Advaita Living

[Guest guest]

H.N.Sreenivasa Murthy

Pranams to all.

Dear Sri Shyam,

Is there an "advaitic Living "? Who lives the Advaitic Living? Can an entity live an Advaitic Living? . An entity can live an ethical life, he can live a religious life , but to live advaitic life is an impossibility because of the fact that Advaita is LIFE itself. And in Advaita there is no entity.

With warm and respectful regards,

Sreenivasa Murthy

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Sri Sreenivasa murthy asks

 

( Is there an "advaitic Living "? Who lives the Advaitic Living? Can

an entity live an Advaitic Living? . An entity can live an ethical

life, he can live a religious life , but to live advaitic life is an

impossibility because of the fact that Advaita is LIFE itself. And

in Advaita there is no entity. )

 

Technically speaking , Sreenivasa -ji, your postion seems to be

correct !!

 

May i in this context recall verse 39 of Ulladu Narpadu

Anubandhamby Sri Ramana bhagwan ?

 

This is the translation of the verse that currently appears in

Collected Works:

 

"Keep advaita within the Heart. Do not ever carry it into action.

Even if you apply it to all the three worlds, O son, it is not to be

applied to the Guru."

 

This verse is explained thus

 

`Advaita should not be practised in ordinary activities. It is

sufficient if there is no differentiation in the mind. If one keeps

cartloads of discriminating thoughts within, one should not pretend

that all is one on the outside.

 

`This world is a huge theatre. Each person has to act whatever role

is assigned to him. It is the nature of the universe to be

differentiated but within each person there should be no

differentiation.'

 

Bhagavan also remarked: `[the] non-dual idea is advised, but not

advaita in action. How will one learn advaita if one does not find a

Master and receive instructions? Is there not duality then?'

 

Maurice Frydman, the compiler of I am That and Maharshi's Gospel,

questioned Bhagavan about the first half of this verse and received

the following explanation:

 

Question: Sri Bhagavan has written [ulladu Narpadu Anubandham, verse

39] that one should not show advaita in one's activities. Why so?

All are one. Why differentiate?

 

Bhagavan: Would you like to sit on the seat that I am sitting on?

 

Question: I don't mind sitting there. But if I came and sat there

the sarvadhikari [the ashram manager] and the other people here

would hit me and chase me away.

 

Bhagavan: Yes, nobody would allow you to sit here.

 

there is a scriptural story about this. Some people once gathered

together to test whether it is true, as said in the Bhagavad Gita,

that a jnani sees everything as one. They took a brahmin, an

untouchable, a cow, an elephant, and a dog to the court of King

Janaka, who was a jnani. When all had arrived King Janaka sent the

brahmin to the place of brahmins, the cow to its shed, the elephant

to the place allotted to elephants, the dog to its kennel and the

untouchable person to the place where the other untouchables lived.

He then ordered his servants to take care of his guests and feed

them all appropriate food.

 

The people asked, `Why did you separate them individually? Is not

everything one and the same for you?'

 

Yes, all are one,' replied Janaka, `but self-satisfaction varies

according to the nature of the individual. Will a man eat the straw

eaten by the cow? Will the cow enjoy the food that a man eats? One

should only give what satisfies each individual person or animal.'

 

Although the same man may play the role of all the characters in a

play, his acts will be determined by the role that he is playing at

each moment. In the role of a king he will sit on the throne and

rule. If the same person takes on the role of a servant, he will

carry the sandals of his master and follow him. His real Self is

neither increased nor decreased while he plays these roles. The

jnani never forgets that he himself has played all these roles in

the past.

 

 

One can have the idea that everything is a manifestation of the

Self, and one can attempt to incorporate this idea into one's daily

life by treating other people in an egalitarian way. However, all

this would all be theoretical since it would be based on an idea of

reality instead of stemming from a direct experience of the Self.

>From the standpoint of the Self `practising advaita' is an oxymoron

since in that state there is no longer an entity who can make

choices about what should or should not be done. In that state

action arises spontaneously from the Self, unmediated by the I-am-

the-doer idea. "

 

to read the entire contents of this article , pl go to

 

http://www.davidgodman.org/rteach/unverse39.shtml - 43k

 

on another note , when i read Shyamji's wonderful post on 'advaitic

living' , the name that came readily to my mind was none other than

Mahatma Gandhi ! !

 

YES! GANDHIJI WAS THE LIVING EMBODIMENT OF THIS 'ADVAITIC' LIVING!

 

GANDHIJI demonstarated without an iota of doubt that Advaita is

nothing but the 'oneness of reality of man with that of God !

 

reality for intimate relationship to seek guidance from and to rely

upon for security. Mahatma Gandhi lived in Bhangi colonies of the

untouchables in his pursuit of oneness of all.

 

here are Gandhiji's views on Advaita

 

"I believe in advaita, I believe in the essential unity of man and

for that matter of all that lives. "

 

" The path of bhakti, karma and love as expounded in the Gita leaves

no room for the despising of man by man"

 

"The renunciation of the Gita is the acid test of faith. "

 

This is what Albert Einstein had to say about Gandhiji :

 

Albert Einstein considered Gandhi to be the most enlightened

statesman of the age and declared,

 

Gandhi had demonstrated that a powerful human following

can be assembled not only through the cunning game

of the usual political maneuvers and trickeries

but through the cogent example

of a morally superior conduct of life.

 

Yes, the morally superior conduct of life is nothing but 'advaitic

living' - Karma yoga and jnana yoga !

 

 

with regards

[Guest guest]

H.N.Sreenivasa Murthy

Pranams to all.

In advaitin, "dhyanasaraswati" <dhyanasaraswati

wrote:

Dear Smt.Dhanasaraswati Mataji,

Bhagavan Ramana says:

THE SELF IS BODILESS.

EVEN NOW IT IS SO.

YOU ARE THE SELF.

 

In the light of the above fact where does

"Advaitic living" come into picture?

Advaita transcends manifestation. The entity appears in Advaita and

it has to obey the LAW of manifestation. Advaita is not something

that is being practised because IT does not lie within the parameters

of body,Prana and mind. It is self-luminous, self-evident tattva.Any

kind of practice, whether it is mundane or spiritual, can be done at

the level of body, prana or mind only.

 

With warm and respectful regards,

Sreenivasa Murthy

[Guest guest]

NAMSATE Sreenivasa:

 

You state

 

(Bhagavan Ramana says:

THE SELF IS BODILESS.

EVEN NOW IT IS SO.

YOU ARE THE SELF.)

 

then you go on to argue

 

(In the light of the above fact where does

"Advaitic living" come into picture?

Advaita transcends manifestation. The entity appears in Advaita

and it has to obey the LAW of manifestation. Advaita is not

something that is being practised because IT does not lie within

the parameters > of body,Prana and mind. It is self-luminous, self-

evident tattva.Any kind of practice, whether it is mundane or

spiritual, can be done at the level of body, prana or mind only.)

 

True ! This may be true of Mataji and her Son Sreenivasa , who are

still within the framework of BODY-MIND- INTELLECT complex? smile !

 

But for an Atma-jnani like Sri Bhagwan Ramana Maharishi,I' IS THE

NFINITE SELF AND 'I' IS *NOT* THE SELF LIMITED TO THE BODY , MIND

ETC .....

 

SRI Ramana was often fond of quoting this verse from

 

Ellâm Onru - All Is One (Anonymous Tamil 19th Century text)

 

The knower of Unity acts in the best of ways. It is the knowledge of

Unity which makes him act. He cannot make a mistake. In the world,

he is God having become visible. All is One.

 

LET ME ASK YOU THIS , SREENIVASA-JI ?

 

When Sri Ramana was in Virupaksha cave doing his tapas his body was

being eaten away by ants and mosquitoes . Later when he was

suffering from cancer , his shoulder was hurting excruciatingly . Do

you think, you and i could have lived through all that physical pain

without muttering a 'moan' !

 

As David Frawley,(ALSO KNOWN AS VAMADEVA) a vedic scholar . says

 

" RAMANA'S DIVINE TEACHINGS arose from the Divine Word in the heart

and is not a product of human thought or any person's ego, even

Ramana's. It is very easy to read such teachings and not difficult

to understand them logically. One can use them to create a mental or

emotional high. But their true realization is quite another matter

and entirely beyond our human limitations. To reach that we must

dedicate ourselves to the task in all that we do and in all that we

are. "

 

YES! To an atma-jnani like Sri Ramana , the world with its pairs of

opposite does not exist , nor the body and mind . There is no

world , no body and no mind - Every breath he takes is a

manifestation of the God within! SOHAM!

 

MAY I SHARE THIS VERSE FROM JIVANMUKTANANDA FROM ADI SHANKARACHARYA

 

"Sometimes (conversing) with the learned and those keen on learning;

Sometimes with eminent poets versed in poetic figures and

sentiments; while at times with eminent logicians prone to right

reasoning and inferences; The sage, with ignorance dispelled by

guru's grace (dèkúá), is not al all deluded."

 

Sreenivasa-ji,, guru's grace is needed to get rid of the body-mind-

intellect complex!

 

Sri Gurubyo Namaha!

 

PS - BTW THE POST ON 'ADVAITIC LIVING' BY SHYAMJI IS ONE OF THE BEST

I HAVE SEEN IN THIS GROUP! MoRE POWER UNTO HIM!

 

 

 

 

 

> In the light of the above fact where does

> "Advaitic living" come into picture?

> Advaita transcends manifestation. The entity appears in Advaita

and

> it has to obey the LAW of manifestation. Advaita is not something

> that is being practised because IT does not lie within the

parameters

> of body,Prana and mind. It is self-luminous, self-evident

tattva.Any

> kind of practice, whether it is mundane or spiritual, can be done

at

> the level of body, prana or mind only.

>

> With warm and respectful regards,

> Sreenivasa Murthy

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Murthy-ji

Humble pranams.

 

Thank you for your response, and thanks to

Dhyanasaraswati-ji as well for her kind words, and

more so for her beautiful posts esp with the example

of Mahatma Gandhi.

 

I absolutely see where you are coming from Murthy-ji -

from an absolute standpoint, there is only Self.

And Self is akarta - actionless - and a realized seer

is a witnesss to the actions of the nonself - "guna

guneshu vartante iti matva na sajjate" A Wise man

knows it is gunas interacting with gunas and does not

carried away by this.

 

If we see the preceding sloka it contrasts that with

the lot of the jiva:

 

prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah

ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate

 

The entity with the problem is the jiva with conceit

about his self. And this selfconceit needs to be

resolved. Ultimately the only way this conceit can be

destroyed is by knowledge (about its nonsubtantive

existence) alone, and in that sense you are right -

there is then advaita, or selfknowledge, and then no

more is there an "entity" who can then be said to be

"living advaita"

 

However right now, there is, as it were, an entity,

who, with this "i"-notion, is as it were in ignorance.

 

This "i" sense has no hope of attaining jnanam in the

way it is currently consituted being burdened by

millions of janmas of samskaras and vasanas.

It needs to be unburdened of its load, in order that

its inner equipment be made relatively pure to receive

this knowledge (chittashuddhi).

 

In order for this unburdening to take place, this

entity needs to adopt a particular attitude in

conducting its way of life, until such a time that it

is made ripe for jnanaprapti and jnananishtha.

 

This attitude consists of attempting to successfully

center one's attention, one's focus, on the true Self,

recognizing It to be the Supreme Lord alone, in and

through everything that is de facto right now being

done at the level of the ego-Self.

 

This is not merely religious living, nor is it merely

mindful living nor is it merely ethical living, though

it does have those components as byproducts.

 

Religious living can be completely divorced from both

ethical living as well as mindful living - Lord Ravana

would be an excellent example of a great bhakta, a

great devotee (the Shiva Tandava Stotra composed by

him is to-date one of the most beautiful stotras in

praise of Devadidev Mahadeva, a very religious person

but one steeped in avidya and raga-dvesha.

 

Ethical living itself can occur in the context of a

simple "do unto others what you have done to you"

principle with no motive other than being a good

conscientuous member of the society. Neither does

religion need to come into play here nor does a higher

calling in life.

 

Mindful living is not based on any sense of devotion

of any sort to a Creator or a God and consists of

being vigilant about the mind's plays - "if the mind

is at ease, I am at ease". Ultimately I am a very

alert person and hence have some relative sense of

ease in living but I am no closer to knowing the truth

about myself.

 

None of these constitute by themselves what advice

Bhagwan Krishna is offering Arjuna in the Gita, on how

to lead his life.

 

What is adviced in and through the Gita is a

realignment of the jiva's life in thought, and deed,

with a goal centered on selfrealization, with the

latter alone constituting its release and signifying

its end as an "entity".

 

Only in that sense alone is there, as it were, an

entity called a jiva, with an end in sight - of

advaitic realization. And his sadhana in his attemps

to this end may be rightly termed "advaitic" living.

It may also be termed "living the Gita".

 

A jivanmukta, on the other hand, a realized Seer, is

neither an entity nor can "he" said to be an example

of "advaitic living", although even in that case what

to him are spontaneous actions and thoughts and

attitudes, can be attempted to be emulated by the

multitude of ajnanis as examples of "perfect living"

in a spirit of devout inspiration.

 

I look forward to hearing your views further

elaborated for our benefit.

 

Once again my pranams

Hari OM

Shyam

 

 

--- sreenivasa murthy <narayana145 (AT) (DOT) co.in> wrote:

 

> H.N.Sreenivasa Murthy

> Pranams to all.

>

> Dear Sri Shyam,

>

> Is there an "advaitic Living "? Who lives

> the Advaitic Living? Can an entity live an Advaitic

> Living? . An entity can live an ethical life, he

> can live a religious life , but to live advaitic

> life is an impossibility because of the fact that

> Advaita is LIFE itself. And in Advaita there is no

> entity.

>

> With warm and respectful regards,

> Sreenivasa Murthy

 

--- dhyanasaraswati <dhyanasaraswati > wrote:

 

> YES! To an atma-jnani like Sri Ramana , the world

> with its pairs of

> opposite does not exist , nor the body and mind .

> There is no

> world , no body and no mind - Every breath he takes

> is a

> manifestation of the God within! SOHAM!