[Advaita-l] My perspective and question towards Advaita

[aham brahmaasmi]

Vijith ji,
Namaste !

Good to know you are interested in Advaita. Here's my take:

- A Guru is essential for guidance on our spiritual journey. Shastram has
definitions for who can be a Guru. I would recommend this as the first
step.
-Under the able guidance of the Guru, one undertakes a lifestyle of 1)
Karma Yoga, 2) Upasana  and later, 3) Jnana Yoga .

1) Karma Yoga involves
a- learning to do all our actions as an offering to the Lord (Ishwar-arpaNa
buddhi)
b-accepting the results karma (whatever they may be), with gratitude and
reverence (Ishwar -prasad buddhi)

2) Upasana Yoga involves
a-being blessed with mantra-deeksha from Guru and doing meditation
b- certain anusthaans, sandhyavandanam etc.

There are many other practices like Ashtanga Yoga , i.e practice of values,
yogasana, pranayama, dhyana etc.  Paying attention to diet as per
shastram is advisable, so also, fasting . Also, study of Sanskrit,
recitation of stotras, pujas etc.
All of these give one the essential qualification called chitta-shuddhi and
sadhana-chatushtaya -sampatti, for entry into Advaita vedanta.
All of these will enable a clearer understanding of Advaita and help make
it practical and very useful to find profound & everlasting peace in our
lives, a peace that is not dependent on the external.

 Most sadhakas will have to undergo all these in stepwise order in this
lifetime alone. However, some rare ones might have completed Karma and
Upasana Yoga in a previous life. If so, they tend to take to Advaita
vedanta directly and find it very useful and practical. This is because
Vedanta is a very fine knowledge, for which a steady distraction-less mind
is needed.  (Karma and Upasana Yoga are meant to make the outward-looking
mind turn inward. )

In the meantime, may I suggest you please continue your advaita studies as
usual, they will certainly help, even if you don't see the results
immediately.

hariH Om !

sakshi

On Sat, 13 Jul 2024 at 14:44, Vijith s via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste everyone,
>      I am an 20 year old student studying engineering. I was born in
> traditional Brahmin family. I recently explored Advaita 2 years back, when
> vidhushekara bharati Swamiji talked on an event at sringeri. Later, I
> explored Swami sarvapriyananda Swami's videos.  And currently I am reading
> Bhagavad Geeta with commentaries of shankaracharya.
>
> Even though I am slowly understanding Advaita vedanta, I feel it hard to
> implement it in my everyday life especially in this modern world, where
> students are surrounded by attractions, distractions and desire. So how can
> I tackle this and stay unaffected by desires in today's world?
>
> Om tat sat
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