[Advaita-l] How to begin studying Advaita Vedanta : post 1 of 3

[Kalyan Raman]

Dear Yajvan,

Please excuse me for sounding stupid but I  have a question (perhaps
discussed umpteen times on this list)

advaita = not + dvaita

This sounds more of a negation than an assertion.  Also this implies
chronologically dvaita philosophy is earlier to advaita vedanta.  Is this
correct?   Also if advaita is taken as not two, it could also mean 3 or 45
or 100.

Only when there are many, the numbers 1, 2 etc. all are relevant.  When
there is only one, there is no need to call it as 1 because one makes sense
when two or three or many exist.  Could this possibly be the reason why we
dont call `Advaita' as Ekam or something like it.

Pranams
Kalyan Raman



                                                                           
             "yajvan"                                                      
             <yajvan at san.rr.co                                             
             m>                                                         To 
             Sent by:                  "'A discussion group for Advaita    
             advaita-l-bounces         Vedanta'"                           
             @lists.advaita-ve         <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.or 
             danta.org                 g>                                  
                                                                        cc 
                                                                           
             18-01-10 03:11                                        Subject 
                                       Re: [Advaita-l] How to begin        
                                       studying Advaita Vedanta : post 1   
             Please respond to         of 3                                
               A discussion                                                
             group for Advaita                                             
                  Vedanta                                                  
             <advaita-l at lists.                                             
             advaita-vedanta.o                                             
                    rg>                                                    
                                                                           
                                                                           





hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~


Regarding the study  advaita vedānta , let me offer a point of view for
your kind consideration.
Let me also avoid long posts - so I  will do this in 3 installments.
Post 1 :  An opinion  why this advaita vedānta is relevant
Post 2:   catúr-liṅga  ( 4 marks) of advaita vedānta
Post 3:  a brief conclusion

For all posts, I look to be corrected and/or look to additional insights on
all matters.
I consider myself a śiṣya of this body of knowledge and take no special
authority
On the wisdom offered - it is on other great shoulders we stand.
______________________________________________________________________________


POST 1 of 3

We know advaita अद्वैत means the following: a=not + dvaita = duality ,
duplicity , dualism
Also - advitīya = without a second , sole , unique, matchless ( as in
couple) from a + dvitīya a=not + dvitīya= second, couple, accompanied by,
companion

So , why such a big deal over this? What helps us better understand the
value of this notion of this advitīya ?

IMHO there are many reasons and I hope the members of this forum will
continue to offer their views based upon the śāstra-s, yet one salient
point for me comes from the bṛhadaraṇyaka upaniṣad - puruṣavidha-brāhmaṇa,
2nd śloka. It simply says the following:
Any time there is a sense of 2, fear arises i.e. dvitiyad vai bhayam
bhavati - Fear is born of duality.
dvitiyad or dvitīya द्वितीय - 2nd or two , couple,
bhayam or bhaya भय - fear , alarm dread apprehension
( rooted in bhī to fear for , be anxious about )
vai an emphasis and affirmation , generally placed after a word
and laying stress on it (it is usually translatable by 'indeed' ,
'truly' , 'certainly' )
bhavati or bhava भव arising or produced from , being in
The implications of this truth is profound... we can talk of this if there
is interest.

praṇām

End of Post 1.


-----Original Message-----
From: advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
[mailto:advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org] On Behalf Of Jaldhar
H. Vyas
Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 1:05 PM
To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
Subject: [Advaita-l] How to begin studying Advaita Vedanta

Re: [Advaita-l] New members
On Mon, 11 Jan 2010, Michael Shepherd wrote:

> Jaldhar
>
> In the absence of an index for this site -- though new members could
> pursue much through the existing system -- what would be you personal
> recommendations for study of Advaita Vedanta other than the obvious --
> to find the apppropriate guru, or just to read Adi Shankara's chief
writings ?
> Any book or online info that stands out for you ?
>

One should begin by getting atleast a little bit familiar with Sanskrit.
I freely admit that mastery of the subject is hard work but even basic
knowledge reaps great profits.  As we often see on the list, translations
can be inaccurate.  Even if the translator is diligent (and alas not all of
them are.) it can be hard to capture all of the nuances of a Vedantic
concept in another language.  If you know some some Sanskrit you will be
better able to assess the quality of a translation.  Probably the most
easily available book is "Teach Yourself Sanskrit" by Michael Coulson,
McGraw-Hill, ISBN: 978-0071468527

You will also need a dictionary. I suggest V.S. Apte's "The Student's
Sanskrit-English Dictionary", Motilal Banarsidass, 81-208-0044-1

To get a handle on the history of Advaita Vedanta (Including the
controversies that have recently preoccupied the list) I recommend "The
Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies", edited by Potter et al., It has two
volumes of interest, "Volume III: Advaita Vedanta Up to Samkara and His
Pupils" and "Volume XI: Advaita Vedanta from 800 to 1200".  (a third volume
is planned covering 1200 to the present.)  There is a bibliography volume
but a more uptodate bibliography is maintained online at
http://faculty.washington.edu/kpotter/xhome.htm

For shastras, I have previously mentioned the 10 volume "Complete Works of
Shankaracharya" published by Samata Books (http://www.samatabooks.com/) as
being the canonical collection of Shankaracharya's works but it is Sanskrit
only. The most readily available and generally good quality translations
are those published by the Ramakrishna Mission.

As for online resources, why www.advaita-vedanta.org of course!


These recommendations are for learning the "facts" of Advaita Vedanta.
But moksha comes from "experience" not facts alone.  For that one should
find a guru.  It is not something you can get from books or the Internet.

--
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
_______________________________________________
Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita

To unsubscribe or change your options:
http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l

For assistance, contact:
listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org

_______________________________________________
Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita

To unsubscribe or change your options:
http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l

For assistance, contact:
listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org