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Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy
Since we're talking about Self here's a good primer on the views of Advaita (non-dualism) vs. Vishishtadvaita (qualified monism/non-dualism) vs. Samkhya (heavily dualistic).
https://youtu.be/Yej6AY0KNN4
Q&A session lead by Swami Sarvapriyananda at the Vedanta Society of New York on February 21st, 2021. List of questions with timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
01:51 - What separates the individual soul from Brahman? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yej6AY0KNN4&t=111s
08:53 - Can the self be self-aware without mind or object? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yej6AY0KNN4&t=533s
16:26 - You have said that maya projects the universe and veils the truth. Is this the same as the Samkhya philosophy? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yej6AY0KNN4&t=986s
25:50 - What is the closest concept in Vedanta to the ideas of the spirit and the soul?
39:39 - Is Advaita Vedanta escapism?
48:09 - Is Vedanta the same as subjective idealism?
55:15 - How can I be sure that consciousness is not manufactured by the brain? |
The self in the question "Can the self be self-aware without mind or object?" @ 08:53 is lower case.
Sure, consciousness may not be manufactured by the brain, but that does not mean brahman does not enter our physical bodies and animate our physical bodies through our hearts (Assemblage Point), central nervous systems (which the brain is a part of) etc etc.
http://mcb.berkeley.edu/courses/mcb135e/central.html
The assemblage point
The Self-self (atman) is not a collective or a group of Selfs-selfs. The Self is individualized. I am not saying that all Selfs (atmans) are not made out of the same substance/energy, because they are made out of the same substance/energy. This is how and why the Self (atman) is all there is. This takes us back to the subject of mithya and maya:
Mithya means false in sankrit, false in the context of mithya means changing, impermanent, perishable, superimposed, and dependent on something else for its existence (brahman). Maya on the other hand means ignorance. A great statement from the Upanisads asserts, Sarvam khalvidam Brahman, All this, indeed, is Brahman. All this (idam), meaning all we (the Self-self or atman) see with our mind and senses is Brahman, but we (the Self-self or atman) are not recognizing it as Brahman. And this is maya, ignorance, the cause of all suffering. Always remember that atman is brahman. Since atman (Self-self) is brahman, brahman is being conscious of itself through atman (Self-self)
Mithya and maya have nothing to do with the world or universe being unreal or an illusion, the only unreal and illusion is not recognizing everything we see with our mind and senses as being brahman.