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An Appeal to the Silent Majority!

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Namaste;

 

The recent postings of Mahaswamigal's discourses on advaita-sAdhanA

by ProfVK is a timely wake-up call to the silent majority to

participate actively in the list discussions. This post provides a

great opportunity for those of the silent majority on the list to

come up with questions and comments.

 

Since these discourses proceed from the rock bottom, members who

feel that they have to start learning about the nuances of advaita

may find this the right time to break their silence, come out and

clear their doubts. Since all of us want to shred our ignorance, we

should not feel shy to ask all questions whether elementary or

otherwise.

 

I especially request the new members of the list (over 100 joined

during the past one month) to feel free to come forward to post their

understanding of advaita along with their questions and

clarifications. "Be silent, be silent, but not too silent!"

 

Warmest regards,

 

Ram Chandrn

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Alright, I guess I'll start. :)

 

First of all, thank you for the invitation. I have been to other

advaita discussion lists where the discussions going on not only went

way above and beyond my understanding and comprehension, but felt very

closed off and elitist. I appreciate your interest in the opinions of

the newer members of the group.

 

My first exposure to Vedanta and really, Hinduism in general, was

through the Vedanta Society of Southern California's website. I read

through their summary of the central teachings of Vedanta and truly

felt I was at home. I started casually reading some Hindu scripture,

such as the Bhagavad-Gita, and the works of such teachers as

Vivekananda.

 

I'm very interested in the philosophy of Advaita as well as the other

Vedantic philosophies, but I'm not really sure what I should be

reading (i.e. which scripture and which translation, which modern

writers and which interpreters). I've heard a lot about Shankara but

I'm not really sure where to begin with his work. I'd really

appreciate some recommendations in these areas. I also keep hearing

about different modern teachers and their foundations, such as

Chinmaya, but I can't tell any of them apart from each other and I

don't know how they're different. I also hear names like Ramanuja,

Ramana Maharishi, Prabhupada, and Yogananda, but I don't know who any

of these people are.

 

~ Zach ~

 

On 9/16/05, Ram Chandran <RamChandran wrote:

> Namaste;

>

> The recent postings of Mahaswamigal's discourses on advaita-sAdhanA

> by ProfVK is a timely wake-up call to the silent majority to

> participate actively in the list discussions. This post provides a

> great opportunity for those of the silent majority on the list to

> come up with questions and comments.

>

> Since these discourses proceed from the rock bottom, members who

> feel that they have to start learning about the nuances of advaita

> may find this the right time to break their silence, come out and

> clear their doubts. Since all of us want to shred our ignorance, we

> should not feel shy to ask all questions whether elementary or

> otherwise.

>

> I especially request the new members of the list (over 100 joined

> during the past one month) to feel free to come forward to post their

> understanding of advaita along with their questions and

> clarifications. "Be silent, be silent, but not too silent!"

>

> Warmest regards,

>

> Ram Chandrn

>

>

>

>

>

> Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman

and Brahman.

> Advaitin List Archives available at: http://www.eScribe.com/culture/advaitin/

> To Post a message send an email to : advaitin

> Messages Archived at: advaitin/messages

>

>

> Links

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

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advaitin, Zachary Studt <sporkubus@g...>

wrote:

> Alright, I guess I'll start. :)

>

>

> I'm very interested in the philosophy of Advaita as well as the

other

> Vedantic philosophies, but I'm not really sure what I should be

> reading (i.e. which scripture and which translation, which modern

> writers and which interpreters). I've heard a lot about Shankara

but

> I'm not really sure where to begin with his work. I'd really

> appreciate some recommendations in these areas. >

 

 

Namaste Zachary-ji

 

You are welcome to try starting with one or all of the following

which are available in the advaitin list files or Articles:

 

Vedanta for Beginners by Sri Krishna Iyer

PDF file is available at the advaitin Site:

http://www.advaitin.com/LinksToListDiscussions.html

 

EllamOndre.html

English Translation of an anonymous Tamil book: Ellam Ondre (Advaita

in Nutshell)most highly recommended by Ramana Maharshi

 

A dialogue in Advaita for Beginners

PDF file available at the advaitin home site:

http://www.advaitin.com/LinksToListDiscussions.html

 

 

PraNAms to all students of advaita

profvk

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On 9/16/05, V. Krishnamurthy <profvk wrote:

> You are welcome to try starting with one or all of the following

> which are available in the advaitin list files or Articles:

 

... and professor is too modest to admit it but his website is another

treasure trove of vedanta in common language. You may like to check it

at:

 

http://www.geocities.com/profvk/

 

There are so many embedded links on this site that professor himself

might have forgotten them by now.

 

I would also suggest some reading on differences between "traditional"

and "neo" advaita before proceeding further. Some learned members of

this group have written excellent essays in common language that would

be useful for beginners and veterans alike. Check it out at:

 

http://www.advaita.org.uk/discourses/trad_neo/trad_neo.htm

 

praNAm

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Wow, I just started reading the essays on that page about Neo-Advaita.

It's a little scary. I feel even more lost than I did before, thinking

that the people whose teachings I've been studying are "false" and

flawed.

 

Is there a good book that I should start with as an introduction to

the "real" Advaita philosophy the essays talk about?

 

~ Zach ~

 

On 9/16/05, Sanjay Srivastava <sksrivastava68 wrote:

> On 9/16/05, V. Krishnamurthy <profvk wrote:

>

> > You are welcome to try starting with one or all of the following

> > which are available in the advaitin list files or Articles:

>

> .. and professor is too modest to admit it but his website is another

> treasure trove of vedanta in common language. You may like to check it

> at:

>

> http://www.geocities.com/profvk/

>

> There are so many embedded links on this site that professor himself

> might have forgotten them by now.

>

> I would also suggest some reading on differences between "traditional"

> and "neo" advaita before proceeding further. Some learned members of

> this group have written excellent essays in common language that would

> be useful for beginners and veterans alike. Check it out at:

>

> http://www.advaita.org.uk/discourses/trad_neo/trad_neo.htm

>

> praNAm

>

>

>

> Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman

and Brahman.

> Advaitin List Archives available at: http://www.eScribe.com/culture/advaitin/

> To Post a message send an email to : advaitin

> Messages Archived at: advaitin/messages

>

>

> Links

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

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