01-29-2005, 06:47 AM
I have some questions ( hopefully not too provocative <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo--> )
All the jivas are supposed to have these five koshas (or 3 bodies) that belong completely to them. So all the way to anandamaya-kosha, the 'light' or knowledge has progressively increased, but 'separation' hasn't ended. But in one fell step, from anandamaya-kosha to Ishvara, the multiplicity of all the jivas suddenly gets connected to one single Ishvara.
But aren't there supposed to be many kinds of beings, like devas, asuras, etc. in this vast universe. Are all of them supposed to be constructed according to the same sheath plan? Does the point of merger for them also lie just beyond the anandamaya-kosha?
Do all beings possess all the koshas? Does an ant have an anandamaya kosha? Does an amoeba?
If lets say, an amoeba doesn't possess some higher kosha such as anandamaya, vijnanamaya and manomaya. Then where does merger take place for an amoeba? At some level just beyond pranamaya? Do amoebas have an amoeba-Ishvara at the level of manomaya where they merge?
Do human beings with the five koshas eventually merge into a Ishvara specifically meant for humans? (nArAyana = whose abode is in humans or nara).
Would other type of beings with different kosha structures merge into their own kind of Ishvara?
I am a bit uncomfortable with the single point merger implied for all the beings in the whole of the universe. A progressive merger into higher and higher Ishvaras sounds more appealing.
<b>If merger can at all happen, then why can't it happen at many levels? Why does it have to happen at one highest level? Remember that Ishvara is not nirguna brahman. He is saguna. So if a merger can happen at a saguna level, why can't it happen at other lower saguna levels? </b>
I am thinking again of the upside down ashvattha tree model where the root is the brahman, and branches other beings. There is no single point from where all the branches simultaneously branch out. But branching is rather gradual, like a tree.
For example shaivism defines a whole series of shivas leading upto the paramashiva.
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo--> )All the jivas are supposed to have these five koshas (or 3 bodies) that belong completely to them. So all the way to anandamaya-kosha, the 'light' or knowledge has progressively increased, but 'separation' hasn't ended. But in one fell step, from anandamaya-kosha to Ishvara, the multiplicity of all the jivas suddenly gets connected to one single Ishvara.
But aren't there supposed to be many kinds of beings, like devas, asuras, etc. in this vast universe. Are all of them supposed to be constructed according to the same sheath plan? Does the point of merger for them also lie just beyond the anandamaya-kosha?
Do all beings possess all the koshas? Does an ant have an anandamaya kosha? Does an amoeba?
If lets say, an amoeba doesn't possess some higher kosha such as anandamaya, vijnanamaya and manomaya. Then where does merger take place for an amoeba? At some level just beyond pranamaya? Do amoebas have an amoeba-Ishvara at the level of manomaya where they merge?
Do human beings with the five koshas eventually merge into a Ishvara specifically meant for humans? (nArAyana = whose abode is in humans or nara).
Would other type of beings with different kosha structures merge into their own kind of Ishvara?
I am a bit uncomfortable with the single point merger implied for all the beings in the whole of the universe. A progressive merger into higher and higher Ishvaras sounds more appealing.
<b>If merger can at all happen, then why can't it happen at many levels? Why does it have to happen at one highest level? Remember that Ishvara is not nirguna brahman. He is saguna. So if a merger can happen at a saguna level, why can't it happen at other lower saguna levels? </b>
I am thinking again of the upside down ashvattha tree model where the root is the brahman, and branches other beings. There is no single point from where all the branches simultaneously branch out. But branching is rather gradual, like a tree.
For example shaivism defines a whole series of shivas leading upto the paramashiva.