[Advaita-l] (no subject)

[Sivakumar,Kollam]

Sadara praNAm,

Much inebted for the prompt reply.
Expressions incapable to convey gratitude
Prof.Sivakumar,kollam

On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 10:37 AM, Sanjay Srivastava <
sksrivastava68 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Complete book for free download in pdf form is available here:
>
> http://www.happinessofbeing.com/happiness_art_being.html
>
> However considering the bulk of the book, you may prefer to read it on
> paper.
>
> This book is an excellent and exhaustive resource on Sri Bhagwan's
> teachings. The only minus point I can think of is that there is lot of
> repetition in the book. On second thoughts, even that may not be a bad
> thing considering the subtle nature of the subject.
>
> praNAm
>
> On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 6:18 AM, Sivakumar,Kollam <sivanr8010 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > Sadara praNAm,
> > would you please provide details about the title  "Happiness and the Art
> of
> > Being".
> > Namaste
> > Prof.Sivakumar
> >
> > On Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 9:27 AM, Sanjay Srivastava <
> > sksrivastava68 at gmail.com
> > > wrote:
> >
> > > > According to the narration, Bhagvan Ramana did not have good
> knowledge
> > of
> > > > upanishads etc. in moolam to begin with. When he started expanding
> his
> > > > "who-am-I?' process in easier terms,
> > > > traditional vedantins -   read, advaitins - challenged him to provide
> > > > scriptural proof.  Bhagavan then conferred with some close scholars (
> > my
> > > > guess, like Sri vashishta ganapathi muni)
> > > > and was able to provide ample proof of congruency between what he was
> > > > saying and what was in the major upanishads in essence.
> > >
> > > Sri Bhagwan's realization is unique in the sense that it did not
> > > precede the usual course of shravaNa, manana, nididhyAsana. Rather in
> > > his case understanding came spontaneously. It was only later when
> > > scriptures were read to him that he could correlate and verbalize his
> > > understanding.
> > >
> > > > The question I was asked was about documentation of this or anything
> > in a
> > > > similar vein in the early writings of the devotees of Bhagavan either
> > in
> > > > tamizh or english.
> > >
> > > The earliest recorded conversation is considered to be "Nan Yar".
> > > However when it was shown to Sri Bhagwan before publication he
> > > underlined several passages that were not his words, but Sri
> > > Sivaprakash Pillai's understanding. However out of the respect for Sri
> > > Pillai, Bhagwan did not delete those parts but instructed to publish
> > > them in italics. I believe in many later versions this distinction is
> > > not maintained.
> > >
> > > Extensive research has been done on every single word spoken by Sri
> > > Bhagwan. Sri Michael James, who himself is a Tamil and Sanskrit
> > > scholar has given an exhaustive list of resources in the bibliography
> > > section of his excellent book "Happiness and the Art of Being".
> > >
> > > > The context was, I believe,
> > > > to answer the question, 'can advaitic jnaana be obtained independent
> of
> > > > knowledge of upanishads and brahma sutra'.
> > >
> > > Sri Bhagwan maintained that there are already enough pointers
> > > available about basic advaita principles in popular culture and
> > > literature so that anyone with an average education has already been
> > > exposed to the teachings. Therefore what is lacking in sAdhanA is
> > > reflection and contemplation on the teaching, not the exposure. Thus
> > > Sri Bhagwan did not give much importance to the formal study of
> > > Upanishads and Brahma Sutras or any other text rather emphasized on
> > > uninterrupted self attentiveness as means of realization.
> > >
> > > It may however be of interest to note that even as per traditional
> > > vedAnta, study of Upanishads and Brahma Sutras is not essential for
> > > self realization. One can gain knowledge from prakaraNa grantha-s as
> > > well. Sri Bhagwan's own writings are almost invariably in the nature
> > > of prakaraNa grantha-s and many of his devotees - Indians and
> > > Westerners alike - have produced brilliant vArtikA-s on them. Whether
> > > Sri Bhagwan's devotees admit it or not they are actually doing shAstra
> > > vichAra on Sri Bhagwan's writings with same zest and vigour that a
> > > traditional vedAntin might do on a traditional prakaraNa grantha.
> > >
> > > praNAm
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > 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
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > *sivakumarr*
> > _______________________________________________
> > 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
>



-- 
*sivakumarr*