Guest guest Posted August 5, 2007 Report Share Posted August 5, 2007 PraNAms to All I am taking the liberty to post in this list Shree Vidhyasankar Sundaresan's post that appeared in the advaitaL list. It is a beautiful post that talks about advaita sadhana and need of guru as well. Hari Om! Sadananda " Vidyasankar Sundaresan " <svidyasankar Let me make a few comments here. Firstly, it can be extremely disorienting to attempt an advaita practice by intellectually de-personalizing one's own identity. It can also be very disconcerting for one's parents, siblings, spouse etc. That is why, since ancient times, there is the institution of formal renunciation, which provides a support base for such practice. This is also why the guidance of a guru is absolutely essential. Just as the tendency to fall asleep must be combated when trying to achieve mental focus (ekAgratA) on something, the tendency to become apathetic needs to be checked when intellectualizing advaita in one's personal life. Most of us, who live as part of a family, interacting with regular society, need to take a more gradual approach, again with the guidance of a guru. As far as I can see, there is no one-size-fits-all method. Each person has to take into account his or her own temperament and circumstances. " SanaiS Sanair uparamed buddhyA dhRti-gRhItayA " - the determination (dhRti-grahaNa) needs to be there. SraddhA also needs to be there or it should be cultivated. In any given situation, when one's emotions threaten to run amok, one should make it a habit to question oneself about it. e.g. why am I getting angry at this juncture? why am I feeling jealous of somebody? why do I hate this person/thing? This kind of self-analysis is also, in my opinion, a kind of yoga - a citta-vRtti-nirodha, because even if one does not actively control the mind, the ability to analyze oneself will eventually lead to mental calmness. We need to develop that samAdhAna. In my personal experience, it is a continuing process. advaita vedAnta can be intellectually understood, analyzed, discussed and criticized or defended, but requires a lot of preparation before it can be put into practice in one's personal life. Otherwise, one very easily gets into a state of anomie or into antinomian behavior. As an aside, I also believe this is one prime reason why Sankara bhagavatpAda repeatedly asserts that one cannot know/become brahman merely by meditating " I am brahman " either as a japa (i.e. mantra recitation) or as an act of meditation involving mental concentration. I hope the above is useful in some small measure. Best regards, Vidyasankar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 5, 2007 Report Share Posted August 5, 2007 > As an aside, I also believe this is one prime reason > why Sankara > bhagavatpAda repeatedly asserts that one cannot > know/become brahman > merely > by meditating " I am brahman " either as a japa (i.e. > mantra recitation) > or as > an act of meditation involving mental concentration. > > I hope the above is useful in some small measure. > I received in email from a group member the following relevant quote of the kanchi mahaperiva acharya of the kamakoti peetam; it gives a theological basis for the same point. We were discussing the place of Ishvara in the orthodox shankara sampradaya. (Quote) Worm becoming the wasp; Making the worm a wasp The action of constantly thinking about brahman ends up in the state where one has become the action-less brahman. There is what is called a *bhramara-kITa-nyAyaM*. Bhramara is the wasp. KITa means a worm. The worm is said to be constantly thinking of becoming a wasp. That constant thinking, it appears, causes its own transformation of its form and the growth of wings and finally it becomes a wasp and flies away from the nest. So it is said! The nidhidhyAsaM of the worm makes it the wasp – this is bhramara-kITa-nyAya. In the same manner the Jiva in the constant thought of Brahman, thinks of `this' Jiva becoming `that' Brahman, thinks that even now `this' is only `that' and such a nidhidhyAsana all the time ends up with the Jiva becoming Brahman – so says the Acharya in Viveka chudamani 358-359/359-360. This has been said by the Acharya in order that the jnAna-pathfinder does not get side-tracked into the direction of saguNa-brahman. In other words he has wound up the context of Vivekachudamani by saying that by the sheer power of this constant thought one automatically becomes Brahma-svarUpa.In actual fact this becoming happens only by the Grace of God!It is by His Grace that the JivAtma becomes the ParamAtmA! The Acharya certainly knows this; and knows this quite well. To win over the karma-mimamsaka-upholders this is the final BrahmAstra that the Acharya used: " No action by itself gives the result; the results are given by Ishvara " . When that was the case, he would have never d to the idea that the very mental action of nidhidhyAsana would automatically produce the great result of Brahma-nirvANaM. MayA's function of hiding things is called `tirodhAnaM'. Right now the real Brahman that we are is *tirohitaM*, that is, hidden from us. The hidden thing comes out by the dhyAna of ParamAtmA – so says BrahmasUtra, but immediately, lest we may think it is an automatic consequence, it adds, clearing up any confusion, " This hiding as well as the bondage (caused by the hiding) are both by Ishvara. When we do nidhidhyAsanaM, the removal of the hiding, the manifestation of the Truth and the grant of mokshha, all are again the work of Ishvara " . (III – 2-5). When the Acharya writes the BhashyaM on this, he says, more explicitly, " This manifestation will not happen automatically or naturally for all and sundry. Only to that rare person who makes effort to do intense nidhidhyAsana it happens by God's Grace " . *na svabhAvata eva sarveshhAM jantUnAM* -- `Revelation' does not happen naturally for everybody. *Ishvara-prasAdAt samsiddhasya kasyacit eva Avirbhavati* -- `By God's Grace It reveals only to that rare person who has the highest achievement'. In advaita shAstras it is customary to depict God's Grace as Guru's Grace itself. (Unquote) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 5, 2007 Report Share Posted August 5, 2007 advaitin , " putranm " <putranm wrote: > > > I received in email from a group member the following relevant quote of the kanchi > mahaperiva acharya of the kamakoti peetam; it gives a theological basis for the same > point. We were discussing the place of Ishvara in the orthodox shankara sampradaya. > > (Quote) > > Worm becoming the wasp; Making the worm a wasp > > The action of constantly thinking about brahman ends > up in the state where one has become the action-less > brahman. > > There is what is called a *bhramara-kITa-nyAyaM*. > Bhramara is the wasp. Namaste, For the above in more detail from the mouth of the Kanchi Mahaswami himself please go to Advaitin Files Section; Click 'Advaita Saadhanaa in one document.pdf' and go to pages 183 to 188. PraNAms to all advaitins profvk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 6, 2007 Report Share Posted August 6, 2007 advaitin , " V. Krishnamurthy " <profvk wrote: > > Namaste, > > For the above in more detail from the mouth of the Kanchi Mahaswami > himself please go to > > Advaitin Files Section; Click 'Advaita Saadhanaa in one document.pdf' > > and go to pages 183 to 188. > > PraNAms to all advaitins > profvk > Sri ProfVK, thanks for that reference and your very useful translation of the acharya's talks on Advaita. The concluding chapter is also very apt for this title " Advaita Practice " . thollmelukaalkizhu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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