Page 336 - The Path of Grace
P. 336
PATH OF GRACE
happiness or bliss. When one thinks about this, one is sure to feel highly indebted to the great Master Sri Ramchandraji Maharaj of Shahjahanpur who has made this possible for all humans who are willing to have this experience.
It may be of interest to note that the great Sri Sankaracharya considered the bliss body and Atman to be different; Sri Ramanuja regarded the bliss body and Atman together as the one pure transcendental state. The point made out by the Advaitins is that the Anandamaya-Kosa in as much as we have varied methods and ways of experiencing happiness/bliss cannot be the Self/Atman, for it is affected by changeful qualities. It is a modification of nature and feelings, and consists of the latent potencies of one’s past actions. If the Anandamaya-Kosa were the Atman, one in deep sleep would enter into Samadhi and have an experience of the Absolute. Those who regard this sheath to be identical with the Atman forget that in sleep, when it has its fullest play, one does not have knowledge of the Atman, which appears to be drowned in an ignorance from which one rises again
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