Namaskaram all,
In my spiritual journey, I have begun studying Vedanta and have watched various lectures and read stuff in the process. This has expectedly lead to questions about myself and I am trying to clarify what I understand and do not. If I am asking the questions that have been answered before, it may be because this is a subjective topic and please bear with me.
So, I have begun reading the Sri Sankaracharya’s Adhyasa Bhjasya (mostly English translations) and have watched many lectures from various swamis on this topic. I have gone through the first major step in understanding that I am confused. Through the process of understanding the Avastha’s (Jagrut, Swapna, Sushupti) and the underlying state of Turiya. Through real life subjective experiences Sri Sankaracharya has convinced me that I am not who I think I am and it’s the innermost Parmatma that is me.
The fact that I am confused is due to Avidya (ignorance).
The next part for me, is to understand who has to understand this and how. This is where I get confused (even if I look at it subjectively). Hence I wish to keep an objective approach for the discussion (just like trying to explain it to someone else). So, I will list what I understand and please correct me or help me understand this concept.
Atma Sharira Kosha
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Parmatma None None
Bound soul Karana (Causal) Anandamaya (Causal)
Sukshma (Subtle) Vijnyanamaya (Cognition)
Manomaya (Mind) Pranamaya
Sthula (Gross) Anandamaya
In the above table, as per my understanding…
1. The atma gets moksha when it sheds all the koshas.
2. We are using the Sukshma sarira (atleast the mind and intellect) to understand this concept.
The confusion/question is this. (Kshetra - Kshetrajnya)
a. Is the Sukshma sarira supposed to realize this and understand “This is not I”? This itself is confusing.
b. The Parmatma (who is all knowing) does not need to know anything.
c. If and when the sukshma sarira is dropped what will happen to the knowledge that it has gained?
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