Advaita and Intellectual Debates

[Guest guest]

Namaskar:

 

I enjoyed the recent exchanges between ac, Robert and me. AC raised

some interesting questions and finally came up with his owns answers to

those questions. Robert has made some excellent points on the subject

matter of Advaita Vedanta. I am thankful to both of them for helping me

and others to understand the issues in clearer terms. In continuation,

I am posting this article to further clarify the subject matter of

Advaita and role of the scriptures in the Vedantic system.

 

Regards,

--

Ram Chandran

Burke, VA

 

Advaita and Intellectual Debates

 

Any discussions on the validity and relative merits of Vedantic

philosophies should show restraint to avoid falling into intellectual

pitfalls. Some of the well known religious scholars in India including

Kanchi Kamakoti Peedam Paramacharya (Periyaval) have rightly expressed

the view that intellectual debates on issues that are beyond human

intelligence will not enrich spiritual life and should be avoided as for

as possible. Such debates invariably force the participants to

establish or nourish their Ego and superior intellectual capacity. The

focus should be more on the subject matter and prepare the mind to

listen, learn and adopt.

When the subject matter of discussion focuses on relative merits

or demerits of different Vedantic philosophies then such discussions

have the potential to develop an Intellectual Crisis. Intellectual

Crisis always brings chaos and utter confusion. Instead of focusing on

the philosophical issues, they tend to divert the attention on the

abilities of the debaters. One of the themes of Advaita is to curtail

Ego and lengthy debates have the tendency to kindle Ego! At some

threshold point it is necessary for the intellect to bow down to faith

and intuition. It is intellectually arrogant for anyone to believe that

through arguments, we can come to a conclusive position without any

disagreement whatsoever. None of us can ever claim that we have

completely understood our scriptures nor we can assume that we possess

the necessary wisdom to convince others.

It is time to open our eyes and ears and remember the debate that took

place long time back between Sankaracharya and Mandana Misra. The

referee for their debate was Mandana Misra's wife Bharathi (considered

reincarnation of Goddess Saraswati). The debate was not decided on the

basis of the intellectual abilities of these two great masters.

Instead, the debaters were garlanded with two identical flower garlands.

These two great intellects had the humility to bow down to faith in the

miracle of whether their respective garlands withered away or not. The

debate continued for several weeks. Sankaracharya was declared the

winner by the adjudicator, the wife of his opponent! The intellects who

assembled to witness the debate have also accepted the judgement based

on faith and intuition. Faith and Intuition are integral parts of Hindu

tradition and Advaita is no exception.

First, let me assure Allan, that Hindu scriptures do accept the

view that TRUTH is always independent of religion, dogma and belief.

But the scriptures suggest that the believers should approach the TRUTH

starting with some basic belief. Scientists also explore TRUTH by

postulating several Hypotheses and collect evidence to accept or reject

them. When the evidence becomes overwhelming to reject a hypothesis,

they set aside the hypothesis and continue their search process until

they are resolved. The Hindu approach does not deviate from this

accepted practice of scientific investigation.

Two competing approaches are available to search for the

TRUTH: The first is the path of no faith proposed by J. Krishnamurthy

- "Truth is a Pathless Land." JK suggests that one should continue the

TRUTH without accepting any religion, dogma, or belief. JK was afraid

that acceptance of any faith or dogma blindly has the potential for the

suppression of TRUTH. Hinduism suggests that the seeker first accepts

to seek an open enquiry on a specific religion or dogma and continues

the investigation without attachment. In Hinduism and Advaita, faith

and intuition play an important role in guiding the search for the

TRUTH. The Hindu scriptures stress the limitation of human mind and

avoid making false claims on the nature and existence of the CREATOR.

In Hinduism and Advaita, Guru plays a significant role in guiding the

seeker to find the TRUTH. Guru expects that the seeker has complete

faith (not blindly) and willing to take the journey to find the TRUTH.

The difference between "blind faith" and "faith" can be illustrated

with an example. A student who wants to learn physics, approaches a

qualified teacher recommended by his/her parents, relatives, friends or

other available media of information. It is quite important that the

student has full faith on the ability of the teacher during the learning

process. This faith does not preclude the student to ask questions to

clear his (her) doubts. The student need not accept the teacher’s

assertions without contemplation. If necessary the student can go and

verify the teacher's claims from other competing sources such as other

teachers, libraries, books, Internet, etc. With blind faith, the

student accepts the teacher and his/her assertions and does not seek

verification. When the teacher and the student are fully qualified, the

student can grasp without any outside source and becomes fully dependent

on the teacher.

The teacher and student relationship is comparable to a car and its

driver. The driver (student) wants the car (teacher) for his journey

(learning). The car can take the driver to any desired destination. A

well-equipped car with enough fuel can take the driver provided the

driver knows the path of his (her) journey! It is important to

understand that the driver is responsible for the journey and he or she

determines the destination! In Vivekachudamani, Sankara discusses the

qualifications of the teacher, the student and their relationships.

Sankara’s super highway for self-realization requires qualified

drivers, well-equipped cars, road maps and other emergency equipments.

The scriptures serve as the road emergency bag containing road maps,

driving tips, repair kits and manuals. The driver, car and the manuals

are all essential to complete the journey. The driver who does not have

faith in any of the above described essentials will not complete the

journey! For the seekers of TRUTH, faith on the PATH, the teacher and

the scriptures are all important. Without faith and intuition the

seeker will not reach the destination and in all probability may not

start the journey!

Faith and Intuition come from personal experience and intellectual

knowledge and they vary by individual. When the driver reaches the

destination, the car, the highway, the manuals and the maps become

irrelevant. For Self-realized seekers, the world around the seeker -

the religion, dogma, faith, body, mind and intellect become

irrelevant. In summary, self-realization is nothing more than an

elaboration of this simple fact. We are the creators of our journey,

the destination and the path of reaching the destination. During our

journey, we create castles, palaces, gardens, barriers, prisons,

vehicles, friend and foe, like and dislike, good and bad, joy and

sorrow, light and dark, etc. Sankara claims that all these creations

come from our imagination of our life. When the SELF detaches itself

from this illusory world and watch the journey of life as a witness,

our imaginative mind stops functioning and the illusory world melts and

disappears. SELF becomes the part and parcel of Brahman. For Advaitic

philosophy, the material world becomes irrelevant when the SELF becomes

the witness rather than the actor.

 

Sankara was correct in ignoring the irrelevant material world in

theorizing the Advaita Philosophy. It is important to note that any

interpretation of scriptures and religion is purely based on faith and

intuition. Faith and intuition vary by individuals and hence there will

be disagreement during the journey toward finding the TRUTH. However,

such disagreements do not imply that a religion or dogma is wrong!

According to the Upanishads, the intellectual knowledge can never catch

up with the ignorance - "The more we know, we realize that the more we

don't know!" There is a subtle message in the Upanishad for how to lead

our life. This famous saying in the Upanishad suggests the following:

"Life is a bridge, enjoy while crossing, but don't build a castle on

it."

The question - who is SELF-realized has no answer. Logically,

it is impossible to find out who is realized and who is not. This

question is quite similar to the verification of the concept of “Black

Hole” in physics. Those who are inside the Black Hole and those

experience "Self-Realization" can’t describe what it is to those who are

not in it. Those who are not in it can’t deny or accept until they

experience it. The sages and saints of Upanishads including Sankara

have understood this limitation and have given signals directly and

indirectly through their messages.

A good starting point for starting the journey toward Truth is to

accept the human life with the Upanishadic spirit: "Life is a bridge,

enjoy while crossing, but don't build a castle on it."

 

Ram Chandran.