Point of View!!!

[egodust]

VP Nandakumar wrote:
>         Questions and doubts assail me and I hope these points do not offend
> anybody.
>
>         Even though I really want to believe that there's some purpose in my
> creation, I can't but reflect on the fact that, for all the high level
> thinking
> and philosophy that have been generated throughout the history of mankind, one
> cannot but forget the fact that man is basically a more intelligent form of
> the
> Ape and basically an animal. OK, Hinduism does have answers for everything,
> but
> unfortunately the rational mind can't but be sceptical of all these theories
> as
> being mostly conjecture and well thought of, clever answers formulated with
> no
> loose ends!

All the so-called 'answers' you're alluding to aren't what they're
trumped up to be.  They're, at best, temporary palliatives or
philosophical aids whose function is to deliver the individual's
awareness back to its source.  The very word 'religion' was taken
from 're-ligio,' which is latin for 're-linking the individual back
to his/her original state.'  Same derivation behind 'yoga.'


> It might actually be the correct way to take everything on faith to
> realize Brahman, but it's not mine. The reason Advaita appealed to me was that
> one needn't take anything for granted and must only have a craving for
> knowledge.
>
> Or is taking up sanyasin and performing Karma and Bhakti yoga an easy way out?
> It's true that life of the common man in general, earning a living and loving
> and caring for his spouse and offspring and living in harmony with the society
> and sustaining this over a period of time can be quite a formidable job. And
> along with this he's to contend with human infirmity - in the sense that his
> or
> his spouse's love will definitely wane over a period of time, the differences
> of
> opinion and the heartbreaks with the children and the n number of personal
> problems and tensions one has to face in a normal life. Plus the
> disappointments
> encountered during one's lifetime due to attatchments and expectations. So is
> Advaita just an easy way out (OK, it's not easy, but probably easier and wiser
> in the long run than the normal life), an escape from undergoing the trials
> which is part of man's natural lifecycle? If so, isn't it cowardly not to face
> the rigours of life and denying yourself of the experience rather than doing
> an
> escape act?
>

This *sounds* like a valid objection, but is it?  Aren't we
after the truth, irrespective of whether or not it's associated
with what may *appear* to be a path of least resistance?

The first question we're philosophically and ethically obligated
to ask is: "What's going on here?...viz. what is all this, anyway?"
And, secondly,  "According to who, is [such] potential assessment
forthcoming?"

The immediate implication is that the individual self is not only
the witnessing filter, but is perhaps even the *creator* of that
which he's witnessing (this world event).  (The drishti-shristhi
vaada school of thought.)

What sequentially follows from this line of reasoning is the matter
of "What is the nature of this 'Who'?"...viz. "Who am I?"...which
represents the alpha and omega of *all* questions!  In turn, the
implication here becomes the possibility of the Universal Atman
as the Effulgent Substratum behind all egos, gods, and worlds--
which are seen as merely products of Its power of maya.  This
leads us to the fundamental matter of viveka.


OM Shaanthi.  Namaste.

_______________________

"There are no answers
       because
there are no questions."
_______________________

http://digital.net/~egodust