Hari OM
Application - that is what
'Workings-days' are about!
If Sadhana Panchakam, the first text we covered, is the whole of
Vedantic living in its five verses, we are left with how to fill in the
complete picture from that summary. This is where we need to make the decision
to study. As instructed in the first shloka, the study is to be of scriptures -
but that doesn't only mean the Vedas, Upanishads and Gita. It includes all the
peripheral texts of the truly great teachers and most notable of all, Sri Adi
Shankara. It was he who collated all the available information and formulated
the prakarana grantha (beginner texts) which would enable anyone, absolutely
anyone, who had the desire and intellectual grit to rise from their current
spiritual position to something higher.
The most basic text is the TattvabodaH, which we covered at length
here. One of the things which early students struggle with is the different
concept of "God" which Advaita Vedanta has. Indeed, God, as such, is
not actually mentioned. It is Self - Aatman - Consciousness that is spoken of
and then there are deity forms used for expressing the different aspects of the
material cosmos.
For today's work, please review these two posts, taken from the
TattvabodaH series.
If you are new here and haven't yet read this text, then go the
first post (here) and begin your
exploration!
