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Non-Advaita approaches

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
I think Alan Watts is largely to blame for this. In one of his books or other writings he used the example that Brahman likes to play hide ‘n seek with itself. He made it sound like Brahman is a lonely child that makes up imaginary friends.

If I remember correctly something from Adi Shankara, he said the nature of Brahman is to create.
Difference there. Does Brahman has any need to create? It is not involved, it is self-sufficent. Does it want worship? No. Therefore Brahman does not create what we perceive as things. It is our illusion. Brahman is not interested in games. No God, no soul, no creation, no birth, no death, no judgment, no heaven, no hell. All these are our own doodles.
 

Jainarayan

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Staff member
Premium Member
Difference there. Does Brahman has any need to create? It is not involved, it is self-sufficent. Does it want worship? No. Therefore Brahman does not create what we perceive as things. It is our illusion. Brahman is not interested in games. No God, no soul, no creation, no birth, no death, no judgment, no heaven, no hell. All these are our own doodles.

That’s what I think. It’s not a desire or need. It’s just what it does.
 

Jainarayan

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Staff member
Premium Member
Alan Watts is a good teacher, and more into Zen. He had a correct intellectual understanding of Advaita and eastern philosophy and did not dishonestly distort it to assert any preexisting ideologies or personal theories which would have deluded people further.

I would say his contributions are on the positive side.

I have a couple of his books. I may give them a read again. Y’know, as we go along we learn things that make things we previously didn’t understand understandable.
 

ajay0

Well-Known Member
I have a couple of his books. I may give them a read again. Y’know, as we go along we learn things that make things we previously didn’t understand understandable.


Trust me, Alan Watts is a Britisher, but he has a much better understanding of Advaita than some of those Indians who are self-proclaimed experts over here .

This saying of his based on eastern philosophy is very eloquently and articulately put...

A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts. So he loses touch with reality, and lives in a world of illusion.
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
People of Brahma-Kumari Foundation are not Hindus. They should not be posting in Hindu DIR.
They should happily part ways with us. I wish them progress and prosperity.
Since, they believe in what Lekhraj Kirpalani said, they are one of the New Revealed Religions. RF has a forum for that.
They are to Hindus like what Bahais are to Islam. Same for Swami Narayans and Arya Samaj. They are only polluting Hinduism.
 
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ajay0

Well-Known Member
There are many non-advaitan paths in India, and the Prajapita Brahmakumaris is one among them.

The Prajapita Brahmakumaris is a monotheistic Hindu sect which came up in Sindh, part of prepartitioned India.

They worship God Shiva and consider the Shivalingam as representing God as an incorporeal point of light. This is the same as Jyotirlingam, which is an another name for the Shivalingam, with Jyoti meaning light. Swami Vivekananda has also considered the Shivalingam as representing a cosmic pillar of light.



upload_2020-6-20_15-10-0.png




The Brahmakumaris are allowed to hold exhibitions in temples in India, highlighting their philosophy and teachings, and showing the regard they enjoy among the Hindus.


The Prajapita Brahmakumaris holds the unique distinction of being the world's only spiritual organization led, administered and taught by women and they have centers all over the world in almost every country teaching 7 day courses free of cost , which includes their religious philosophy and meditation techniques. One of the themes of the Brahmakumaris is the empowerment of women all over the world as spiritual leaders and teachers.

They have received seven UN Peace Messenger Awards for their services around the world in the interests of global peace and harmony.


https://www.brahmakumaris.com/association-with-un/

Association with UN - Brahma Kumaris News and Events

Centre locator


The Lingayats, Arya Samajis, Brahmo Samajis, Kabir Panthis are also monotheistic. The Sikhs are also a Dharmic monotheistic sect with a similar philosophy to Arya Samaj and hold similar beliefs related to veneration of Om, belief in reincarnation and Moksha through extinction of karma.


The Brahmakumaris also believe in equality, fraternity and liberty, and do not
endorse casteism, and is compatible with modern democracy and political freedom.

They also endorse the empowerment of women in leadership positions in India and all over the world and call for the education of the girl child along with proper nutrition.


They have emphasized their opposition to child marriage, which inhibits girls education and health, and compromises the full potential of girls to contribute to the world. They have also voiced the need for the elimination of all harmful practices such as female genital mutilation, forced marriages and so on.

Female foeticide, dowry burnings, child marriage and illiteracy of women are major sociological problems in India even now impeding India's development to a developed nation.

https://www.guardian.co.tt/article-6...466.81ee6a8f0d


Due to rising incidence of criminal incidents against women and children in India, I support the Prajapita Brahmakumaris as a progressive Hindu movement like the Raja Mohan Roy led Brahmo Samaj, and Baseveshwara led Lingayats which can bring about empowerment and organization of Hindu women in the mainly patriarchal Indian society and reduction of crime statistics against women in India.
 
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Martin

Spam, wonderful spam (bloody vikings!)
It is very unfortunate and tragic that you said this, and I was expecting something of this sort.

Advaita is very simple to learn, and in the right minds can lead even to enlightenment which is very auspicious for the world, especially in these troubled times.

Unfortunately Advaita as a philosophy has been repeatedly put forward in a confusing way by people ignorant of the subject but feigning knowledge and 'enlightenment' to dupe gullibles. And this is one of the main reasons it has become quite confusing and hard to discern.

I have explained about this phenomenon in this post

Hindu website

What I've noticed on this forum and elsewhere is a wide range of interpretation about what Advaita is. I'm beginning to understand what's authentic, and what isn't. One problem is that the Internet is full of "experts", and such people substitute confident assertions for wise reflection.

Anyway, could we stick with non-Advaita topics here?
 
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Martin

Spam, wonderful spam (bloody vikings!)
I've said a lot in this thread re non-Advaita, including just a few minutes ago, and consider myself a non-Advaitan who follows the path of bhakti yoga.

What's your approach to bhakti yoga? Could you say more about that?
These days I'm more interested in methods than beliefs. I have my own practice, but I'm always open to suggestions.
 
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Sw. Vandana Jyothi

Truth is One, many are the Names
Premium Member
Meerkatji, it's far less important what MY approach to bhakti yoga is than what God and His true devotees, i.e, the Masters, saints and sages of all religions have recommended for millennia. But what I can say is this, that by following those recommendations along with heaps of unearned grace, the result is an undeniable increase in spiritual knowledge, devotion and contentment.

That said, I can lay out a few methods which have served me very well. First and foremost, I attest to the efficacy of chanting the Holy Name(s) of God, that is the use of mantra--the divine dispensation you might say for Kali Yuga. Maan means mind, tra means beyond. A chattering, undisciplined mind is the bane of advancement on any spiritual path. Mantra is the way to tame it. If one does not yet have a guru to guide and give a personal mantra, then the safest mantra (and extremely efficacious! Extremely, I tell you from personal experience with it) is one which can be chanted by and taught to anyone, anywhere, at any time. In fact, no other mantra can be chanted safely while a woman is in the first three days of her menstrual cycle. Taraka mantra is the exception--OM Shri Raama Jaaya Raama, Jaaya Jaaya Raama. I doubled the vowels where indicated to show which syllable should receive the accent. Accenting the correct syllable is important in mantra. Ramaa is another name for goddess Lakshmi, for instance, and while Kali is "evil," Kaali is the Divine Mother responsible for destroying it! So it matters. Also, your own soul will come up with a "melody" which sounds just right to you as you "chant." Wake up with it, do your day with it, go to bed with it. It's not just for use during your "meditation time." The micro-second you feel yourself going off-center or feeling anxious, you name it, pop the needle of your attention on your mantra.

Secondly, the Bible (for instance) says unequivocally that, "The pure in heart shall see God." You can take that literally and that statement is not contra to the scripture of any other religion, either. A bhakta believes in the possibility of seeing God, yearns for it and after having that experience, yearns even more for it. Purifying one's heart means addressing and defeating the six demons and their bouncing baby offspring residing in one's psyche: kama (lust), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), moha (infatuation), mada (arrogance) and matsarya (jealousy). Lust as used here is not just referring to sexual desire. One can lust after money, or food, or entertainments, etc. Taraka mantra (see above) is a very potent weapon against these inner enemies.

Thirdly, purification of the body (bhuta shuddhi) is important. This means keeping keeping it, its orifices and adjuncts clean. One must learn which foods promote health, both spiritually and physically. Abstain from foods whose principal gunas (qualities of Nature) are rajasic (passion inducing, like meat) or tamasic (lethargy producing like mushrooms or foods which grow in the dark or moldy food, including cheeses deliberately made so, and spoiled food). One's body (along with mind and intellect, etc.) can be compared to a light bulb. If the body and/or mind is filled with toxins by wrong eating and thinking, you might say it is rated as only a 25-watt bulb. But God's Light and Energy is so much more, say 1008 watts. If one does not prepare for that flood by purifying the body and its instruments, grave physical and mental harm can and will be done to the light bulb.

(There are those who say meat is tamasic but I beg to differ. Spoiled meat or food eaten on the third day after cooking it is tamasic. However, the deal with bloody meat is, just prior to and in the instant of its slaughter, the cow's blood is flooded with adrenaline, the fight or flight hormone. The human ingests that hormone, which creates anxiety and, well, passion, a quality of rajo guna. These emotions are the antithesis of the peace one is seeking through spiritual endeavor. Examine the warring, aggressive nations; you'll find most are heavy meat consumers.)

These three practices are only the tip of the iceberg, but I'm running long here. Self-surrender, acknowledging one's ignorance, praying sincerely for God's darshan (divine vision, either through opening of the third eye or through a heart-opening experience) are all keys to success, as well. Live your life in such a manner that you "catch God's attention," that is, make yourself eligible to receive God's grace. As I like to say, start with gratitude. Gratitude greases the wheels of grace.
 
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