Neo-Advaita and traditional Advaita--some perspectives

8/4/2019 Neo-Advaita and traditional Advaita--some perspectives

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Neo-Advaita, Advaita and Modern Gurus

N K Srinivasan Ph D

Introduction

This article aims at providing a proper perspective on learning

and practising Advaita as a means for spiritual enlightenment or

Self -Realization through Self-enquiry or Atma Vichara . The

present confusion arising out of 'Neo-advaita' developed by

western swamis/teachers who are called "sat-sangh givers" will be

clarified to the extent it can be done by a written essay. In

doing so, I will also explain the meaning of "lineage" as

understood in Hindu traditions and in the present western

circuits.

Traditional Advaita

Advaita or 'Non-duality' is a system of philosophy propounded by

Hindu philosophers for practice of Jnana Yoga or path of

knowledge. Advaita is as old as the hills and was enunciated in

the sacred scripture called the Upanishads [30 of them extant now]

which are like appendices to the Vedas and form part of "essential

principles ' of the Vedas.[This is part of "Jnana kanda" or

knowledge part as distinct from the ritual part or "karma kanda"


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of the Vedas.] Vedanta is the total system for which the

Upanishads form the major source or scriptures.Oftentimes, the

terms "the Upanishads' and the "Vedanta" are used interchangeably

in popular writings.

Let me first add that Advaita was reframed by Adi Shankara, not

developed or invented by him. Based on Upanishadic verses, he

culled the principles and formulated Advaita in recent times. [His

time is usually taken as 788 to 820 AD, even though some scholars

dispute these dates of Shankara.]

In fact Shankara wrote extensive and incisive commentaries on ten

Upanishads ,called 'the Principal Upanishads' and also on

the Bhagavad Gita and the Brhama Sutras..His commentaries or

interpretations form the bed rock of Advaita philosophy , as we

know today. [His teacher's teacher or Param Guru, Gaudapada also

wrote some commentary or 'karika' on one of the Upanishads which

contained the essence of Advaita and he is also credited with the

early origins of this philosophy.Whether the credit goes to Adi

Shankara or his paramguru , is of less importance to us at this

distance of time.]

Adi Shankara also wrote other texts such as "Viveka Chudamani"

["Crown-jewel of Discrimination" ] of 600 verses, explaining the


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Advaita philosophy, for lay persons like us.[But many scholars

doubt that Adi Shankara wrote this; most probably a later scholar

or acharya wrote.] Anyway this is indeed a standard text for this

philosophy. [Adi Shankara also developed a monastic order and

helped to found four mathas or monasteries in four directions of

India to perpetuate and teach this philosophy. Even today these

mathas are supposed to be custodians of this philospohy and major

proponents for scholars and lay persons.]

Let me hasten to add that Adi Shanakra was not averse to other

systems of philosophy or devotional path or Bhakti yoga as

commonly held by some writers or even preceptors.. He only

maintained that Advaita or non-duality is a part of Jnana Yoga or

path of Knowledge or Self-enquiry and that it is a sure way. He

also stated categorically that other paths --karma yoga [the path

of self-less action] and Bhakti yoga thepath of devition] ---are

preliminary steps leading to Jnana or culminating in

Jnana[knowledge of the supreme] which is required for

self-realization. This knowledge removes the ignorance or avidya

about our existence and the universe and thus removes the veil

that shrouds our thinking.

Adi Shankara did not negate the other paths;he only gave less

importance to those paths.


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hat is Advaita or Non-duality?

There are six systems of Hindu philosophy,called "darshanas".

Vedanta is one among the six systems.[Some of the systems stem

from even athiestic or agnostic approaches. One may read on

them.][The term 'darshana" can be loosely translated as "vision"]

Vedanta has several schools of interpretation or bhasyas. There

are three main bhasyas: Advaita is one of them; the other two are:

Vishist-advaita [qualified advaita or monism] and Dvaita [ duality

]

To understand Advaita in proper perspective, we have to discuss

the other two also ,in a brief manner.

While Adi Sankara reformulated Advaita for us in 8th century,

Vishsit-advaita was formulated by another great philosopher/saint

or acharya called Sri Ramanuja in the 12th century. He derived his

philosophy from the teachings and lives of mystics; he later

correlated the tenets of this school with that of

Upanishads,Brhama Sutras and his own interpretation of the Gita.In

this school, we find liberal confluence of devotional or Bhakti

stream, as befitted his period---that is 12th century.

The third school--duality or Dvaita is the exact opposite of


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Advaita. This was formulated by Sri Madhva Acharya, in the 13th

century.This school includes the concepts of heaven and hell, the

concept of condemned souls, eternal damnation and so on.He also

derived his inspiration from the Gita and interpreted the

Upanishads and Brhama Sutras to fit his doctrines.

[There were two minor schools which are fine distinctions between

these three schools; Vallabha developed 'pushti marga' as a form

of Bhakti yoga and Nimbarka his bheda-bheda --a form of Advaita.

We shall not discuss these here any further.]

The three great acharyas or preceptors---Adi Shankara, Sri

Ramanuja and Sri Madhwa --- developed their own schools and also

created their own styles of worship with rituals---giving

practical steps for spiritual seekers or sadhaks. The present

forms of Hindu worship were all developed by one of these

acharyas, building on earlier methods of worship which were

already prevailing in the Hindu society. Thus Shankara established

formal worship of six different gods, with emphasis of Mother

Goddess or Devi worship and was labelled 'shat-matha sthapaka' or

establisher of six deities for worship, derived from Lord

Shiva..Sri Ramanuja established the formal worship of Lord Vishnu

and his divine consort 'Lakshmi' or 'Sri' and the deities based on

avatars of Vishnu, deriving from mystic chantings of twelve alwars


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before him.[The twelve alwars resemble sufi saints and one Sufi

master ,Indries Shah had discussed them in his book on Sufism.]

Sri Madhwa was a worshipper of Lord Krishna and established

Krishna worship as a practical means for divine bliss and

knowledge. Thus the three great acharyas, though propounders of

deep philosophy,gave much importance to formal worship for daily

prayer and contemplation.It is totally wrong to suppose that they

dwelt on impersonal ,abstract Brahman or cosmic consciousness as

the only means for spritual progress and that they negated formal

worship. I am emphasizing this because many advaitins,neo-

advaitins, arm-chair philosophers and academic scholars miss this

point and wonder at the plethora of forms of worship and ask with

apparent confusion why Bhagavan Ramana went to Arunachaleeswara

temp on arrival at Thiruvannamalai or why he encouraged chanting

of hymns and songs at the asramam and even instituted Sri Chakra

worship at his "Mother's temple" in the asram ;or why Nisargadatta

did formal worship for the pictures of deities in his room. I will

have more to say on this later. ]

Now to return to "Advaita".

Advaita postulates only one REALITY -- beyond the names and forms

we find in our experience. This 'Reality' [with capilal 'R'] is


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also called 'Brahman' by vedantists, 'Sat" [Truth], 'Chit' or

consciousness by Yogis and pseudo-scientists,'Ananda' [Bliss,

eternal Joy, Infinite Love' by Bhaktimans or devotees.] The

forms--- manifestations, the phenomenal world, mountains, rivers,

humans, animals and birds, insects and worms----- are expressions

or projections from this Reality or Brahman.[ " Ekam Sat"]

Brahman is abstract---no form, no attributes or qualities, no

birth and death;no growth nor decay. But Brahman pervades the

Universe, animates every thing and present everywhere---it is

omnipresent,omniscient as scholar would describe;

[The very first line of Isa upanishad is " Isa vasyam Idam

Sarvam"---everything is clothed or pervaded by "Isa" or Reality or

Brahman.[ As a matter of clarification, this includes both living

and non-living things. So the matter of life arising, at the

cellular level or in higher forms need not be discussed

separately at all.]

Brahman is present in us as Atman or soul---the individual soul--

also called "Jivatman". Without this soul animating us, we will

not breathe, we wil not have a pumping heart, we will not have a

brain which processes our mind or thoughts, activate our senses

and so on.[The Hindu philosophers talk of Jnaneidriyas and


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karmaendriyas for various physiological and sensual functions.]

The Atman ,however, is imperishable---only our body dies. Our body

has the progression of birth,growth, sustenance, decay and death.

Atman goes from one body to another ,if need be.

Advaita and other schools have to contend with only one question:

hat is the relationship, if any,between Atman or individual soul

and the Brahman or Reality.?

This is the central and fundamental question Vedanta purports to

answer.

The answer cannot be direct or easy; it is involved because we

have to wrestle with another entity besides Atman and

Brahman---that is mind or 'manas'.

Our mind enables us to function and move around in this world.

Whatever may be the limitations of our mind, we need that--for

cognitive purposes and for daily life and to store wonderful

memories or impressions [vasanas]. We cannot live, except as a

vegetable, without our mind. Whether you are an Einstein, or

Abraham Lincoln, or Mother Teresa or Mahatma Gandhi or a cook or

a laborer showeling mud, you are acting according to the dictates

or rulings of your mind. While many sensations arrive from the


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five senses, it is your mind that processes them. [In Vedanta or

Upanishads, mind is considered as another sense only---the sixth

sense.]It is your mind that tells you that this is good, this is

bad, this is light, this is darkness, this is pleasant ,this is

painful and so on. It is your mind that decides your values and

ethical propositions. It is your mind that runs your life.

For Vendantins, mind is a bundle of thoughts. It is the source and

repository of all your thoughts,good and bad, pleasant and

painful, past and present.Can you get rid of your mind even if you

want to? --no--We can, at best, regulate or chanelise our

mind. MInd is tricky and runs wild or wavers like the wind.

{Lord Krishna answers Arjuna in the Gita: "Arjun,yes, the mind is

difficult to control; but it can be done by repeated effort

[abhyasa] and by dispassion or" vairagya."]

Vedantists tell us that it is the mind which throws a veil over

real understanding about the indwelling soul or atman. Mind keeps

operating in our wakeful state {'jagrath'} and in dream state

['swapna'} ; in deep sleep it becomes silent. Yes, in deep sleep,

our soul is awakened but then 'we are not conscious of that'...see

the problem.

Can we realize the soul while in waking state?--- yes, that is


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what advaita could enable you. But mind intervenes. Mind takes you

out into the world.So mind has to be stilled.That is what a sage

attempts to do. He can succeed in stilling the mind for a short

while---that is when one gets a glimpse of Reality . This is

called "savi-kalpa samadhi" still retaining ' consciousness of

outer world".

There is another stage when the mind is totally silenced for some

time leading to 'nir-vikalpa samadhi' when one is totally

unconscious of the world but aware of one's Self ;rather the Self

shines.This is difficult to describe in words---what i have

written is a word description with all the limitations of words!

There is yet another kind of samadhi state: in this state, one is

aware of the external world and also constantly aware of

Reality---this is called " Sahaja Samadhi"---only a few like Sri

Ramakrishna and Bhagawan Ramana were in this state.

In simpler terms, mind is like a cloud that hides the Sun; When

the cloud moves away, you see the sun again.Such analogies help.

[There are several analogies given by the Vedantins. Analogies are

the stuff Vedanta is made of; there is no other way a teacher can

explain abstruce concepts to his students. The famous analogy of

"snake and the rope" is too well known in Advaita circles to be


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repeated here.]

I have not still answered the fundamental question posed

earlier: " What is the relationship between the Atman or

individual soul and the Brahman or paramatman?"

Here the acharyas and their schools differ.

According to Advaita or Shankara school, the two are the same.

Brahman is present in each of us as soul or atman.[ " I AM" is

equal to Brahman.] Advaitic sayings include " Aham Brahmasmi" -- a

Mahavakya ,meaning " I AM BRAHMAN" OR "I AM THAT".

This means that I am, as a soul, is not different from Brahman and

therefore pervade everything. This is soul-consciousness merging

with cosmic consciousness. If you experience this, that is

authentic advaitic experience.

But remember, as long as you are identified with your body, you

are not conscious of the soul or Atman all the time and you are

not the Brahman...Only when the body consciousness is gone, can

you realize this advaitic experience. Therefore this is

experienced only during the samadhi state. Many may briefly

experience [ afew seconds to a few minutes] in savi-kalpa state .

That is not the end of the story. In fact it is the beginning of a


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long spiritual journey for you---- to get established in this

state or consciousness.

Many advaitins , with incorrect notions, feel that the savi-kalpa

experienced for a few seconds, have given them moksha or

liberation or self realization. They come back to normal state

with body consciousness and may even degenerate into unethical

behavior. To go beyond savi-kalpa and to experience Nirvi-kalpa at

will as Sri ramakrishna experienced , is many orders of magnitude

dificult and not attained without divine 'grace' .The mind

intrudes and drags the saint or yogi to relative life. He may even

become a charlatan.

We may briefly pause to consider the other two schools.

According to Vishist-Advaita, as long as one is tied to this body,

our soul can never merge with Brahman or identify with it, though

the soul is of the nature of Brahman. The best we can do is to

worship the Divine Brahman with our limited intellect and resort

to worshiping personal gods, instead of dwelling on Absolute

Brahman---attribute-less,abstract.This will lead us to

self-realization or liberation gradually [krama mukthi], but

remember always human soul is a separate entity from the Brahman

and is therefore limited. Millions of souls are created and get


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close to the Brahman as so many reflections of the sun are seen on

numerous pots kept in the open. Therefore advaitic experience is

not possible and is only a mental illusion. It is not possible to

have liberation of Jivan mukthi while living encased in one's

body. According to this school, to say Jivatma and paramatma or

Brahman is one and the same is blasphemy.

According to 'dwaita', or the school of Madhwa, human souls are

here to experience this relative world of plurality; this world

itself is part of Reality---to find joy in the pursuit of

devotion to a personal god--be it Rama or Krishna; the souls are

judged according to its merits and demerits based on their actions

at the end of one's life.. Some souls are eternally in heaven with

the supreme being. Some take birth,experience in this world and

again go to heaven to spend some time and return to this world as

jivas; Others do sinful acts to suffer in hell and return

there, with eternal damnation.It follows that good actions and

proper devotion would ensure a seat in the heaven with the grace

of the Lord. [This dualistic philosophy resembles Christian

doctrines so much that some scholars even suggest that Madhwa was

influenced by proselytizing Christain missionaires in 13th century

Malabar coast. This school also resembles the Islamic doctrines in

some respects.] Fortunately, Madhwa also found scriptural


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references and verses in the Gita [especially chapter 16] to

support his doctrines.

At present, only a small minority of Hindus belong to the sect of

Madhwa.The majority of Hindus follow either Shankara school or

Ramanuja [vaishnava]school or sects with minor variations of these

two schools.

Apparent Reality and Absolute Reality

Advaita philosophy clearly distinguishes between apparent reality

at the transactional level,called 'Vivaharika' , as opposed to

absolute reality, the real Reality of oneness with Brahman,called

'paramarthika". Apparent reality is felt and perceived by our

senses, and has significance as far as this world is concerned. It

is not permanent and therefore not Real (with capital R). We have

to move with this apparent reality for the sake of our body and

mind. It vaporises at any time. The impermanence of this reality

is the illusive nature of "Maya". It is real for our relative

existence. It is like the shadow behind the real object. To

understand properly the apparent reality takes time.This

preparation is essential. An advaitin has to respect and follow

ethical behavior and laws because he is still operating in

apparent reality or transactional level with the society. An


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advaitin, even after self-realization or Jivan muktha [liberated

while living] cannot go about saying that he is one with Brahman

and therefore good and bad has not meaning for him or he gathers

no sin and then engage himself in unethical actions; He is still a

living entity inthe vivaharika reality.!Failure to understand this

has caused much harm among the advaita and yoga circuits.

Advaitic Experience versus Advaitic Knowledge

Advaitic knowledge is obtained from studying the scriptures with

the guidance of a teacher or guru. All the acharyas agree that a

guru or preceptor is essential. Here advaitins have another

advantage: one need not have a human ,living guru; the Self or

soul itself is your ultimate guru ,though you may get direction

from living gurus. [ God, Self and Guru are one and the same---

according to Hindu traditions.]

According to Advaita, only a guru who is self-realized can lead to

realization. Others merely teach--in an academic sense. How many

are there then? One can , of course, proclaim that he or she is

self-realized and therefore can lead others to self-realization.

This is what many neo-advaitin teachers claim!

How did these teachers get realization?


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In traditional path, one should first study with a master, then

introspect and assimilate the teachings and then meditate with

full awareness---the three steps are called" sravana, manana and

nidhi-dhyasana".Most advaitins have done only partial study, and

hope that their masters will enable self-realization by their

powers or grace---like kindling a candle with another lighted one.

[There are also some traditional teachers who maintain that study

alone or chanting scriptures like the Vedas is sufficient to

attain self-realization. I do not wish to mention the names of

such teachers. I do not agree with this view. In fact it is clear

that by studying Vedas or scriptures one does not attain

liberation. They are like pointers to divinity. Even the Gita

explicitly states this.]

Advaitic experience is what self-realization is all about. Without

this experiencing, just understanding the concept intellectually

does not lead to realization.But many advaitic teachers claim to

have attained self-realization by awakening to the consciousness

that they are souls and not the body. Can this happen by listening

to a master or having some mental introspection by sat-sang or

questions arising in the mind and gathering lecture notes or

tapes? I don't think so. It is easy to mistake advaitic knowledge

for advaitic experience.


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Advaitic experience is often likened to awakening from a dream;

when the dreamer notes that he has had a dream.But here, the

dreamer should be conscious that he is in a dream while dreaming,

not after getting awakened. Therefore many so called awakened

persons assume that they are awakened with intellectual

understanding ,but not with genuine experience of advaitic state.

[I do admit that there could be some realized masters in this

neo-advaita circuit, but they may not show any interest in fame

and wealth at all.]

How do we know a person has had this advaitic experience of

oneness with Brahman, apart from his telling us. The well-known

masters have not given clear guidelines. One quality that

distinguishes them is total disinterestedness in worldly matters

and remarkable sense of compassion. We can learn something from

the life of such masters as Sadashiva Brahmendra, Trilainga

Swami[Benaras], Bhagawan Ramana, Swami Nithyananda [Ganeshpuri]

among others. Though they have no interest in worldly actions,

they may be engaged in actions for the welfare of the world or

'lokasangraha'.But such masters are indeed very rare.

Advaitic Experience and Advaitic State or 'Being'

Advaitic experience is what most persons can hope to achieve.


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Advaitic state or sahaja samadhi is difficult to be in. Some ,like

Ramana could be in that state for many years--the state of

"Stitha-prajna".

[There is even a statement that after one reaches nivi-kalpa

samadhi, unless effort is made by the person or his guru, the

person will leave the mortal coil and attain Mahasamadhi, the

final exit from this body-cage.There are many details that cannot

be discussed in this article.]

Apart from Jivan Mukthi state, the advaitic state would mean that

the person is totally devoid of body consciousness ; such a person

is in total silence without any human contact.Hagiographic details

are available for a few saints in such a state..Such a person is

not communicative to this world except through "silence".

Preparatory steps for Advaita experience

Advaita and Jnana Yoga require that one follows several

preparatory steps leading to a tranquil state, leading to

stillness of the mind or at least some degree of mental peace and

tranquility. A stern master will put a disciple or chela through

these steps , unless he is already far advanced due to previous

good karma and practices. Of these, two major steps are attaining

viveka [loosely termed 'knowledge' but means "discrimination"] and


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"vairagya" or dispassion. Viveka would lead to vairagya, though a

few saints attain "vairagya" first due to life-changing or

traumatic experiences. Disrimination is distinguishing the real

,permanent stuff from unreal,ephemeral, changing things. This

could be physical things that we see in phenomenal world or

changing fortunes of name,fame, wealth, health and so on. It does

take a while to disenchant one's mind from the changing things of

this world.

Advaita is strongly dependent on a life of asceticism, austerity

and gradual renunciation. Association with great sages, that is

true satsangha , and ashram life are meant to foster this, in a

gradual manner.The ashram environment should be conducive for such

a austere life, unlike modern ashrams which are only vacation

resorts. I know that some gurus in the 1970's and later have

played down this approach of ascetic life and had pampered to the

tastes of westerners and money-bags to build their following with

disasterous results. [One guru accumulated foolishly nearly a

hundred expensive cars, another a fleet of Cadillacs and so on.

Both of them got into legal problems and were hounded out of the

country and had to flee from one place to another. There are many

such bogus swamis and yogis in our midst that I need not elaborate

at all.]


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Vairagya is a result of viveka. For some getting vairagya is a

snap out of mundane life, due to some traumatic event in their

lives-- a sudden process. Many saints and sages in Indian soil had

approached the Divine with vairagya , with little or no knowledge

of Advaita to begin with. Many Hindu children are taught several

stories of these saints in recent history ; this helps them to

follow a simple life style with high thinking.

You can understand the twin steps of Viveka and Vairagya from the

life of Gautama, the Buddha. But remember that these steps are

not only for those prophets and for those who establish religions,

but for any seeker trying to attain self-realization. [There is a

crazy-wisdom tradition and other traditions in which a sage may

outwardly indulge in luxury, but inwardly withdrawn from the

worldly life. Such instances are rare, but can be easily

discerned from some of their actions.] Often times saint and sages

leave the comfort of the ashram and disappear into forest towards

the end of life, as it happened in the case of Swami Ramtirth,

Swami Abhishiktananda [Henri Le Saux] in recent times.

Without such attainment of Viveka and Vairagya, the possibility of

awakening to the knowledge of "Reality" in the advaitic sense is a

delusion.What most people gain with listening to lectures and

questioning by a master like Papaji is an intellectual perception


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or understanding of advaita.

Neo- Advaita

Neo -advaita is practised by several western swamis and teachers

who have derived some knowledge of Advaita with brief encounters

with some gurus or yogis in India or elsewhere. Many were

initiated by Osho [Rajneesh in Pune or Oregon ranch] and had

listened to his lectures.Later many went to H W L Poonja,

affectionately called Papaji, in Lucknow.Some had the privilege of

listening to Nisargadatta Maharaj in Mumbai. Unfortunately none

of them had any formal 'training' as such in advaitic lore for

extended periods.

Then after Nisargadatta's samadhi, many went to Ramesh Balsekar ,

who had listened to Nisarga and was one of his translator for many

years. Ramesh gave lectures at his home and held a few seminars.

Poonjaji himself was given much instruction by Ramana Maharshi in

Thiruvannamalai a few decades earlier.. His maternal uncle was the

great Swami Ramtirth, a contemporary of Swami Vivekananda. It is

moot point how far Poonjaji had established himself in advaitic

experience.

I am not doubtful about their sincerity or genuine interest in


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teaching others as a service to humanity.But understanding the

concepts of Advaita is one thing but experiencing the Advaita or

self-realization is another matter. Furthermore, does one get

awakened just by listening to a master? At the most, many received

an intellectual perception of advaita.

[You may read more about the approach and attitude of Papaji in

teaching the western students in the book "Nothing Ever happened"

by David Godman. Did he consider these students as parasites,

disturbing him .If so, why did he entertain them at his Lucknow

residence? This raises many questions about Papaji himself and the

neo-advaita circuit spawned from there.]

The students of Ramesh Balsekar, Papaji , Nisarga and Osho have

become the neo-advaitins preaching advaita doctrines and methods.

They again give lectures or answer questions in sat-sangh style.

While some knowledge of Advaita gets widely disseminated, the real

essence of Advaita grounded in Viveka [discrimination] and

Vairagya [dispassion] may be missing in their teachings. What we

have now is the packaged academic style seminars on Advaita. This

,of course, would generate comfortable income for the

teachers.The traditional masters always taught without charging

any fees. The neo-advaita efforts may dilute or distort the proper

approach of advaita.Here lies the real danger. The neo-advaitins


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may be misguided by these gurus, often unwittingly. Neo-advaita is

only a quick-fix method for aspiring western seekers who may not

take the trouble of going through rigorous traditional training

and yet feel a sense of attainment in this direction.

Guru Lineage

Guru parampara or lineage, among Hindu traditionalists, means that

one has been formally initiated by a guru, and therefore he is

privy to any esoteric or special knowledge of methods/techniques

/styles of practice handed down by the guru. A guru will select

very carefully his chela after much testing of the chela's

worthiness,capability and integrity before initiation. It is not

just paying a fee and getting 'diksha' or title after a few days.

A true guru will not initiate all and sundry for money or name or

other forms of support he gets from the chela.

The chela becomes eligible to learn from the guru some secret

doctrine or specialised knowledge which the Guru would not reveal

to the public or write in his books.This would also include

certain anecdotes or details or experiences of the Guru passed on

to the Chela. One can understand how modern masters of advaita

have been been careless in giving initiation to anyone after a

few days and after certain familiarity with the guru. This has


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been the serious flaw in the advaitic movement since the days of

Osho and others, from early 1970's. [Osho or Rajneesh rejected the

traditional method as an unacceptable method for modern people!.]

This easy initiation into advaitic lore, with the presumption of

quick awakening or realization after attending lectures or

seminars, had been going on in India with several so-called

'masters' . The neo-sannyasins have sprouted everywhere because

of 'masters' and gurus who were eager to get name, money and

power over others.

Therefore the lineage claimed by many students is just farce, like

getting a certification after a short course. If one had listened

to Papaji and Papaji was a student of Ramana, one does not belong

to the lineage of Ramana. He can claim to be a student of Papaji

or Ramana. Using a picture of Ramana or Papaji does not entitle

one to impart training in the 'lineage' of these masters. The

masters must acknowledge them as authentic disciple to carry on

the teachings.Many times the chelas use some letters received from

the masters written in casual style to authenticate their lineage.

[There had been other movements in which a guru or swami claims

that he can awaken en masse hundreds of devotees with his/her

special powers or shakti transmitted or broadcast from him. These

gurus even assert that they can raise the kundalini of these


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devotees in a short time. This 'shakti-pat' is , to say the least-

not genuine and may not lead to any effect. Some gurus assume they

can do this as if uprooting hundreds of trees in a tornado. It

does not take a long time to realize that the masters have been

misguiding the chelas; some had even misbehaved with the students.

It takes much preparation before one can safely experience the

state of awakened kundalini and withstand its aftermath results.

Yet such gurus have been highly successful in the west.

Advaitic training

Though it is not possible to outline in sufficient detail what

this training could be, I may indicate the essential elements for

this training. The training has to be in ashram style living with

a master in a quiet environment. It has to include a daily

practice of pooja [worship] and chanting [Japa] with intense

meditational practice. These practices help to control the

restlessness of the mind.Some form of formal scriptural study, say

of the Gita ,followed by discussion is required. The remaining

time should be spent in silence with introspection. [Some form of

social service for the needy may be included, but not just some

manual work around the ashram.]Serving the sick and the poor is

essential to develop humility. With these steps , advaitic

contemplation should be practised.


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A long,long preparation is required before advaitic experience

comes to pass.The final act may be sudden,but only after long

gestation. As Nisarga himself told, the falling of a ripe fruit

may be sudden, but the ripening had taken many days.So, I would

say that without proper preparation and long introspection, the

chances of getting advaitic experience is almost negligible.

[Note: visit my website: www.nksrinivasan.webs.com for much

information on "inner enquiry" and other details.]

Neo-Advaita and traditional Advaita--some perspectives

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Transcript of Neo-Advaita and traditional Advaita--some perspectives