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

[chetan nagaraja]

  Dear All,
         Is learning sanskrit necessary, for understanding Advaita. Is it
really necessary to know english to understand physics. Have not the
Japanese invented quite a lot of technology with Japanese itself. Even
Acharya Shanakara's "Bhaja Govindam" indicates  the false value of
language . To know Advaita is different and to Expereince Advaita is
different. And finally it does not mean one cannot experience Advaita
without first knowing  it. True knowledge  comes through experience. Hence I
request the enlightneed ones on this list  to explain to people like us who
find sankrit difficult , the method to experience Advaita.
My humble pranams,
Chetan
On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 4:41 AM, yajvan <yajvan at san.rr.com> wrote:

>
> 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>
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-- 
Chetan

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