[Advaita-l] SHARING

[sreenivasa murthy]

Dear friends,

Please permit me to share some of the advice given by myRevered Guru during my association with him and they were of tremendous help tome.



Sri Shankara says :

 (1) sarvasya AtmatvAccabrahmAstitvaprasiddhiH ||
                         [brahma Sutra : 1-1-1]
 (2) na hi AtmA nAma kasyacit kadAcitaprasiddhaH prApyaH hEyaH
      upAdEyO vA ||
                       [BhagadgItA : 18-50]
 (3) sarva SRutiShu cabrahmanyAtmaSabdaprayOgAt ||
                       [bRuhadAranyaka : 2-1-20]
 (4) ya Eva nirAkartA tadEva tasyasvarUpam ||
                           [brahma Sutra : 2-3-7]
(5) AtmA hi nAma svarUpam ||
                            [brahma Sutra :1-1-6]
 Hundreds of such passages are availablein the commentaries of
 Sri Shankara. It is self evident fromthe above passages that
 Brahman/Ishvara is none other than onesown TRUE NATURE. This is not
 something based on faith but on one'sown anubhava which is
 self-evident, self-established ,self-luminousTRUTH. Sruthi and
 acharya help us to see this fact withinourselves as said by the
 Sruthi " AtmanyEvAtmAnam paSyati ||Bru.u. 4-4-23".

 Here the word used  is "paSyati" which means 'sees','cognizes', 'apprehends'. 

It does not say "Have faith" . Vedantic truths arenot meant for either blind
 acceptance or blind faith. Faith is bornout of realization of the
 truth. The sequence is " Trust the wordsof Sruti/Acarya, see/verify the
 vastu which the Sruti/Acarya points out, and asa result of this faith
 dawns".

 Divinity andIshwarthvam  are already there for us to claim as our birthright.



 Mere attending the discourses of theteachers is not going to
help  a mumukshu. He has to see the factwithin himself and the teacher
should help the mumukshu to cognize the teaching within himself. The
 teaching should never remain as dead words,it should be a living
fact.Mere faith makes one to cling to dead words. It will make one a
 mantravit but not an Atmavit which isthe goal of every sincere
mumukshu.
The above understanding of mine is dueto the grace of my
revered Guru .

 

With respectful namaskars,

Sreenivasa Murthy