On Mar 24, 2008, at 7:38 AM, Vaj wrote:
Here's what Monier-Williams gives for atIta:
atIta mfn. gone by , past , passed away , dead ; one who has gone
through or got over or beyond , one who has passed by or neglected ;
negligent ; passed , left behind ; excessive ; m. N. of a particular
S3aiva sect ; (%{am}) n. the past.
An example would be "buddhyatIta", which means "beyond the reach of
the understanding".
Vaj | 03.26.07 - 3:22 pm | #
Precisely. Notice how Monier-Williams doesn't even include the
wordtranscendental in their definition.
However, a quick look at Capeller's Skt.-Eng. DIctionary and he
does include "transcending" as one definition.
atIta
a. gone away, passed, dead; going beyond, transcending, surpassing
(---).
Interestingly, a quick gander at Google shows the word "bhavatita"
most frequent usage seems to be the writings of Anandamayi Moi. It
might be worth looking into her writings since MMY has an old
association with her. The word transcendent is used by her students.
There is even the association with "ripples of thought" a la the
bubble diagram:
The experience of Sarvatmabhava, to which all mystics look forward
after their realization of the Self, is found to be a normal
experience with Mother even in Her earliest days. The fact is so
patent to all acquainted with Her life that no illustration is needed
to substantiate it.
The true ideal of samadhi which Mother has held out before Her
admirers is intended to show that She does not attach undue
importance to the Static Brahman realization or to the Dynamic one.
She views the Supreme Truth as consisting of and yet exceeding both
these lower truths.
The gradual evolution of the human soul in the direction of this
Absolute Reality is represented by Her as an integral spiritual
movement in which there are certain relative poises.
Chitta Samadhana,
Bhava Samadhana and
Vyakta Samadhana are the three successive stages of inward
development leading to its culmination in what is called by Her Purna
Samadhana.
The first stage stands for the incipient condition of the
evolutionary movement in which the mind is dried up and rendered
light and combustible, owing to the elimination from it of the waters
of worldly desires and passions under the influence of inner culture
in the form of meditation or otherwise.
Just as dry fuel, free from all moisture, takes fire easily and
burns, in the same way the mind thus purified catches easily the fire
of knowledge and becomes aglow. This spiritual condition, usually
known as Bhavasuddhi or purity of Bhava,
is called Chittasamadhana.
It arises under the influence of the Supreme Reality through
different channels of expression. Human nature being divergent, it is
not strange that in some cases this state should represent an
overpowering of the mental structure of the aspirant under the
pressure of divine sentinent.
The second stage, called Bhava Samadhana, represents a more advanced
condition than the first one. In this state the seeker remains
immersed in the integral bhava, insensible to the stimuli of outer
nature. The body becomes, as it were, paralysed under the domination
of this bhava. Outwardly speaking, the body loses its mobility and
power of responsiveness and becomes more or less like an inert clod,
though inwardly the bhava which has influenced it, begins to flow on
in an uninterrupted stream. When this state matures into perfection
what is left behind is only the play of the Integral Idea having
unified the outer and inner elements of human nature. In this stage
the individual being is charged and permeated with integral bhava and
there is an overflowing of it into outer nature. In other words, the
integral bhava fills up the entire mind of the sadhaka and flows over
into the world outside him.
The third state is called Vyakta Samadhana.
In this condition the fire of knowledge burns as fully within the
individual as it does outside. The soul is then absorbed in one
undivided Universal Being.
Even in this state the duality of Form and Formless persists.
But in the next stage which represents perfection and is called Purna
Samadhana all sorts of dualities melt away, having been for ever
transcended in Supreme Unity of Absolute Truth.
This state is transcendent and yet immanent,
is Nirguna as well as Saguna, Sakara as well as Nirakara at one and
the same time, and yet it transcends both.
This is really the so-cailed - Bhavatita condition free from the
ripples of thought vibrations. This is Samadhi in the proper sense of
the word, for it signifies Samadhana or completion of every sort of
activity and thought, a state beyond ignorance as well as beyond
knowledge.
The stability of the body and the mind is based upon concentration on
a particular principle or vision which, in the end, universalises
itself, dissolves the egoistic sense remnant within it and stands out
in its unique splendour.
In course of time, this sense of basic unity also disappears. What is
left behind is beyond the power of mind to grasp or of words to
describe. This appears to be the highest perfection of Nirvikalpa
Samadhana. Mother says that in this state all the activities of the
body, even the vibrations of the cells, are stopped and that if the
condition continues for a long time the body is likely to be
destroyed. But one whose descent has for its object the welfare of
the world continues in the body as long as such continuance is
necessary in the interest of humanity. This is a state of Mahayoga
and is to be sharply distinguished from the yoga of the ordinary
class. While an ordinary yogi retains his sense of physical identity
to the last moment of his life and is subject to action, a Mahayogi
is above such limitations and is immune from the necessity of any
action initiated by himself.
http://www.anandamayi.org/books/masbhd.htm