Post by nyame on Nov 3, 2014 16:55:25 GMT -6
Nitai, I agree when you said:
That is exactly the meaning of the verse, i.e. all things are one in God, whatever distinctions are experienced are not absolute, they are relative to the nonduality of reality. The context is that a person is being consoled not to lament because everything is one with God, that the death of the body is not the death of the atma, that all bodies are temporary manifestations in samsara for the atma under the control of Isvara. We shouldn't take it to mean more then that, e.g. that there is absolutely no difference between the body and atma, that is just meant as an analogy for the oneness of everything with God, not as a new doctrine on atma/matter. All things are one due to all things being comprised of Brahman:
vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam
brahmeti paramātmeti
bhagavān iti śabdyate
Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.
From my experience most Gaudiya Vaishnavas seem to have a tough time with nonduality, seeing the concept as Advaitin alone, and opposed to bhedabheda. The truth is nonduality is Vaishnava doctrine for all sampradayas, with various clauses, e.g. Bhedābheda, Viśiṣṭādvaita and Dvaita. The shastra teaches that all is one, but there is difference within that oneness, not against that oneness. Most Gaudiyas that I've talked to seem to have a hard time understanding that bhedabheda doesn't mean that the difference cancels out the oneness; that instead it means that there is difference within an all encompassing oneness. That difference is like the difference between the body and soul. The body is the oneness of all in Brahman, the soul is like the jivatma who is a part of the body of God, one with God, yet different in it's identity.
...the idea that the distinction between matter and spirit is simply wrong. It based only on appearances much like the idea that the earth is flat and the sun circles the earth are based only on appearances with no real evidential support. The idea that matter and spirit are completely separate and incommensurate elements is also quite likely wrong. Matter and spirit are probably more like matter and energy, they are two different states of the same thing. In other words they are not different and the distinction between them is based on ignorance or the inability to properly distinguish things.
That is exactly the meaning of the verse, i.e. all things are one in God, whatever distinctions are experienced are not absolute, they are relative to the nonduality of reality. The context is that a person is being consoled not to lament because everything is one with God, that the death of the body is not the death of the atma, that all bodies are temporary manifestations in samsara for the atma under the control of Isvara. We shouldn't take it to mean more then that, e.g. that there is absolutely no difference between the body and atma, that is just meant as an analogy for the oneness of everything with God, not as a new doctrine on atma/matter. All things are one due to all things being comprised of Brahman:
vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam
brahmeti paramātmeti
bhagavān iti śabdyate
Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.
From my experience most Gaudiya Vaishnavas seem to have a tough time with nonduality, seeing the concept as Advaitin alone, and opposed to bhedabheda. The truth is nonduality is Vaishnava doctrine for all sampradayas, with various clauses, e.g. Bhedābheda, Viśiṣṭādvaita and Dvaita. The shastra teaches that all is one, but there is difference within that oneness, not against that oneness. Most Gaudiyas that I've talked to seem to have a hard time understanding that bhedabheda doesn't mean that the difference cancels out the oneness; that instead it means that there is difference within an all encompassing oneness. That difference is like the difference between the body and soul. The body is the oneness of all in Brahman, the soul is like the jivatma who is a part of the body of God, one with God, yet different in it's identity.