Spirtual Study Guidance

[Guest guest]

As a relatively recent seeker in Advaita Vedanta,

I find that I need to post the following for both

my own and other non-Sanskrit reading aspirants:

 

1. What are your suggestions for the study of

translations and commentaries of the Upanishads?

2. What are your suggestions for the study of

translations and commentaries of the Gita?

3. What are your suggestions for the study of

translations and commentaries of anyone (in

addition to Sankara) who has ever written? What

order should these be studied in?

4. What are your suggestions for the study of

translations and commentaries of any spiritual

leaders of the past 150 years? What order should

these be studied in?

5. What are your suggestions for the study

commentaries on living a spiritual life in

Vedanta? What order should these be studied in?

 

If you would add any explanatory comments to your

recommendations, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Also, this newsgroup seems far above my level of

understanding. Are there any other newsgroups that

are more for beginners or intermediates?

 

Many thanks.

 

Min

[Guest guest]

--- Min <min wrote:

> 1. What are your suggestions for the study of

> translations

 

Namaste,

 

Golly gosh, so many questions. I can only offer

personal experience on these. Others on this site will

be more specific with regard to the helpful books.

We can only start from where we are and with materials

available. Although all translations of the texts are

filtered through the vision of the translator, we are

now very fortunate to have so many available on the

WWW if we not have our own library or friends'

libraries to help. This comparison of translations

allows us to get to the essence more easily. As soon

as possible find a way to learn some Sanskrit.

 

The first step in any study is to sit quietly and

learn to listen. It is better to hear shruti than to

read it for the meaning is in the sound not the ink on

the page or the pixels on the screen. This shift is

away from the ways which we have been given to acquire

knowledge in the present age.

If no external Guru is present then we need to listen

to the teacher within. In order to do this we need to

let go of ideas about what we know or do not know and

patiently wait while the initial thoughts pass by. It

is the 'voice of the heart/intellect' that has brought

each of us this far on the way so we must trust it to

guide, we have not come to this site by mistake.

Gradually the space will appear for a question to

arise. Patience is required but the question will be

specific to each individual.

In this work we are given a lamp that will only show

one step and unless that first step is taken correctly

the next step cannot be seen.

As long as we stay still the question will arise and

if our intention is for the common good....rather than

our own embellishment; a certain way to

delusion.....all the powers of the devas will come to

our aid.

Remember that study is yajna, all that has been known

and is known is to be offered up in the fire of the

true Sun. Nothing is to be held on to.

You are in excellent hands on this site and there are

many far more qualified than I am to answer a specific

question. You are in the right place. The above are

general comments only.

 

May I quote from personal experience. Some 8 years ago

I found myself asking, 'Where is devotion in advaita?'

This was an unlikely question for me to ask given my

interests at that time but it led me to the feet of a

wandering Swami, to a wide range of texts within

advaitin traditional texts and to this site. However

the greatest answer came through the actions of a

peasant lady in Tamil Nadu. We met but briefly on one

occasion in our silent union many 'books' were opened.

 

I mention this to show that the Real Teacher can

appear in many forms, not just in books or saffron

robes. You never know what awaits.

 

I hope that something of the above can help but others

will be more specific in answering your questions,

 

Ken Knight

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

advaitin, "Min" <min@n...> wrote:

> As a relatively recent seeker in Advaita Vedanta,

> I find that I need to post the following for both

> my own and other non-Sanskrit reading aspirants:

>

> 1. What are your suggestions ......

 

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

 

Namaste.

I shall try to help. But on the understanding that my words should

not be taken as final.

 

I see the sincerity of purpose in your questions. May God be with

you in your quest. The one question that bothers you most - I hope

my guess more or less hits the mark - is in what order things

should be studied. Here I am going to surprise you (and perhaps

many others) by my answer. The order does not matter. I am a

mathematician and even then I am saying this. Because, it is what

sustains your interest that matters rather than what is logically

the sequence. The logical sequence might start with a vocabulary of

technical words (pari-bhAshA, in Sanskrit) and then go on to basic

prakarana granthas like the Viveka Chudamani and so on. I am not

saying that is wrong. I am only saying, in the light of your deep

interest in the spiritual quest, FOR YOU the order is not important.

Because with whatever you start, very soon you will find scores of

doubts, about technical words, about concepts, about the logic,

about apparent contradictions to what you have been believing in,

and about the head and tail of it all.

That is where your study begins. Until you get those doubts, your

level of evolution cannot be judged by whomsoever that wants to

teach you or advise you. Once the doubts come in, then you can be

told to go to this text or that text from the beginning.

 

But generally there are some rules for a beginner in self-study.

These are my rules. Others may differ. I state them in the form of

Do's and Don'ts.

 

Do's:

Begin with Bhaja Govindam

Then go on to either the Gita or Kenopanishad or Kathopanishad. Keep

one commentator or one translation and explanation with you. It

could be any well known Guru like a chinmayananda, a Ramakrishna

mission sannyasin, or Shivananda and so on.

If any one of those works or for that matter any similar work

appeals to you, stick to that.

Keep reading the works of Vivekananda. This should continue ever.

Listen to lectures if you can. It doesn't matter whether it is at a

beginner's level or at one level higher than that.

The works of any Master like Ramana or Shri Ramakrishna should be

good enough.

Become a member of a Group like advaitin and start reading earliest

messages which are in an expository style.

Try to learn some basic Sanskrit. This is not a must; but it is a

great smoothener of the track.

A parallel study of a prakarana grantha like the Viveka Chudamani is

recommended, provided you have somebody whom you can consult, at

least periodically.

 

Don'ts:

Do not go to advanced treatises like the Brahma Sutra or the

Mandukyopanishad (even if it seems to appeal to you) until somebody

who knows your background tells you so.

When reading Gita or the Upanishad for the first time, do not start

having several commentaries and translations before you and distract

yourself by comparing them in any scholarly way

In the same way do not distract yourself by expecting answers to

your first and preliminary doubts then and there in the form of an

yes or no. In Vedanta the answers usually differ from person to

person, because it depends on the level and evolution of the

questioner.

Do not get into controversies or begin to take sides. Certainly not

with Shankara or Ramanuja or Madhva. You have to go a long way

before you can do that.

 

All the above suggestions are made under three assumptions for the

first two of which you gave enough evidence in your post:

1. That you are really a beginner.

2. You are deeply sincere about the spiritual quest.

3. You are not having just an academic interest in spiritual

matters. In other words you are not working for a Ph.D. in the

subject!

 

Good luck and my best wishes!

 

PraNAms to all advaitins

profvk

 

 

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