[Advaita-l] Are actions essentially meaningless?

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

PraNAms
From my understanding:
1.   As  per VishisTaadvaita one has do the Veda vihita karmas with an attitude
of kaikaryam for the Lord. Nitya aaraadhana and other things are essential even
after sharaNaagati or baharanyaasam. Sarva dharmaan parityajya .. is
interpreted by Bhagavan Ramanuja as not giving up the puja and other actions
associated with it.
2.   From advaita point actions of jnaani become
spontaneous as part of the vibhuti of the Lord or the self. Just as father
plays sports with children–nothing to gain or lose – but the very play become
glory. The beauty of creation is the nature of the Lord as stated in the 10th chapter of Geeta. Flower blooms beautifully. The spring comes with explosive
beauty. Beauty of every butterfly, every leaf glorifies the vibhuuti of the
Lord. So is the jnaani’s actions – He does not have to do it but he does it out
of compassion. 
3.   Life involves action; action need not be at
the physical level. Prayers for everyone’s happy are also a contemplative
actions – sarve bhavantu sukhinaH .. or kalE vashatu parjanyaH.. are prayers of
a jnaani since there is nothing he himself wants for his happiness. A jnaani
cannot but teach when a worthy disciple comes to learn. In a way Lord himself
takes uses the BMI of the jnaani to do what is required. Hence we pray –
gurubrahma guruvishnuH..
Hari Om!
Sadananda 

--- On Fri, 12/21/12, Rajaram Venkataramani <rajaramvenk at gmail.com> wrote:

Even in dualistic traditions such as gaudiya vaishnavam, action is not
required to please god to earn his grace. Only bhakti is required and it is
not a result of action. It is nitya siddha svarupa shakti of Jiva. this
svarupa shakti in the Jiva is non- if fervent from the internal potency or
heading shakti of Bhagavan. They perform action only to have this Bhakti
shakti manifest in the mind ( Manogati ).

Even an advaitin has to perform Bhagavad Bhakti - not mechanically but with
genuine enthusiasm from within the heart - if he should experience bliss.
Otherwise, his mind will suffer the effects of prarabda karma. Of course,
he can take recourse to karma, yoga etc. but that will be of interest only
if he has not attained bhagavad bhakti ruci.

On Friday, December 21, 2012, Suresh wrote:

> Friends,
>
> In dualistic traditions, actions are necessary to please god, to earn his
> grace. But in our tradition, we are already Brahman, so it is not like we
> need this or that action to take us there. We are already that.
>
> In this context, are actions simply a way for the deluded jiva to kill
> time (until he leaves the body at death and merges with Brahman)? Kind of
> like a prisoner keeping himself occupied until he becomes a free man.
>
> Regards,
> Suresh