Jivanmukta

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This article is about the Hindu concept. For the yoga style, see Jivamukti Yoga.
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A jīvanmukta, literally meaning 'liberated while living',

self-realisation and attained kaivalya (enlightenment) or moksha (liberation), thus is liberated while living and not yet died.[2][3] The state is the aim of moksha in Vedānta, Yoga and other schools of Hinduism, and it is referred to as jīvanmukti.[4][5][6]

Jīvanmuktas are also called ātma-

Paramahamsa. When a rishi (seer / sage) becomes a jīvanmukta then that rishi is called Brahmarshi
.

According to popular tradition, some examples of jivanmuktas are

Rāmakrishna Paramahansa, Ramana Maharshi, Vedānta Deśika, Swāminārāyan, Nisargadatta Maharaj, and Swami Ramdas. They are believed to have realized the Self (atman) within their lifetime by traveling the path of pure spirituality
. After achieving enlightenment and the state of jivanmukti, they are regarded to have negated their karma. According to their followers, they are said to have retained their bodies to disseminate their wisdom to the masses. After their death, they are believed to have attained paramukti.

Etymology

Jīvanmukta (

Sanskrit: जीवन्मुक्त) is an adjective derived from a combination of Sanskrit noun जीव jīva
, "life", and the past participle of the verb मुच् (much, or IAST muc), "to liberate". Monier-Williams gives the meaning "emancipated while still alive".

Jīvanmukti (

Sanskrit: जीवन्मुक्ति:), the corresponding abstract noun means, "liberation during life, liberation before death",[7][8] or "emancipation while still alive".[9][6] This is the only meaning given in authoritative dictionaries of classical Sanskrit, including Monier-Williams. Other translations, not found in standard dictionaries and therefore presumably of more modern date, include "self realization",[10][11][12] "living liberation", "enlightenment", "liberated soul", or "self liberation".[13][14][15]

Description

Main article: Moksha

The various texts and schools of Hinduism describe the jīvanmukti state of existence as one of liberation and freedom reached within one's life.[16][17] Some contrast jīvanmukti with videhamukti (moksha from samsāra after death).[18] Jīvanmukti is a state that transforms the nature, attributes and behaviors of an individual, claim these ancient texts of Hindu philosophy. For example, according to Nāradaparivrājaka Upanishad, the enlightened individual shows attributes such as:[19]

  • his consciousness of individuality has disappeared;
  • he is not bothered by disrespect and endures cruel words, treats others with respect regardless of how others treat him;
  • when confronted by an angry person he does not return anger, instead replies with soft and kind words;
  • even if tortured, he speaks and trusts the truth;
  • he does not crave for blessings or expect praise from others;
  • he never injures or harms any life or being (ahimsā), he is intent in the welfare of all beings;[20]
  • he is as comfortable being alone as in the presence of others;
  • he is as comfortable with a bowl, at the foot of a tree in tattered robe without help, as when he is in a mithuna (union of mendicants), grama (village) and nagara (city);
  • he does not care about or wear
    śikhā
    (tuft of hair on the back of head for religious reasons), nor the holy thread across his body. To him, knowledge is śikhā, knowledge is the holy thread, knowledge alone is supreme. Outer appearances and rituals do not matter to him, only knowledge matters;
  • for him there is no invocation nor dismissal of deities, no mantra nor non-mantra, no prostrations nor worship of gods, goddess or ancestors, nothing other than knowledge;
  • he is humble, high-spirited, of clear and steady mind, straightforward, compassionate, patient, indifferent, courageous, speaks firmly and with sweet words.

Advaita view

Ādi Śankara explains that nothing can induce one to act who has no desire of his own to satisfy. The supreme limit of

ānatman) is the extreme limit of bodhā ("awakening"), and the non-springing again of the modifications which have ceased is the extreme limit of Uparati ("abstinence"). The jīvanmukta gains divine and infinite knowledge and has complete self-knowledge and Self-realization. A jīvanmukta, by reason of his ever being Brahman, is freed from awareness of external objects and is no longer aware of any difference between the inner ātman and Brahman, or between Brahman and the world. He knows that he is the same as Brahman and has an experiences infinite consciousness. "Vijnātabrahmatattvasya yathāpūrvam na samsrtih" – "there is no saṃsāra as before for one who has known Brahman".[21]

There are three kinds of

jñāna ("knowledge").[21]

The term parāmukti is commonly used to refer to final liberation, which occurs upon the death of the body of someone who has attained Jīvanmukti or Kaivalya during his or her lifetime. It implies the ultimate release of the soul (

mahāsamādhi
.

In the śramaṇic traditions, the jīvanmukta is called an arhat in Buddhism[24] and arihant in Jainism.[citation needed]

Implication

The Advaita school holds the view that the world appearance is owing to

adhyāsa), and also the power to conceal the real resulting in the delusion of the jīva who experiences objects created by his mind and sees difference in this world, he sees difference between the ātman ("the individual self") and Brahman
("the supreme Self"). This delusion caused by ignorance is destroyed when ignorance itself is destroyed by knowledge. When all delusion is removed there remains no awareness of difference. He who sees no difference between Self and Brahman is said to be a jīvanmukta. A jīvanmukta experiences infinite knowledge, infinite power, and infinite bliss while alive and also after death i.e., after becoming parāmukta, while a videhamukta experiences these only after death.

There are four stages for becoming a jīvanmukta:

1. Sālokya – living in the same world

2. Sārūpya – having the same form

3. Sāmīpya – being close to

4. Sāyujya – merging into[25]

STAGE 1. The first stage is called sālokya — corresponding to the waking state of consciousness (jāgratā) — the realization that the entire vast universe of billions of galaxies and universes is all pervaded by the Divine Consciousness. (Viṣṇu means That which pervades the entire universe and everything in it.) It is the undifferentiated Ocean of Being. When this stage is achieved then the person is freed from the idea that the world is separate and independent from us and that it is an ultimate source of abiding pleasure and joy.

STAGE 2. The second stage is sarūpya or sadhārmya — corresponding to the dreaming state of consciousness – realization that every being is interconnected and all "apparently" separate jīvas are embodiments of the One Divine Consciousness. When this stage is achieved then the person gets the freedom from ahaṅkāra - the notion of self-identity and the notion of difference from the other, thus being able to cultivate empathy with all and universal compassion for all beings.

STAGE 3. The third stage sāmīpya — is intimacy with the Divine — corresponding to the unconscious dreamless state of consciousness – God-realization occurs when the nature of the saguṇa īśvara is cognized and one surrenders to Him/Her. When this stage is achieved, the person is freed from all self-effort to achieve liberation, from religion and its bondage, and the relinquishes all self-imposed burdens – achieving a state of equanimity, tranquility, abiding joy and peace.

STAGE 4. The final stage sāyujya — communion with, or unification with the Absolute Godhead — corresponding to the Turīya or inconceivable and inexpressible fourth state of consciousness – a merging with the Godhead bordering on complete identity. When this stage is achieved, then the person becomes a complete jīvanmukta and gets absolute freedom from rebirth and suffering — this is the final stage of Brahma-nirvāna.

Significance

The Advaita philosophy rests on the premise that

noumenally the Absolute alone exists, Nature, Souls and God are all merged in the Absolute; the Universe is one, that there is no difference within it, or without it; Brahman is alike throughout its structure, and the knowledge of any part of it is the knowledge of the whole (Brihadarānyaka Upanishad II.4.6-14), and, since all causation is ultimately due to Brahman, since everything beside Brahman is an appearance, the Atman is the only entity that exists and nothing else. All elements emanated from the Atman (Taittirīya Upanishad II.1) and all existence is based on Intellect (Aitareya Upanishad III.3). The universe created by Brahman from a part of itself is thrown out and re-absorbed by the Immutable Brahman (Mundaka Upanishad I.1.7). Therefore, the jīva (the individual self) is non-different from Brahman (the supreme Self), and the jīva, never bound, is ever liberated. Through Self-consciousness one gains the knowledge of existence and realizes Brahman.[26]

References

  1. ^ The Vivekacūḍāmaṇi of Śaṅkarācārya Bhagavatpāda: An Introduction and Translation edited by John Grimes "A mukta is a mukta, with or without a body.110 It may be said that a knower of the Self with a body is a Jivan Mukta and when that person sheds the body, he attains Videhamukti. But this difference exists only for the onlooker, not the mukta."
  2. ISBN 978-0521438780
    , page 92-93
  3. ^ Klaus Klostermaier, Mokṣa and Critical Theory, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan., 1985), pages 61-71
  4. ISBN 978-0-7914-2706-4
  5. ^ Norman E. Thomas (April 1988), Liberation for Life: A Hindu Liberation Philosophy, Missiology, Volume 16, Number 2, pp 149-160
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-2868030610
    , pages 1-9
  7. ISBN 978-3-447-01743-5
    .
  8. ISBN 9780835600255
    .
  9. ^ Jivanmukti, Sanskrit English Dictionary, Koeln University, Germany
  10. ISBN 978-0-7914-3904-3
    .
  11. ISBN 978-1-55643-859-2
    .
  12. ISBN 978-81-208-1890-3
    .
  13. ISBN 978-1-349-24147-7
    .
  14. ^ Rosen, Richard (2002). Yoga Journal. Active Interest. p. 159.
  15. ISBN 978-1-135-79935-9
    .
  16. ^ See for example Muktika Upanishad, Varaha Upanishad, Adhyatma Upanishad, Sandilya Upanishad, Tejobindu Upanishad, etc.; in K.N. Aiyar (Transl. 1914), Thirty Minor Upanishads, University of Toronto Robart Library Archives, Canada
  17. ^ Paul Deussen, The philosophy of the Upanishads, Translated by A.S. Geden (1906), T&T Clark, Edinburgh
  18. ISBN 978-81-208-1467-7
  19. ^ see: K.N. Aiyar (Transl. 1914), Thirty Minor Upanishads, University of Toronto Robart Library Archives, Canada, pp 140-147
  20. ^ see also Sandilya Upanishad for ahimsa and other virtues; Quote: "तत्र हिंसा नाम मनोवाक्कायकर्मभिः सर्वभूतेषु सर्वदा क्लेशजननम्"; Aiyar translates this as: He practices Ahimsa - no injury or harm to any living being at any time through actions of his body, his speech or in his mind; K.N. Aiyar (Transl. 1914), Thirty Minor Upanishads, University of Toronto Robart Library Archives, Canada, pp 173-174
  21. ^ a b Śaṅkarācārya (1973). Vivekacūḍāmaṇi of Śrī Samkara Bhagavatpāda. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. pp. 403–423.
  22. ^ a b Maharshi, Ramana. "Karma and Destiny". Hinduism.co.za. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  23. ISBN 0-941532-97-6
    .
  24. ^ "Arhat | Buddhism". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  25. ^ Ranade, R. D. (1986) [1926]. A Constructive Survey Of Upanishadic Philosophy: Being An Introduction To The Thought Of The Upanishads. Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 157.
  26. ^ A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1972). Bhagavad-Gita As It Is. Mumbai: The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. p. 621. Archived from the original on 2013-01-09. Retrieved 2013-01-24.
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