Amma on advaita-vedanta and bhakti are not different

~ advaita-vedanta and bhakti are not different ~

Amma then explained how in the path of advaita-vedanta, one tries to

see the whole world as an extension of oneself, and how in the path

of bhakti, one tries to see the whole world as their Beloved Lord, or

Guru. The two paths are not different, just slightly different ways

of looking at the same thing. "In today's world, people run to hear

talks on Vedanta, but here we try to live Vedanta," Amma said,

referring to how she encourages her devotees to serve the world,

seeing it as an extension of Amma, or an extension of their own Self.

"At the heart of all religions is the Guru-disciple relationship. It

doesn't matter whether it is Islam, Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism,

or Hinduism," Amma said. "In reality, this relationship is the

relationship between the jivatman and Paramatman, the individual self

and the Supreme Self. In truth, they are one and the same. When

standing on the shore, a river appears to have two separate banks,

but in reality those two banks are one and the same at the bottom of

the river. Once we remove the water (the ego), we will realise this

truth.

~ Amma ~

I feel Amma's words answer most of the questions that we discuss and

that is why i like to post Amma's words so often.

On the other hand IMHO, it is also important to express our feelings

and exchange ideas rather than suppress these. I do not look at these

as arguments or fights but rather as discussions perhaps revealing

things that we may need to let go of, etc. And while initially i

would get irritated by this or that feeling that it was not in

accordance with Amma's words, now I'm beginning( fingers crossed ) to

mellow out and try to see where the discussion is coming from. And

perhaps sometimes, rather than replying with a disagreement, a

thoughtful question here and there would be better. And of course we

can always reply with a silent prayer.

Perhaps, if we begin to see each other as an extension of Amma( and

our Self ), all this will be more fun.

Om santi,

amarnath

Om God Silence Love Humility Compassion Selfless-Service Forgiveness

Acceptance Peace Namaha