HOW FAR DOES VEDANTASPEAK TAKE US? - A DEBATE

[Guest guest]

Namaste sri Ramesamji,

Other learned members are giving sufficient input for your pondering. However,

may I say a few words about certain particular statements which you made in your

posts:

You have mentioned:

<<<Every person has perhaps his/her own understanding of what they connote.>>>

What is the reason for this? It is just because we understand things based on

our earlier knowledge/notions, and so, each person understands the same thing

differently. It is called " anyathagrahanam " i.e. you understand differently.

Also it can be due to communication problem.

Even for an academic study, when you take up Vedanta, particularly, Advaita, " go

with a clean slate " i.e. with a totally knowledge/notion free mind and with

total sradha or faith in the words of Shastra and the Teacher. What the

Upanishads unfold is the real swaroopa or the nature of the Self, about which we

all have different conclusions, but such conclusions are ignorance based due to

our ignorance about the self. So, let our conclusions or beliefs not come in the

way of our understanding the words of the Upanishads and the Teacher. Whatever

questions come up,in the learning process based on our conclusions, get answered

as we proceed.

I am sure, all the students of Advaita will say the same thing.

You have further stated:

<<<observation of Shri Chinmaya. The quote (Msg # 39479) was, " stating that

human beings were uncomfortably uncomfortable before all scientific developments

and invention of gadgets to make life easier and comfortable, and now with all

these available man is

comfortably uncomfortable. "

Had he been alive today, I assume, he would definitely have framed the sentence

in a different way.>>>

How would he have re-written it? Kindly make an attempt of your own and try to

re-write this in today's context?

Man is " uncomfortable " not because he does not have the " gadgets " which he

thinks will make him comfortable. He is uncomfortable because inspite of

whatever he is able to achieve/whatever gadgets he is able to get, still he is

not content and therefore uncomfortable, and his " search " continues on and he

does a lot of manipulations to remove his " uncomfortableness " . He is ignorant

about his ignorance of the self. That is the real problem. Although he knows

that self exists, but he is ignorant about its real nature and he is ignorant

about this fact. So, he takes/concludes " self for what is not-self, and not-self

for what is self " . Till he is able to discriminate what is self and what is

not-self he will continue to be uncomfortable.

The nightmare continues for one till he is waken up from the dream by someone

or when the dream ends.

Reading volumes of books will not take one anywhere as far as Advaita is

concerned. First of all it requires a pure mind, i.e. a notion free mind just

at least to only " understand " what the Shastras unfold.

With warm regards

Mani

 

 

 

R. S. Mani

 

 

 

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