The peculiar extreme of Advaita

[putran M]

Namaskaram,

Below is just an expansion of what I wrote in response to Subbu-ji's recent post.

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1. For other sampradayas, the name-form knowledge of devatas, jivas, world denote realities that are part of or related to Brahman (aka Self). For advaitins, the Self is ultimately neti, neti (not this, not this) with regard to every special identification. These all are adhyasa (superimposition)/imagination on/of the Reality that is "beyond all forms and distinctions". 

2. While we speak with reference to a duality of things/selves, the nondual Self correspondingly becomes referred to as the Ishvara who cognizes the dualistic identifications of HimSelf into manifestation, but that too in the sense of imagination and not a projection of something that is a real part of Him or a reality having a true relation with Him (beyond imagination). The ishvara-jiva-jagat universe is His play. Within that play there is Order, dharma, punya, purushartha; there are jivas seeking moksha and there is ishvara who is their antaryami, karmaphaladata, bhagavan. But all these distinct roles are the sportive play of the unitary Ishvara; and His nondual Self is the adhishtanam for all His superimposed identifications of HimSelf. Therefore, tattvamasi, says the Upanishad.

3. Whatever we dream of Self during a dream, when we wake up we dismiss it as untrue, even while we affirm our own unchanged Truth/Existence. Except that our waking affirmation replaces the dream-world with another body-mind-world. The advaitin says this waking identification/projection is also a dream of the Self. Other sampradayas insist this BMW-association is somehow an intrinsic reality of Brahman and atma; advaita alone maintains that it is avidya/kalpita/vivarta and Brahman=atma is ultimately free of such distinctions, attributes or relations. 

4. The ramifications are profound. Even if Vishnu is claimed by somebody to be the big-boss and Shiva a "demigod" of lesser stature, that narrative reduces to the multifarious dreaming of the Self, a movie on the Screen. It is of zero importance from the standpoint of reality. It is the same inner-Vishnu=inner-Shiva (Brahman) who (as Ishvara) appears/acts as the Vishnu ≠ Shiva. Advaita thus points to the nondual reality (the "pure" Existence-Consciousness-Self) underlying all manifestation and negates any attempt to imprint duality, in a real sense, onto It. Brahman is free, You are Brahman, You are free; all else is imagination that does not change Your Reality/Truth.

5. As per Advaita therefore, the real utility for us of a particular Ishvara-cognition is if it directs our attention to Ishvara/Brahma chintanam and (eventually after vedanta sravana) to the jnanam "Aham Brahmasmi". For the bhakta, his ishta specially serves this purpose for he merges/roots the many in the One seen as the ishta. Going to temples, worshipping the deity there; having satsangs, doing dharma-karya, shastra-sravanam etc. also serve this purpose; whereas spending time in politics, sports, movies do not. So the cognition of the Self as Sri Rama is of higher value for the Rama bhakta who connects to the higher truth through the Rama cognition and not through Ravana. And likewise for the Shiva-bhakta, the ishta is Shiva. This is possible because the same Brahman (when realized/imagined in conjunction with Maya-shakti, as the unitary Ishvara) plays as all these nama-rupa appearances and the universe at large.

Apart from this movie-value pertaining the movie-jiva identification of the Self, there is no special distinction between ishvara, jiva, jagat; Rama, Shiva; saint, sinner. The world of differing movie identities and their interplay is superfluous when we realize the same Self in all cognitions.

The jnani who has this realization therefore does not harbour high vs low evaluations over the different imaginations of the Self. He is settled in the knowledge of unadulterated Purnatvam that alone Is.

thollmelukaalkizhu 

[putran M]

Namaskaram,

Did a reading of the same.

https://youtu.be/Lckl25U30zk?si=gDJucsdtJNoFoiwA

Mostly same. Main modification is of this sentence: "Other sampradayas insist this BMW-association is somehow an intrinsic reality of Brahman and atma;"

To ~ "Other sampradayas insist this BMW-association is somehow based in reality, in the dualities intrinsic to Brahman and atma;"

thollmelukaalkizhu 

[putran M]

Namaskaram,

A second part in Tamil.

https://youtu.be/ALDPqrTA-J4?si=wt8xfhXlYbbGyUkt

Some clarifications or elaboration on Ishvara that I wanted to add following the previous talk/writeup.

thollmelukaalkizhu 

On Sat, 4 Apr, 2026, 3:45 am putran M, <putr...@gmail.com> wrote:

Namaskaram,