Can the Brahman-realization as articulated in the Upaniṣads be mapped onto any of the eight emancipations delineated in DN 15?
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DN 15 mentions the following eight kinds of emancipations:
> “Ānanda, there are these eight emancipations. Which eight?
>
> “Possessed of form, one sees forms. This is the first emancipation.
>
> “Not percipient of form internally, one sees forms externally. This is
> the second emancipation.
>
> “One is intent only on the beautiful. This is the third emancipation.
>
> “With the complete transcending of perceptions of (physical) form,
> with the disappearance of perceptions of resistance, and not heeding
> perceptions of multiplicity, (perceiving,) ‘Infinite space,’ one
> enters and remains in the dimension of the infinitude of space. This
> is the fourth emancipation.
>
> **“With the complete transcending of the dimension of the infinitude of
> space, (perceiving,) ‘Infinite consciousness,’ one enters and remains
> in the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness. This is the fifth
> emancipation.**
>
> “With the complete transcending of the dimension of the infinitude of
> consciousness, (perceiving,) ‘There is nothing,’ one enters and
> remains in the dimension of nothingness. This is the sixth
> emancipation.
>
> “With the complete transcending of the dimension of nothingness, one
> enters and remains in the dimension of neither perception nor
> non-perception. This is the seventh emancipation.
>
> **“With the complete transcending of the dimension of neither perception
> nor non-perception, one enters and remains in the cessation of
> perception and feeling. This is the eighth emancipation.**
>
> “Now, when a monk attains these eight emancipations in forward order,
> in reverse order, in forward and reverse order, when he attains them
> and emerges from them wherever he wants, however he wants, and for as
> long as he wants, when through the ending of effluents he enters and
> remains in the effluent-free release of awareness and release of
> discernment, having directly known it and realized it for himself in
> the here and now, he is said to be a monk released in both ways. And
> as for another release in both ways, higher or more sublime than this,
> there is none.”
The Chāndogya Upaniṣad describes Brahman-realization in the following terms:
> यत्र नान्यत्पश्यति नान्यच्छृणोति नान्यद्विजानाति स भूमाथ
> यत्रान्यत्पश्यत्यन्यच्छृणोत्यन्यद्विजानाति तदल्पं यो वै भूमा तदमृतमथ
> यदल्पं तन्मर्त्य्ं स भगवः कस्मिन्प्रतिष्ठित इति स्वे महिम्नि यदि वा न
> महिम्नीति ॥ ७.२४.१ ॥
>
> yatra nānyatpaśyati nānyacchṛṇoti nānyadvijānāti sa bhūmātha
> yatrānyatpaśyatyanyacchṛṇotyanyadvijānāti tadalpaṃ yo vai bhūmā
> tadamṛtamatha yadalpaṃ tanmartyṃ sa bhagavaḥ kasminpratiṣṭhita iti sve
> mahimni yadi vā na mahimnīti || 7.24.1 ||
>
> **Sanatkumāra said: ‘Bhūmā [the infinite] is that in which one sees
> nothing else, hears nothing else, and knows [i.e., finds] nothing
> else.** But alpa [the finite] is that in which one sees something else,
> hears something else, and knows something else. That which is infinite
> is immortal, and that which is finite is mortal.’ Nārada asked, ‘Sir,
> what does bhūmā rest on?’ Sanatkumāra replied, ‘It rests on its own
> power—or not even on that power [i.e., it depends on nothing else]’.
Chandogya Upanishad 7.24.1
similarly,
> यदा पञ्चावतिष्ठन्ते ज्ञानानि मनसा सह । बुद्धिश्च न विचेष्टते तामाहुः
> परमां गतिम् ॥ १०॥
>
> yadā pañcāvatiṣṭhante jñānāni manasā saha . buddhiśca na viceṣṭate
> tāmāhuḥ paramāṃ gatim
>
> When the five instruments of knowledge(senses of perception) stand still, together with the
> mind and when the intellect does not move, that is called the parama gati (Supreme
> State).
Katha Upanishad 2.3.10
Would the realization of Brahman or the attainment of the highest state as described in these Upaniṣadic passages correspond to the eighth emancipation in the sutta, particularly as it pertains to the cessation of perception? If not, is there a more accurate mapping within the eightfold scheme : perhaps one of the immaterial attainments or an earlier emancipation?
Asked by Invictus
(63 rep)
May 31, 2025, 04:30 AM
Last activity: May 31, 2025, 10:30 AM
Last activity: May 31, 2025, 10:30 AM