We are here to learn Advaita Vedanta, propounded by Adi Shankaracharya, as taught today by Swami Dayananda Saraswati (henceforth, SDS for short).
Before I go any further, some of you might be wondering "what exactly is this Advaita Vedanta?". Let me address that presumed question, and give a very brief classification of the Shastras (sacred texts)
For ease of communication, without getting too technical on semantics, we will use Hinduism and Sanatan Dharm (eternal law) interchangeably, and same goes for Upanishads and Vedant (and you will soon see why)
Without going into too many details, let us begin the briefing
The very foundations of Hinduism lie on the four pillars, known as the Vedas. Veda is the sanskrit word for "knowledge".
They are the following:-
1) Rig-veda
2) Yajur-veda
3) Sam-veda
4) Atharva-Veda
Within the Vedas, four Purusharths (pursuits) are spoken of.
They are:-
1) kAmam - desires
2) Artham - securities
3) Dharmam - ethics
4) Moksham - liberation ( THIS is the pursuit we are concerned with)
The Vedas are furthermore divided into Karma Khand, and Gyaan Khand
the Karma Khand talks about the first 3 of the aforementioned pursuits, the Gyaan Khand talks about only Moksham, the pursuit we care about.
The Gyaan Khand of the Vedas are also knows as the Upanishads or Vedant; literally meaning, the end of knowledge (Vedant = Veda + ant = knowledge + end). This is the pinnacle of the Vedic wealth of knowledge, and this is exactly what we will be learning about in this study group. The Holy Bhagavad Gita incorporates Vedantic teaching, and it has often been called the Gitopanishad (Gita+Upanishad), so it is again part of Vedant.
I should stop here, but let me go on
Then we have the Itihasas (historical epics)
1) The Ramayana
2) The Mahabharata
These epics assimilate the teachings of the last two Purusharths (Dharmam and Moksham), and are full of morals and values, for adults and children alike.
1. What is your opinion about yourself?
Each of the vedAs contain one vakya, describing the relationship between jeeva and Ishvar. They are known as mAhAvakyas
#Prajnanam Brahma - "Consciousness is Brahman" (Aitareya Upanishad 3.3 of the Rig Veda)
# Ayam Atma Brahma - "This Self (Atman) is Brahman" (Mandukya Upanishad 1.2 of the Atharva Veda)
# Tat Tvam Asi - "Thou art That" (Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 of the Sama Veda)
# Aham Brahmasmi - "I am Brahman" (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10 of the Yajur Veda)
Each of these mAhAvakyas mean the same thing, that YOU are bramhan, not a limited miserable jeeva. Some people wonder how that is possible, let me give an analogy. When you dream at night, you dream of people, of mountains, red sunsets etc. All of these things are a manifestation of your own mind. Even the rock present in the dream is you, the self present in the dream is you, and so are the friends present in the dream. Take this analogy, and understand that everything in this jagat is only you, and that you is bramhan. Just as we are scared or pleased in a dream, without realizing there is a higher reality, same way we must understand that although we have our individual jeeva upAdhi, in reality this is not us. Tat Tvam Asi, that is the teaching of the Guru, and Aham Bramhan Asmi, that is the understanding of the student. This is 100% vedic message.
2. What is your opinion about creation?
The creator, the act of creation, and the created, is one and the same. This jagat is simply a manifestation of bramhan, just as the dream is a manifestation of your individual consciousness
3. What is your opinion about god?
There are 3 orders of reality, parmarthik (where there is only consciousness, bramhan), mithya (the jagat that we live in right now) and pratibhAshikam (false reality, such as if i imagine that i am going to wake up a millionnaire and day-dream about it, this reality can never take place and is absolutely false). False order of reality is dependent on mithya order of reality, and mithya order of reality is dependent on satya order of reality, which is pure consciousness. Bramhan is consciousness, the intelligent and material cause of everything... you are consciousness, you are bramhan...
4. What is your opinion about bondage?
A cowherd had two cows, he took them grazing and returned back. When he was about to tie them up he saw one rope was missing. A sadhu was passing by, he asked him what he should do, the sAdhu said that tie the first cow, and pretend to tie the second cow up. So the cowherd does that, and goes to sleep... next morning, both cows are still there. Then he unties the first one to go grazing, but the seoncd one doesnt follow, again the sadhu was meditating there, so now he says "pretend to untie the second cow", so he does that, and then the cow follows. We aren't bonded, we have simply been programmed by society, by our own ignorance, that we are tied down and "require to be freed"... you are ever free, you are the omniscient, omnipresent bramhan
5. What is your opinion about libertion?
I am ever liberated
6. What is your opinion about the means for liberation?
Removing the ignorance that "i am not free", don't be like the cow who thinks he is tied down... remove this ignorance through vedant.
in our life, there are three ways in which we "lose our peace"
The first is due to natural disasters that are beyond ANYONE'S control... such as earthquakes, tornadoes, storms, tsunamis, volcanoes, a meteor crashing on earth, floods. extreme heat waves etc. These things are not in our control, they are natural disasters, this is called Adhidaivika tapa
The second is due to other people, other living beings... evil people, burglary, murder, social politics, mean friends, less understanding spouse, etc... all problems caused by other beings is the Adhibhoutika tapa
The last is the way the individual hurts him/her own self... by worrying, by stressing, by making wrong decisions, by not doing what needs to be done, by doing something that does not need to be done, and other reasons and ways he can hurt himself... this is AdhyAtmika tapa
When we say shAnti mantras,
Om, shAnti shAnti shAntihih
Each of the three shAntis are to counter/avoid the three tapas.
There are three kinds of fundamental desires called as Eshana Triyam:
These are putra EShaNA, vitta EShaNA and loka EShaNA
all of them bind us to samsara
EShaNA is the attachment
putra or progeny desirabiity is perhaps the foremost attachment symbol of Astikas attachment to what needs to be achieved in here and hereafter.
A vaidika believes that gaining a putra who will perform the departed soul ceremony regularly will prevent him from falling into one of the many hells called "put"
"put" naraka patanAt trAyatE iti putra: is the sankrit description. THAT GOES HAND IN HAND WITH dAra EShaNA or the attachment to the wife, without whom the child can not be fathered.
The second is of course the attachment to security.. wealth, land, possessions of any kind.. these make us feel secure and good..
Loka EShaNA is the attachment to the gain of heavens.. so a vaidika routinely performs the nitya naimittika karmas with the firm belief that it gains the heavens after he drops the current physical body.
these three attachments keep the samsAra chakram spinning forever.
All are born out of self ignorance only.
Thus not understanding and assimilating our pUrNatvam alone causes these assumed limitations which are systematically destroyed by the proper study of vedAnta under a good guru with ever flowing god's grace.
(Thanks to Prashant)
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