Philosophical Views and Certain Knowledge

nanda chandran vpcnk at HOTMAIL.COM
Wed Apr 28 12:48:03 CDT 1999


>Well Said Nanda chandran.Yes Atma Vichara really helps,from my
>personal experience I am able to understand Archaryas philosophy much
>better now as I had had some experience about which I cannot tell but
>these experiences defintely pushed me more into Advaita. To me
>bhakti,japam and vichara works, to others it may be different. For me
>bhakti and knowledge go hand in hand. I cannot think about the one
>without the other,to me knowledge without bhakti,appears to be very
>dry.

SAdhana involves two things : 1. Atma VichAra and 2. To co relate the
knowledge obtained from Atma VichAra with your normal life and stand
by that knowledge, against whatever odds that life might pit against
you. This is represented by the practice of virtue, control and
compassion in empirical life.

For the second, it's very difficult to do it alone. Here's where
bhakti comes in. Ishvara would help you observe virtue, develop
control and compassion and increase your efforts towards Atma vichAra.

But only Atma vichAra can lead to mOksham (Cp with Purusha Shuktham,
which says that reaching into the heart is the only way to reach the
Purusha). Ishwara can only guide you and help you, but you have to put
in the effort to liberate yourself.

Even as per Patanjali, Yoga doesn't mean union with the Supreme Being.
It's only the separation of  Purusha from PrAkrti. And Ishwara is the
God who helps the aspirant in the process.

Again as MadhusUdhana Saraswati says : "For some jnAna isn't possible;
For others Yoga isn't possible". For those who're unable to do Atma
VichAra, they should practice eka chittam or single mindedness, which
would lead to chitta vritti nirodham or the cessation of mental
modifications, which would in turn lead to mOksham.


_______________________________________________________________
Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com



More information about the Advaita-l mailing list