advaita and buddhism (was RE: [Advaita-l] discussion about panchayatan puja)

[lallimahal mahal]

The Moderator Advaitha Group...
There is a very serious, meaningful and intellectual
discussion going on in this group about Advaitha
starting on  each aspect of it..for instance
Panchayathana pooja.....
Much is being discussed...Shankara said in his Nirvana
Shadgam..
Na Punyam  Na Paapam..Na soukhyam  Na duhkham..
Na Manthro Na Theertham  na vadaa  Na yagna...
Aham Bhojanam naiva bhojyam na Bhoktha..
Chidananda roopam  Shivoham  Shivoham....

My understanding is that poojai punaskaram are the
means for realisation of self and this self knowledge
gives the REAL happiness and at that time we merge
with taht ULTIMATE for the REAL HAPPINESS.....The
worship  is like a train in which we travel to reach
our destination and train cannot be our  permanent
abode...But I do agree that there should be some
perfection in the means too like having a good train
and that has to be run properly.....

But with the evolution of time with the changing human
attitudes ... behaviour and compulsion everything
undergoes chnges  and we have to move with the changes
without  altering ther basic stipulations.....

I remember a verse from Bhagavatham...
Dhyaayan Kruthey Yagnaihi..Threthaayaam dwaapare
archayan.....yathaapnothi thathaapnothi...
Kalou Sankeerthya Kesavam........again...

Kalou Kalmasha Chithaanaam Papadravyopa jeevanaam
Vidhikriyaa viheenaanaam Gathir Govinda  Keerthanam..

In this yuga of SURVIVAL of the FIITEST  each one has
to struggle for survival ... the discussion has to
center around ,what is best for the time being.Any
intellectual discussion on what is not practically
possible will become just some discussion with no
operative part......
Bhishma,  after giving to the humanity thousand 
namaas of the Lord Vishu concluded saying...
"Sarvaagamaanaam AAchaaraha Prathamam parikalpathe.."
It is imperative that we have to perform what we think
is right...Even the sanyasis are finding it difficult
to perform the yathoktha pooja because of their
involvement in Loka Sangraham and Loka samrakshanam..

I think I am extending beyond all the
limitations...However  My request is ..while the
discussion on the Advaitha  is good for getting
educated.. can we educate ourselves on what can be the
best for the time being for ordinary people  for
emancipation in the path of Advaitha....

I can give two examples...
I was attending a Study class of a Trade Union
Organisation...The Principal speaker of the concluding
session was giving the Samapana Bhashan ..during which
he quoted from Vishnu sahasra Namam,while describing
the eessential requesites of a good worker,said
Bhagavan is said to be "Amaani..Maanado... Maanyaha".
He explained the workers that Lord Vishnu does not
claim credit for His performance (AMAANI) but gives
the credit of His performance to others (MAANADO) and
because of this characterestic, He is the most
credited person (MAANYAHA).He concluded that every
worker should emulate this quality of Bhagavan in his
trade union involvement...It impressed everyone more
than the religion involved in that.
Again there was a very elaborate discussion on women's
rights and were blaming the Hindu society and Hindu
scriptures for denying the right of women. The last
speaker rose to say,quoting from Lalitha Sahasra Namam
that The Goddess, the source of energy, is described
as "Karanguli Nakhothpanna Narayana 
Dashakruthihi",meaning the ten incaranations of the
Lord Narayana was just by the scratching the nails in
the fingers of Her hands which was Her sankalpam.There
was no one to contest ,afterwards ,the unique place we
have given to the womanhood in our religion.
These two are practical expressions of making common
people understand our religion....
May I conclude with a request that there may be
another discussion on easily understanding our
religion...
Mahalingam. 
If I am deviationist..I may be ignored..
 

--- Amuthan <aparyap at yahoo.co.in> wrote:

> namo nArAyaNAya!
> 
> dear shrI krunal makwana,
> 
> --- Krunal Makwana <krunalmakwana_at_hotmail.com>
> wrote:
> > 
> > Forgive me for saying this but bUddha bhagwAns
> > 'shUnyatA' was Sankara's 
> > 'Kevalya Advaita' 
> >
> 
> it is quite difficult to compare advaitAnubhava with
> buddhist nirvAna. the traditional view is that both
> are different. but svAmi vivekAnanda's view is that
> they are essentially the same. the description of
> nirvAna given by certain buddhist monks (and nuns)
> are
> so similar to advaitAnubhava that it is compelling
> to
> conclude that they are the same. of course, the
> traditionalists would brush aside the buddhist
> experience of nirvAna as a puruSha tantra j~nAna,
> but
> this may not be true in all cases. cutting the
> matter
> short, it is irrelevant for our purposes to worry
> whether nirvAna is the same as advaitAnubhava. that
> is
> 'their' headache :-)
> 
> --- Krunal Makwana <krunalmakwana_at_hotmail.com>
> wrote:
> > 
> > The above is my 
> > understanding of Advaita, and to be a true
> Advaitin
> > (in my opinion) accept 
> > all philosophies as leading to Advaita. Instead of
> > refuting the other 
> > philosophies see what is good in them and apply
> that
> > to your life.
> > 
> 
> imo, as far as siddhAnta ('philosophy') is
> concerned,
> it is best to stick to one and only one. whether or
> not we integrate other siddhAnta-s within our own is
> a
> personal choice, but care should be taken so that
> our
> siddhAnta itself doesn't get distorted in the
> process!
> 
> 
> however, it is certainly true that certain
> *practices*
> may be borrowed from other darshana-s, if necessary,
> provided they do not conflict with our siddhAnta.
> for
> instance, aShTA~Nga yoga has been traditionally
> integrated within advaita though the siddhAnta of
> yoga
> (sA~Nkhya) is certainly not acceptable to advaita. 
> 
> while on this topic, i'd like to make a small
> observation. to my knowledge (and strictly in my
> opinion), certain buddhist descriptions of
> meditation
> (especially those of the theravAda vipassana schools
> based on the 'visuddhimAgga') are far better any of
> the recently composed texts on meditation. if used
> properly, they can be very effective in generating
> nityAnitya viveka, vairAgya or sAdhana chatuShThaya
> sampatti. besides, most of these buddhist
> meditations
> are essentially 'observe-and-know' processes and
> hence
> *cannot* conflict with advaita for precisely the
> same
> reasons why a properly conducted scientific
> experiment
> cannot clash with advaita. hence, imo, there is
> ample
> scope to integrate certain forms of buddhist
> meditation within advaita. 
> 
> vAsudevaH sarvaM,
> aparyAptAmRtaH.   
> 
> 
> 		
>
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