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Introduction to Vedanta - Part III
What it means and what it doesn't - ...FAQs contd
Last weekend, I had been to a workshop on 'Vedas and Education' organised by the Web of Life Makers group (WEBOLIM) at Madurai. It is heart warming to see that the interest in learning Vedic knowledge is growing amongst the public, particularly amongst the youth. In fact, many youngsters keep away from spirituality because of misconceptions shrouding it, some of which we tried to address in the previous article. We will conclude with a few more FAQs that are often encountered.
1.
Vedantic
texts
are
subsets
of
the
Vedas
and
hence
cannot
be
revealed
or
taught
to
everybody.
Vedantic
teachings
deal
with
universal
and
timeless
truths
and
are
open
to
one
and
all,
irrespective
of
caste,
religion,
sex,
age
or
any
other
barriers.
However,
any
system
of
knowledge
or
teaching
requires
a
commitment
from
the
teacher
and
the
taught.
You
need
to
enrol
into
a
university
and
commit
yourself
for
four
or
five
years
to
become
engineer
or
a
doctor.
Imagine
the
amount
of
effort,
time
and
concentration
that
goes
into
gaining
even
materialistic
knowledge.
Similarly,
Vedanta
cannot
be
taught
to
those
who
are
not
prepared
to
receive
it.
We
will
see
what
kind
of
preparation
is
needed
to
grasp
Vedantic
knowledge
in
the
next
article.
But,
this
psychological
preparation
has
nothing
to
do
with
material,
social
or
religious
qualifiers.
2.
If
the
goal
of
Vedanta
is
the
perception
of
an
impersonal
Self
or
Brahman,
does
it
imply
that
Vedantic
seekers
are
forbidden
from
worshipping
a
personal
deity?
The
Advaita
school
of
Vedanta
does
emphasise
on
the
impersonal
Self
whereas
the
Dvaita
and
Visishta
Dvaita
schools
of
thought
are
dualistic
in
their
approach.
In
fact,
Adi
Sankara
himself,
the
propounder
of
Advaita,
established
the
shat
sampradayas
(traditional
system
of
worship
of
the
six
primary
deities
Ganesha,
Subrahmanya,
Siva,
Shakti,
Vishnu
and
Surya)
and
sang
hymns
to
them.
So,
there
is
no
bar
on
worship
or
rituals
and
it
is
entirely
left
to
the
seeker
to
choose
and
follow
his
own
mode
of
worship
compatible
with
his
family
tradition
or
by
choice.
3.
Does
Vedanta
teach
that
the
world
is
illusory
and
so
all
worldly
pursuits
and
relationships
should
be
considered
as
such?
This
perception
is
born
out
of
an
erroneous
interpretation
of
Sankara's
teachings
like
'Brahma
Satyam
Jagat
Mithya'
etc.
Neither
does
Sankara
claim
that
the
world
is
an
illusion
nor
does
the
word
mithya
mean
'illusion.'
The
attitude
of
looking
at
the
world
as
illusory
is
more
a
Buddhist
doctrine.
Vedanta
only
says
that
the
world
is
as
real
as
we
are
(relative
truth)
and
doesn't
try
to
dismiss
our
problems
or
relationships
as
illusory.
There
is
an
interesting
anecdote
about
how
Sankara
demonstrated
this
truth
to
his
students.
Sankara
was
once
crossing
a
dense
forest
with
a
group
of
students
when
a
mad
elephant
charged
at
them.
Sankara
was
the
first
to
run
away
and
quickly
climbed
on
to
a
tall
tree!
The
students
were
disappointed
and
asked
him,
"Having
taught
us
that
the
world
is
mithya,
why
did
you
run
away
from
the
mithya
elephant?" Sankara
retorted,
"How
is
it
that
you
perceive
only
the
charging
elephant
as
mithya
but
cannot
perceive
my
running
away
also
as
mithya?!"
If readers have other questions, which can be added to this list of FAQs, please post them here or email them to us.
Next Week: Preliminary Preparations for students of Vedanta
"While appreciating the article, flippancy as evidenced by "Gleefully, no Vedanta doesn't try to awaken any hidden snakepower or monkeypower within you" and "Sorry folks, but if you expect a salary hike because you read the Bhagavad Gita or attend lectures on the Upanishads, then Ill have to disappoint you" could have been avoided. I am not against humour but this attempt didn't work out You wrote: "Going by some recent news reports, some nerds in the corporate circles are trying to apply the teachings of Bhagavad Gita to management practices. Ill be reserved and adopt a policy of wait watch till they succeed."
If they really apply Gita's precepts properly The person who was teaching is certainly qualified but those who are listening may or may not be, they are bound to succeed, since minds freed from the shackles of selfish egoistic thinking will always take better decisions."
My
comments
were
neither
flippant
nor
avoidable.
They
were
aimed
at
two
distortions
which
have
crept
in:
1.
The
booming
Kundalini
yoga
business
which
spurious
gurus
are
packaging
to
cheat
gullible
westerners
and
ignorant
Indians
alike.
2.
Gita
&
Management
-
the
primary
motive
of
the
management
gurus
seems
to
be
to
use
the
Gita
teachings
to
make
more
money
and
be
professionally
successful.
While
we
may
feel
smug
about
an
Indian
scripture
being
recognised
by
them,
I
am
very
concerned
about
the
trivialisation
and
distortion
it
involves
of
the
Gita's
profound
message.
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