[Advaita-l] Practice of advaita

[Dr. V. Prasanna Shrinivas]

Namaste

ishwarogururAtmeti murtibhedavibhAgine. Ishwara, guru and atma are one
and the same.

With regard to the point

> i).Shastra pramanam;
> ii).Guru Vakyam;
> iii).Swanubhavam
> which lead one to realising the Truth. Of the three,
> perhaps, the last one is most important.


In the optimization parlance, all three are necessary conditions. The
sufficient condition is guru krupa.

dhyAna mUlaM guror murtiH
pUjA mUlaM guror pAdaM
mantra mUlaM guror vAkyam
mukti mUlaM guror kRRipA

says the guru giitaa.

Regarding Sri Ramana's words about guru...As the all pervading SELF or
brahman is the upAdaana kaaraNam and it is no different from the
Guru/Ishwara, Guru can either be physical or otherwise.

Practice of advaita is contradictory. All anushtanams seize by
themselves for the realized souls. Advaita is just being as it is. TAT
SAT. It has no imposition of nAma-rUpa-rasa-gandham or the practice of
any other karma.

The paramaartha dasha and vyaavahaarika dashaa should not confused.
Till such time one wakes from the dream, the dream is verily true. One
cannot question while in dream why somethings happened the way they
did. Similarly, till such time one has realized the world is mitya,
cannot keep on negative by saying neti neti...Realization dawns by
guru's grace and the anushtanams prescribed till one is the
vyaavahaarika dashaa have to be followed diligently otherwise only we
add to our sin baggage.

What are the anushtanams...the 1st prasna of the taitariya upanishad
tells us clearly


vedamanuuchyaachaaryontevaasinamanushaasti .
satyaM vada . dharmaM chara . svaadhyaayaanmaa pramadaH .
aachaaryaaya priyaM dhanamaahR^itya prajaatantuM maa vyavachchhetsiiH .
satyaanna pramaditavyam.h . dharmaanna pramaditavyam.h .
kushalaanna pramaditavyam.h . bhuutyai na pramaditavyam.h .
svaadhyaayapravachanaabhyaaM na pramaditavyam.h



"Having   instructed   the   disciple   on   the Veda   the
preceptor   advises   him   to speak   the   truth;   follow   the
prescribed   duties ;     not   neglect   careful recitation   of
scriptures;   offer   to   the   preceptor   the   gift  liked   by
him;  ensure   that   the   line   of   his   race   is   not
broken;   avoid   being   careless   about   what is   proper   and
good;   be   not   negligent  ;   never  be   indifferent   to   the
study and   imparting   of   the   Veda ;   be   mindful   of
offerings     to   the   gods and   manes;     treat     your   mother
  and   father   as   gods ;  ensure   that   the   preceptor
receives   honour;     and  that   guests   receive   hospitality
like   gods.   Those   acts   that   are  irreproachable   are   to
be   performed   and   not  those  that are
to the   contrary.   The mind   must   be   set   only   on   the
virtuous   actions     and   never   on   the   contrary. Superiors
must be  extended
all   hospitality   and   courtesy. "

esha aadeshaH...esha upadeshaH

This is the order...this is the upadesam. One should never deviate
from this till one attains the state of a jivan mukta by the grace of
guru.


If one is really serious about attaining mukti one has to act
according to guru vakyam. Sri Chandrashekhara bhaarati Mahaswamigal
put this in the best possible way by telling the following. There were
two servants. One servant always kept on telling that his master was a
great man noble man etc. The other servant kept on doing what he was
ordered by the master. Who would be rewarded by the master and who
would be punished? Obviously the one worthy of reward is the servant
who was obedient and not the one who was garrulous.


Even when the entire nature obeys His words

bhiishhaa.asmaadvaataH pavate . bhiishhodeti suuryaH .
bhiishhaa.asmaadagnishchendrashcha

is it not our duty to obey His words and do the duty of following the
ashrama dharma. May the guru give us the ability to follow His words
by His grace.

Sadguro Saranam


On 8/7/07, chandramouli gunnala <cgunnala at yahoo.co.in> wrote:
> Dear Atmaswaroopa,
> Om Namo Narayanaya,
> Adverting to Mr. Lakshminarayana's mail a request is
> being made through this mail  seeking clarification of
> two sentences namely :
>
> 1."A suitable and consistent method to practice
> advaita (Jnana Yoga)";
> 2."Actually tried to practice advaita by trying to
> depersonalize my self". Please give what exactly you
> practised.
>
> In fact Adishankara and Upanishads are very clear
> about the practical aspects of Advaita.  One has to
> verify at what stage one is and take the guidance of a
> Guru or Shastra for practice. In other words:
>
> i).Shastra pramanam;
> ii).Guru Vakyam;
> iii).Swanubhavam
> which lead one to realising the Truth. Of the three,
> perhaps, the last one is most important.
>
> If one could experience  Jagat as Mithya, Nirvana
> Shatkam of Adisankara, perhaps, is the guiding pole
> wherein 18th stanza puts very candidly; "PitaA Naiva
> Me  NaivaMaAtaA Najanma"
>
> In the service of the Lord,
> C.Gunnala
>
>
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-- 
Thanks and regards

Dr. V. Prasanna Shrinivas
Mobile: +91-99002 17109
Phone:+91-80-233 69953