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Re: some doubts on advaita

From the Bhakti List Archives

vidya • February 16, 1996 


>         I am not aware of this 'advaita theory of two truths'. Is it that
>         for advaitins living in this material world, sarguNa brahman exists
>         and that they should offer saraNaagathi to Iswaran?

In the most traditional setting, only sannyasis can be real advaitins in 
any proper sense of the term advaitin. Those of us who do not have the
requisite accomplishments that allow us to take sannyasa have to live by 
the codes of the SAstras. In this world, saguNa brahman exists as much as
you and I exist, (which we never doubt, by the way), and SaraNAgati is 
recommended as a superior spiritual sAdhana. Besides, in order to gain
AdhyAtmavidyA, one must necessarily take SaraNa with a guru also. 

The difference between the advaitin view and other views on SaraNAgati is 
that in our view, SaraNAgati is a means to an end, not the end itself. This
does not preclude the possibility of there being other means to the same end. 

Regards,

Vidyasankar