[Advaita-l] Re: 'End' not 'Means'

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

While I can well appreciate the cautionary note about concentrating on the 
end, let me clarify a couple of points.

There are many ways in which one can prepare oneself for the advaita end. Of 
these, jnAna yoga is a primary one. Each human being prepares for jnAna by 
his or her own personal abilities. The flexibility and beauty of a mailing 
list is that members can choose what discussions to follow and what to 
ignore. Expressing one's opinion should be accompanied by a respect for the 
right of others to express their opinions. If something or somebody becomes 
too opinionanated, we can always ignore that and concentrate on topics that 
appeal to us.

Belief in a philosophy is well and good, but what one human being chooses to 
believe may look like bunkum to another. It is not for nothing that Sankara 
wrote detailed commentaries with a great deal of logical argumentation. He 
could have contented himself with writing beautiful poetry on advaita 
experience, or better still, by keeping completely silent. There is a place 
for each of these approaches, and each of us is free to strike a personally 
comfortable balance. This balance itself will evolve with time as each of us 
matures.

Looking into oneself for answers is not always beneficial, especially if 
that inner self is not prepared by intense sAdhana. Otherwise, what my mind 
tells me is nothing more than an opinion; it does not and should not take 
the place of fact or  That is why there is Sruti, the associated tradition, 
and that is why there is a need for a guru. In this context, I would also 
caution members, especially new ones, not to consider this list as a 
substitute for these, but rather to only treat it as a supplement.

Regards,
Vidyasankar

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