoga: Since the false ego is generated by attachment to sense objects, one dismantles or dissolves the false ego by detachment or non‐ attachment—Renunciation. But this requires intellectual discrimination (jnana), that is, learning to distinguish between what is real/enduring and what is not real/enduring. One learns to say neti, neti to experience, that is, “not this, not that” (way of negation). While discrimination involves the analysis and deconstruction of experience by the intellect, it also requires meditation (dhyana) of the teachings of the Upanishads, their application to experience, and ultimately the inner self (atman). Meditation bores through the false ego to the atman. E. Dhyana Yoga: Meditation as prolonged concentration on a single object requires physical discipline and moderation in living. It achieves the following: (i) stilling of the mind (or thought‐forms). Patanjali called this the basic aim of all yoga: “yogas chitta vritti nirodhah”—“yoga is the stilling of all states of the mind” (Yoga Sutras 1.2). (ii) the perception of the unity of the world. (iii) the realization of the Self beneath dual consciousness (“atman” – Sankara, “purusha” – Patanjali). One can only see the bottom of the lake if the surface waters are calm. Meditation may involve the recitation of a mantra such as aham brahmasmi (I am Brahman) “Tat Tvam Asi” (Thou art that!), OM (the sacred symbol of the Upanishads that designates creation, evolution, and dissolution of the universe). Meditation may also be on a physical or mental object. It may be meditation on one’s breath. One may pass from stages of meditation on an external object, to one’s breath, to a mental object, until all thought forms or coverings of the Atman dissolve. F. Sankara’s Introspective Proof of Atman: Although all states of mind undergo change, we nonetheless have a sense of continuity through time. We could not have this sense of continuity through time, unless there is enduring consciousness. Hence, our sense of identity (in ordinary experience) is an echo of the atman behind the mind. The better “proof” of atman is the direct knowledge obtained by discrimination and meditation. E. Samadhi: the meditative state of non‐duality. After everything has been negated, including the individual ego, nirvikalpa samadhi is realized. Here there is dissolution of all subject‐object duality. It is total oneness or identity with Brahman. F. Sankara adds that the spiritual aspirant must cultivate various virtues: tranquility, self‐control, forbearance, faith, self‐surrender, an ever‐deepening longing for liberation. III. Tantra (Origin, India, circa 5th ‐7th century CE) A. The supreme reality is satchitananda (being‐consciousness‐bliss). The universe is a manifestation of satchitananda, pure consciousness, which appears divided into two parts, Shiva‐Shakti, the absolute (male passive principle) and its creative power (female active principle). Shiva and Shakti, however, are not two separate realities, though in maya (the phenomenal world) they appear to be. They are inseparable, like ink and a written word. B. Tantra focuses on the worship of Shakti, the feminine creative power of the universe. (The goddess Kali is one of the forms of Shakti, so Tantra emphasizes meditation on Kali as the mother of the universe). Its goal is to see all things in the world as a manifestation of Shakti. Tantra elevates each woman to the status of Shakti manifestation or as a symbol of the Divine Mother. C. The goal of spiritual discipline is realization of oneness with the divine, something that is obscured through human ignorance. D. “Outgoing” and “Return” Current: Each soul (jiva) contains elements of the finite and the infinite. In relation to maya (the phenomenal realm), the jiva soul is an individual set over against the absolute or infinite. The “outgoing current” refers to the impulses and desires for material enjoyment that link the jiva with the phenomenal world. Here there is duality, expressed for example in the distinction between man and woman and their sexual desire for each other. When this current is “reversed,” the jiva realizes its identity with the absolute or infinite reality. Here man and woman, for example, become identified with the non‐dual Shiva‐Shakti: “The physical union of man and woman is subliminated into the creative union of Siva‐Sakti” (Gospel of Ramakrishna p. 578). “The special technique of the Tantric discipline is to transform the outgoing current of diversification into the return current of gradual integration, to gather separation, polarity, and even opposition into identification, harmony, and peace.” (Gospel of Ramarishna, p. 576) E. Kundalini or Kundalini Shakti (“serpent power”): The latent or dormant spiritual energy or power contained within the jiva and represented as a coiled serpent at the base of the spine, the lowest chakra of the body. The sublimination of desire involves an uncoiling, rousing, or awakening of the Kundalini and its ascent from the lower to upper chakras of the body, culminating in a movement to the seventh center (sahasrara, or crown chakra) at the top of the head. Here the jiva realizes its identity with the Absolute. The Kundalini is roused by faith, love, meditation, discrimination, the repetition of mantras, and music. Kundalini yoga is the practice of raising the serpent power through particular physical postures, breathing techniques, and meditation. F. Note on Advaita Vedanta and Tantra: whereas Advaita Vedanta recommends renunciation of physical pleasure, Tantra recommends a transformation of bhoga (enjoyment) into yoga (union) with satchitananda. Since everything in the world is the sport of Shiva‐Shakti, enjoyment of the world is not to be renounced, but one must come to see the presence of the divine in material objects. Tantra teaches the sublimination of desires. Although tantra is nondualistic and aims at the cultivation of non‐dual experiences, some practitioners of tantra understand non‐duality differently than Advaita Vedanta. G. Tantra (or aspects of Tantric philosophy and practice) appear in many of the Shaivite, Shakta, and Vaishnava traditions of devotional theism. .