[Advaita-l] additional doubts!!

[Rajaram Venkataramani]

My two cents worth

On Tue, Jul 12, 2011 at 11:22 AM, Bhaskar YR <bhaskar.yr at in.abb.com> wrote:

> praNAms
> Hare Krishna
>
> After reading bhakti's role in advaita vedAnta, I am getting some
> additional doubts with regard to 'required tools' or qualifications  to
> obtain paramArtha jnAna.
>
> (a) is advaita paramArtha  jnAna happens only to Astika-s (theists) who
> have firm belief in god & scriptures??
>
*It can happen to anyone by Ishvara's grace but once it happens, he
transcends belief in god and scriptures because he becomes one with Ishvara,
whose very breadth is scriptures.*

>
> (b) how can a non-hindu or atheist (nAstika) or any 'outsider', who does
> not want to believe in god & scriptures, but would like to get this jnAna
> (without the aid of shAstra & bhagavanta or outside the traditional
> circle) ??  dont we have any jnAni-s outside hindu Astika saMpradAya ??
>
*The notion of apotheosis is very much present in other tradition. Ancient
African religions have semblance of Advaita Vedanta. It is also present in
Abrahamic cults : "I and Father are one". But none of them get it as
thoroughly as Sankara does in terms brevity, depth and coverage. *

>
> (c) prior to jnAna, is it mandatory requirement for the advaita sAdhaka to
> believe in god's existence & to have unconditional faith in sacred hindu
> scriptures or whether he has to  be a hard core theist ??



> *He definitely has to go in to the who he is. As he goes deeper beyond the
> mind, he will encounter jiva and Ishvara before realizing oneness. Most
> people will fail in their pursuit and take birth in the family of elevated
> yogis. They will get a packaged deal from their parents which includes
> mental conditioning of faith in god. *


> (d) if the (c) is an indispensable requirement for the jnAna  then advaita
> jnAna realization would be restricted ONLY to the sAdhaka-s in hindu
> religion in general and theists in particular.  In that case advaita jnAna
> has the limited boundaries in hindu god & scriptures.
>
*The best Physics texts may be written by Roger Penrose but Physics is not
an exclusive English work. Oxford provides the enviroment to nurture such
genuiuses. *
(e) if the (c) is not a necessary requirement then we cannot say
shravaNAdi sAdhana are the only  direct means for realization..And further
this would prompt us to say, anybody, at any point of time through any
means can get this realization..this stand  goes against the convictions
held by sampradAyavit-s.
*Madhusudana's view is that there is no need for a teacher if he is a bhakta
and atma jnana will manifest! This view is held in other sampradayas also.
But Madhusudana did take sannyasa initiation and practise bhakti (jnanam)*
(f) finally, can a person be a non-dual jnAni but still a nAstika??
*How can I believe or not believe in my existence? *

Any clarification from the prabhuji-s would be appreciated.

*Oops! I did not know you were looking for clarification from prabhujis -
pl. ignore the above :)*

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar
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