[Advaita-l] Difference between Advaita Vedanta and the Supermind

[sriram nagaraj]

Dear Sri Venkata Sriram ji,

Thanks for your input. I am deeply rooted in Sri Sankara Advaita, but I was interested in knowing about Sri Aurobindo's ideas, not to adopt them of course, but just for a knowledge of different ideas. Moreover, I wanted to know specifically the differences between the Supermind and our notion of Brahman.

As regards to his interpretation of the Rig Veda, I know that Sri Kavyakanta Ganapati Muni has similar views on the Rid Veda, and moreover, I know of a student of Sri Muni who later joined Sri Aurobindo.

Thanks again for your thoughts.
 
Sriram Nagaraj

--The inner Light illuminates our minds--




________________________________
From: Venkata sriram P <venkatasriramp at yahoo.in>
To: advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
Sent: Friday, July 8, 2011 9:40 PM
Subject: [Advaita-l] Difference between Advaita Vedanta and the Supermind

Dear Nagaraj,
 
//////
 
 have been recently reading about the life and works of Sri Aurobindo and would like to know the exact differences between the notion of Supermind and how this is different from the Advaitic thoughts. In particular, I have read that Sri Aurobindo proposes an evolutionary theory and both Prakriti and Purusha at the individual level and rise up to the level of Supermind. I have tried to read the magnum opus, "Synthesis of Yoga" but I must say that I lack the literary level of sophistication to understand the contents at any level. I hope the learned list members may throw some light onto this matter.
 
//
 
By Advaitic thoughts, do mean Sankara Advaita?  
 
If yes, then both are poles apart.  The basic pillar of foundation for Sankara Advaita 
is based on the vAkya "brahma satyaM jagat mithyA".  For Sankara, world is unreal. 
 
For Aurobindo, world is very much real.  Aurobindo has reservations against sAyaNa bhAShya and also against the monastic order of sankara.  He doesn't believe in sanyAsa
and running away from the realities of the world which he says it as escapism.  
Moreover, his translations of Rg Veda doesn't seem to have the punch of sampradAya 
and lack puShTi as he is ignorant of pUrva mimAmsa sAstra.    
 
But inspite of all that, i am a great fan of Aurobindo & Mother.  Moreover, the literature
of Aurobindo is a hard nut to crack because of his language usage, style and terseness.
My guruji used to say that if Aurobindo's English writing style is worth reading as
it requires tremendous concentration and eventually one can pickup good english
vocabulary.  
 
So, synthesis of yoga is a wrong choice to start with.  Especially, some of the books of 
Aurobindo like Savitri, Life Divine, Synthesis of Yoga are one of the difficult works to
understand.  Start with simple writings like his letters and some of the small books
like "The Sunlit Path" of Mother which gives the outline of his principles.  
 
But my advice is stick to one path.  Don't try to compare Aurobindo & Sankara. 
If you are studying Aurobindo and believe in his philosophy, stick to it and clear off the deck.  If you are a follower of Advaita Vedanta, stick to the traditional path shown by
Sankara.  Thereby, confusion is avoided and spiritual journey would be easy.  
 
Choice is yours.....
 
Just my 2 cents.....
 
sriram
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