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From: Mani Varadarajan (mani)
Date: Thu Jan 04 1996 - 13:42:29 PST
On Jan 4, 3:33pm, Vijay Srinivasan wrote: > Subject: Re: Mandukya Upanishad & fourth state (Was Re: Avataarams) > > I would like to slightly deviate from Mani's interpretation. The fourth state > is also called kaivalya or atma avalokana. It is no doubt a state of bliss. > But according to our sampradayam this leads to solipsism. This is not the turiya or fourth state described in the Upanishad. While there is an intermediate state of consciousness in our philosophy, where the individual self is free from all matter and has infinite jnaana, this is not what the Upanishad is discussing when describing the fourth state, which discusses the experience of the all-pervading, non-dual Lord. It is the paramaatma that is experienced in the fourth state. Mani