[Advaita-l] Guidance of Guru.

[Sanjay Srivastava]

Amuthan Arunkumar wrote:


>again, a Srotriya guru can teach only by words. but, a
>brahmanishTha can teach by his mere presence and his
>actions.

He can inspire-- agreed. But how can teaching be transferred in this way?


>i firmly believe that the language of truth
>is silence.

I beg to differ. In advaita, "VedAnt vijnAn suniScitarthaih" shabdas are the 
language of truth. Silence has been glorified in Zen and Tao traditions-- 
not here. If we mix up the two, we would not be doing justice to either.

>i cite the examples of SrI rAmakr.shNa and SrI ramaNa
>maharshi, both of whom were brahmanishTha-s but not
>Srotriya-s.

No one denies that there could be "brahmanishtham" saints without being 
"shrotriyam". The question here is whether such mahaatmas could be effective 
teachers also? My experience is that such saints might be useful for some 
exceptionally prepared students but for an ordinary seeker it is best not to 
rely on exceptions.

Regards,

Sanjay Srivastava
8102, 14th Avenue, Apt # 3
Hyattsville, MD-20783
U.S.A.

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