Journey From Many to One / Essentials of Advaita Vedanta

"He who seeks will find." - Gospel of Thomas Saying 94Trigger content: I believe Advaita Vedanta as well as other teachings of this nature should be reserved for mature and experienced scholars due to the complex and esoteric nature of the teachings which require a certain level of spiritual maturity. This is also why the Shach (the Sifsei Cohen), says that one must be 40 before they can learn kabbalah as it requires some level of maturity. Same goes for any text that is direct in nature. Just my two cents.Now. Journey From Many to One (Essentials of Advaita Vedanta) is one of the first books I purchased about Advaita Vedanta. It points directly to absolute Truth (One/Self) which may change your understanding of Life.It is in line with such sayings as "Tat Tvam Asi," "Om Tat Sat," or "Shivohum/Shivahum," "Aham Brahmasmi" or simply "Om/A-U-M."However, one of the shortcoming is that it fails to address why there is "Differentiation within Oneness" or "Why is Self Different or Diverse in Life". If we want to go full circle and understand the purpose of life, we must be willing to ask the question "why is there diversity" beyond the rather dreadful refrain that it is an illusion (for then we can ask the counter question: "why does the illusion of separateness exist").To find answers to this question of all questions we can turn to several other important texts. Take, for example, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad which speaks of cosmic loneliness as being the trigger of our origins. The ancient Indian cosmologist thus opted for common sense Jnana (science/self-knowledge) for elucidating the first cause of things. I would also suggest reading the Isha Upanishad.Jesus makes it similarly clear. The meaning of Life is Love. Bang. Very simple. Very true. It is why he says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples." Perhaps because HE (HE means "This One" in Latin) realized that all this is Self and that any difference exists to be able to Love and be Loved in return.I would also like to mention an overlooked yet highly significant word that Kṛṣṇa spoke of when talking about the Reason for everything; this word is "Saṅgera." It could be translated into English as "constant companionship."The physicist Wald Wassermann explains the deeper significance of the word "Saṅgera" in the following excerpt: "It is Ram Shanker Misra who stated that Brahman has no purpose in creating the world for Brahman is full of all perfections; thus the world is born out of freedom as distinguished from necessity. Unfortunately, this is erroneous for the simple reason that that which is called Brahman is Self (otherwise known as The Self, Allah, Buddha, Cosmos, Christ, God, Atman/Paramatman, Krishna, Shiva, The Tao, The Universe, et al). What it means? Self is all that is, and all that is, is Self. As such The World. The World is Self, and Self is The World. It must be first remembered that The Word, which is Self, speaks all words. Now as to the purpose of Self or that which Self calls The World. Self is always Free but wills Companionship. It is not good for One to be alone. It is not good for Self to be by itself. As such One's necessity. The necessity of Self is to be able to experience Constant Companionship. Constant Companionship can only be experienced through Constant Change. Hence why it is only partially correct to state that the only constant is change for there is only One Self in Constant Change for Constant Companionship. Hence the why of the Gospel; the Gospel of Love as pronounced by Kṛṣṇa and Jesus."This philosophy (love of wisdom/wisdom of love) is aligned with the realizations pronounced in the Spanda Karika and the often-overlooked Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam. Both nectar-like gems for the advanced seeker or Self-realized person.Following in the above understanding, Sathya Sai Baba was thus wrong in saying that the Love between a man and a woman, a parent and a child, a flower and a person is somehow inferior to the love for God for all is One and the same; all is Self.Hence:Love towards all is love towards Self. Here are some quotes from people who have touched upon the realization that the purpose of Self is Love:1) Anandamayi Ma: "The ultimate goal of spiritual practice is to realize the unity of all things. When we see beyond the illusion of separation, we realize that we are all one, and that love and compassion are the only true paths to happiness."2) Franz Rosenzweig: "All future events are merely a reproduction of the first moment of Love, giving birth to itself from an inner womb that continuously fertilizes itself. Love carries in itself its everlasting renewed beginning."3) Rabindranath Tagore: "Love is the only reality and it is not a mere sentiment, it is the ultimate truth that lies at the heart of creation."If I find some other quotes, I will definitely add them to the list.

This is now one of my favorite books! It will definitely be one of my "go-to" books from now on. I consider myself a student of spirituality and read everything I can get my hands on about all the faiths and it has changed my life in so many wonderful ways. I think one of our greatest problems in the world today is fear of the unknown -- mainly the different religions in the world and the fear of loosing ours --- by learning about the various world religions, I am learning that God speaks to His children in many different ways unique to us because of our cultures, times and places in the world. The one thing that sounds out the loudest to me is that jwe are all worshipping God, the Creator, the Buddha, the Brahman, Al-Lah, the Great Spirit - whatever you may call Him - He/She - IT - belongs to us all.

This books covers lot of ground, not in-depth though, on advaitha vedanta. So this is like a under-graduate level 3 year course book written in English. In my opinion, a person who is reading this book is seeking some knowledge or Q&A to life events. Swamiji (from Ramakrishna Mission order) uses the right mix of sanskrit words and explanation. It is important to remember that Sri Ramkrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivkenanda are two people who had the actual experience of God/Brahman.I am also a student, some thoughts, in no particular order.1. Learn basic sanskrit or use your native Indian language books. Advaitha concepts are hard to understand using English.2. Read many books written in native language with sanskrit verses to understand the meaning.3. Read books by original authors or the main acharayas (Shankaracharya and Sringeri Mutt acharyas) or from a respected Swami4. Listen to Pravachan / Discourse.My review of Shankaracharya's book named Aporokshanubuti or Self Realization - may help others.My review is for informational purpose only. I am not qualified to talk or comment on Adi Shankaracharya's work in any shape or manner.I came across this "yat sakshat aparokshat brahma" vakya (sentence) while listening to Sri Samaveda Shanmukha Sarma's discourse on Dakshina-murthy Stotram. In that discourse while explaining slokas, Sri Sarma makes this statement that is given in Bhridaranya upanishad.Meaning of this "yat sakshat aparokshat brahma" is what that is 'aparoksha" everyday is bramha. There are three Sanskrit words / terms (that are loaded) here: pratyaksha, paroksha and aparoksha ,with my Kannada language knowledge it was fairly easy to understand, but it is hard for a non-Indian language person to understand head or tail to this sentence.1. That which is not "pratyksha" (pratyksha -that can be seen with naked eye), is paroksha.2. That which is not pratyksha is "aparoksha". So remember no pratyksha means it is "aparoksha" (for this topic at least)3. Shankara did not use the word - Paroksha (meaning that which is not seen).4. That knowledge that you get by understanding vedanta philosophy is "Paroksha" Jnana / Vidwat or you become Vidhwamsa. But this is not "anubhuti", this is just expertise in a subject. Like a professor of corporate strategy -only talk and case studies, NO actual experience running a company.So this text deals with "aparoksha" -which is always there call it brahman, chit, pure consciousness (truth is sat, or asti in sanskrit)And how to realize that "aparoksha" - anubhuti is to experience that "aparoskha" using various means that is not perceived by indriyas (senses).Watch Professor Brian Cox's Wonders of universe. You need a special equipment to see the origin of universe (light waves and radio waves, special telescope and special equipment to record radio waves at different end of spectrum). He is explaining science. Read Shankara's advaitha tatwa. They closely match - at the highest level, all matter and energy in universe is one and same, but due to density ripples, same thing is seen differently (as stars, planets, life etc). This universe's primordial sound is captured using special equipment by scientists.So in a similar manner, if we are to experience that "self" in us, then we need special equipment (call it samadhi phase). So Shankara always talks metaphysics and adwaitha (another indirect word -there are no two things, why not say, there is only one thing?)Finally note: The more science advances , advaitha siddhanta of Vedas (and clarified by Adi shankaracharya in his works) will be proven again and again. (statement by Swami Vivekananda). Think about this profound statement - No other religion or country can make this statement except Hindu philosophy (sanatana dharma). That is because the entire brahmanda (universe) starting from any (atom) is made of same material. This is what science tells us (2004, 2001 Big Bang theory, proof that all matter in us, animals, trees, banana, rocks, space and stars has same origin)Anubhuti: Is feeling the actual "aparoksha" , getting that experience. Reading a book is understanding its "artha" formation of sentences, meaning, etc. But "feeling" is different and that is what Sri shankara is referring to.Dristantha versus Siddhanta (seeing and forming opinion versus logic, experience based realization) -Most world religions (except hindu philosophy) is based on a story -Drishtanta (there is hell or heaven, you do this, you get hell or heaven, do not do this, convert non-believers to its own religion, other people are useless, no karma, if you do bad, you can go to some person and confess, and somehow things go away - all this based on human logic).Whereas - Hindu philosophy is based on Siddhanta and experience (darshana - people / rishis , Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharishi recently). Logically Shankara shows that there is something out there beyond your senses that can be experienced. That something out there is the "truth" and to experience that you need special equipment.PS: Not related to any mission. I am student of vedanta.

Very well written book. Swami Bhaskarananda uses a lots of examples to explain the concepts of Advaita. A very useful book to get oneself started on Advaita Vedanta. Though the book is in English he doesn't compromise for the western audience by mapping Vedantic concepts to biblical terms. A mistake which many writes of Hinduism do, thus changing the meaning of the original word or the underlying concept. He retains certain crucial words in Sanskrit.

This book is for everyone. If you’re a seeker of self, a person who believes in nothing or you’re from a religious background and your curious, this is the book for you.Just about all you need to know is right here in this book. Happy seeking 🌱✨

This book contains the essence of Advaita and makes it easy for the reader to understand. If you are looking for a cursory knowledge of Advaita and want to have an overview of its teachings, this is the book for you.

Explica com analogias simples e inteligentes conceitos e estados complexos que uma pessoa pode atingir. De fato uma obra prima do Sw B.

For anyone who is curious to know about Hindu philosophy - not that which is experienced by way of temples, rituals and festivals - this is the one-stop shop for that. Hindu philosophy is so deep into the realms of abstract and meta-physical concepts. Conveying in words something that cannot be perceived or imagined is no small task. This books excels for this very reason. Written in lucid manner that any layman can comprehend and rich with analogies that help in the understanding of abstract constructs.Where this book excels is that in a simple language it describes the concepts, explains why and how these concepts are relevant in our lives and also provides pointers to how one may attain that supreme state promised in Vedanta. I have never read any other book that covers all these aspects. Definitely this is one marked for re-read.

I haven't read it through yet, but is simple to understand...

Clear, powerful, confirmed many of my intuitions; a must buy.

It is really an astonishing book on Advaita Vendanta. It clearly portraits the basic tenets of non-dualism. This book completely changes your perception of world.