The Advaitist

  If you're on a journey of self-discovery and feel drawn to the wisdom of Hindu wisdom and especially Advaita Vedanta , here are some hard-learned insights to guide you. These suggestions come from experience and are aimed at helping you avoid common pitfalls. 1. Don’t Be a Casual Reader of Sacred Texts Avoid treating texts like the Bhagavad Gita or the Upanishads as if they were casual bedtime reading or a novel. Simply "reading" them without proper guidance often leads to superficial understanding, if not outright misinterpretation. Why? The wisdom of these texts is in the context and explanation that only an authentic teacher or tradition can provide. Avoid: Don't be the mudha (fool) who say, “I’ve read the Gita, Quran ad Bible and find that all religion preach the same message." Or worse, the trap of equating Gita with a self-help guide and  parroting pop interpretations from slick management gurus who write books like "My Gita." 2. Be Anchore...

When did the Universe begin? From where did it come? How did it come about? At some point, most humans ask this very fundamental question. This is when people hear about the so-called Big Bang Theory. They learn that the age of the universe is estimated to be 13.8 billion years. They learn that the universe started from a point known as singularity. They learn that time also has a beginning. But then questions like what happened "before" Big Bang are meaningless. Time "began" with Big Bang, hence anything prior is meaningless. Advaita Vedanta also addresses this issue in a very logical and intuitive way. And it also provides an elegant solution to this dilemma. Swami Parthasarathy (Swamiji) , who himself is master logician himself, explains that the question of when, where from and how are themselves meaningless. Hence any answer to a nonsensical question will be meaningless. Why does he say this? Time, space and causation are part of the universe. Their existen...

Madhva was the founder of the Dvaita Vedanta or Dualistic System and was a firm proponent of Unqualified Dualism. His contention was that soul is a separate principle independent from the Ultimate Principle. He founded a Krishna temple at Udipi. His works are: a. anuvyAkhyAna, the commentary on Vedantasutra b. mahAbhAratatAtparyanirNaya

rAmAnuja, a famed Vaishnava leader founded the Vishistadvaita or Qualified Dualism , where he contends that there is only one Ultimate Principle but that souls or Spiritual Principle are also real although their existence is tied to the Ultimate Principle. According to him, in the end there is only the Ultimate Principle, but during the period of manifestation, the world and souls are separate in order to serve the Ultimate Principle. His life was dedicated to the study and spread of the Vaishnava cause and during his lifetime he restore many temples and converted many to Vishnavism. His important texts were: a. shrIbhAshya - commentary on Vedantasutra b. vedAntasAra c. vedArthasaMgraha d. vedAntadIpa

shaMkara founded the Advaita Vedanta (monism) where he contends that there is only one Ultimate Principle and everything else is an illusion (mAyA). His thesis was based on firm logic and not any other means like intuition. He founded four mathas/ monasteries i. Sringeri in Mysore ii. Puri in Orissa iii. Dvarka in Gujarat iv. Badrinath in the Himalayas His important texts were: a. commenaries on the prasthAnatraya b. vivekachUdAmaNi c. upadeshasahasrI d. AptavajrasUchI e. Atmabodha f. mohamudgara g. dashashloki h. aparokShAnubhUti