on advaita and society (was Re: [Advaita-l] New member introduction: Asad Mustafa Rizvi)

[Amuthan]

namo nArAyaNAya!

On 1/26/07, Ram Garib <garib_ram_at_yahoo.co.in> wrote:
>
> Mostly what hindus believe in, is an amorphous set of
> beliefs influenced by advaita, dvaita and several
> other schools. This is unavoidable since there is no
> 'book' that is universally accepted by all hindus. But
> even otherwise, I would say that average hindu's
> beliefs are more aligned to dualistic scheme than
> non-dualistic.

true. hinduism in present day india is by and large the effect of the
bhakti movement of the medieval ages.

digressing from the main topic, i think it is impossible to have a
society which is established solely based on advaita. accepting the
world we live in as real, giving a reality to our personality (==
considering ourself as a human being) etc. are indispensible to be an
active member of the society. but none of these have any basis in
reality according to advaita. it is indeed quite natural that all
human societies are dualistic in outlook. naisargiko.ayaM
lokavyavahAraH.

the closest a society can come to advaita is by believing in some form
of divine union with god. but there it ends. advaita is more of an
experiential reality that transcends every form of god and religion
than a theoretical philosophy and is best understood by saMnyAsIs who
are bold enough to crush their own personality to non-existence, burn
their passions to ashes and renounce all their cherished and fancy
conceptions for the sake of the truth.

advaita is not for kids. and as svAmi vivekAnanda puts it, most of us
are 'moustached babies' :)

vAsudevaH sarvaM,
aparyAptAmRtaH.