What is vedanta

[Guest guest]

I have to explain to one of my British friends

about Vedanta.<br><br> Will someone kindly tell me in

simple terms without using Hinduism terminology, what

Vedanta is.(because my friend does not know any of

technical terms used by us like chitaa or manas or brahm

etc)<br><br>Thanks

[Guest guest]

Vedanta is a philosophy based on the Vedas, the

sacred scriptures of India. It affirms the oneness of

existence, the divinity of the soul, and the harmony of

religions. Vedanta is the philosophical foundation of

Hinduism; but while Hinduism includes aspects of Indian

culture, Vedanta is universal in its application and is

equally relevant to all countries, all cultures, and all

religious backgrounds. Vedanta is a combination of two

words: "Veda" which means "knowledge" and "anta" which

means "the end of" or "the goal of." The goal of

knowledge isn't the intellectual knowledge we acquire by

reading books. "Knowledge" here means the knowledge of

God as well as the knowledge of our own divine

nature. Vedanta, then, is the search for Self-knowledge

as well as the search for God.

[Guest guest]

Yes, Dear Babu has very correctly said that

Vedanta is not bound in cultures, nationalities or

religions. Vedanta is a religion of mankind.<br><br> Well to

explain to your friend, I give u an example a very simple

one. Take a cotton cloth and tie a knot in it. Now

analyze.<br><br> cotton is the basic ingredient. It has been made

into threads. Can threads not be called cotton?

<br><br>Then the threads are woven into cloth, so what is the

definition of cloth ? Is it thread...yes it is OR it is

cotton as basic material manifested into thread and

cloth ? Yes that too is correct.<br><br>Now we come to

knot ? what is knot ? it is a special arrangement of

clothe, which is a manifestation of thread, which is a

manifestation of cotton. so knot too is cotton in an

arrangement.<br><br> If knot is opened, will the cloth vanish with the

knot....NO !!<br><br> If cloth is unwoven, cloth will

disappear but not the threads and if threads are unmade,

threads will disappear but not the cotton !<br><br>

Cotton is Brahm, the supreme consciousness, threads is

the Mother Nature, cloth is the Universe and knot is

our individual personality. This is Vedanta.<br><br>

I must advice here that Advait Vedanta is not a

sadhna to be started with. It is for those who have

reached the highest realms of dwaita, understood and

controlled the three gunas. Example of Shri Ramkrishna

Paramhansa is relevant here. Or for those who have in their

past births done their sadhna and reborn as

Mahapurusha like Shankracharya or Ramana

Maharishi.<br><br><br>Hari Om Tat Sat

[Guest guest]

Hi folks,<br><br>Been very busy the last few

days, so I wasn't able to reply to your post,Tatwamasi,

but I try to do it later.<br>Now, I just wanted to

comment on that below.<br><br><< Yes, Dear Babu has

very correctly said that Vedanta is not bound in

cultures, nationalities or religions. Vedanta is a religion

of mankind.>><br><br>Religion of mankind? I'm

sure that everybody will tell this about his/her

religion if asked. If you mean the essence that is

contained in every religion then you are right, but then

you do not need Vedanta. Vedanta certainly is no

special religion superior to any other, but, of course,

contains truth mixed with 90 percent useless

stuff.<br><br>I have got some questions to all followers of the

vedic way. Do you think that everybody should

learn/study the vedas and that at any time in the future,

everybody will follow the vedic way?<br>Don't you think

that the vedas are much too complicated for 90% of

humanity? Don't you think, that it would be better if

everybody would forget all that complicated stuff, the

sanskrit terms, etc., etc. and try to establish a religion

that is based on the truth and only the truth and not

on superstitions and various presumptions? A

"religion" that is eventually understandable for everybody

and that can be practized by everyone without

worshipping stone and wooden gods and goddesses that is

useless anyway?<br>Do you think the vedas can provide

that?<br><br>Looking forward to your answers.<br><br>Lucideye

[Guest guest]

Om namah Sivaya<br><br>You might also want to

introduce your friend to Patanjali's Raja Yoga Sutras and

characterize them as a complete theory of consciousness

leading to God-Realization, an awareness of who/what you

really are.<br><br>Instead of trying establish a

religion based on vedanta why not simply chart your own

spiritual path based on the upanishads. I'm always

spiritually energized by reading the upanishads and and have

heard excellent upanishadic discourses by Hindus, Sikhs

and Yogis who are not aligned with a particular

religion. None of these discourses were slanted toward a

particular religion but toward a personal path to Spiritual

Liberation. This approach also has the practical benefit of

avoiding unproductive discussions about whose gods and

goddesses are better or whether gods and goddesses are

helpful or hindrances.

[Guest guest]

to maa n 'Atheist' is not the one who does not

believe in a hindu god, an islamic god or a christian god

so on and so forth......<br><br>to me an 'Atheist'

is one who does not believe in himself.

<br><br>katha upanishads is one of the most beautiful

upanishads - shriman silent soul has a beautiful web page

-and maa would recommend both lucideye and conscious_

disintegrity to visit this web site and learn about the

beautiful story of NACHIKETA -HOW THE YOUNG BOY went to the

House of death and there he waited for three days

before he obtained what he desired..... <br><br>Sraddha

- again a sanskrit word- maa does not how to

translate this word into english- because faith and trust

does not convey the same meaning as Sraddha does-

<br><br>nobbody in this forum is asking anyone else to follow

this path or that - there are many paths and many

relgions-<br><br><br>yoga simply means seeking union with god- and the

choice is yours.....<br><br>kriya yoga <br><br>mano yoga

<br><br>bhakti yoga<br><br>raja yoga<br><br>samkya

yoga<br><br>laya yoga <br><br>mano yoga <br><br>kundalini yoga

<br><br>vibhuti yoga <br><br>vipaasana meditation <br><br>moksha

sanyasa yoga<br><br>srassdatraya vibhaga yoga

<br><br>daivasura sampad vibhaga yoga <br><br>ksetra ksetrajana

vibhaga yoga <br><br>akshara brahma yoga

[Guest guest]

Mr.Lucideye,<br> <br> Your answer indicated that

you do not leave any chance to reject the Hindu way

of life. I may tell you that;<br><br> Your answer

indicated that you do not even know the difference between

Vedas and Vedanta. So there was no need to reply but

you grabbed this opportunity to abuse Hinduism and

its paths<br><br> If you are ignorant of something or

your brain is not evolved to understand Hinduism, does

not make it "Nonsense"<br><br> The club is listed in

"Hinduism" not in atheism hence if we discuss "nonsense"

here what are you doing here anyway ?<br><br> All the

club members listened to your "Alice in Wonderland"

type story and no body said it was nonsenses (though

it was)<br><br> I agree in toto with gypsyqueenb

about Hinduism and Bhakti.<br><br>Thanks friends for

your replies, it has helped me in explaining Vedanta

(specially silentsoul's simplest explanation was great

!)<br><br> <br><br>kajol