The process of "mimamsa"

"The Higher knowledge" is summarized by Lord in Srimad Bhagavad Gita chapters 7, 8 and 9.
Chapters 10 & 11 give a description and a glimpse of majesty of LORD as "told" & "shown" to Arjuna.
and the chapter 12 - "Bhakti Yoga" provides the ultimate instruction on fusing the individual self with the supreme.
The rest of 6 chapters starting from 13-18 deal with the essential relationship between the individual and the supreme.

As I have mentioned in an earlier post, this subject is very subtle and depends on the usage of correct technical words from Samskrutam language.

pada artham (word meaning), vakya artham (sentence meaning) and the lakshya artham (essential truth being conveyed) need to be realized.

Each "word" should be understood in the context, each sentence should be thoroughly understood and finally the "essential truth" the statements, groups of statements and the whole scripture is trying to convey should be realized. This process is called mimamsa.

Every "Philosophy" should provide clear answers to the following questions:
1. Who am i? (who is an individual being)?
2. What is "this" world? (The environment in which the individual is living)
3. Who is the controller of "i" and "this" or what is "THAT"?
4. What is the essential relationship between this and THAT?

The Knowledge of true nature of LORD shifts the paradigm from

I am a "part" of this!

to

I am THAT!

Instruction 23:

This paradigm shift is the objective of "saririka mimamsa sastra" or vedanta. The process of vedanta is based on a four step approach. (Please follow the link for an earlier blog post on this same subject)

Step 1: shravana = listening attentively to a realized GURU. This phase is also called as "samanvaya" or forming up a "Thesis" of answers for the above questions. This includes reconciliation of all different views on the above questions.

Step 2: manana = memorizing what has learned from shravana.
During this stage, any apparent contradiction with the other sources of knowledge need to be dealt with. This is called "avirodha" or thorough evaluation of "Antitheses"

Step 3: nidhidhyasana = internalizing the knowledge or "Synthesis" of above two steps.

All the above three steps happen in the "witnessing consciousness" of the individual. The purified jeeva.
They are not related to mental/emotional or physical process of day-to-day life.

Step 4: phala = the fruit of above three steps is not a "new product" achieved by actions. It is omnipresent. It is called realization of the ultimate relationship between this (known lower nature) and THAT (higher nature).

We will do "vichara" based on Srimad Bhagavad Gita (the words of Lord) in future posts.