[Advaita-l] New member introduction: Annapureddy Siddhartha Reddy

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

Hi all,
        Here's my introduction as per the request in the welcome letter:

Name -- Annapureddy Siddhartha Reddy
Age -- 25
Country of Residence -- USA

Background in Advaita:

I have been interested for quite a long time in Advaita. I guess my first
introduction to the subject was through the complete works of Swami
Vivekananda a few years ago. Around the same time, I worked on the
translation and organization of an article called "Indian Idealism" by
Rudolf Kassner; this article tries to capture the essence of the Gita (and
goes on to say that it is naive to try to capture the teachings of the Gita
within a formal system, and that the Gita teaches us to find "Inspiration").
At around the same time, I felt that the practice of these teachings is more
important than a knowledge of the theories themselves (ala Siddhartha by
Hermann Hesse). More recently, I have been having a discussion with some of
my friends on the nature of Maya, whether duality can be totally eliminated,
the Hermeneutics involved in harmonizing the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and
the Brahma Sutra Bhashyas. I have read some of the articles on your pages
like the discussion of the three Vadas (Ajata, Drishti-Shrishti,
Shrishti-Drishti), the Bhamati and the Vivarana schools, the adaptation of
the Madhyamika Karikas by Gaudapada to suit his Ajata doctrine etc. These
articles stirred my interest in knowing the origin of these theories from a
logical, historical and cultural perspective. I am looking forward to
discuss some of my concerns, and know more, about these theories. Thanks.

A.Siddhartha.