Guest guest Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Agamas. Today this faith is synonymous with the teachings of Adi Shankara, the monk-philosopher, known as shanmata sthapanacharya, "founder of the six-sect system." He campaigned India-wide to consolidate the Hindu Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">faiths of his time under the banner of Advaita Vedanta. To unify the worship, he popularized the ancient Smarta five-Deity altar--Ganapati, Surya, Vishnu, Siva and Shakti--and added Kumara. From these, devotees mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">may choose their "preferred Deity," or Ishta Devata. Each God is but a reflection of the one Saguna Brahman. Shankara organized hundreds of monasteries into a ten-order, dashanami system, which now has five pontifical centers. He wrote profuse commentaries on the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and Bhagavad Gita. mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Shankara proclaimed, "It is the one Reality which appears to our ignorance as a manifold universe of names and forms and changes. Like the gold of which many ornaments are made, it remains in itself unchanged. Such is Brahman, and That art Thou." Aum Namah Sivaya. ------- Satguru Sivaya SubramuniyaswamiSivaya Namah Messenger NEW - crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with voicemail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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