• Welcome to Tamil Brahmins forums.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our Free Brahmin Community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.

Guru

Status
Not open for further replies.
I

il_guy

0
Namaskar,

I have, after six or seven years, found what philosophy I want to follow. I started out in Shaiva Siddhanta, but eventually I decided I didn't like the idea of Shiva being Supreme over all the other devas, such as Maa Durga, Vishnu, etc. Despite not liking that belief, I approached my purohit to become a Sri Vaishnava, but again, decided against it because of the Superiority issue. Now I have found that Sri Adi Shankaracharya's Advaita Vedanta is the philosophy I wish to follow. I want a guru from the parampara of him. My question is this: Do I wait for the guru, or do I actively seek him out?

Pranams,

Justin Lundeen
 
Sri Justin Lundeen asked :-

"Now I have found that Sri Adi Shankaracharya's Advaita Vedanta is the philosophy I wish to follow. I want a guru from the parampara of him. My question is this: Do I wait for the guru, or do I actively seek him out?"

Sri Justin, Greetings. If it is possible you may seek a Guru. Until you find your Guru, you may request Sri. Adi Sankaracharya himself to be your Guru. It is all in your mind. Kindly look at it this way - Your success depends upon understanding 'Nirguna Brhmam' in the enquiry of Advitham. If you are determined to acheive such a huge task, it may be possible for you realise Sri. Adi Sankaracharya's mind. Kindly don't consider this as a sarcastic reply. I am sincere. Kindly try to read Achryal's work as much as possible.
 
Namaskar Sri Raghy and Swaminathashrama,

Thank you for your replies. I did not know I could mentally chose Sri Adi Shankaracharya as my guru until I find one in person. The Sringeri Peetham is sending me a photo of him so that I can frame it and put it up. I could not find one anywhere else, so I appealed to the Peetham and they agreed to send me one. I was very grateful. I have not received it yet, but it hasn't been very long since I requested it. That, and, it is coming from Bharat Mata. So, I understand it will take some time. I plan on ordering the Vivekacudamani and Upadesasahasri soon. Thank you again for your help!

Pranams,

Justin
 
Dear Sri Justin Ji,

When you say you are searching for a Guru with Adi Shankara's parampara, there are a few options:

1) Visit any of the five Shankara Mathams and take one of the pontiffs to be your Guru. All these Mathams are orthodox in the sense that they emphasise both rituals (Purva Mimamsa) and Vedanta.

2) There are Advaitha follwers such as Chinmayananda or Sivananda or Dayananda Saraswathi who have established parampara starting with inspiration from Adi Shankara. Their desciples are now available as Gurus. These will be less orthodox than the matham pontiffs. They are vedanta purists

3) There are some Gurus who have found advaitham as the Truth, without even knowing about Adi Shankara, just by their own experiences. Ramana Maharishi and Nissarga Dutta Maharaj are great examples of these. These are the most liberal of the advaithins, in the sense that theit advaitham is not intellectual but rather mystical/spiritual.

4) There are numerous 'New Age' advaitha gurus, such as Sri Sai Baba or Ananda Mayi Ji and others.

I follow Ramana Maharishi, because his teachings resonate with me. And in a way He chose me as a desciple.

I would encourage you to know all these Gurus and their teachings and choose one according to your proclivity. Once you do that you will immediately see your Guru choosing you as a desciple (and in our custom, the Guru chooses you).

Good luck.

Regards,
KRS
 
Namaskar KRS,

Thank you for your information! I definitely want the pure Shankara Advaita the mathas teach. I approached a swami within the Chinmaya Mission about what is required to become his shishya. He said to keep doing the sadhana I was doing and the sadhana would tell me what to do on its own, in time. Now that you have mentioned the different strains of Advaita, maybe the Chinmaya Mission isn't the way for me to go, anyway.

I do have the book "Essentials of Advaita Vedanta" by Swami Bhaskarananda. I haven't started reading it yet as I am currently reading "Purna Vidya (A Vision of Hindu Dharma)" at the moment. Well, I'm technically reading three books at once. I normally read three or four at once. Surprisingly, I keep them straight.

I thank you all for your help in this matter.

Pranams,

Justin
 
Dear Sri Justin,

Like you I was also searching for a Guru long back. Paramacharyal was the source of inspiration for me but he could not be approached freely when he was alive. I have to blame myself also since I was very much tied up with my day to day work.

I started reading Ramana Maharishi's teachings and it was definitely a source of inspiration. Ramana Maharishi himself started his path without a Guru but a Guru evolved ultimately through Sri Seshadri Swamigal.

It was the same case with Vallimalai Sri Sachidananda swamigal. He was just an assitant to the main cook at Mysore palace. Once during his visit to his native place Palani, he got inspiration from tribal women (குறத்தி) singing Tiruppugazh. Vallimalai Swamigal didn't had proper knowledge of both Tamil and Music. But started singing Tiruppugazh which is one of the toughest Tamil compositions.

Subsequently Vallimalai Swamigal (VM) met Sri Seshadri Swamigal and Ramana Maharishi (RM)at Tiruvannamalai. Sri Seshadri Swamigal (SM)was well versed in sanskrit. Age wise RM was junior to VM and hence requested VM to approach SM for his doubts. SM asked few questions in sanskrit and VM replied him with appropriate explanations from Tiruppugazh. At the end SM told VM that Tiruppugazh is his Mantra and continue to follow it only.

In my case also, my interest in Ramana Maharishi's teachings lead me to Vaishanavi Temple, Tirumullaivoyil were followers of Sri Seshadri Swamigal, Ramana Maharish and Vallimalai Swamigal running the temple.
I personally feel Ramana Maharishi's teachings are highly rational without involving any particular God or Religion and starts with a simple self enquiry question `Who Am I'.

Please note that I am not convassing you to follow the path which I chose. It is upto you to decide your path.

All the best
 
Last edited:
Dear Sri Justin ji,

Please understand that worshipping any idol in our religion, irrespective of the story of 'supremacy' attached to that idol, is only worshipping the Paramatma.

There is no such thing as a 'pure strain' of advaitha. The Shankara Peethams are social organizations.

As long you understand this, I have no issues.

Regards,
KRS
 
Hello Justin,

If it is Kevala Advaitha of Adi Shankara that you are looking for, then i presume it is the one without rituals. In such a case, you might be interested in looking at the traditions of the Ekadandi monks. But it wud depend on your goal as well, like where you wish to possibly see yourself in 20-30 years from now on. If sanyasa is your final goal, then i suppose you could try the ekadandi monastic traditions.

Unfortunately the reach of the ekadandis is widespread only in India and to check out various groups and gurus in that sampradaya, you may have to go to India. See: Dashanami Sampradaya - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For centres belonging to the Ekadandi traditions near the place where you stay, you cud try the Shivananda Centres: Sivananda Om Site

I just read your post on the tuft that you wish to sport. If its kevala advaitha you are seeking, then i thot i cud share this with you: Paramahamsa Upanishad | Vedanta Spiritual Library

Best wishes.
 
Namaskar KRS and happyhindu,

KRS:

My apologies. What I meant by 'pure' was no outside influences from, say, Swami Vivekananda or Sri Ramakrishna. It is my understanding they changed some things from the original teachings of Shankaracharya. This could be wrong, and, if so, please correct me. I do not wish to start an argument with anyone.

happyhindu:

Thank you for that Upanishad! It is very interesting, and I admire anyone who can become such a sannyasin. I, however, need the rituals. I need to do puja, japa, take darshan in the temple, etc. I'm still waiting to get my Upanayanam performed. I had it set up, but had to cancel because of a medical condition that cropped up.

One thing about that Upanishad...It mentions the chandalas (outcastes). The Upanishads are part of the Veda...The Veda talks about varnashrama dharma, which does not include anything like the outcaste category. What's up with that?

Pranams,

Justin
 
I accidentally posted my previous reply twice. I don't know how that happened. Oops.
 
Last edited:
il_guy said:
happyhindu:

Thank you for that Upanishad! It is very interesting, and I admire anyone who can become such a sannyasin. I, however, need the rituals. I need to do puja, japa, take darshan in the temple, etc. I'm still waiting to get my Upanayanam performed. I had it set up, but had to cancel because of a medical condition that cropped up.

One thing about that Upanishad...It mentions the chandalas (outcastes). The Upanishads are part of the Veda...The Veda talks about varnashrama dharma, which does not include anything like the outcaste category. What's up with that?
Click to expand...

Ah, that possibly means you need the rituals and then slowly move on to the kevala advaitha (or so i seem to sort of understand from your post), am not sure. As you start exploring, you might come across more options too...so well, good luck in your pursuit my friend.

Reg the varna part:
Some upanishads mention varna, like Brihadaranyaka and Chandogya. Most others speak of no varnas, but are simply knowledge texts like gnostic texts.

Some ppl say that even the upanishads were interpolated at one stage (read the book "Discourses on Isavasya Upanishad" by Chinmayananda, and also go thru these: The Upanishads, Part 2 (SBE15): Katha-Upanishad: I, 1 and The Upanishads by Swami Paramananda - Full Text Free Book ) In this case too, the texts are self-contradictory. You can notice a strain of self-contradictory pattern in the Paramahansa Parivrajaka Upanishad too: Paramahamsa Parivrajaka Upanishad | Vedanta Spiritual Library

Some others say, the texts were not really interpolated, but the upanishads themselves were written in the very late vedic period by which time the varna system came to exist. That is why there is the mention of varna in them. Also its said that the varna system of the late vedic period is not the same as the jati system...varnas as classes were semi-stratified units allowing mobility and movement from one class into another. The stratified jathi (occupation) system came later, probably in the dharmashastra and puranic era..

God alone knows what's true.
 
Dear Sri Justin Ji,

"KRS:

"My apologies. What I meant by 'pure' was no outside influences from, say, Swami Vivekananda or Sri Ramakrishna. It is my understanding they changed some things from the original teachings of Shankaracharya. This could be wrong, and, if so, please correct me. I do not wish to start an argument with anyone."

The Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda are realized souls somewhat akin to Ramana Maharishi. Their teachings pull in almost all Hindu sambradhayams, sans rituals.

I just wanted to make sure that you find what you are seeking - no arguments!

Regards,
KRS


 
Sri Justin,

If you are so much obsessed with the concept of Guru in a particular sense, the chances are that you may again get disappointed. Consider the first person who taught you the first alphabet in your as the first guru. Then all along, there are many gurus. The swamy who told you to continue with your own sadhana may be quite right. Unless you get it straight from Sri Adi sankaracharya , all others teaching about Sankara Tatvas will tinge with their own interpretation.So you may feel disappointed.
It is now unavoidable that way. But own learning gamut is quite spread and vast.For any clarification you can seek help of any knowledge able person you choose.

If byGuru, you mean getting Deeksha, etc, you may visit certain places like Haridwar,Rishikesh etc where many people with intention of such Deeksha go in search of a Guru.By meeting relevant people there, you may get to the right person of your choice.

For artists(like musicians etc) the Guru is not just one.According to their acquiring knowledge, they seek next Guru, who will lead them to higher reaches. So one may or may not stick to only one Guru, but respect all of them from beginning one.

(What I posted is only a general information and not specific)
 
Namaskar,

SuryaKasyapa, I like your screen name. I recite a prayer to Surya every morning that mentions "...the son of Sage Kashyapa". Eventually, I'm going to start making an offering of water from a copper lota along with the prayer. Also, my gothra is Kashyapa.

Thank you to everyone who has replied in this thread. You have all been a big help and I appreciate it.
 
Dear Friend,

Actively seek out your guru, but also know that when the student is ready the teacher will appear.

To seek God, Truth, Love, Peace, within is the prerequisite. You must be willing to trudge the journey utterly alone.

I hope these words are helpful.
 
to il_guy(Justin) ji, Firest my best wishes to get a Guru to you. I have read your postings and replysetc., You must have one mintset firest, that is to follow Hinduism,and later you must read the relavent books, my sincre advice is this firest read small books on what is Hinduism. Then go to some books which will give some teaching about Advaitham,then you must go for bigbooks like Vivegasudamani and so on books. Your mission at present is to get Guru.The guru must firest a realized soul. He should earn for himself and not living others money. He must touched higer Regions in spirituality. He never do any meracles, his teachings should lead a person to realize self and then God. The Guru never advacate any rituals and other pooja and punaskarams.Their teachings always to uplift the mankind and every human should enjoy the Sound current which is sounding with out any interwel.He will initate you and give Names for your meditation. He will guide from your eye center towards your spiritual journy. Like Meera search your Guru and with whole heart you must cry and with one and only aim and gool as to get the guru. with best wishes S.R.K.
 
To Aruther Sir there is lot of defferences between a Guru and a Teacher.Pl log on to KIT (Kerala Iyers.com). There is a wonderful postin about Guru and Teacher. s.r.k.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Share this page

Share this page

Latest posts

Latest ads

Follow us on Social Media

Back
Top