I began to study Vedanta when I was 17 years, through Sri Ramakrishna Vivekananda literature. Before that I had read Ramayana and Mahabharata and heard many devotional discourses.
Through the years, more Vedanta lectures, books. Osho. Chinmayananda. Ishwar Puri. And most importantly Srimad Bhagavadgita - many many books and lectures.
Here is my status update. This diagram lays out the gamut of human experience and consciousness as laid out in Vedanta according to me. It is 100% aligned to Srimad Bhagavadgita.
The lines connecting all the elements are called Leela. The entire experience is a play of consciousness.
Ishwara is central to it. He is the supreme, all-encompassing, ultimate, dynamic, creative, intelligence. He is the creator-sustainer-dissolver of Leela and all elements.
Sacchidananda is also called Brahman or, by some, Parabrahman. It is Ishwara without his creative dynamism. It is all Truth, all Knowledge, all Bliss.
Jeeva is the combination of Brahman and Prakriti. He is me. And you.
Prakriti is the gamut of human experience which is the changing reality. It is also the raw material of matter and energy.
Purushartha is Jeeva's pursuit through free will of Artha, Kama, Dharma and Moksha.
Jeeva needs a Guru to channel his endeavours into Sadhana. Guru is in flesh and blood. He is a Jeeva who has connected with Ishwara.
Sadhana leads to Darshana. Ishwara manifests in our chosen form and gives us the taste of bliss, intuition, beauty, and love. Without Darshana, it is all made up in the mind (=Prakriti) and has no "real" substance.
Darshana is grace. Through grace one acquires the qualities of Jnana and Bhakti. They are two sides of the same coin.
Jnana Bhakti makes Jeeva attain Moksha which is another way of saying becoming Sacchidananda.
Jeeva cannot ever become Ishwara. Who says so? The Brahma Sutra itself. But becoming Sacchidananda is not a bad thing!
Remember, this is all Ishwara Leela!
हरिः ॐ तत् सत्
Postscript
The sutra where it is clearly stated that Ishwara is supreme and paramount is given below. The original Sanskrit Bhashya is available at IITK supersite also shown here.
