(no subject)

[Guest guest]

" Advaita may be the crowning glory in spirituality - but it comes as the

natural outcome; at the end of the spiritual journey (not at the start). The

ideas of Advaita may excite us - may inspire us but the subject is truly

beyond words and thoughts. There is very little we can discuss about advaita

to the science community. Advaita to them appears like escapism. We define a

system which is self consistent but seems to have little to do with this

world. Hence we have to develop on the ideas that we have in common. "

Dear Jay,

On the other hand, Swami Vivekananda does say somewhere that the West can

understand and take only Advaita, because of its (the West's) preoccupation

with science; that it is only through Advaita that science will be able to

accept spirituality. And further, he says that he " is a materialist, in a

sense, because like the scientist he believes there is only one thing. The

scientist calls it Matter, he calls it Spirit.

Regards, Yogeshananda