Dwaita,advaita And Beyond!

DWAITA, ADVAITA AND BEYOND! Srinivasan Nenmeli-K

The philosophies of Dwaita [duality, pantheism or pagan worship] and Advaita [Monism,Nonduality, REALITY, ONE,One without a second,Monothiesm] are the two opposing ends of a stand on REALITY or 'Brahman' that Hinduism proposes.There are many sects among Hindus who follow one or the other,or the many shades/hues in between.Thus if dwaita is black,advaita is white,we have several shades of gray in between in sectarian philosophies in India.

The greatest exponent in Dwaita in recent times [that is 13th century] was Madhava Acharya ,while the greatest torch-bearer of Advaita was Adi Sankara [788-820 AD] with great lineage before him.[Not to be confused with numerous Sankaracharyas' of today who are custodians of monasteries and seminaries in Sankara's name,called Sankara Mutts.]The third acharya who took a stand almost in the middle,may be a little towards right of center] was Sri Ramanuja Acharya[1017 to 1137AD] .He found that the two end positions are reconcilable and one can worship a personal God with attributes ,at the same time hold the view that the Ultimate Reality is one without a second ,i.e., pure Advaita.

There were several other acharyas who shifted their position towards left or right [like politicans holding views of conservatism and liberalism and positions in between.]I mention here only two of them who are still followed by several millions in India: Vallabha Acharya[14th century],towards dwaita with Lord Krishna

worship and Nimbarka[15th century] ,almost right in the middle.

A position line might be helpful at this stage:

|----------------------|-------------------------| Dwaita Advaita Madhwa

Vallabha

Nimbarka

Sri Ramanuja

Adi Sankara

Having given this broad picture of spectrum of dwaita/advaitic conundrum in Hinduism,let me tell you about why this spectrum exists at all, why human mind [after all every philosophy/religion is based on human mind ]seeks different levels of description of REALITY which we cannot fully comprehend at all with human mind.![A person who has lost his mind due to stroke or comatose will not ask any question about reality!.

There is an innate curiosity and urge to 'understand' Reality as it confronts us every moment of existence. When

you walk along the pavement,you find a wild flower jutting out of a crevice in a broken concrete slab.You ask yourself : How this little plant came into being? and why?".

The resurgence of Advaita and its limitations In the first place, let me state that these philosophies were not invented or 'developed' by these acharyas mentioned earlier...They merely interpreted and commented based on the texts available to them--using the scriptures--the Vedas,the Upanishads [vedanta or end portions or appendices]and Brhama Sutras.[Aphorisms of Brahman]. These philosophies are as old as the hills and may be 8000 years old if we take the original Ramayana tale as 6000BC or earlier.

Unfortunately , many western authors give the picture as if these acharyas invented them to suit the milieu when they lived.In fact there were nice commmentaries written by at least two generations before Adi Sankara on Advaita--in fact, Sankara's guru's guru {paramaguru]

Guadapada wrote the exegesis [karika]on one of the Upanishads studied even today.Likewise,Yamunacharya,the great grandfather of Sri Ramanuja wrote extensively on what is now called

Vishist-Advaita [qualified nondualism]

based on Upanishads and the Gita.[This term VishistAdvaita was coined a hundred years later by a follower of Sri Ramanuja].Further,the Alwars [5th to 9th century] have already laid the philosophical and theistic bed rock for this form.The acharyas, I must add, drew a lot from Puranic tales or Hindu mythology,especially about Lord Krishna,Lord Shiva and worship of female goddess or Devi.

The chief merits of these Acharyas lie in the fact that they popularised these philosophies with different levels of worship with temples and rituals for general population and instituted monastic orders to carry on the tradition , both at the philosophical level and at the worship [Upasana] level with formal temple worship.

The Advaitic philosophy or monistic view [there is only ONE, 'One without a second']has intellectual appeal

and seems to reconcile the apparent variations and contradictions in human life.Advaita sweeps away all these differences:that they are only apparent [illusory or 'maya'],the phenomenal life has no permanence and so no 'validity' as such;the Universe is an illusion .{jagam mithya}; the philosophers would give the analogy of seeing 'snake in a rope in a dark room'...or the pictures thrown on the movie screen,a pattern of light and shade which gives the 'picture' while in reality it is the light from the projector ,seen through the film.The screen is a piece of cloth..-- a familiar analogy of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi whom I revere so much. The Advaita also goes to other heights,rarely understood or followed by the teachers---In Advaita,there is no birth and no death;in Advaita the seer,the seen and the process of seeing merge into one;there is no subject-object relationship.Moreover, a pure advaitin has no desires and future plans or 'Sankalpa'.....the past,present and future lose their meaning...! Fine,How are we to practice these? What happens to 'me' except in full Samadhi state?

Let me add that the Advaita is an excellent philosophy to discuss,talk about and even meditate upon or contemplate....That is what the great Adi Sankara emphasized...But difficult to practise or live in the state of mind-body consciousness...Of course, one can get 'flashes of illumination' in pure advaitic mind;these are called 'Glimpses of Reality"...but they are short lived---may be for a few seconds,for a few minutes--may be for a few days...that is all.[Bhagavan Ramana gave such experiences or 'flashes of perception ' who approached him in

to many devotees

his lifetime and apparently many of

them went away satisfied..] Will these flashes or moments leave lasting impression?..the answer is yes and no...you leave the mundane world as such ;[many gurus/yogis have done that,] and disappear into woods or you become a guru of some sort or charlatan with different levels of dualistic trappings]....Bhagawan Ramana himself, in later part of life

built an ashram and a temple over his mother 's

samadhi and instituted formal worship there. Pure advaitins

would be surprised with this...but there is

absolutely nothing wrong in this...When you return to mundane conscious state,when you mingle with common folk,your mind will be forced to act thus--gently called 'prarabda' ---effect of past actions.[You may be able to say that the mind is totally destroyed,mano-nasam,but this is a qualified statement.As Ramakrishna said ,"

a small

amount of ego is left behind still! to keep the body and mind together." As long as the human body and mind exists in function,we cannot go beyond dualism.Sri Ramakrishna himself suffered from throat cancer and the resulting pain which he bore with patience and took it as part of divine dispensation.

What is the force of Dualism? The fact is that we LIVE IN A WORLD OF DUALITY WITH OUR BODY AND MIND.! When we are born, we cry and learn that you can cry or you can smile at your mother.When a spoon of food is given,you swallow or spit it out---accept or reject---dualism has entered.When you are born,the date and time of birth is noted.You know well that there is a date and time of your

death--unknown to you...This is duality.

Since duality [with good and bad,light and darkeness,joy and sorrow,happiness and misery] is the burden of existence,Acharyas and seers did not preach pure advaita as such ....but included a

lot of worship,UPASANA, with

hymns,prayers,adoration of a deity and so on....These are mental supports ,like the scaffloding you need to construct a building...Scaffoldings can be simple or complex,but they are needed in some form....These are scaffoldings for your mind...that is all. Why we worship the Holy Hill of Arunachala,why the circumambulation of the hill [Girivalam] by the devout?

To hold the mind with

focussed thoughts and deep commitment to spiritual path.

Advaita--present form of intellectual assertions True..Advaita has great intellectual appeal, like certain areas of physics or mathematics...There are learned treatises you can pick up and go on interpreting

and commenting for years.I shall mention a few of them very popular among Advaita gurus...I have read almost all of them in original or in english translations,sometimes a few commentaries as well.They all say the same thing in different words . Most scholars would place a high value on

AdiSankara's

"Viveka Chudamani" ['Crown Jewel of discrimination'],Atma Bhodam and Tattva Bodham ,[prakarana--definitions]these are like lecture notes for the novices and explains the terms.So many commentaries on these! Then Vidyaranaya's "Panchadasi',Sadananda's brief treatise on Advaita [Advaita Saram],Madhusudan Saraswati's treatise, a small treatise of Sadashiva Brhamendra[Atma Vidya Vilasam]....there are half a dozen more..You can read Ashtavakra Gita and Avaduta Gita [distilled Advaita indeed] and also Yoga Vashista, a formidable text....What do you get? Intellectual illumination, a sense of peace and calmness for a short while,a sense of even disaffection to the mundane world...All these are fine..soon you get back to the mundane world...you have to eat,sleep and talk to someone...[You may also become

intellectually arrogant,looking down upon the poor souls who cannot read or who have not touched a single book since elementary school.--The arrogance of advaitic scholars can be intimidating because they become so dogmatic and most of them fall by the wayside...[One local Acharya in India even said that by proper chanting of Vedic mantras alone one will get enlightenment---nothing else is required !He even derided the self-realization of masters like Bhagavan Ramana.!] Many are university professors like Dr T M P Mahadevan and Dr S Sankaranarayanan [Madras University]who kept writing beautifully with depth

on Advaita culled from ancient

texts.These are for intellectual embellishments.

Besides these standard texts of Advaita from the Hindus,there are nearly 100 books written by Advaita teachers in the west and a few from India in the last 25 years or so.....bits and pieces taken from here and there, adding one's own perceptions and anecdotes, and quoting [often out of proper context] words of Ramana or Nisargadatta.They give palliative or easy to understand

'interpretations' or 'insights' of Advaita---spoon feeding

to satisfy the curiosity of common seekers.They

may speak well,spiced with humor and oversimplify things..They give lectures, seminars,satsangha and even retreats for a few days.No doubt these books and lectures may give a bird's eye overview of Advaita and introduce the concepts to a lay western reader....but the Advaita practice is different indeed.

Advaitic practice and Advaitic Siddhi 1 The corner stone of Advaitic practice is asceticism.Of course, ascetic life is required even for those following dwaita.But without ascetic temperament and life-style, Advaita is a sham practice, to fool oneself and others. 2. Then advaita requires a guru----it is nice to say that your own self is your guru. We also say that when the time is ripe,when the student /chela is ready,the guru will come! Whatever the situation , a human guru is almost always necessary,though in pure Advaita, there is 'no guru-no disciple' situation...Many are engrossed in

mundane life that they need a guru to discipline and to train them and to erase their ego! 3. Long assiduous practice is essential... {In Vivekachudamani,Adi Sankara tells us that one should be blessed to be born a male,that too a brahmin and find great guru to qualify for self-realisation..This qualification for getting self-realization is of limited significance..There had been sages and saints [including womenr sages/saints] who were not brhamins by birth

or

learned in scripures who were fully realized ;Therefore this statement of Adi Sankara purports only to his school of renunciates who sought instruction from him at that time.} Now you understand that a few hours of lectures and satsangha may not give advaita siddhi or enlightenment, but only a certificate/endorsement

to teach other

novices.

What is beyond Dwaita and Adwaita? Both Dwaita and Advaita are mental constructs---in fact when you admit that there are two schools of thought, two

approaches, you are talking in terms of duality!Think for a moment! There is no such thing as Dwaita and Advaita to argue about.The supreme reality ,with capital R or small r , is beyond these.....Follow the path that appeals to your heart,anywhere along this spectrum....You will be alright. Reject the notion of two separate entities as Dwaita and Adwaita...there is a seam-less progression for each mind to follow....that will opearate...Soon you will realise reading all these dwaitic and advaitic literature is not only an intellectual exercise, but

troubling your

mind...May be a child will teach you more than all these philosophers and their texts ,whatever their role in society.Open your heart to receive the instruction from the Ultimate Source ,called Reality. Please contact: [email protected] ------Sarvajana Sukhino Bhavantu-----