[Advaita-l] jnAna-vijnAna, gradations in Atma jnAna, superior-inferior jnAna nishTa etc. etc. PART-I

[Anbu sivam2]

I am 100% with Ravishankarji.  People tend to forget that all arguments
starts with the ego.    They have to keep this in mind when attacking Kanchi
Mutt or any other mutt.  My simple question to people who dispute
ParamacharayaL is: "What do you want to achieve in this?"

With Narayanasmrithi,
Anbu



On 3/5/07, Ravishankar Venkatraman <sunlike at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Normally I do not post too much here. This one is a long post. Please bear
> with me.
>
> >Vidyasankar wrote:
> >
> >
> >Personally, I admire, revere, stand by and am guided by the Sringeri
> >Acharya and the matha's tradition. However, there are other longstanding
> >members of this list, as well as new members, who are aligned with other
> >institutions or perhaps with none.
> >
> >We cannot presume to speak for any of the traditional mathas, in an
> >official or unofficial capacity. We have come together on this forum only
> >in order to assist in our own svAdhyAya, to engage in and to mutually
> >benefit from a dialogue with other people who share our interests in
> >advaita vedAnta. That is all. I hope that this settles doubts on the
> >matter.
> >
> >Regards,
>
> >Ravisankar Mayavaram wrote:
> >
> >When there is a dispute in understanding the doctrine of
> >advaita-vedAnta, we have  no choice but to go back to the sampradAya
> >and Sringeri maTha is the obvious and the best choice.   But we should
> >allow room to raise some of these disputes so that we can understand
> >the objections and thereby the siddhAnta better.
> >
> >The only place I think, as a policy, we should not  take a specific
> >side is regarding the date of Sankara. But this is not a doctrinal
> >issue.
> >
> I have been a member of this list for several years and would like to make
> certain observations based on my experience over the years. This list has
> helped me a lot in understanding what I have been reading from other
> sources.
>
> I should thank Sri. Vidyasankar Sundaresan for his posts covering a huge
> bandwidth - from the profound Advaita BhashyAs to Mahabharata stories.
> There
> have been other contributors in this forum including Kartik, whose posts
> have been beneficial too.
>
> I have had different view points on the Sankara's date to post here (from
> what Sri. Vidyasankar had to say) which I had researched several years
> ago.
> It was more of a presentation of the material from different view points
> for
> both of us, for the reader to take whatever he/she thought was appropriate
> enough. Personally, I do not think that there is much to conquer in this
> area for anyone.
>
> Coming from a very orthodox family steeped in tradition, my father's
> parents
> were devoted to Sringeri gurus, with my mother's side devoted to Kanchi
> mutt. Needless to say, I had visited both the acharyas. I certainly did
> not
> like the mutts to have differences whatsoever, but things were not very
> rosy
> at least among some of the staunch devotees.
>
> When new members browse the pages of Advaita Vedanta, apart from the
> material covering the philosophical matter, they see links from external
> sites seeing vehement attacks on the Kanchi mutt. For someone who abides
> by
> the Kanchi mutt tradition, this is really offending. We have seen a few
> new
> members join the forum, to get back on Vidyasankar, start a new set of
> posts
> to get even; this goes on for a while, and the whole thing dies down. I am
> sure that they have also offended some of the other devotees in this
> forum.
>
> My humble opinion is that the links attached by Vidyasankar, though
> created
> by him in some other Hindu forum a decade ago or even before, is very
> hurting for Kanchi devotees including myself, certainly giving a necessary
> color to this august forum. As Vidyasankar himself mentioned that we
> cannot
> presume to speak for any of the traditional mathas, in an official or
> unofficial capacity, it certainly indicates that what ever has been
> written
> in that article is his opinion.
>
> The Kanchi AcAryA's opinion on this dispute can be seen in Ra.Ganapathi's
> article (http://www.kamakoti.org/souv/5-59.html). Sringeri AcAryA had
> given
> a message about Sri. Kanchi Mahaswami on the occasion of centenary
> celebrations of Kanchi Mahaswami's peetarohanam (I posted some time ago),
> by
> which all the questions of the devotees should be cleared. This proves
> beyond doubt that AcAryAs are above this normal plane looking at the same
> dispute from a different perspective (perhaps from being THE SELF). They
> cannot and need not change the ground rules in which we normal human
> beings
> live. They need to pretend to rely on conflicting material, though they
> know
> what they are talking of.
>
> On a similar note, the recent discussions about Sri.SachchidAnandendra
> Saraswathi Swamiji (SSS) have caused much anxiety and stress in the minds
> of
> Holenarsipur Swami's devotees. What we need to consider is that this
> Swami's
> works have been funded by AcAryAs of 3 traditional mutts. They would not
> have given SSS the due importance, if SSS did not really deserve it.
> Having
> read some of SSS works, I feel that there is a possibility for some of his
> thinking to create new vistas in certain areas of Advaita tradition.
> Though
> it may not be part of the tradition now, some parts of Swamiji's teachings
> could become part of the tradition down the road, provided our tradition
> itself survives (seeing the current state of affairs in India!!!). That is
> possibly the primary reason for which Kanchi, Sringeri and Dwaraka
> AcharyAs
> have accepted SSS. I also think that SSS was very well read, able to
> discuss
> the subject authoritatively using different possibilities.
>
> I would like to talk about another person I admire who can be inspiration
> to
> all of us. Some of the members of the forum may know Dr.Yagnasubramanian
> (YS) of Sanatana Dharma Yajna Mandali (www.yajnam.org) New Jersey. He is
> great devotee of Kanchi and Sringeri mutts. Please see the GuruparamparA
> page http://www.yajnam.org/guruparampara.html.
>
> YS was given a title of "Dharma Rakshamani" by Sri. Jayendra Saraswathi
> Swamigal a few years ago. He is one of the key members running Sringeri
> Vidya Bharati Foundation in Pennsylvania. Under the instructions of
> Sringeri
> Sankaracharya, YS is working on a temple for Sarada Devi in the US, along
> with his friends and disciples - from both Kanchi and Sringeri mutts.
>
> Let us look for common areas of understanding, strengthen our bonds to the
> root (which is Sri. Adi Sankara Himself), but cling to one of the branches
> of the tree (Sringeri, Kanchi or SSS and so on...). Though the tree exists
> with branches, we need more people to practice this tradition by clinging
> to
> one branch of the tree or other. The tree will get weakened if one branch
> cuts the other. Practitioners are more important; bring more people into
> this fold. Let us make our children understand the fundamentals (root) of
> this tree and make them cling to a branch. That is more rewarding for all
> of
> us, and if this forum is used that way, I am sure it will have the
> blessings
> of all the great gurus of the tradition.
>
> Sorry again for the long post. Regards, Ravi
>
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