I am interested in Chaitanya Vaishnavism. This site is inspired by the teachings of Sri Satyanarayana dasa Babaji, scholar and practitioner.
As we have seen elsewhere, the absolute truth has to be understood in terms of viśeṣya, viśeṣaṇa and viśiṣṭa. To remind the reader, these words refer to the object to be qualified, the qualifier(s) or attribute(s), and the qualified object respectively. The idea is that perception of any […]
A major problem many have with Bhagavān’s form, is that a form is limiting. The surface of any object with form is its limit or boundary, which separates the universe outside that form from what is inside the form. If Bhagavān has a form, then He is limited. […]
Śrī Jīva discusses absolute reality or tattva with an analysis of the famous verse from the Śrīmad Bhagavatām below (Tattva Sandarbha Anuccheda 51 and 52 and Bhagavat Sandarbha Anuccheda 1): vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate: All those who have realized Absolute reality refer […]
Question: What is the function of yoga-māyā?
Question: Is your article on Brahman realization referring to realization in the material body? Answer: Yes, Brahman realization can occur in the material body. So can the direct experience of Bhagavān. Question: Then doesn’t the material body need to survive by eating etc. What will the person do […]
As the ātman is situated in its own self during deep sleep and nothing else, i.e. it does not identify with anything external like the mind or body, one can intuit a number of intrinsic properties of the ātman through an analysis of deep sleep. In the Tattva […]
Free or not free- that is the question.
Question: What is the relation between sādhanā bhakti and citta vṛtti nirodha?
We now discuss the process of realizing Brahman.
We have examined previously that Bhagavān is the viśiṣṭa tattva. We also saw that Brahman is Bhagavān without attributes, or the viśeṣya tattva. Here we examine what viśiṣṭa tattva means in Śrī Jīva’s theology. Śrī Jīva discusses absolute reality or tattva with an analysis of the famous verse […]
We continue to discuss the concept of Brahman and Bhagavān as explained by Śrī Jīva Goswami in the Bhagavat Sandarbha. Śrī Jīva Goswami explains that self-realization is a pre-requisite for Brahman realization. Therefore, here we first examine what it means to ‘realize the self’. The process of experience […]
There are differing views on Brahman and Bhagavān. There is one camp, particularly among some Vaiṣṇava sects, which tends to interpret all verses involving Brahman in the Purāṇas as Bhagavān. The camp of the Advaita-vadis considers Bhagavān as material, and only Brahman as the absolute reality. Sri Jiva […]