Vedanta is not Instant Gratification

[S. V. Subrahmanian]

Reply to Shri Swami Narayanji,

> By this do you not see that one will end up in
> chaos?You can yourself be a srotriya by going through
> the printed medium!The guru you are suggesting is then
> no better than yourself who have gained knowledge from
> reading the scriptures.In my opinion, reading the
> various bhyashas of ACCLAIMED ACHARYAS is better thAn
> settling for a Sotriya suggested by you.

By Srotriya I meant one who has learnt it through and from a TRADITION.
Even though, these people may write books, books cannot bring out
everything they may want to convey.  As a personal exercise, try
spending sometime with an AchArya and compare the knowledge
that you might have gained in the same time with a book, you will
know the difference !!

Knowing the sampradAya is very important.  One who has come through
a sampradAya will never lead you astray.  Otherwise, there is every
possibility
that we might be led astray by wrong interpretations.  Also the very act of
approaching an Acharya, being of service to him, living in his physical
proximity
helps you to tune your thoughts to his teachings well,
which is very essential, for Vedantic knowledge is not purely
rational and it has to *happen* within oneself.

> No one seems to be able to vouch that among the
> swamijis we come across in todays ashramas this one or
> that one is a Brahmanishti! NO OFFENCE MEANT TO ANY
> GREAT SOUL BY THIS STATEMENT.

This is purely subjective.  I have not come across any sacred text that
gives the precise signs of a brahmaniSta.  As I said, Srotriya will lead us
(may not till the end), but will certainly put us in the right path.

> I tend to agree with you. I could go one step further
> by just clarifying that by VyaakaraNa you have
> included the Language of Sanskrit as a whole.

You bet!

> Most certainly, you are right atleast about our
> present janma's activities! That itself is sufficient
> for us to get deeper into the studies of Vedanta.(To
> most of us, our poorva janma activities are that much
> hearsay only) While doing so, we should not forget our
> Vyavaharika duties to our fellow travellers,
> especially,our immediate family members like our
> poojaniya parents.If you decide to take Diksha, it is
> a different matter.

Anybody studying Vedanta, atleast in the initial stages, would
have faced this problem of integrating what one is learning with
vyavahAra.  That is where SAstras come into place.  DharmaSAstras
are the best means to integrate abstract philosophy with
vyavahAra.  Surely matru devo bhava and pitru devo bhava (Tai. Up)
are part of integrating Vedanta in one's life.

The compromise between Karma and Jnana or their co-existence are
age old questions and have been adequately answered in our sacred texts.
We just need to understand them in the right spirit and follow them.

www.yogamalika.org has a reading room.  It has a wonderful article
on Karma and Jnana by Swami Dayananda Saraswati.  It discusses about
Karma Yoga, Sanyasa etc.  Very simple but profound article.

Regards.
S. V. Subrahmanian.

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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