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Re: Non-duality (part 3)
Thanks for your article, Parag. I've included my comments below.
> Subject: Re: Non-duality
> From: Parag Gupta <PXG111@PSUVM.PSU.EDU>
> My brethren, Hinduism is the only religion in the world that is not based o
> n one individual great soul.
Hmmm... this may be true of modern Hinduism, but it's not really true
of the Vedas. The single-mindedness of the Vedas starts with the Rg
Veda "om` tad viShNoH paramam` padam` sadA pashyanti sUrayo..."
(1.22.20). Similarly, from the Krishna Upanishad of the Rg Veda
"svasti svasti suman^galaiH kesho mahAn
shrI-kRShNaH sac-cid-Ananda-ghanaH
sarveshvareshvaro dadhAtu"
May the great and only Lord of auspiciousness, Sri Krishna, who is
like a transcendental cloud full of eternity, knowledge, and bliss and
who is the Lord of all the demigods (sarveshvareshvara), bestow upon
us all prosperity and auspiciousness.
So, although there are many "Ishvara"s, there is only one "sarveshvareshvara"
(sarva-Ishvara-Ishvara). That's also realized in the first line of the
Brahma-Samhita verse 5.1 : "IshvaraH paramaH kRShNaH".
> It is a philosophy and a state of mind.
I think the words "way of life" are probably more accurate than "state of
mind" since both actions and intentions are important here. Also, the idea
of "state of mind" is incompatible with knowing 'sanatan-dharma', since
mind is not sanatan, but is just another material element. More on this
below.
> After Buddhism spread, Vaishnavism became a sect of Hinduism
Actually, Vaisnavism far predates Buddhism. Lord Brahma is a Vaisnava
(he wrote "govindam adi-puruSham"). Lord Shiva is one (he wrote
Ham`sa-guHya, etc.). Narada Muni is a Vaisnava (always chanting
"Narayana! Narayana!"). The Pandavas are Vaisnavas, and so are
Hanuman and Vibhisana. Yamaraja is also a Vaisnava [including in his
birth as Vidura]. The first section of Rg Veda glorifies Lord Visnu
"om` tad viShNoH paramam padam..." (Rg 1.22.20). The Ramayana and
Mahabharata focus on Visnu, as do many of the primary Puranas and
Upanisads. The Aazhvaars were active in Tamil literature for thousands
of years. So, there is no question, from a Vedic point of view, that
Vaisnavism predates Buddhism.
If you want a Buddhist point of view, look to the early Pali canons --
in a list of various theists who are spoken of in a derogatory manner,
one of the first on that list is "the worshippers of Vasudeva and
Baladeva": the devotees of Krishna and Balaram, ie the Vaisnavas.
Interestingly enough, there's more historical validity to the claim
that "after Buddhism spread, advaita became a sect of Hinduism".
Although there is a great deal of evidence of dualists, Bhagavatas,
brahmavadis [not advaitins], etc from the pre-Buddhist period, there is
little support for the postulate of nondualism before Gaudapada, who
was a few generations before Sankara. That's why the advaita-vada is
often called "pracchana-bauddha" (covered Buddhist) philosophy:
although Sankara argued against Buddhism, he did not reestablish
theism.
> I have gone through my dualist stage and a while back I saw the openess of
> nondualism!! And I found dualism to be a stage before advaitism.
Similarly, many of us have gone through our mayavadi stages and are
now finding spiritual identity attractive and have come to the mission
of Sri Caitanya. However, we don't preach our own experience in this
matter as an absolute -- we instead refer to scripture. "AtmArAmash ca
munayo ..." (see above). Monism is, at best, a stage on the way to a
true self-realization, which goes hand-in-hand with Supersoul
realization.
> Vivekananda's speech in Chicago in 1893 showed the world that advaita is the
> popular belief of most Hindus.
But advaita is not the popular belief of most Hindus. Most Hindus are
like most followers of other paths, karma-kandiyas : ritualists who
may or may not be concerned with any philosophy but do their worship
with some results in mind, like money, a good husband/wife,
etc. However, this is certainly not the be-all and end-all of the
scriptures.
Of Hindus who are concerned with transcendental philosophies, one
class is committed to jnana-yoga and the other is committed to
bhakti-yoga. Generally, the jnana-yogis are advaitists and the bhaktas
are not. However, the Bhagavad Gita, the greatest of all religious
texts, asserts bhakti as the greatest path, and proves that devotion
is superior (12.2-12.7). Similarly, a closer, contextual analysis of
the maha-vakyas that advaitavadis assert proves that there is no
reason why those statements should have an advaitist reading. This has
already been approached by many learned scholars.
Yours,
Vijay
