message to my friends

[Gregory Goode]

At 07:26 PM 9/1/98 -0400, Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian wrote:

>
>Inspite of the fact that Aurobindo and Ramana used the same vedas and
>the same bhagavadgItA, their paths _DIVERGED_. So there is _no_ reason
>why other religions must be pointing to the same "moon" as advaita.

Yes, paths can diverge, and I've heard that Aurobindo's does diverge from
Ramana's and formal advaita's (but can't quote any details on that).  My
point about there not being two moons is that we all know that there really
is just one moon.  So in Reality (the Moon itself) there can't be any other
destinations, no matter what the philosophies say.  Might take a sadhaka
longer than the direct path, but there can't be anywhere else to go, sort
of like the quotes below say.


>Not sure about Jaldhar's view point. However, at least the teachers from
>Sringeri do not hold the view point that GYAna can be obtained only by
>formal advaita vedAntins. The sUta sa.nhitA says that all religions,
>pUrva mImA.nsA to vedAnta and even buddhism and jainism have been given
>by the merciful Ishvara to suit different people. Like leading a cow
>with grass he will lead them to GYAna. I can give exact quotes if anyone
>wants it. There is also a commentary on the sUta sa.nhitA by
>mAdhavAchArya (14th century) who was connected to the Sringeri Matha.

Rama, thank you very much for these comments, they actually warm my heart
and make me happy!  A friend of mine who was at Sringeri has the highest,
utmost respect for the Sringeri teachers.  I would like a few exact quotes
if you don't mind.

--Greg