Introduction

[M Suresh]

Namaskar,

  This is my first mail to this list. I subscribed yesterday.

  My Name is  Mahalingam Suresh ( Mahalingam is my fathers name ).  I am 29
  years old and work as a software engineer in Texas Instruments India Ltd,
  in the city of Bangalore in India.

  My parents  are quite religious and  are deeply attached to  the Sringeri
  Mutt, whose Acharya Sri.  Barathi Theertha is our Guru.

  I was informed of  this list by my cousin Kartik.  Since we have a common
  ( paternal ) grandfather, I will attach a section about my grandfather in
  kartik's introductory mail :

> I have visited the Sringeri MaTh a few times, though unaware of the
> philosophical system of advaita then. My grandfather once gave a few lectures
> on the Bhagavad GItA in the Sringeri MaTh which was attended by
> His Holiness Chandrashekhara BhaaratI. His Holiness was so moved by the
 lectures
> that he called my grandfather "GItAlankAra" (He who adorns the GitA) and the
> name stuck. He was later initiated as a disciple of His Holiness.

  My  other  ( maternal  )  grandfather  was an  ardent  disciple  of  Sri.
  Aurobindo.

  My  knowledge  in philososphy  comes  from  various  sources such  as  my
  parents, talks by Swami Chinmaynanda and Chinmaya mission I attended long
  back, a few books,  quotations by great persons,  discussions,  srh & srv
  newsgroups, other internet links etc.

  However  my knowledge  in  Sanskrit &  classical  Indian philosophy  like
  Vedas, Upanishads and works of Shankara,  Ramanuja, Madhwa, Gaudapaada is
  next to zero.

  Some of the books I have read are :

  1. "How  To  Know  God"   ( Translation  and  commentories  on  Patanjali
     Sutras ).

  2. A bit of Sri Paramahamsa Yogananda's works.

  3. "Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharishi" ( Edited by David Godman ).

  4. Bhagavad Gita translation by Swami Chidbhavananda ( around 1/3rd ).

  5. Random sections in "Life Divine" by Sri Aurobindo amounting to 1%.

  6. A Search in secret India by Paul Brunton.

  Though  I  like advaita  philosophy  especially  because it  defines  the
  absoluteness of  god,  I would not like to call myself an advaitin.  This
  is because from  the various philosophies I simply do  not know which one
  is the ultimate  truth.  I do not know whether God alone is  and all else
  is a  projection on  him ( advaita  ),  or whether there  is one  god who
  creates and takes care of creation and all the souls and spirits ( dwaita
  ),  or whether everything is due to an interaction of desire filled minds
  with no  underlying truth  ( Buddhist voidness as  I understand it ),  or
  whether matter and energy alone exist and living bodies are just machines
  ( materialistic atheism ).

  I will be  reading the posts in  this list regularly and also  make a few
  posts once in a while.

-Suresh.

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  Confusion is the  mind's birth right.  It has to be confused.  It will be
  confused.  So just let it be confused.
       -Suresh ( Just a joke :-) )