[Advaita-l] On Karma Yoga: VII - Loka KalyaaNam

[murali mohan]

kuntimaddi sadananda <kuntimaddisada at yahoo.com> wrote:
  
Shree Murali Mohan,

PraNaams.

I apologize, whether common people had lot of trouble or not I have lot
of trouble in connecting to what I wrote in the article to your comments
relating to Karma Kanda to Buddha to Kaliyuga. I hope others do not
have that much trouble. 

Hari OM!
Sadananda


--- murali mohan wrote:

> This portion of Geeta clearly expouses why Karma Kanda of Vedas with
> all its rituals is not necessary or applicable for persons who have
> gone beyond a certain stage in their spiritual quest. Nor is it
> possible to follow in Kaliyuga. Maybe that was why Budha was against
> it as it was causing a lot of trouble for the common people. 
> 
  Dear Sadananda ,
  I was specifically referring to the following portion culled from your article (it explains why a sincere seeker is spared the burden of performing rituals and other duties):
  
Thus we have three classes people: (a) Common people who are
predominantly ignorant of their true nature, (b) mumukshuH or seeker of
self-knowledge who have gained the requisite qualifications of mental
purity to pursue self-knowledge, and c) realized masters who have 
gained
the self-knowledge. The first set of people are the majority, and have
to do Karma yoga with the spirit of yagna. Here there is no choice
whether to do or not to do karma yoga, or to choose karma yoga or 
jnaana
yoga as Arjuna posed the question. The jnaanis who have realized, need
not have to do any karma for their own happiness. Krishna, however,
recommends that they should involve themselves to set an example for 
the
masses. Since they have no self-centered desires to act, whatever they
do will be for the benefit of the totality or loka kalyaaNam. Now, the
second set of people who have purified their minds with karma yoga, or
have acquired the saadhana chatushhTam or four fold qualifications –
what do they have to do. For them Veda-s recommend, shravaNa, manana
and nidhidhyaasana. Paramaarthaanandaji defines shravaNa as a
systematic and consistent study of Vedantic scriptures for a length of
time, under the guidance of a competent teacher. Here every word is
important. A competent teacher is one who was once a competent
disciple, who himself has learned from a competent teacher. Thus, there
is guru-shishya parampara or lineage of teacher-taught. A systematic
teaching follows a sampradaaya or traditional teaching method since the
subject is very subtle. SravaNa will give aatmajnaanam or knowledge of
oneself. The next is mananam. It is meant for removing all the doubts.
When the student hears from the teacher ‘you are that’ or ‘you are
brahman’, it appears to be impossible to accept by any rational
intellect until he learns that the truth is beyond the rational
intellect. ‘naishhaa tarkena matiraapaneya’, ‘truth cannot be
established by logical or intellectual analysis’ says kaThopanishhat .
mananam is required to remove the mental obstruction to accept the
Vedantic truths. ‘mananena samshaya nivRittiH’. Once the mind is
convinced without any doubts left, then comes the nidhidhyaasanam – it
is a processes of internalization of the teaching by dwelling upon the
doubt-free knowledge using any of the following methods: studying,
writing, repeated listening, discussing, teaching, etc. or meditating 
or
contemplating on the truth in the direction pointed out by the
scriptures or any combination of them or all of the above. 
Internalization is the de-conditioning process to remove conditioning.
‘I am de-facto jiiva’ is my current conditioning. My entire life style
is driven by this conditioning – or I should say I have lived many 
lives
with that conditioning. Hence this conditioning is very deep rooted. We
are not changing the conditioning by a new conditioning as JK’s talks
indicate but questioning the very foundation on which these deep rooted
conditioning that aham jiivaH or I am limited jiiva is established. 
This questioning or inquiry is done using the Vedanta as pramaaNa or
using the scripture as the basis since Vedanta provides a different
vision of myself, which is different from the notions that I have about
myself. 

It is obvious that shravaNa, manana and nidhidhyaasana cannot be done
effectively while indulging in worldly duties. The recommendation is to
minimize the later as much as one can and involve oneself to the 
maximum
possible in the pursuit of moksha as the fourth and final 
purushhaartha.


		
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