Is Turïya a state or reality? (Upanishads...)

In the previous posts I talked about Turiya as a state – one of the four states of cognition. That is my understanding of the Mändükya Upanishad in which it is described. But Advaita philosophers don’t agree. What do they say?

The Turïya or The state of universal consciousness (Upanishads...)

We were discussing about a ‘state’ in which we can cognize things that are beyond our limited Mind. This is the Turïya state described by the Upanishads. How is this state described?

Cognition beyond the Mind (Upanishads...)

We generally associate cognition with the activity of the mind. But as we discussed in the case of Yoga, (Refer to my book “How and Why of Yoga and Meditation”, Chapter “Shutting off the unruly Ghost”) the mind stops when one attains the ultimate states of meditation. In that case does it make any sense to talk about cognition when the mind is not even working? Sounds more like an oxymoron!

Have you seen this horse that spits out noodles?

I saw this antique horse made of Jack fruit wood in a farmer's house in a remote Indian village.

Four states of cognition (Upanishads...)

In the previous post, we were talking about how we can ascertain the truths enunciated by the Upanishads. As we said, the only way is either to accept whatever the Upanishads say or ‘realize’ it ourselves. How do we do the latter?

How are we sure that Upanishadic concept of God is valid? (Upanishads...)

In the previous posts we saw how the Upanishads ‘define’ God or Ätma.  And also, how this ‘definition’ does not lead to endless regress. But how are we sure that such a definition is valid and it is not just some clever play of words?

Does the concept of God lead to endless regress? (Upanishads...)

Many modern intellectuals opine that since the concept of God as the prime cause leads to endless regress, God does not exist! They ask what caused God... and so on.

Some questions just can’t be answered by direct perception or reasoning (Upanishads...)

Many people quote their religious scriptures to answer fundamental questions, God being one of them. In most religions, it is the God who revealed these scriptures.

God!... What is that? (Upanishads...)

Different religions have different definitions for God. Each one claims its definition to be the right one and all others to be wrong.

Upanishads – A journey into the unknown, nay, unknowable

Upanishads are ancient Indian texts that are supposed to be visions of sages when they were in a deep state of meditation, well preserved for more than 3000 years.