The Advaitist

All around us we find Gross Objects. These objects are perceived through our five senses (smell, taste, vision, touch and hearing). Not all senses are used in the identification of each and every object; a sub-set of senses is sufficient. Based on empirical observations it has been observed that gross objects may be classified into 5 groups known as elements: a. kShiti b. ap c. tejas d. marut and e. vyoman kShiti - Objects which may be smelt, tasted, seen, felt and heard ex. earth ap - Objects which may be tasted, seen, felt and heard ex. water tejas - Objects which may be seen, felt and heard ex. fire marut - Objects which may be felt and heard ex. wind vyoman - Objects which may be heard Each type of object is more subtle than the previous one. Note: atom = tan-matra kShiti-element = ap-element + smell-atom ap-element = tejas-element + taste-atom tejas-element = marut-element + vision-atom marut-element = vyoman-element + texture-atom vyoman-element = audio-atom Atoms as a group can...

1. According to tradition Kapila left no written work but passed on his works orally to Asuri who passed it on to Panchashikha who wrote Samkhyapravachanasutra and Tattvasamasa. 2. Samkhyakarika by Ishwarkrishna 3. Bhashya by Gaudapada  - commentary on Samkhyakarika 4. Samkhyatattvakaumudi by Vachaspati Mishra - commentary on Samlhyakarika

The trio of Mahat, Ahamkara and Manas can be understood with respect to the sleep and waking state of individuals. When an individual wakes up, he near simultaneously has the following sensations: a. consciousness b. self-awareness or I-ness or "I exist" c. self-knowledge or "I exist in relation to something else" Similarly when the Universe moves from its unmanifest state to manifest state: a. it first gains consciousness - mahAtattva b. it gains self-awareness - ahaMkAra c. it gains self-knowledge - manas

Prakriti is the Cause of the manifestation of the Manifest Universe and Purusha is the seat of Universal Consciousness which the witness to Manifest Existence. When Prakriti manifests it goes through three steps: a. creation b. maintenance c. involution Therefore for each of these there must be some constituent which would account for the diversified objects of nature. These are the three Gunas, which are like strands or strings. Sattva guna is the cause of equilibrium. Rajas guna is the cause of motion and change. Tamas guna is the cause of resistance. These gunas inhere in Prakriti in a tightly coiled state and come into play by specific activations during the process of creation or involution.

The Universe has two aspects - an umanifest eternal aspect and a manifest universe in which we live. The Unmanifest Eternal apsect or the Univesral Fabric itself has two aspects - the Universal Spirit or Unmanifest Universal Energy and the Universal Matter. The unmanifest Universal Spirit or Cosmic Spirit is known as Purusha (puruSha) which is the most subtle aspect of Spirit. The unmanifest Universal Matter or Cosmic Substance is known as Prakriti (prakRRiti) which is the most subtle aspect of universal energy. Both of these aspects exists in close relation to each other and cannot exist independently. They are eternal, unmanifest, beyond perception and are also the Uncaused Cause.

Given that the Universe contains abstract sense-powers (indriya-s), corresponding elementary matter (tanmAtra) as well as the medium of inherence (mahAbhUta), how does the Universe know how to discriminate between Subject and Object, and where does this discrimination happen? This requires the presence of a higher level of abstraction known as manas or the Cosmic Mind. This Mental Plane is where the discrimination happen - where the Universe variously assumes the form of object and subject. This leads to another question, how does the Universe know that there is an "I" involved? Where does this "I-ness" come from? This again requires an Individuating Principle, which is known as Ahamkara or the Individuating Plane. How is this "I-ness" caused? How does the Universe know that there should be an "I"? This requires the presence of a Cosmic Intelligence or mahAtattva (Great Principle). Thus Mahat (Intelligence) leads to Ahamkara (I-ness) which lead...

Apart from the five gYAnendriya, there also exists five karmendriya (abstract working senses): a. vAk or the power to Express b. upastha or the power to procreate c. pAyu or the power to excrete d. pANi or the power to grasp e. pAda or the power to move

As far as the first question is concerned "how is tanmAtra perceived?", the answer lies in what is known as gYAnendriya-s, the capacity to perceive or experience tanmAtra through mahAbhUta. That is, if we take the example of a flower, we can smell it, if: a. the flower has the property or tanmAtra gandha or smell b. the perceiver has the capabilties to process the tanmAtra called smell Thus the five tanmAtras have their corresponding abstract sense-power or gYAnendriya: a. shrota or the power to Hear b. tvak or the power to Feel c. chakShus or the power to See d. rasana or the power to Taste e. ghrANa or the power to Smell

As far as the first question is concerned "how is tanmAtra manifested?", the answer lies in what is known as mahAbhUta-s, the medium in which each of the tanmAtra is manifested. First mahAbhUta is pRRithvi or Earthly Plane. It is the least subtle among the others as it allows all the tanmAtras (sound, touch, form, flavor and odor) to inhere in it. Thus we have the following scheme: Prithvi or Earthly Plane - Sound, Touch, Form, Flavor, Odor Apas or Water Plane - Sound, Touch, Form, Flavor Tejas or Fire Plane - Sound, Touch, Form Vayu or Air - Sound, Touch Thus for each of these mahAbHuta-s, we have one tanmAtra which is a unique to that mahAbhUta in that it's disassociation from the mahAbhUta results in that mahAbhUta losing its identity. For example, if tanmAtra odor is removed from the Earthly Plane it becomes the same as Watery Plane. This leads to the question: what is that mahAbhUta which is associated with Sound? This mahAbhUta is known as AkAsha or Ethereal Plane...

In order to start our discussion on Samkhya, we start with what is known as Tanamatra. tanamAtra literally means "merely that" or in other words elementary matter, that is the smallest and most subtle form of matter, without magnitude, and perceived only through objects. These tanmAtra-s are: a. shabda or the essense of Sound b. sparsha or the essence of Touch c. rUpa or the essence of Form d. rasa or the essence of Flavor e. gandha or the essence of Odor Now two questions need to be asked: a. how is tanmAtra manifested? b. how is tanmAtra perceived?

Introduction Hindu Philosophical thoughts have their origin in antiquity - for example, as early as the 10th book of Rk Veda,  in the Nasadiya Sukta (RV 10.129), we find the Seer contemplating on the Origin of Universe. However, by the Upanishadic age, dvelopment of various philosophical schools were in full swing. Differences in Philosophy Development Style in East and West Development of philosophical ideas in India, were quite distinct from the way it happened in the Western World. In Greece for example, a philosopher propounded his views. He himself or someone else, documented the ideas and others debated on it. The next philosopher entered the scene and did the same thing and so on. Thus a clear chronology of philosophical ideas is available to the student of history and philosophy. In India, things were different. First of all, there were different schools of philosophy as opposed to a single person, and the inter-school rivalry was intense. Secondly, the entire phil...