[Advaita-l] Questions regarding Advaita Vedanta

[Murali S]

Sri Rajaram Venkatramaniji,
Please take the following comments in right spirit.
If you think Advaita is Bhakthi murder,then why you are you lingering here?
No personal offense.
If devotion to Sri Rama/Sri Krishna is very important to a devotee,why
should he care for Advaita?
In what way is "I am He"-madhurya-Can I taste 'my sweetness'-It is called
narcissism-Not that I really care for such arguments.

The Advaitins have said again and again there is no lingering trace of even
jiva-"I' is completely lost.Only Brahman as Sat-Chit-Ananda remains.In
Vyavahaarika,the Highest is Iswara-as Krishna or whatever.It is the highest
blasphemy to think of Krishna as a child alone,when one has some
intellectual capabilities,to satisfy ones cravings.When a Jnani sees the
unreality of the ephemeral cravings,he might be lost in Samadhi or remain in
the world.From the view point of manas and buddhi,their heart and intellect
is at the Lotus Feet of the Lord.This has been 'explained' infinite no of
times.This is the import of the Atma Raamo*api* shloka right at the start of
Bhagavatha.*Even *those lost in Atman Consciousness,talking of Sri Suka.Only
the Advaitins interpret this profound and fundamental shloka correctly.

Great Acharyas like Sri Sachitananda Sivabhinava Nrisimha Bharathi Swaminaha
have spoken of the great contributions of Sri Ramanuja and Sri Madhva to
Sanatana Dharma.Sri Chandrashekhara Bharathi Mahasvaminaha has asked
shishtas to do nitya karma and have intense faith in Iswara without wasting
energy on pointless debates.Different Acharyas have come to address the
differeing needs of adhikaris.The Advaita Vedantis have not talked ill of
Karma and Bhakthi.

If possible,try to get hold of the book-Dialogues with the Guru-not a
politically correct book,I am not comfortable with all of it -particularly
the first chapter and the one on Advaita.

A devotee approached Sri Abhinava Vidyathirtha Mahasvaminaha and asked the
import of a particular shloka-whether it referred to Saguna or Nirguna
Brahman.The Acharyal smilingly asked the disciple his view,the disciple
replied that he felt it referred to Saguna Brahman.Acharyal Blessed that so
be it.Anyone with an open mind can make sense of the incident.Sri Ramanas
views on Bhakthi are worth recalling.

If you do not think that I am promoting a certain sampradaya,you will
realise Advaita tradition places greatest emphasis on the competence of the
seeker and is never against non-sectarian bhakthi of the Vaidika Bhagavatha
sampradaya.

I have made this long reply because I too once searched for 'utopian
bhakthi' 'synthesising'
Sankara,Ramanuja,Madhva,Chaitanya,murugan,mariamman,science,technology,socialism,krishna,rama,Narayana,Sri
Rudram,azhwars, purandaradasa,surdaas,tulsidaas,Jnanadeva and everything
else that I was familiar with or comfortable or that caught my fancy.

On another note,while we can never ever accept the polemics of madhvas,this
sampradaya has made important contributions to Kannada language and society
and we Advaita Vedantins who fully respect the diversity of Bharat Varsha
respect that.

On yet another note,V Subramanianji,please excuse me there seems to be some
morbidity while we discuss Jnani and his pain.We all 'know' that a Jnani
experiences pain,but shouldnt we be celebrating the Jnanis
love,compassion,purity,self control,austerity,Grace etc?