New member introduction: Sanjay Srivastava

[Ravishankar Venkatraman]

<br><br><br>ravi

Sanjay,

As you know, Upanayanam is done for Brahmins, Kshtriyas and Vaisyas. I was
thinking that Kayasths had to have the Upanayanam ceremony before marriage.
In that case, it should make them eligible. Traditionally, what has been
followed about eligibility has to be understood well before commenting on
why some candidates are eligible and some are not.

As per Ramana Maharishi, anyone can pursue Atma Vicharam, but the method is
different. Studying the scriptures with the intention of preaching is one
thing, but studying the scriptures for the sake of improving knowledge is
another thing. Vivekananda has opened up the knowledge of the Upanishads for
everyone, both in the East and West.  We have everything available in
English today. So, as times are changing, different views are also becoming
valid.

If you are a serious student, you will find someone who can teach you and
take you to higher levels. The late of Sankaracharya of Kanchi sent Paul
Brunton to Ramana Maharishi. His Holiness DID CONSIDER Paul Brunton as an
eligible candidate, in spite of being a westerner. This has nothing to do
with tradition, but more with being serious about your pursuits. So, I am
sure that if you have the fire in you, and if you are sincere, you will have
someone preach you the right knowledge.

I hope that I am not sounding like a preacher here.

God bless,
Ravi



>From: "vaidya_sundaram at i2.com" <Vaidya_Sundaram at I2.COM>
>Reply-To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
><ADVAITA-L at LISTS.ADVAITA-VEDANTA.ORG>
>To: ADVAITA-L at LISTS.ADVAITA-VEDANTA.ORG
>Subject: New member introduction: Sanjay Srivastava
>Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 11:13:43 +0900
>
>----- Forwarded by Vaidya Sundaram/Dallas/US/i2Tech on 07/31/01 10:24 AM
>-----
>
>"Sanjay Srivastava" <sksrivastava68 at hotmail.com>
>07/30/01 11:02 PM
>Re: Welcome and Request for more info.
>Dear Sir
>My interest in spirituality started since my childhood days. But it is
>only very recently I came in touch with advaita vedanta after taking a
>long detour through Buddha, Osho, Krishnamurthy, Raman, Nisargdatta
>Maharaj and Ramesh Balsekar. After that I had brief encounters with some
>traditional advaita teachers at Rishikesh. While some of them outrightly
>rejected to teach to a Kayastha ( which does not exactly fit anywhere into
>a four varna model) others were evasive. Presently I am studying Vedanta
>under guidance of Sri Uday Acharya and Sri Ram Mohan- both disciples of
>Swami Dayananda Saraswati.By the way, I would like to know traditional
>stand regarding learning of Vedanta by someone who has not had his
>Upanayana.
>
>Namaskar
>Sanjay


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