Ishwa helper Reged: 03/03/02 Posts: 553

Re: Parabrahman [Re: vinaire] #13678 - 03/19/02 07:50 AM Edit Reply Quote

Dear Vinaire, From what I understand of Nirguna Brahman is that it is the edge between Absoluteness and Reality. ParaBrahman is the infiniteness and Saguna Brahman is the finiteness. Nirguna is the zero or void point, where there is guna, but not manifested, it is in (chaotic?) balance. (Shankara's Nirguna-tattva is equal to Sh�nya-tattva of Bauddha Dharma. Sh�nya is the void, zero, related to the Saguna) I've really no problem with this tripartite concept of Para-Brahman, Nirguna-Brahman and Saguna-Brahman. I'll give the example of the Siddha Siddh�nta Paddhati of Yogi GorakhaN�tha of the Middle-Ages (I'll recommend you books of his, like Siddha-Siddh�nta Paddhati and Goraksha-VacanaSangraha, which unfortunately are in Sanskrit, but there may be good translations): yad� n�sti svayam kart� karanam na kul�kulam avyaktam ca param brahma an�m� vidyate tad� S.S.P. I-4 When there's no active doer, no causality (or process of causation), no distinction between power and reality (the dynamic and static aspects of the spirit), when the supreme spirit is wholly without selfmanifestation, he then exists purely as the Nameless One. Bh�v�bh�vaivinirmuktam n�shotpatti-visarjitam sarva-sankalpan�tiitam para-brahma taducyate (in Amanaska) The absolute Truth which is realised in the highest spiritual experience is above the concepts oh bh�va (existence) and abh�va (negation of existence), completely devoid of origination and destruction, and beyond the reach of all speculations and imaginations, and That is called Para-Brahman. Note: the bh�va (existence) is the Saguna Brahman and the abh�va (non-existence) is the Nirguna Brahman. And Para-Brahman is beyond that, beyond anything named. Background The T�ntrika Yoga tradition had as offshoots in time the S�dha Yogi tradition. After this tradition it evolved into the Siddha Yoga tradition, which gave the N�tha Yoga tradition (to which GorakshaN�tha belonged). After the N�tha tradition came the Santa tradition of roundabout the Mughal period.