Guest guest Posted November 15, 1999 Report Share Posted November 15, 1999 spoken like a true jnani,very illuminating..sincere thanks. >"kalyankumar muthurajan" <kalyankumar >advaitin >advaitin > what is vedanta? >Mon, 15 Nov 1999 21:32:38 PST > >Vedanta involves no means and ends. It just throws light upon what is. >Throwing light upon what is, is called 'knowledge'. Knowledge is just >seeing >what is. Vedanta lights up the fact. Whether Vedanta talks about the >world, or about creation, or about God - the creator, or about the devatas >or about any other subject, all discussion only throws light upon one basic >fact: that there is no difference between the individual, the world and >God. > This non-dual fact of the identity of me, God and the world is tattva, >the >basic, irreducible Truth of everything. And, it is this tattva, Truth, >which is unfolded by the teaching of Vedanta. > > 'That thou art' is the vision of Vedanta. The entire Vedanta >scripture is about oneself, about 'me', - about what I am. When the sastra >(scripture) talks about the world it is talking about me; when it talks >about creation it talks about me; when it talks about worlds other than >this >world (heavens and hells to which I may go), it talks about me. The >purpose >of the Upanishads (Vedanta scriptures) is not to throw light upon means and >ends, but to illuminate the truth of all means and ends. > > The whole teaching of Vedanta is in the form of words; >therefore, >one must necessarily see what the words used are meant to unfold - one must >see neither more nor less but exactly what the words are meant to unfold. >Using the words of Vedanta to 'see' myself is like using my eyes to see >color. If with my eyes open and focused I find that there is not enough >light to see color (or to see it clearly) the light should be increased. >But the need for more light does not mean that it is the light which does >the 'seeing'. The eyes remain the instrument that does the 'seeing'. >Similarly, the words and sentences (of Vedanta scripture), like the eyes, >are the means of 'seeing'. To use these means I must throw light upon the >words and sentences, analyze them, discover the exact meaning as unfolded >by >the scripture. > > Vedanta scripture is studied to answer one's questions about the >individual (jiva), the world (jagat), and the Lord (Isvara). In the >beginning of study, these three topics are seen as a triangle with each >topic enjoying its own identity, occupying its own position. But as study >progresses (as the scriptual words and sentences are analyzed in order to >understand the nature of each of these entities) the 'triangle' disappears. >The three are seen one. The student discovers that jiva (individual), >jagat (the world), and Isvara (the Lord) have their being in one thing - >one >absolute non-dual Reality - and that One : tattvamasi('That thou art'). > >------ >Discussion of the True Meaning of Sankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy >focusing on non-duality between mind and matter. Searchable List Archives >are available at: http://www.eScribe.com/culture/advaitin/ Contact Email >Address: advaitins > ><< text3.html >> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 15, 1999 Report Share Posted November 15, 1999 Thanks for the beautiful write-up. Regards. > > kalyankumar muthurajan [sMTP:kalyankumar] > Tuesday, November 16, 1999 1:33 PM > advaitin > what is vedanta? > > "kalyankumar muthurajan" <kalyankumar > > Vedanta involves no means and ends. It just throws light upon what is. > Throwing light upon what is, is called 'knowledge'. Knowledge is just > seeing > what is. Vedanta lights up the fact. Whether Vedanta talks about the > world, or about creation, or about God - the creator, or about the devatas > > or about any other subject, all discussion only throws light upon one > basic > fact: that there is no difference between the individual, the world and > God. > This non-dual fact of the identity of me, God and the world is tattva, > the > basic, irreducible Truth of everything. And, it is this tattva, Truth, > which is unfolded by the teaching of Vedanta. > > 'That thou art' is the vision of Vedanta. The entire Vedanta > scripture is about oneself, about 'me', - about what I am. When the sastra > > (scripture) talks about the world it is talking about me; when it talks > about creation it talks about me; when it talks about worlds other than > this > world (heavens and hells to which I may go), it talks about me. The > purpose > of the Upanishads (Vedanta scriptures) is not to throw light upon means > and > ends, but to illuminate the truth of all means and ends. > > The whole teaching of Vedanta is in the form of words; > therefore, > one must necessarily see what the words used are meant to unfold - one > must > see neither more nor less but exactly what the words are meant to unfold. > > Using the words of Vedanta to 'see' myself is like using my eyes to see > color. If with my eyes open and focused I find that there is not enough > light to see color (or to see it clearly) the light should be increased. > But the need for more light does not mean that it is the light which does > the 'seeing'. The eyes remain the instrument that does the 'seeing'. > Similarly, the words and sentences (of Vedanta scripture), like the eyes, > are the means of 'seeing'. To use these means I must throw light upon the > > words and sentences, analyze them, discover the exact meaning as unfolded > by > the scripture. > > Vedanta scripture is studied to answer one's questions about the > > individual (jiva), the world (jagat), and the Lord (Isvara). In the > beginning of study, these three topics are seen as a triangle with each > topic enjoying its own identity, occupying its own position. But as study > > progresses (as the scriptual words and sentences are analyzed in order to > understand the nature of each of these entities) the 'triangle' > disappears. > The three are seen one. The student discovers that jiva (individual), > jagat (the world), and Isvara (the Lord) have their being in one thing - > one > absolute non-dual Reality - and that One : tattvamasi('That thou art'). > > > Discussion of the True Meaning of Sankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy > focusing on non-duality between mind and matter. Searchable List Archives > are available at: http://www.eScribe.com/culture/advaitin/ Contact Email > Address: advaitins > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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