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Re: Followers of Sankaracarya, please take note
Namaste,
H. Krishna Susarla,susarla@owlnet.rice.edu, writes:
HKS>"Becoming Brahman, with a tranquillized mind, he neither grieves nor
desires.
The same towards all beings, he wins supreme devotion to Me." (18.54)
HKS>There are some verses in the Gita which are so personalist that even the
greatest of the impersonalists, Sankaracarya, could not successfully change
their meaning. This verse very clearly states that when one attains Brahman,
he wins devotional service to Krishna. Therefore, when this verse speaks of
brahma-bhUtaH, the oneness it refers to is that of being one with the Lord's
desire, or maybe one in the sense of being with Him in the spiritual world.
It does NOT mean absolute oneness... if it did, then there could be nothing
like devotion to be won.
First, let me note the proper and tolerant tone of this post by HKS. Just a
difference in how something is worded can matter a great deal. Thanks!
However, let me say that I think that your interpretation, and similar ones
I have read on the Internet, differs from that of Srila Prahbupada.
Here is his commentary on the exact verse above:
"To the impersonalist, achieving the brahma-bhuta stage, becoming one with
the Absolute, is the last word. But for the personalist, or pure devotee,
one has to go still further and become engaged in pure devotional service.
This means that one who is engaged in pure devotional service to the
Supreme Lord is already in the state of liberation called brahma-bhuta,
oneness with the Absolute. Without being one with the Supreme, the Absolute,
one cannot render service to Him. In the absolute conception of life there
is no difference between the served and the servitor; but the distinction
is there, in a higher spiritual sense. In the material concept of life,
when working for sense gratification, one perceives misery, but in the
absolute world, when one is engaged in pure devotional service, there is no
such thing as trouble. Therefore, the devotee in Krsna consciousness has
nothing to lament over and nothing to desire. Since God, the Supreme Lord,
is full, a living entity who is engaged in God's service, in Krsna
consciousness, becomes full in himself."
This should give one some inkling that oneness of atman and Brahman does NOT
preclude a position of devotion. Indeed, Krsna himself was devoted to his
Guru, and was/is devoted to his devotees.
In fact, to me that was the whole point of Ramanuja's teaching - that
diversity could be a feature of the One.
HKS>The jivas are not God. The jivas are the enternal servants of God. Those
who
say otherwise have the right to do so, but as this verse contradicts them,
those persons are speaking against the authority of Bhagavad-Gita.
Bhagavad Gita As It Is 10:21 --
"I am the Self, O conqueror of sleep, seated in the hearts of all creatures.
I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of all beings."
---------
I certainly do not know enough to say with any certainty, but I'm starting
to perceive a tendency since 1977 among KC to try and find ways to
differentiate themselves from the "Bhagavans" - usually involving taking
slight semantic differences of approach of Srila Prahbupada and blowing them
up into actual theological distinctions that don't exist.
None of the "Bhagavans" of the last hundred years or so preach that the
personal God does not exist or is inferior to impersonal Brahman. Even
the Tibetan Buddhists don't even believe that (although they don't state
so very explicitly). Such an "Impersonalism" only exists in academic
studies (and Theravadin Buddhism). In fact, ISKCON itself points out that
even Shankaracharya himself did not believe that.
So, it really is a straw man that you are creating, just to knock it down.
PS Although I am far from being a Sanskrit scholar, it is my understanding
that there is a difference between jiva (individual) and jivatman
(individual soul), in that the former includes ego, body, etc.
Since you say eternal, I assume you mean jivatman....
Yours,
Ken
ken@macshasta.com
send bounces to ken.stuart@tigerteam.org
