Intro of New member Advaitin List Objectives and Scope

[Guest guest]

Hari Om Shri Varadharajan:

 

Welcome to the Advaitin List. First, I want to congratulate you for a fine

introduction and also for keeping an open mind about Advaita.

 

Strictly speaking, we are all visistadvaitans and trying to become advaitins. A

good starting point is to accept one God with the name and form as we please.

Our goal is to realize that it is - only God! We

can get guidance from all the acharyars - Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhava to

learn and understand our SELF. Though the path may appear different, but the

ultimate goal is the same. Theories are just the

means and not the end.

 

Thanks again for a fine introduction and I am looking forward to your thoughtful

questions, comments and articles.

 

regards,

 

Ram Chandran

[Guest guest]

Hari OM & OM Namo Narayana!

 

I Thank Shri Ramji for the warm welcome. As I mentioned in my introduction,

I am novice in matters of our scriptures and I treat this "Onelist" as my

Electronic GuruKulam to learn as much as I could.

 

First I would be obliged to be educated a little more about the historical

context of this powerful concept "Advaitam" and its relationship with "Adi

Shankara".

 

1) The Vedas,Upanishads, Brahamasutras,Puranas,Baghvat Gita and several

other important scriptures orginated well before 600 AD. In fact Hinduism

was in a state of decline when Adi Shankara came for the reformation in the

7th century. Is this a correct assumption , supported by bigoraphers and

historians?

 

2)Did Adi Shankara, propound "Advaitam" as new concept or was it already

there in several Hindu Texts and he emphasized it over others?

 

3) Did Adi Shankara, during his codification & standrdisation of the Hindu

Monastery order (in form of Sankara Matas) build, all day to day practices

around Advaitam only or did he allow "Paralllel Processing" of some other

schools of thought and practices. What I mean is does Advaitam automatically

linked to Lord Shiva's Worship or the linkage is not to one Hindu Godhood

but is the highest plane of conceputalization of consciousness?

 

4) Is there any devolution or addition to the concepts he put together as

"Advaitam" by any of the subsequent commentators & followers, OR does it

remain in the same form without change as he propunded it? (Excuse me, I am

particualrly comparing this to the situation of the religious text adopted

at about the same time, at a different location on earth)

 

Once again please bear with my ignorance of the subject.

 

Namaste.

 

P.B.V.Rajan, Jeddah 28 Oct 99