Antiquity of Advaita Vedanta (was Re: An Open Letter to All)

Vidyasankar Sundaresan vsundaresan at HOTMAIL.COM
Tue Jun 13 18:51:20 CDT 2000


S. V. Subrahmanian <svs_shankara at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:

>I have been reading your discussions on the list, though I did not have
>anything to contribute.  I should admit that initially I was surprised that
>you two were trying to impose each other's views.  But I did one simple
>exercise and I recommend that to other members too.
>
>I just cut out the idea as to who was writing it (ie., associating the idea
>with the person) and just read the thoughts, sometimes even blurring the
>idea of who is on which side.  It has benefitted me immensely.  The
>discussions with out the personalities behind them are very illuminating.

Just to clarify, it has not been my intention to impose my view upon others.
And in this thread, I think the same holds true for Nanda also. The idea has
only been to sharpen one's understanding of the issues involved through
discussion with those who have other views.

It is said, vAde vAde ca tattvajnAnaH - through discussion, knowledge of
truth develops. In philosophical details, both Advaita Vedanta and
Madhyamaka Buddhism are very difficult to understand. As you note, there is
probably no "one" conclusion to this discussion. If there were, the great
philosophical giants in India would have arrived at it long before now!
If you are following Anand Hudli's postings on Madhusudana Sarasvati's
Advaitasiddhi, it should be clear that we are nowhere near the capabilities
of these past authors. We try, in our own ways, to understand, and to convey
what we understand to others. Hopefully, we learn something in the process.

Regards,
Vidyasankar

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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