Philosophy and Religion............

[Guest guest]

Dear All!

 

May i please share with you all a quotation by Swami Vivekananda ?

 

Swamiji once said

 

"Religion without Philosophy is superstition, and Philosophy without

Religion is mere idealism".

 

and no wonder then, our beloved Chitta presented his Topic by

starting off his discussion of Real and Unreal by explaining the

Idealism of Western Philosophy before going into the Realism of

Eastern ADwaithic Philosophy.

 

Rene Descartes (1596 -1650) , the French Philosopher wrote

" I think, therefore I am"

 

and our Shankara Bhagvadapada proclaimed

 

" I am, therefore I Think"

 

Descartes was a perennial Doubter !

 

and Our Shankara Bhagvadapada had no reason to doubt ; Rather he put

everyone's doubts ( including the Buddhists ) to rest.

 

Please Read what Swami Krishnananda says on the Philosophy of

Descartes and the Vedanta of Adi Shankara...

 

"Now comes the stroke of genius in Descartes. He discovered that

though all things may be doubtful, the fact that we doubt is itself

not doubtful. The basis of doubt cannot be doubted. There is doubt,

thinking; this is certain. And so the existence of the doubter or the

thinker, too, must be certain. 'Cogito, ergo sum' concluded

Descartes. "I think, therefore, I am." From the fact of thinking it

is to be concluded that the thinker is a spiritual being; I am, and I

must be essentially spiritual in nature. This knowledge is the only

certain one, and it does not come from sense-perception or

imagination. Here is the self-evident rational basis for all

deduction in philosophy. This is a universal and necessary

proposition.

 

In the Vedanta we have a reversal of this process of deduction

followed by Descartes. The former deduces the thought from the

thinker and not the thinker from the thought. Instead of saying "I

think, therefore I am", it would say "I am, therefore I think." The

Self, to the Vedanta, is prior to the act of thinking. What is

indubitable and self-evident is not the fact that we think, but that

we are. The awareness of the existence of one's own self is not

deduced from thinking or doubting. It is the only self-evident truth

beyond all proofs, it being the source of all proofs. As the famous

dictum of Shankara goes, "no one doubts his own Self", and this is

not the result of a chain of reasoning or a deduction from a process

of empirical functioning of thought. In short, to the Vedanta, the

highest Consciousness is of the Self, and this Consciousness is

identical with Existence. We cannot make a distinction between 'Sat'

and 'Chit', Existence and its Consciousness. The experience of the

world through the senses and the mind, the various processes of

thinking and the different implications of this experience are all

offshoots of the consciousness of the Self. Thought does not precede

the thinker; the thinker precedes the thought and the consciousness

of the thinker precedes the fact of his being a thinker. "

 

http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/com/com_neoh.html - 36k - Cached -

 

Swamiji cocludes rather forcefully ....

 

" Though the Western philosophers do not add to the wisdom of the

Vedanta, they help in fortifying it with a powerful weapon against

onslaughts from ill-informed sources. The logic of the West would be

a good companion to the knowledge of the East. We need not be too

eager to cherish either a fanatical adherence to what is ours or a

contempt for what is alien. Knowledge is not the property of any

community, and it has no national barriers. It succeeds when it is

honest enough to accept what is of worth and substance, wherever it

be found. India has gained much in the art of political

administration and social uplift by its contact with Western culture,

which, again, is inclined to gather some superb treasure of universal

interest in the ancient culture of India. The East and the West are

seeking a common purpose, and it is not true that the 'twain shall

never meet'. The sense of spiritual values has to rise in all

humanity. "

 

WEll, what do you all think?

 

It is my firm belief that chittaranjan-ji did the right thing by

introducing the Idealism of Western philosophy to this audience while

discussing the topic of 'Real and Unreal'before jumping into the

Advaitha Philosophy of Adi Shankara Bhagvadapada.

 

Plato Said " The sense of wonder is the mark of the philosopher .

Philosophy Has no other origin."

 

and whar are the origins of Adwaitha? may i ask this learned

audience ?

 

The sense of wonder at the origins of the Universe!!!!!

 

yours truly

[Guest guest]

Namaste Adi_ji:

 

Thanks for reminding us all India's Independence day (58th) and also

for some thoughtful insights.

 

Your quotation on religion reminds me Einstein's famous

quotation: "Religion without science is blind, and science without

religion is vain!"

 

We are all thankful to Sri Chitta for bringing the perspectives of

both the western and eastern philosophical thoughts. This Cyber

Satsangh is a great means for all of us to enhance our knowledge on

the nonduality philosophy through exchange of our view points. Let us

all pray the Devi grace us with pure mind and noble thoughts on this

Independence day.

 

Your final question is quite profound and here is my understanding:

 

The Brahman has beginning or no ending

The Universe has no beginning or no ending

The Advaita Philsophy begins with Grace and ends with Grace!

 

Warmest regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

advaitin, "adi_shakthi16" <adi_shakthi16>

wrote:

> Swamiji once said

>

> "Religion without Philosophy is superstition, and Philosophy

without

> Religion is mere idealism".

>

> and no wonder then, our beloved Chitta presented his Topic by

> starting off his discussion of Real and Unreal by explaining the

> Idealism of Western Philosophy before going into the Realism of

> Eastern ADwaithic Philosophy.

> .....

> WEll, what do you all think?

>

> It is my firm belief that chittaranjan-ji did the right thing by

> introducing the Idealism of Western philosophy to this audience

while

> discussing the topic of 'Real and Unreal'before jumping into the

> Advaitha Philosophy of Adi Shankara Bhagvadapada.

>

> ......

> and whar are the origins of Adwaitha? may i ask this learned

> audience ?

>

> The sense of wonder at the origins of the Universe!!!!!

>

> yours truly