Bhakti yoga

[Vidyasankar]

>I don't expect anything.  I see everything and I see nothing and never does
>it occur to me to call it God or anything else.  I don't think in those
>terms.  I don't think at all, I just see.  That is the best I can explain
>it.  But that is me.

Part of the reason why traditional Advaitins refer to both Isvara and
Brahman is to underline the need to go beyond giving a name to the highest.
Because we often delude ourselves by thinking that by naming a thing we
have understood it completely.

>However, my question was regarding advaita philosophy and the translation
of
>Isvara and Brahman as God.

As far as the focus is on translation, I agree, it would be misleading to
uniformly translate Brahman as God. As for interpretation, that is a
different thing.

>I'm doing graduate work with Advaita Vedanta and I read so many different
>interpretations, and I was interested in what all of you had to teach me as
>well.  Everyone has been very helpful and I thank you very much!!

I would suggest, at some point, going to the original Sanskrit texts and
commentaries and trying to understand them independent of the various
translations that are currently available. Not that any of them is totally
wrong or anything, but for graduate level work, it leads to greater insight
to go back to the originals.

Best wishes,
Vidyasankar