[Advaita-l] Advaita in Everyday life

Ryan Armstrong ryanarm at gmail.com
Wed Aug 22 04:43:27 EDT 2018


Dear Kathirasan ji

The beauty of the advaita tradition is that it does resonate with each of
us.
How can it be otherwise!
Unlike any other philosophy, it is not limited to a mental construct.
So if one does resort to shravanam, mananam and nididhyAsananm there is
direct anubhUti - some understanding that .even though all senses only
reveal diversity, the reality is unity.
And once "seen," That cannot be denied.

I had begun putting some ideas down with regard to the "reframing in terms
of sadhana and sadhya" - this is taking some time.
In any case, I will be attending satsanga until next Wednesday and will not
be "active" online during this time.
If you would please be patient with me until next week - I shall give a
full response then (hopefully with insights from the satsanga to assist.)


Kind Regards
Ryan




On Mon, 20 Aug 2018 at 07:12, K Kathirasan via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste,
>
> I admired your response because it is something that resonates with the
> advaita vedanta tradition. I would also urge you to reframe what you have
> said from the standpoint of sadhana (vyavahara) and sadhya (paramartha) for
> greater clarity. Perhaps in everyday life it is the sadhana of shravana,
> manana and nididhyasana that is relevant. I found that all that you have
> stated can easily be categorised within that framework.
>
> Kathirasan K
>
>
>
>
> > On 18 Aug 2018, at 9:00 PM, Ryan Armstrong via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
> >
> > नमस्ते Murali ji
> >
> > I would like to propose an answer by saying "There is no advaita in
> > everyday life!"
> >
> > This idea arose when pondering your question in the following way:
> > If advaita is something that I am practising, then is it advaita?
> >
> > In the final verse of tattvopadeSa it states nAdvaita guruNA saha - there
> > is no advaita with guru
> > And this is seen in that if there is "guru" there must be "student" and
> > thus duality.
> > BUT
> > the same verse begins bhAvAdvaita sadA kuryet - one ought to always
> foster
> > the advaita bhAva
> >
> > When turned inwards, practising cintana, advaita is evident.
> > It is also evident as "not a thing in creation" rather self-illuminating
> > once mind is at rest - that is, the mind cannot go to it.
> >
> > During daily life one cannot resort to dhyAnam or cintana at any time -
> and
> > neither should one if a householder.
> > So how does the sadA apply?
> > This seems to be answered in Chapter 3 of Bhagavat Gita - the liberation
> is
> > through the action, offering it as a sacrifice to the Supreme.
> > And to do that, mind, body - the entire aggregate needs to be at rest in
> > the present.
> > This is service, devotion and when practised to its fullness will
> dissolve
> > the division between service, servant and the beloved.
> >
> > And if experience has taught anything it is this:
> > I am only truly happy when there is not a single thought for myself in
> the
> > mind.
> > And the only way this is achieved is to devote the action to the Beloved
> > before, during and after its performance never allowing the attention to
> > move from the immanent present.
> >
> > So perhaps ...
> > There is no advaita in everyday life - everyday life is in advaita.
> >
> > Best Wishes
> > Ryan
> >
> > On Wed, 15 Aug 2018 at 16:52, Murali k via Advaita-l <
> > advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
> >
> >> Dear members,
> >>
> >> How do you practice Advaita in everyday life?
> >>
> >> An example of this would be asking the question "who woke up?' as soon
> as
> >> one is awake in the morning. (Robert Adams).
> >>
> >> It would be helpful if Sadhaks can share hints/tips that they practice
> to
> >> assimilate the teachings.
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >> Murali
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> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > Regards
> >
> > Ryan Armstrong
> > +27 82 852 7787
> > ryanarm at gmail.com
> > _______________________________________________
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-- 
Regards

Ryan Armstrong
+27 82 852 7787
ryanarm at gmail.com


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