[Advaita-l] Where are the seekers?

[Ryan Armstrong]

Dear Akilesh ji
I live in Johannesburg and am not Hindu.
Advaita Vedanta is quite universal.
So I study in a School and a large portion of the students in the School
are Hindu.
However, in general people living here of Indian descent are much more
"Western" in their thinking and modes of life.

The School was founded in London and  I met the founder when I was in my
early twenties and he in his early eighties.
It was quite evident being in his presence that very little movement
occurred in his antahkarana, and great light came from his being.
The School also studies Plato, Lao Tzu, Hermes Trismegistus and others as
these are certainly more palatable to the Western mind.
Neither are they (in my opinion) entirely "pure advaita" but ultimately the
understanding is very much subjective.
For instance, Christ said "Love thy Neighbor as ThySelf" but this is taken
to mean "Do unto others as you would would have them do unto you".
The second concept is completely dual in concept, the first in not unlike
Yajnyavalkya's saying "One loves the wife for the Self, not for the wife"
etc. in the Brihad.

In reality, सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म - it is not a question of space or place.
It is more a question of surrendering the idea of who or what I am...
However, whilst ignorance persists, to be in the presence of a guru is a
different issue...

Kind Regards
Ryan



On Fri, 14 Jun 2019 at 23:07, Akilesh Ayyar via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste,
>
> Where, today, are the bulk of the true spiritual seekers in the world to be
> found?
>
> Is the number growing or diminishing? Are there many or are there few?
>
> In the US at least, those few who have real existential curiosity tend to
> gravitate towards Buddhism, not Hinduism. American Hindus by and large do
> not seem to possess a real longing for Truth — at least so it seems to me.
> Perhaps I am misinformed.
>
> Is the situation different in India or Europe or elsewhere?
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Akilesh
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-- 
Regards

Ryan Armstrong
+27 82 852 7787
ryanarm at gmail.com