vEdAMtulostunnAru :-) (Beware! there comes the advaitins)

[Guest guest]

There is a saying in telugu, which my teacher Swamini Saradapriyananda often

used to quote when giving introductory lectures on the subject of Advaita.

This saying is in telugu: "advaita vEdAMtulostunnAru, taTTA buTTA

sardukOMDi"... Means "beware and take good care of your belongings, there

coming the advaita vedantins" :-)

 

Now, the same kind of --- or sayings which convey similar meaning exist in

other languages also! Why should anybody takes care of his belongings when

Advaita Vedantins are coming to visit us? It seems, in olden days there

were people who are so lazy to make a living that they adopted Advaita

vedanta as a means of achiving their livelyhood. Because, in other

phylosophical systems there is at least a little bit of ritual involved. It

is only "Advaita Vedanta" which accepts the sadhaka doing nothing! So the

charlatons got attracted to this system, because you have to do nothing to

claim divinity --- instead all that you have to say is "sarvaM brahma mayaM"

:-) Did you ever come across that advaitins are falsely called as

"Mayavadis"!

 

And there was another problem for the charlatons: how will they make a

living? You can't beg, because if all that is there is brahman, why do you

need to even eat/drink... otherwise if all that is there is brahman, why

can't you simply work and make your own living instead of living on the

society like a parasite! So the charlatons, it seems, have adopted another

method! It seems they used to walk on the roads and enter in to any

household and claim anything which attracted them! For example, the

advaitic charlaton liked the Gold utensils in the household, they used to

take it away saying: All that is there is Brahman... Brahman is taking that

which is given by Brahman :-) Poor villagers, do not know what to do!

Though they knew that charlatons exist in the guise of true advitins, they

don't want to offend a real philosoper by abondoning all philosophers. We

can't blame the entire community just because few people are bad! Hence,

the villagers started taking care of their belongings when ever advaitin

philosophers arrive in to their village.

 

The true advaitin phylosophers, who are deeply aware of the indivisible

truth, while accepting the "all that is there is brahman" principle, have

also participated in the welfare of the society by obeying the rules of the

society. They did it --- not because they have not experienced the truth of

Advaita. Before their experience they were a part of a society, which runs

on a certain rules --- saMgha Dharma, so they obeyed society to help others.

Certain behaviour should be adopted in order to live in the society. If you

want to live in the space wear a spaceshoot! It is that simple. As long as

your eat/drink/walk/talk; as long as you involve on the society for your day

to day needs, you need to obey the rules of the society. There is no other

go! Is there any upanishad which advises total inactivity? Even in Gita

lord says: though I have nothing to do, I do it because the world may

misunderstand my inactivity!

 

A really realized person, does not really care whether his teaching is

reaching the masses or not! Because, he knows that one day --- just like he

experienced the truth, they will also experience... Everybody is a lone

walker in this unknown universe! Who knows who is going to be where

tomorrow? Who knows who is going to be living tomorrow?... There is so much

of uncertainity in the appearent universe! SO HOW COULD ANY PHILOSOPHER BE

SO SURE THAT HE CAN *CHANGE* SOMETHING BY EXPLAINING SOMETHING! All that

could be given is awareness to the others. But again, when others are

involved then we are talking about society...

 

Lord Buddha is very much aware that his teaching could drag masses in to

confusion. That is the reason the first condition he put was "Samgham

SaraNaM gaccAmi" --- abide to the rules of the community and walk --- (That

is --- if at all one is interested in walking)... However, unfortunately

--- as you are aware, Nihilism wrecked havoc in the society in the

pre-shankara era. People adopted Buddhism and started living like lazy

people! Hence, Sri Adi Shankara debated and brought the buddhistic

intensity down in India.

 

Earth revolves on a rule, Sun rises, wind blows, death strikes, birth

bestows --- spring, summer, autumn and winter --- Sun heats the water, water

becomes cloud, could goes and rains on the mountain, mountains sends down

the river, river runs to meet the ocean! What a perfect hormony this nature

has got! A true philosopher knows that just like the nature is in perfect

hormony, he also should live in perfect hormony with the others... All that

is Dharma is rule based... Hence remember the command of Krishna in Gita:

 

na buddhibheda.n janayedaGYaanaa.n karmasaN^ginaam.h .

joshhayetsarvakarmaaNi vidvaanyuk{}taH samaacharan.h .. 3\.26..

 

 

Conclusively: "I AM THAT" --- ONLY WHEN I AM ALL ALONE.... Harih Om tat

sat.

 

Yours,

Madhava

[Guest guest]

advaitin, "Madhava K. Turumella" <madhava@m...>

wrote:

 

Wow! What a great post! Thank you for this wisdom! The

touches of humor made some of the most telling points.

 

It is interesting to me as a Christian to see such a parallel

between the so-called "advaitans" you describe and scurilous

monks and priests that lived as parasites off the peasants in the

early history of Christianity. (Not that it still can't happen!) It

would seem that human nature is the same everywhere.

 

Great food for thought in your post. Thank you!

 

Steve

 

Steven L. Fair

------------------

"The era of the Spirit can be nothing but a revelation of a

sense of community which is not merely social but cosmic,

not only a brotherhood of man, but a brotherhood of men with all

cosmic life, with the whole creation."

Nicolas Berdyaev, "Truth and Revelation"