 Vedantism vs Advitha When the report was being assiduously spread by the enemies of reform that Maharishi Dayanand had refused to hold a shastrarth, some Sadhus elated by the report hastened to the Swami’s quarters, and coming into his presence, said that they had sought him out with the view of holding a discussion with him. “Vedantism,” was the reply of the leader of the band, a man of learning.
Swami ~ “To begin with, please explain what do you mean by Vedantism?”
Sadhu - ”Vedantism is that which teaches that the world is false and that God is the only true existence.”
Swami ~ “What do you understand by the ‘world’ (Jagata)? What things are included in your ‘world’ and what do you mean by the term ‘false’ (Mithya)?”
Sadhu - ”Whatever there is from atoms up to the sun, is called the ‘world’ and all that is in it, is false and unreal.”
Swami ~ ”Are or are not your body, speech, moving about, updesha, guru, and books included in this world also?
Sadhu - Yes they are.”
Swami ~ “And is your religion also included in this or is it outside of it?”
Sadhu - “Verily, that too is included in this.”
Swami ~ “When you yourself admit that you and your guru, your faith and your books, your speech, and your updesha are false, what can I say to you? The case, according to the statement of the claimant himself, deserves to be dismissed. There is no need for witnesses here. -Swami Dayananda]
The above dialogue of Maharishi Dayananda proves that the Advaita is nothing to do with Vedas. Sage Sankara, introduced Advaita modified it on the base of Vedas to uplift the Sanatan Dharma, which was in ruins in the hands of Buddhism and Jainism. The Advaita is an extension of Buddhism. Looking at the preaching and books written of Sankarachryas of the four pietas, who themselves base on Vedas are indulging in rituals, worships, and glorifying individual Gods and themselves, whereas the Yajur Veda declares one should not indulge in such things. Because of the same reason, Bhagavan Buddha and J.Krishnamurty rejected the religion, concept of god, and scriptures. They must have studied deeply and found them inadequate and useless in the pursuit of truth before rejecting them.
When Sage Sankara’s great Advaitic declaration: - The world is unreal and Brahman alone is real and everything is Brahman cannot be realized through action, rituals, and conduct oriented religious Advaita. Religious Advaita is merely priestcraft meant for the mass. Thus the religious Advaita is based on the birth entity whereas, Sage Sankara declares the whole world is unreal that means, the birth, life, and death, which takes place within the unreal world is bound to be unreal.
|
As declared by Vedas and Upanishads: - the main aim of human life is to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The time one spends in religious rituals, glorifying gods and gurus is wasted. One should utilize that same time to acquire Self-knowledge, which is his prime goal.
The Sruti itself says: "This Atma is NOT to be attained by a study of the Vedas. - Katha Upanishad I, 2, 23.
Why study of scriptures when Shruti itself declares,” This Atman is NOT to be attained by a study of the Vedas.” Thus the people who are after Vedic moksha will not attain it through Hindu orthodoxy. As Vedas declare it is beyond Vedas. Where Veda ends (VEDA- ANTH) then only there is moksha. Thus the present Hinduism, which is the mother of all hotchpotch ideology, is not the means to the prime goal to acquire Self-Knowledge as declared by Vedas.
Self-knowledge cannot be attained by the study of the Vedas and intellectual understanding or by bookish knowledge. Therefore there is no use in studying the Vedas and other scriptures in order to acquire non-dual wisdom. That is why Bhagavan Buddha rejected the scriptures, and even Sage Sankara indicated that the ultimate truth lies beyond religion, the concept of god and scriptures.
Brahmin is the one who has realized the Brahman or ultimate truth of God in truth and helps fellow seekers towards the inner path. The one who knows Brahman knows his body and his experience of the world are mere illusion and also he knows his body and his experience of the world are also as Atman [consciousness], which is Brahman. Thus, the priestcraft which is crafted on the body-based theories will lead one to hallucinated moksha. But real moksha or freedom is possible only through non-dual wisdom.
Thus it is necessary to follow the path of Brahman not the path of the priestcraft. Only by dropping all the accumulated priest-crafted baggage, one has to move forward to reach the nondual destination in lesser time and effort.
Sage Gaudapada says:~The merciful Veda teaches karma and Upaasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect.
This clearly indicates that religion, which is based on individual conduct, prescribes karma and Upaasana to people of lower and middling intellect, therefore religion is for the lower intellect. And wisdom is for those who are capable of inquiring into their own existence to know and realize the ultimate truth, which is Brahman.
Bhagavad Gita:~ brahmano hi pratisthaham- Brahman is considered the all-pervading consciousness, which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (14.27)
Sage Sankara’s notion of Maya, the cosmic illusion must be transcended in order to realize the truth of Brahman, which means ultimate truth.
If Brahman is considered the all-pervading consciousness then, it is necessary to realize, the consciousness as self, which pervades all the three states, to realize the fact that there is no second thing that exists other the consciousness. Thus, consciousness [Ataman] is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.
They alone in this world are endowed with the highest wisdom who are firm in their conviction of the sameness and birthlessness of Ataman. The ordinary man does not understand their way. [Chapter IV — Alatasanti Prakarana 95-P-188 in Upanishads by Nikilanada]
Therefore, if one is seeking truth he has to know his true self is not physical but it is the Ataman, which is in the form of consciousness.
There is no scope for debate and argument in pursuit of truth. Seeker has to verify the facts of any claim, if find them to be true then only accept them. It is not correct to impose ideas on others when they are not ready to accept anything other than their accepted truth. There is no need to prove whether Bhagavan Buddha is right or Sage Sankara is wrong. But the seeker's only mission is to know, how to realize the nondual truth, which is propounded by the Buddha and Sage Sankara and Sage Goudpada? Since present practices are based on conduct and action, and they are based on the false physical self [ego]. What are the fatter and obstacle in realize the nondual truth? How to overcome the obstacle on the path of nondual truth?
The entire Hindu tradition, including of course Vedantic orthodoxy, rested on sexual, social, national, and religious discrimination—women, the sudra or lower caste, outcasts, and foreigners were excluded from Vedantic teaching. All the discriminations are obstacles in pursuit of truth.
In fact, Sage Sankara himself had gone beyond the barriers and taboos of caste: in performing funeral rites for his mother, he broke the rules of the Brahmin caste.
The ordinary people, who find security in the idea of causality and thus in the idea of God—and Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter. Those of superior intelligence, have no need of this idea of divine causality, and can therefore dispense with scriptures and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason.
There is only one Reality to be known, the same for all seekers, but the ways to it, are hidden by the religion. Self-discovery is the only way, towards non-dual Absolute without any religious doctrines, which will help the seekers to unfold the mystery of the illusion in which we all are searching for the truth of our true existence.:~Santthosh Kumaar
