[Advaita-l] My Questions and My Mails

[Siva Senani Nori]

--- Amuthan <aparyap at yahoo.co.in> wrote:

> dear shrI Siva Senani Nori,
> 
> --- Siva Senani Nori <sivasenani_at_yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > application of those to a given situation. In the
> > case of vedAnta, then, the
> > proper course to follow would be the upanishats,
> > brahmasUtras, and then finally
> > the gItA.

> i strongly disagree with the above view.
> traditionally, the study of the upaniShad-s is only
> for the 'mature'. 
....
> (btw, even in science, no one teaches quantum
> mechanics to a tenth grader. 

Well said, Sir! I should have considered the context more carefully. My views
on upanishats are only with reference to the gItA. But the context of the
proper time to study upanishats must also have been included. Just to complete
that context, the parts of veda corresponding to the stages of life are:

brahmachAri - samhitA
grihastha - brAmhaNa
vanaprastha - AraNyaka
sam.nyasi - upanishat

The above only refers to contemplation, not the actual learning. All the parts
are learnt by heart while still a student. The idea is that as a grihastha, one
is expected to medidate upon the meanings of the various rites, and so on, and
AFTER giving up worldly attachments, contemplate upon the basic questions. This
is the traditional scheme.

With passing time, this scheme becomes much more difficult. Till my
grandfather's time, prasthAnatrayI was studied (I am told, most of the students
being grihasthas, and very few being kramAnta-svaAdhyAyins) under a guru; my
father passed away at a young age, before this phase of life, but his brothers
did not study it as formally, though they have had one guru; I am just starting
it in a most haphazard way in the sense that I found a guru, then a second one
(both friends, professors, and subscribers to different interpretations of
vedAnta), and do significant amount of unsupervised study - while trying to
make sense of it all.

So what should people in such a situation do? Start with primers published by
the Ramakrishan Mutt or the various peeTHams, and then wade in more gradually
as Sri Amuthan suggested.

Regards
Senani

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