[Advaita-l] Re: A Query

[V. Krishnamurthy]

Namaste

Shri U.K. Anumula writes: 

***In Indian philosophy we come across concepts like
"aatma",  "Paramaatma", "Brahman", and God by different
names, e.g., "Brahma", "Vishnu" and "Siva" etc.   My
question is this: Are God and Brahman the same or are they
two different concepts?   If they are different, when
"Brahma" is "satyam" and all else is "mithya", God also
becomes "mithya".   I think it was in Devi Purana there is
a slokam which says "maayaantu prakritim viddhi, maya
maatram Parameswaraha".   An understanding on these lines,
as literally interpreted, would lead us to true
Godlessness.   God, in such an interpretation, is a
creature of human ignorance rather than one who is 
transcendentally real.  IDOL WORSHIP AND PERFORMANCE OF
VARIOUS RITUALS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH TRUE ADVAITA. ONE
CAN BE A TRUE ADVAITIN AND AT THE SAME TIME A NON-BELIEVER
IN GOD (and certainly in the various manifestations of God
that Indian cosmogeny revels in.)  Yet at the same time,
worship and belief in God, in whatever form, appears to be
truly comforting and apparently even providing answers to a
common man's several troubling questions.   Can one deny
God and be a true Advaitin? ***
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My comments are on the lines in bold capitals (the
capitalisation is mine).  This is the danger of  attempting
to learn advaita by sheer book reading.  I would like
somebody to point out to me any great advaitin who is not a
believer in the worship of God. All great advaitins have
been great devotees of God. The taste for advaita itself
comes only by the Grace of God. The advaita forcefully
self-pumped into oneself by reading advaita texts,  -- even
the Brahma-sutra bhashya – will be only a dry academic
philosophy intellectualised to such an extent that there is
no emotional conviction, that is, conviction that goes to
the heart and not just to the brain. Advaita may cry hoarse
about the nirguna brahman and the one-ness of everything
visible or non-visible. But unless one has been influenced 
(and blessed) by a guru-like person personally, it is going
to stay only at the brain level.  And that guru-like person
himself will be obtained only by God’s Grace. And God’s
Grace will be obtained only by worship of God or,  what is
equivalent, service to humanity in an unselfish way.  Let
us not pass on a wrong message to people that advaita can
be learnt and assimilated without any reference to a God or
a Guru!

PraNAms to all seekers of Truth
profvk



Prof. V. Krishnamurthy
New on my  website, particularly for beginners in Hindu philosophy:

Hinduism for the next generation: http://www.geocities.com/profvk/gohitvip/contentsbeach10.html

Free will and Divine will - a dialogue:
http://www.geocities.com/profvk/HNG/FWDW.html