Sadhana

[Chandran, Nanda (NBC)]

>I tried to make clear from the beginning that I cannot approach Vedanta
>with the attitude that "This is The Truth... how can I best understand
>it?"

It's quite the same case with me. But when one runs out of alternatives,
there might come a day when one has to submit to the authority of a
school and walk the prescribed path and see for oneself. Because as Giri
said : intellectually knowing 'I'm that' is quite different from
actually realising it within the depths of one's being. Shankara
prescribes a certain path and asks you to see for yourself that the
snake is actually a rope. Again the path itself is not very different
from paths of schools like say Buddhism, except that the end differs.
But you can experience it for yourself, where it's Nirguna or Saguna
Brahman or nothing.

And in a quest not within the bounds of our emprical world, the rules
differ. As I stated before it might not be that difficult for me to
submit to Shankara's authority as I'm quite aware of what he stands for
in my land. But this might not be the same case with you. Infact I'm not
sure I would submit to the authority of, let's say, Thomas Aquinas, even
for all our intellectual and spiritual thinking alike, as he still
represents something alien and something I cannot truly relate with.
That's why I finally stated that we'd have to leave it to the pursuasive
power of Truth (which was misinterpreted by John :-( It's just a
sympathetic observation.

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