In the spirit of Vedantha

Dear Sri,
Good that you made the above statement.
I am a MIL as well as a student of Vedanta.
You did make me slightly "wriggle" with your leader post. Hence I posted my detailed (boring?) reply, glorifying vedanta practised in present days - not the folklore " varattu vedantam".
So, Sri, you came a full circle & admitted that as many come with a serious intention to listen, as much as those who come for "other reasons" !
Now, all is well that ends well!!
Regards,
Chithra.

 

Dear Sri,
I understand the intention "hidden" in your reply.
You talk of "highly evolved souls" ! How could you dare compare poor poor me, a mortal full of follies with Bhagwan Ramana & none other than Vishnu ?
You seem to be nearing an "evolved" stage - how blessed I am to interact with a near Jnani !
Even after reading the vedanta in the Gita, I am literally groping to learn, how to " perform my allotted duty true to my conscience". " Banda pasham" plays a leading role very often in the multi various roles, I play in life, as a woman.
Sri, you want to clean bowl me & send me back to the pavilion? It is not that easy & I will prove to be a tough nut to crack ! ( not that I am one, with the nut-cracker around me always !!).
Love,
Chithra.

 

Dear Sri,
Please do not think, I am going on & on - well, you lead me to it.
Self knowledge needs a guru, unless one is Venkatraman.
My teacher spends 1000 rs per hour from his hand for the auditorium rent & takes us classes - there is no fees.
I still insist
learning vedanta involves 3 stages::
Learning vedanta is a consistent and systematic study of the scriptures for a length of time under the guidance of a competent guru. This is the journey of guru and student together.
The student is likely to get many doubts initially. Instead of asking the guru, he should make a note of all the doubts. As the teaching opens up new vistas, new information is unfolded and all doubts get cleared ! Faith in the scriptures and the teacher is essential.
Once the student has done a complete comprehensive study of the teaching, all his questions will be answered. The student is convinced to accept the teaching.


After this, the student can come out with any number of questions. All the doubts are “ attacked” by questioning. This is called mananam. This goes on until the student is convinced without any doubt, about the teaching. Now the conviction has come that I can be independent. But having been addicted to dependence, it is difficult to be independent. Slowly I have to learn to come out of dependence.

Next, the student goes through the withdrawal symptoms of dependence and learns to handle them. This is the discovery of true independence. Gradually he learns to drop dependences arising out of fear. He discovers that he can live alone, withut people around. In short
this helps in converting knowledge into emotional strength.

Well, I strongly endorse the view that vedanta is best not self-taught. I very well know a person who claims to be self -taught, but whatever he utters is just opposite of what is given in the scriptural text. He is more injurious to society !

Sri, with this, I go my way ! It is best for both of us to agree to disagree & part as friends ( ofcourse only in this thread !) till we interact again in yet another thread !
Au revoir !!
Love,
Chithra.

 

Dear Cheeniya sir and Chitra,

Actually i thought you two were very nicely discussing this aspect from both sides.....i am sure like me many others were benefitting from this! So please both of you please do not go in 2 different directions now.....

I fully understood both points of view! I agree with Cheeniya's initial post, it was just a writeup on how things like vedanta lectures are being made as fashionable, status linked platforms, by a few ! It was meant to be just an article!
At the same time what Chitra has said about attending vedanta classes or discourses for helping oneself to clear doubts etc is also correct! Not many of us have opportunities at home as kids to hear all this from grandparents or parents. So for such people who would like to comprehend the meaning of life , these vedanta or lessons in spirituality or whatever u call it is absolutely necessary. I for one would say that i have benefitted a lot from Chitra's sharing of her notes from these classes with all of us! Many of us have learnt so many aspects.
By the way,here we are not talking of rituals, ....na na.....we all know that it is just for personal satisfaction and a kind of purification and calm that we do that! But understanding life and drawing mental and emotional courage /strength at many times in life is what i feel vedanta or the studying of scriptures does! And many a time these classes do that, if Attended by the Proper Audience!

So plz dont say "au revoir" and "part as friends" ! We are all waiting to see the White behind the Rainbow! So......:2thumbsup: say Cheers and shake hands etc etc!

 

Dear Sri & Sudha,
Au revoir seems to have no relevance, now !
Sudha thinks we are arguing "seriously" !
Well, Sudha,
we decided
நான் அடிக்கறாப்போல அடிக்கறேன்
நீ அழறாப்போல அழு
to present both sides of a coin, Sudha ! Rest assured, we will not part that easily, but continue to punish the I L ites with our agreement on disagreement !
Is not " LokO bhinna ruchi:" true ?
Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi !!
Love,
Chithra.

 

Ha ha ha, sariyaana potti! :yes:

So you two ILites are making me an April Fool, with all ur playacting is it? Whatever......keep it on and i stay TUNED/HOOKED etc etc!