FAQ on Advaitin

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Greetings Advaitins:

 

I am reposting this FAQ for the benefit of visitors to the new mirror

site. The mirror site is now operational and the value of this archive

will increase with the passage of time.

 

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT ADVAITIN LIST

(FAQ ON ADVAITIN)

 

1. The subject matter shall focus on Advaita Vedanta of Saint

Shankaracharya. The list welcomes members to discuss any subject

matter that is closely related within the scope of non-dual

philosophies that emerged before and after Shankara.

2. The list aims to provide a free forum to facilitate courteous

exchange of viewpoints.

3. The list will not tolerate personal attacks and remarks demeaning

other religions, other religious leaders, individuals or groups.

4. This list encourages free expression of opinions but members who

violate item (3) above will be subject to moderation.

5. Correspondence to the list should not be used to sell any product but

the list encourages members to use this forum to inform about books,

tapes, lectures or other media related to spiritual topics.

6. New members are requested (please) to introduce themselves by

replying to the welcome mail. The purpose of this introduction is help

the existing members to understand the interests and needs of the new

member.

7. Postings with repeated violations of List Guidelines could force the

list moderator to ban the the member from postings to the list.

8. All postings should be written in text format (ASCII) and should not

contain attachments. Posting with attachments will be rejected to

protect Email from Virus infection.

 

What is an Advaitin mailing list?

 

Advaitin Mailing list is an electronic Spiritual Forum to permit people

who believe in Advaita to exchange their viewpoints in a friendly

atmosphere. The mailing address is: advaitin .

 

What is the Scope of Advaitin?

 

Advaitin is a philosophical discussion Forum to study the relationship

between the individual soul, Atman and the universal soul, Brahman with

the appearance of the World. The Forum will synthesize the fundamental

ideas of Vedanta (philosophical thoughts) in the Upanishads. Members

will focus their viewpoints to recognize the true meaning, profundity,

richness and beauty of Sankara's non-dual philosophy. According to

Sankara, the saint philosopher from

India, God is infinitely higher and is also infinitely nearer. He is

nearer to us than our hands and feet. He is the Soul of all souls. He is

neither the body, the senses, the mind, the ego nor the intellect. He is

"I," the ever-present witness to all experiences. He is Atman and the

Brahman and is the only Reality.

 

Sankara's Advaita Philosophy blends Karma and Maya with a logical

exposition of the idea of non-dualism. The doctrine of Karma asserts the

influence of past to the present. The idea Maya represents the

illusionary power which falsifies the appearance of the universe as the

Namarupa (various names and forms.) According to Sankara, Brahman, the

infinite consciousness, is the sole reality. Sankara establishes the

essential identity between Atman and Brahman. His Guru Gaudapada

unconsciously influenced Sankara with the tenets of Buddhist philosophy.

On the other hand, Sankara's philosophical works show that he was

clearly against the Buddhist thought. The scope of this Forum consists

of pre-Sankara, post-Sankara and contemporary Advaita (Indian and

non-Indian) that envelopes a broader spectrum of philosophical systems

ofnon-duality. Interpretations can expand beyond Indian culture and

philosophy and discussions will also include personal experiences.

 

This list is truly dedicated to Sankara and Vedavyasa and other sages

and saints of East and West who have contributed to non-dual philosophy.

The primary purpose of this list is to facilitate meaningful discussions

in a friendly and pleasant atmosphere. This list will restrict the

discussions to non-dual philosophies that fall within the framework of

Sankara's Advaita Vedanta. The members of this list do recognize that

"self-realization" is a personal experience and consequently discussions

related to personal spiritual experiences are more than welcome.

 

How do I to Advaitin?

 

If you have Internet access, the procedure is very simple.

 

Go to URL: HTTP://www./viewarchive.cgi?listname=advaitin

 

Click <Subscribe to the List>

 

Provide your Email address and a password for future access and follow

the directions. If you don't have Internet access, then send an email to

the list moderator: Ram Chandran,chandran indicating your

interest.

 

What is the responsibility of the members?

 

This is a spiritual forum and discussants should avoid writing

objectionable materials such as personal attacks, sexual Tantra

practices, etc. Most of us do not tolerate abusive personal attacks by

any discussant and the list moderator may forced to ask the offender

with repeated offences to leave the list. We want the discussants to

show respect to saints and sages from all religions and traditions.When

a member violates list policies and objectives, such members's postings

are subject to moderation for an indefinite time period. Majority of

the members of Advaitin List sincerely hopes to keep this forum free

from unnecessary regulations and restrictions.

 

What are the requirements for New members ?

 

New members shall provide a brief background information about their

interest in non-dual philosophy to the list members. For a brief time

period, postings from the new members may be subject to moderation.

 

Why did I never receive the confirmation email?

 

The most common cause of this is an incorrect email address.

 

Why did I not receiving email anymore?

 

The first thing to do is to check the list archives to see if there are

messages that you have not received. It could be that no one has sent

any email to the lists lately.

 

Why did my email to the advaitin list bounce back?

 

This could be for several reasons. Most probably, the email from an

email address is not the same as the one you provided when you

registered and the email is ignored. This feature is to prevent

spamming.

 

What are the characteristics of Advaitin mailing list?

 

Advaitin is presently an unmoderated and unrestricted list. A moderated

mailing list is a list that requires the list moderator to approve all

email before they are sent to the list. A restricted mailing list is a

list that requires the list moderator to approve all subscription

requests to the list. Advaitin will permit members to send announcements

that are relevant and pertain to the List objectives. Advaitin wants to

remain unmoderated and unrestricted and expects full cooperation from

the members to preserve this tradition.

 

Ok, I've d to a list, now how do I send email to it?

 

To send email to the list you've d to, send to the address

advaitin ,

 

Is it possible for me to change the displayed name with all my email?

 

ONElist just uses the name that you sent with the email. So to change

this, change the configuration of your email package.

 

What is the No Mail, option about? What is the Digest option about?

 

The No Mail and Digest options are available according to the need of

the members. No Mail option is useful if you are going on vacation and

don't want email to pile up while you are gone. The digest option is

useful if you don't want to fill your mailboxes with email. By clicking

on the Set Digest link in the User Center, you will receive mail

delivery in a digest (mails in group). By clicking on the Set No Mail

link in the User Center, you will turn off mail delivery for that list.

Mail will not be saved while you are not receiving email. If you have

Internet access, you should be able to set these options interactively.

Otherwise send an email to the list moderator: Ram Chandran at:

chandran

 

Can I view the Advaitin List Archieves? Yes! Go to Web Site:

 

HTTP://www./viewarchive.cgi?listname=advaitin

The archives are also available at the mirror site where the articles

can be viewed and sorted by author/thread/date index and searchable by

key word.

 

http://www.eScribe.com/culture/advaitin/

 

You can view all the messages from the current list in the order of

date & time of their postings.

 

 

You can also preview the archive index by CLICKING <Archive Index> The

Index is arranged from the latest to first as shown below:

 

Digest 211, dated Tue May 4 04:13:55 1999

Digest 210, dated Mon May 3 04:02:10 1999

Digest 209, dated Sat May 1 04:06:25 1999

Digest 208, dated Fri Apr 30 04:08:54 1999

........................

 

Thanks,

 

Ram Chandran

Gummuluru Murthy

List Comoderators