tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211673002367960332.post6209679536539019508..comments2023-09-09T02:41:47.167-07:00Comments on Beyond Advaita: 'DEEP SLEEP KNOWINGLY' - THE KEY TO BRAHMANRamesam Vemurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13670447320400400816noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211673002367960332.post-4935378661727305662015-05-29T08:21:00.495-07:002015-05-29T08:21:00.495-07:00Dear Siddhartha,
Thank you for your kind Comment ...Dear Siddhartha,<br /><br />Thank you for your kind Comment and the query.<br /><br />I happened to discuss the "The Enigma of Deep Sleep" in a series of 17 posts at the Advaita Academy web site, of course more from a philosophical angle. While the Neurochemistry of the brain may undoubtedly carry the footprint of the Deep Sleep condition, we may not be able to pin it as 'causal.' Please feel free to write to me at my e-mail (available at the Blog).<br /><br />regards,Ramesam Vemurihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670447320400400816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211673002367960332.post-78440653416955667032015-05-28T21:13:09.702-07:002015-05-28T21:13:09.702-07:00Dear Ramesam,
I was watching a commentary on Keno ...Dear Ramesam,<br />I was watching a commentary on Keno Upanishad recently and the questions about what is controlling all the involuntary functions has made me inquire into this topic. I came across this post you posted in 2011 and amazingly some of the things I was discovering matched the information your very clearly provided on your post. My question is what controls the involuntary functions in us? After some inquiry I realized that the delta waves state in deep sleep makes the hypothalamus secrete certain nuero peptides like Human Growth Hormone and Prolactin, the feel good hormone. All this is very interesting to me. I wonder if you have done any inquiry on this topic. Please share. I would love to get in touch via email to discuss this topic further. Sincerely, Siddhartha.Sid Telanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02447686327552570509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211673002367960332.post-61803935274650620232011-08-27T07:39:23.452-07:002011-08-27T07:39:23.452-07:00An earnest Seeker (Sadhak) from India posed the fo...An earnest Seeker (Sadhak) from India posed the following Question by e-mail on 26 Aug 2011:<br /><br />Question by the Seeker: <br />"Thank you for the blog Post of 19th Aug 2011. i met two individuals – one sometime during 1958-62 at Kashi and another in June 1971 in Lucknow. In both the cases i observed that for short durations during the conversation the shine in their eyes reduced for some moments and body became practically motionless. On “return” from their trance, both of them used to tell about some happenings elsewhere or that would happen in future. Their predictions were found to materialize subsequently. i had opportunity to be in their audience on several occasions. But happenings were not similar every time and many times they talked about some situations totally unconnected to the current happenings. Sir, where does their state fit in your model for Nirvana?" <br /><br />Ramesam: You said that the body of the two persons had become motionless and the alertness in their eyes was reduced. But they witnessed some things which they narrated subsequently. From these observations, we can conclude that they were still witnessing some activity with their mind and carried a memory of it. Now applying the model, we can see that their BODY is at REST but MIND is ACTIVE. Hence it would fit into the second quadrant (top right in the Figure) - the Dream State (swapna avastha).<br /><br />It is true that their mind appears to have witnessed some activity at a different space-time compared to where their body existed at that time. But that's what happens all the time in case of dreaming (day-dreaming or sleep dreams).<br /><br />The surprise, however, lies in the fact that the event described by that person seems to take place at a different time and space compared to where we were while listening to them. We call it premonition / clairvoyance etc. on the part of that person.<br /><br />The long story of Sage Gadhi elaborated in the Upasamana Prakarana of Yogavaasishta is based precisely on this aspect. The Sage visualises some events in a stupor while having his bath in a pond. The very same events are narrated to him by another saint who visits him as a guest much later. So Gadhi thinks that it was not his imagination during the stupor but somethings did really happen that way. He goes for a groundcheck by physically traveling to all those places which he witnessed during his torpor. To his surprise, he finds physical evidence too! He gets totally confused and confounded. He prays to Lord Vishnu and requests Him to explain the phenomena. Vishnu calls it all as maya. A fuller explanation of maya is given in the last chapter of Yogavaasishta (Nirvana Prakarana). The point made is that Maya cannot be understood by exploring it. It can be understood only by transcending it.<br /><br />The long and short of the tory is, mind can play many tricks, show us somethings as our experience though we never experienced them by ourselves, rub other's experiences on us to the extent we believe them to be our own and so on. For a man who is completely immersed in realizing Truth (Brahman or Self) i.e. mumukshu, these things are of no interest.<br /><br />Thus the state of the people when they were in such a trance are neither deep sleep (sushupti) nor Turiya.<br /><br />Having said all the above, I have to admit that I do not really know how some people get these skills of clairvoyance etc. One of Patanjali's sutra says that such things are obtained by inheritance, using medicines, gems, special prayer etc., as you may be knowing. But Patanjali also says these are of no concern or value for Nirvana.Ramesam Vemurihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670447320400400816noreply@blogger.com