Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Sage Sankara gave religious, ritual or dogmatic instruction to the ignorant populace but Advaitic wisdom only to the few who could rise to it.+


Sage  Sankara: ~ 'Like a servant who carries a lamp in front of you to find your way, and you have found it, so becomes the Veda to that person. What is the Veda? - utterances of those who have known the Truth. Here is one who has known the Truth; why should he or she depend upon the Veda further? Actual realization takes you beyond books. At a certain stage, the books become a botheration. 

Ashtavakra: ~ “My child you may speak upon various scriptures or hear the sermons on the scriptures. But you cannot establish in the ‘Self’ unless you forget all. 16-1 – p49

Sages of truth restrained themselves parting the  Advaitic wisdom or Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana to the ignorant populace and it was imparted only to selected few. 

Advaitic Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana was hidden from the people who were not qualified and receptive to it. Self’ - knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana was not written down but was imparted orally to the chosen few. Thus, religion was given to the mass and knowledge of the Spirit is given only selected few. Thus, we find traces of the knowledge of the spirit in the religious books in the form of parables.

Swami Vivekananda: ~ “Advaita encompasses everything. Since Advaita requires heavy-duty intellectualism, it had to be progressively simplified. (From 'The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda)
Sage Sankara varied his practical advice and doctrinal teaching according to the people he was amongst. He never told them to give their particular religion or beliefs or metaphysics completely; he only told them to give up the worst features of abuse: at the same time he showed just one step forward towards the truth.
Sage Sankara says in Brahma Sutras: that Brahman is the cause of the world, whereas in Manduka he denies it.
Sage Gaudapada says:~ The merciful Veda teaches Karma and Upasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect.
Sage  Sankara says in Brahma Sutras: that Brahman is the cause of the world, whereas in Manduka he denies it. 
Sage Sankara founded his Advaita Vedanta either on reason independent of Sruti or on Sruti confirmed by reason."   Sage Sankara's commentary on the Manduka Upanishad, II, 1:  This (the unreality of duality) is borne out by the Srutis ... But it is possible also to show the unreality of the object world even from pure reasoning, and this second chapter is undertaken for that purpose.

Sage  Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Sruti, or revealed scripture.  This may be because, Sage Sankara addressed the ordinary man, who finds security in the idea of causality and thus in the idea of God—and Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter.  He believed that those of superior intelligence, have no need for this idea of divine causality, and can, therefore, dispense with Sruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason. 
Brahma Sutras, i.e. "Vedanta Sutras" by is intended for those of middling intellects, not for those who have the best brains: it is a semi-theological, semi-philosophical work; it starts with the assumption that Brahman exists.
The doctrine of causality taught in Brahma Sutra is not the same as our highest Advaitic non-causality. It is only a beginning towards that; it says that you do not find the effect what is not already present in the cause.
The Sutra-Bhashya of Sage Sankara principally deals with the principle of superimposition yet the pundits have not grasped its higher semantic value.
Brahma Sutras begin with the dogma of Brahman but who has seen Brahman? It is a mere empty word like 'X'. Hence it is called a book of religion, not philosophy. It is for beginners who have not yet unfolded discrimination, who believe in creation (i.e. causality) and who have to be raised.
The opening sentence is "All this is Brahman.” But nobody knows or has seen Brahman. If we say "All this is wood" and show a piece of wood, the words are understandable. Suppose you have never seen the wood. Then what is the use of such a sentence? It becomes meaningless when the object indicated is seen by none. Hence the Brahma Sutra opening is equivalent to "All this is X". Both have no meaning so long as they are not understood if we take them as the data to start from. It is for this reason this book is intended for theological minds because it begins with dogma although its reasoning is close. For it starts with something imagined.
The Brahma Sutras together with Sage Sankara's commentary thereon do not contain Advaitic wisdom. They are intended for duffers.
Sage Sankara's commentary on Brahma Sutras is not on a philosophical basis, but on a religio-mystic one, with an appeal to Vedas as the final authority.
In Brahma Sutra Sage Sankara takes the position that there is another entity outside us, i.e. the wall really exists separately from the mind. This was because of Sage Sankara explains in Manduka that those who study the Sutras are religious minds, and intellectual children, hence his popular viewpoint to assist them. These people are afraid to go deeper because it means being heroic enough to refuse to accept Sruti, and God's authority, in case they mean punishment by God.
Sage Sankara gave religious, ritual or dogmatic instruction to the ignorant populace but Advaitic wisdom only to the few who could rise to it. Hence the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd. 
Sage Sankara says:~ Keep the scriptures for children but throw them on the fire for wise seekers.
Sage Sankara says in the commentary in Vedanta-sutra that what is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead a person to the final goal. On the contrary, such acceptance will result only in evil, in something which is detrimental to our spiritual progress.

Sage Sankara said:~ Talk as much philosophy as you like, worship as many Gods as you please, observe ceremonies and sing devotional hymns, but liberation will never come, even after a hundred aeons, without realizing the Oneness. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

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