VEDĀNTA the solution to our fundamental problem by D. Venugopal
Part 8 looks at the role of the Vedas in providing knowledge of the Self.
There is a complete Contents List, to which links are added as each new part appears.
Tag Archives: Vedanta
adhikArah – fitness
Verses 795 – 818, Chapter 39, in sarva vedAnta siddhAnta sAra sangrahah (The Essence of Entire Vedanta Theory in Brief) of Shankaracharya deal with adhikArah of the spiritual aspirant. Though the word “adhikArah” has several meanings like authority, right, privilege, position, prerogative &c &c, it is taken in this context to denote fitness or eligibility of the seeker. IMHO, “acuity” of the intellect is more important. Selected verses quoted here:
अध्यारोपापवादक्रममनुसरता देशिकेनात्र वेत्रा वाक्यार्धे बोध्यमाने सति सपदि सतः शुद्धबुद्धेरमुष्य ।
नित्यानन्दाद्वितीयं निरुपममलं यत्परं तत्वमेकम् तद् ब्रह्मैवाहमस्मीत्युदयति परमाखण्डताकारवृत्तिः ॥ — 797
(Meaning: No sooner the meaning of the mahAvAkya (‘That thou art’) is made known to the aspirant by the teacher, who follows the method of superimposition and of negation, than there arises in the man of pure intellect that supreme mental modification which knows no change, and he realizes: “I am that Brahman who is of the nature of eternal Happiness, Non-dual, incomprehensible, untainted, the One Supreme Reality.”)
अखण्डाकारवृत्तिः सा चिदाभाससमन्विता ।
आत्माभिन्नं परं ब्रह्म विषयीकृत्य केवलम् ॥ — 798
(Meaning: The indivisible pure Consciousness makes Itself manifest in all that It reflects upon. It permeates everything. Because brahman is not other than Atman, it follows that it is only by means of brahman that the veil of avidya is lifted.)
श्रुत्योदितस्ततो ब्रह्म ज्ञेयं बुद्धयैव सूक्ष्मया ।
प्रज्ञामान्द्यं भवेद्येषां तेषां न श्रुतिमात्रत: ॥ — 808
(Meaning: brahman should, therefore, be known by the acute intellect. But those persons, whose understanding is limited, cannot directly attain that mental attitude merely by listening to what the shruti says. Such persons should recollect in mind what the shruti says and meditate upon it.)
स्यादखण्डाकारवृत्तिर्विना तु मननादिना
श्रवणान्मननाद्ध्यानातात्पर्येण निरन्तरम् ॥ — 809
(Meaning: It is only by constantly listening to and reflecting on as well as by meditating upon what the shruti says, that the intellect becomes endowed with the power of ascertaining that which is subtle. It is only then that the Reality is known.)
बुद्धे: सूक्ष्मत्वमायाति ततो वस्तूपलभ्यते ।
मन्दप्रज्ञावतां तस्मात्करणीयं पुनः पुनः ॥ — 810
(Meaning: That supreme reality is attained only by means of the sharp intellect. Those who are lacking in intellectual sharpness should therefore repeatedly do (hear and meditate over what the shruti says in order to attain the True Knowledge.))
Vedanta: the Solution – Part 5
VEDĀNTA the solution to our fundamental problem by D. Venugopal
Part 5 explains how getting what we think we want does not resolve our perceived limitations.
There is a complete Contents List, to which links are added as each new part appears.
Vedanta: the Solution – Part 4
VEDĀNTA the solution to our fundamental problem by D. Venugopal
Part 4 looks at the ways in which we strive to overcome our sense of limitation but only succeed in propagating this.
There is a complete Contents List, to which links are added as each new part appears.
Vedanta: the Solution – Part 3
VEDĀNTA the solution to our fundamental problem by D. Venugopal
Part 3 continues the exposition on how it is that we feel ourselves to be limited.
There is a complete Contents List, to which links are added as each new part appears.
On Reductionism
Way back in the sixties, that is over half a century ago, it was quite common to hear many spiritual teachers in India, haranguing to large audience how science was analytic and philosophy was synthetic in approach. The strength of the ancient Indian wisdom, according to them, lived in its spirit of synthesis. So people were exhorted by these speakers to cultivate a habit of developing a conjoined view of diverse systems, rather than decompose them through a rigor of analysis. A current joke at the time was that a specialist was one who knew more and more about less and less until he knew almost everything of nothing.
Perhaps that approach was the need of the hour in India which had attained the status of an independent sovereign republic only a decade earlier through the coming together of many differently administered provincial units. But to extend that political logic based on the social needs of integration to the realms of philosophy and more so to Vedanta and pushing the spirit of questioning, almost derisively, to the bottom was an unfortunate development. How can I say so? Continue reading
Vedanta: the Solution – Part 1
VEDĀNTA the solution to our fundamental problem by D. Venugopal
This excellent book begins its serialization today. Apologies for the delay since its announcement but we were clarifying the copyright issue.
There is a complete Contents List, to which links will be added as each new part appears.
Part 1 is the Introduction to the book.
Positive Thinking – Q. 341
Q: There are moments when I think I am the one that is creating my world with my specific positive thoughts – is that true?
Or is it the concsiouness bringing me those positive thoughts or negative thoughts? I know that I don’t have to ask for anything because in that way there is an infinite possibility of something fresh and new and totally different.
How do I pray? In silence only doing meditation?
A (Sitara): Yes, it is true. Your experiences (positive as well as negative ones) are constructs of your mind. The question is, what do you do with this information?
It seems that all of your questions are about, how to get a different life. For that you would like to know the mechanism of what in New Age (or Yoga, magic etc.) is called materialization of things, events, persons etc. Continue reading
Mind Reifies Or Deifies
Mind occupies a significant place in the teaching of Vedanta philosophy.
All the talk of liberation pertains to the mind only. Maîtri Upanishad (VI-34-11) holds mind to be central for the liberation or bondage of human beings. amRitabindu Upanishad (mantra 2) makes it further clear stating that “the mind engrossed in objects of senses leads to bondage but the same mind free from attachment to objects leads to liberation.”
But what is this mind?