Respected members
What is the difference between Sadhu,siddha,muni,Rishi,Jnani,Yogi? is these levels of spiritual enligtenment?
Respected members
What is the difference between Sadhu,siddha,muni,Rishi,Jnani,Yogi? is these levels of spiritual enligtenment?
Vannakkam: Maybe at one time there were clearer definitions, but these days anyone can refer to themselves as anything, so many terms are interchangeable
But generally speaking, here goes:
sadhu - a wanderin ascetic
siddha - one who has developed siddhis
muni - one who speaks directly from intuitive knowledge
rishi - a realised being
jnani - one who has attained the state of jnana
yogi - a sadhak, a seeker on the path, could also be realised
Aum Namasivaya
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté
I have a slightly different view on these definitions offered by EM... not in opposition but just in degree of difference worthy of one's read.
Let me explain.
Lets take the notion of ṛṣi. This noun is rooted in ṛṣ for dṛś . This dṛś is to see, behold. It is aligned to ṛṣi as they see/behold the truth. They by divine intuition ( my teacher called cognition) are able cognize the truth within their field of pure consciousness . Now I say 'their field' i.e. the ṛṣi-s , of pure consciousness is not accurate. It is within the ocean of consciousness that exists.
Now why mention 'ocean' ? There has been a cryptic use of the word ṛṣi as a fish¹. He/she that swims within the ocean of consciousness.
Rṣi is also defined as a ray of light; a saint or sanctified sage in general , an ascetic , anchorite.
The term rṣi is also defined as symbolic of the number 7. Why so? Due to the 7 rṣi-s of class :
So, my point is , there is no doubt that a ṛṣi is a realized being , per EM's definition (which is fine and well placed); yet it is what this realized being does that makes him/her the seer or ṛṣi.
- devarṣi-s
- brahmarṣi-s
- rājarṣi-s
- maharṣi-s
- paramarṣi-s
- śrutarṣi-s
- kāṇḍarṣi-s
Another is jñāni which is s/he that knows jñāna, which is higher knowledge and alludes to knowledge of the SELF (ātman). So, if there is the term jñāni why do we find the term vijñāni ? Why muddy the waters with 2 terms unless there is some difference ? Vijñāni = vi + jñāni . The 'vi' is used to describe distinction ; that of above or extended to jñāni. It is that realized being that has skill in jñāna. The implications are quite interesting ( to me) and we can address it if there is interest.
One more is siddha. By definition is 'one who has hit the mark'; it is the accomplished, fulfilled , effected , gained. The 2nd definition is one that has 'accomplished' spiritual powers. Typically there are the 8 fundamental powers called out, yet patañjali muni calls out many more in his yogadarśana.
So, one can be a siddha, who has accomplished/reached the Self (jñāni) but does not practice siddhi's.
Last , another definition of siddha that we never hear of is 'to drive off or scare away'. Within siddha we have 'si'. The 2nd derivation of 'si' is to hurl, cast off. So we can , by conjecture, assume one casts off all that is imperfect to arrive at an accomplished level of Being.
If I were to discern levels of spiritual enlightenment as per the original post I would choose another course of definition. IMHO this post ( which points to further posts) may be of interest: http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2996
iti śivaṁ
1. ṛṣi as a fish - koi fish as I understand it; some call cyprinus carpio; I look to be corrected on the fish category type..
यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
because you are identical with śiva
_
Vannakkam Yajvan et al: Interesting side not ...The title of my teacher's first book on this matter was 'Cognizantability'
Thank you for furthering the definitions. Personally I am not affected on way or another. There are several more terms here that get intertwined sometimes, like pundit, guru, satguru, swami,
I'm more interested in the knowledge itself than the title of the soul who is delivering it.
Aum Namasivaya
Respected Yajvanji
Thanks for reply.Speaking about Jnani,Is there different levels or steps before one becomes fully enlightened ones?
Thanks
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté
Let me offer the following:
this HDF post will assist in rounding out this conversation - it is called one-stop enlightenment ? http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=6901
What may be some of the stops along the way? We as human-beings can have multiple experiences:
praṇām
- Pure ignorance - only thinking what we see is all there is ; not even aware of the possibility of another or the Supreme.
- Some knowledge - still the identification with the body , but with the knowledge there is more to existence then meets the eye
(and is in pursuit of it)- Self-awareness - the breaking of the identification with the body and the relationship with Self ( or ātman).
One is able to go beyond ( transcend, atīndriya¹) the senses and experience silence itself.- I am the universe - having the experience that all this that surrounds you is an extension of and a personal direct experience of your Self.
This is an outward-facing experience. This some call the unity-in-diversity experience. There is unity of all things, and there is the delight
of diversity that is experienced.- I am - this experience is that I am all that there is.
- I - this is just pure 'I' and nothing else, ahaṁ. We can think of this as nyāyena - from the root ni that into which a thing goes
back i.e. an original type , standard. Now it is my understanding that this level of experience is beyond the body. Some call this
( as I understand it) maha-samādhi and is without the body (śarīra).
Last edited by yajvan; 25 March 2014 at 03:45 PM.
यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
because you are identical with śiva
_
Hi Yajvanji
Thanks for response.
For General audience,
Probably many people know what im saying below.There is a excellent website which helps Self-realization.
http://www.manblunder.com/
The owner of website is Raviji who helps people in their Spiritual quest on advaita ideology.
There are lot of articles in his website which explains about self-realization and other stuffs in layman words.
Another website which attracted me is
http://vedicastrologer.org/homam/
The author is emphasizing use of external fire to cleanse oneself so that Bhoota Agni increases which is needed for Spiritual improvement.He has written simple homam procedures for Various Hindu deities which takes maximum 45-60 mins to perform and it can be done by all people irrespective of caste..etc.
Thanks
Last edited by Who am i; 30 March 2014 at 10:02 PM. Reason: edit
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