by advaitamandscience | Jan 14, 2023 | Articles
ADVAITA GURU PARAMPARA
Parampara means the unbroken lineage. Guru parampara means the unbroken lineage of gurus. Advaita guru parampara means the unbroken lineage of gurus who practice the advaita philosophy. Any art or philosophy will have a guru parampara and it is the same with the advaita philosophy.
In advaita philosophy there are two types of guru parampara.
- Sanyasa guru parampara
- Grahasta guru parampara
Sanyasa guru parampara started with Baghavan Shiv in the form of Lord Dakshinamoorthy. He taught the Brahma vidya to Sanakati Brahma Rishis as his students (sishyas). The Sanakati Brahma Rishis are four brothers; they are Sanaka (ancient), Sanatana (eternal), Sanandana (ever joyful) and Sanat kumar (ever youthful). They are the mind born sons of Lord Brahma. They are always very young in the form of children and when they were born they were at the verge of enlightenment. Lord Dakshinamoorthy did not teach them orally, instead he showed the chinmudra and the Sanakati Rishis were so intelligent to understand the entire philosophy from that single mudra.
Sanakati Brahma Rishis taught this knowledge to Sage Narada. Sage Narada taught this knowledge to Suka Brahmarishi. Suka Brahmarishi is the son of Ved Vyasa. This is the sanyasa guru parampara. In the sanyasa guru parampara the knowledge was taught to the sishyas (students). The sishyas are not the children of the guru.
The second type of guru paramapara is the grahasta guru parampara. In this guru parampara Brahma vidya was taught to the children of the gurus along with the other students; and the children played a very important role in taking the knowledge to the next generation. Grahasta guru parampara started with Lord Brahma. He taught Brahma vidya to his son Sage Vasishta. Sage Vasishta taught this knowledge to his son Sage Shakti. Sage Shakti taught this knowledge to this son Sage Parasara Maharshi. Sage Parasara Maharshi taught this knowledge to Sage Ved Vyasa. Sage Ved Vyasa taught this knowledge to his son Suka Brahmarishi. Thus, Suka Brahmarishi received this knowledge from the sanyasa guru parampara as well as the grahasta guru parampara.
Suka Brahmarishi went into meditation for a long time and then he taught this knowledge to Sri guru Gaudapada. Guru Gaudapada taught Brahma vidya to Sri guru Govind Baghavad pada and Sri guru Govind Baghavad pada taught this knowledge to Sri Adi Sankaracharya. Sri Adi Sankaracharya revived the Brahma vidya or it is famously know as Advaita philosophy, especially in the period when Advaita philosophy was going through a very low phase. About the mutts established by Adi Sankaracharya and the Desanama sampradaya (titles) started by the acharya we will see in the next article.
by advaitamandscience | Dec 2, 2022 | Articles
TYPE OF TEACHERS IN SANATANA DHARMA
Sanatana dharma was passed from generation to generation through guru-sishya parampara. The teachers and their teachings play a very important role in sanatana dharma. In this article, we will see the different type of teachers in sanatana dharma.
Adhyapaka – He is a person who sees that each sishya understand the right meaning of the scriptures. A adhyapaka may handle one subject or many subjects. He teaches with a lot of patience. He never punishes or ill-treats the students even in worse situations. Every student is dear to him. They are entirely different from the teachers and lectures we see in the modern world. Modern lecturers or teachers give lecture on a particular subject based on the syllabus. They will leave the rest for the students to understand. The student after class has to go to a library, or approach a private teacher to have a better understanding of the subject.
- Upadhyaya – A upadhyaya is also like the adhyapaka. He sees to it that the sishya understands the deeper meaning of the scriptures. The difference between the adhyapaka and the upadhyaya is that the upadhyaya is like a permanent teacher. A student can approach the upadhyaya in any time in life to clear the doubts; he will advise the sishya even in subjects other than what he has taught. He is like a family doctor or a family priest. He participates in every important occasion in a sishyas life.
- Acharya – A person well qualified in the scriptures, must be established in the scriptures and must be able to pass on that knowledge to others in a very effective way then he is called as an acharya. He must practice the scriptural way of life and must be able to inspire others in that knowledge. The perfect example of a acharya is Sri Adi Sankaracharya. He understood the scriptures very well, he was established in the scriptural knowledge and was able to comment and write explanation for the scriptures. He was a great inspiration for others to study the scriptures. There are acharyas in the field of arts and in other philosophies.
- Muni – Muni is a person who understands the scriptures, he contemplates on that knowledge. He may or may not pass on that knowledge to others. He always contemplates on the inner meaning of what he read or heard; if he prefers he will pass on that knowledge to others.
- Guru – The most important aspect and the most revered person in sanatana dharma is the guru. Sanatana dharma has guru-sishya parampara. Guru means gu + ru, gu means hidden or darkness, and ru means giving light, remove, bring out. Therefore, guru means a person who removes ignorance in us and brings out the knowledge in us or makes our knowledge shine in us; and for this reason he is respected and worshipped. Sishya means student. Parampara means the unbroken lineage. A guru is a person who has knowledge, experience, patience, dispassion (vairagya) and must be established in the truth. He must not be a guru for any financial or social gain. He must live in truth. Such a person must be called as a guru. The well established gurus of the modern times are Sri Ramakrishna paramahamsa, Sri Ramana maharshi, swami Vivekananda etc. A guru knows to convert the knowledge into experience. Without a proper guru enlightenment is a distant dream.
To respect the guru and guru parampara every year the Vyasa poornima or guru poornima is celebrated. Not only in philosophy every field of arts has their own guru parampara.
Today’s education is completely based on grade and salary. In ancient times, it was based on understanding the subject thoroughly and gaining knowledge and using that knowledge to progress in life.
by advaitamandscience | Nov 11, 2022 | Articles
WHY GOD TAKES AVATARS (INCARNATIONS)
Avatars (incarnations) are a unique concept in sanatana dharma. The supreme consciousness with the help of its inherent power, maya, passing through different stages of manifestation, takes a form and live in the world for a certain period of time and for a definite purpose. In a way we all are avatars of the supreme consciousness. The difference between us and the divine incarnations are the difference in the level of Self consciousness. We human beings are not aware of our Self. We are more conscious of our body and mind and our worldly activities which are absolutely needed for the transactional world. However, the divine incarnations are absolutely conscious of their Self.
When we read the scriptures we come across various reasons for the supreme consciousness taking avatars. In this article I will give a few of them.
- Sadhaka anugraha – sadhaka means devote and anugraha means the blessings; to bless the devotees the Lord takes avatars. Some people practice spirituality with devotion and determination. They have a form of the Lord in their mind and the Lord appears in that form before them just like how he appeared before the young child Dhruva. They get direction and protection from the Lord directly.
- Siddha dharshanam – the Lord shows his form before the sages and siddhas, because he has to appear before a sincere devotee. Just to bless them he appears before the siddhas.
- Samashti prarthana pooranam – many people worship the Lord by meditation, poojas and yagnas to bring back dharma to sustain the world. The Lord takes avatar and appears in a form and lives among them to sustain the creation; just like how he appeared as Lord Krishna.
- Marga dharshanam – the Lord takes avatar to guide the devotees and show them the right path; just like how he gave us the Baghavad Gita as a life guide.
- Bhakta rakshanam – when a true devotee is in danger or when he calls the Lord in dangerous situation, then the Lord takes a unique form and appear before him and help him to come out of the dangerous situation.
- Dushta sikshanam – he takes avatar to correct the wrong doers and establish peace and harmony in the creation. He corrects them by destroying their form (killing them) and helping them to acquire a new form.
- Ajana papa haranam – he removes the ignorance of his devotees by teaching them the right path. He appears among them as a teacher or a guru.
- Jnana puniya pradhanam – he gives knowledge to his devotees and in that way he elevates the mind of his devotees and helps them to escape from rebirths. Here also he appears as a teacher or a guru.
- Dharma rakshanam – he takes form to maintain dharma (righteousness) in the world and thus help to sustain this creation.
These are some of the reasons given in the scriptures as the purpose and need for the Supreme consciousness to take avatars (incarnations).
by advaitamandscience | Oct 29, 2022 | Articles
DIVINE INCARNATIONS
Incarnation is an important and unique aspect in sanatana dharma. The meaning of incarnation (avatar) is steping down. Baghavan steps down or comes down from the purna swarupa (complete flawless nature) to transactional reality to help humanity in many ways.
Before explaining avatar I shall give the concept of God in sanatana dharma in a nutshell.
Nirguna nirakara is Brahman. It has no attributes or qualities. The power is not manifest at this stage.
It becomes saguna nirakara Brahman– at this stage it has attributes, qualities and form though not prominent. It is called Ishwara at this stage. We assume a form for Ishwara based on the concept in order to gather that concept in our mind.
Ishwara becomes saguna sakara Brahman – it has prominent attributes, qualities and a distinct form. At this stage it is called Bhagavan. The difference between Ishwara and Bhagavan is only a hair line difference and very hard to trace. Even though Bhagavan has attributes and qualities it has a very pure nature and the difference in the three gunas make a minute difference.
Ishwara manifests as Bhagavan; Bhagavan takes avatars by exhibiting its numerous attributes and qualities. Each avatar has a distinct form.
There are countless avatars. The entire creation is his avatar; in other words, it is his manifestation. But the sastras give importance to nine avatars. We will see the different types of avatars very briefly.
- Guna avatar – there are three gunas namely sattva, rajas and tamas. One particular guna dominates the other two gunas. For example, Lord Sri Ram is the sattva avatar of Bhagavan Vishnu, Lord Rudra is the tamasic avatar of Bhagavan Shiv. In fact, Bhagavan Shiv is also said as Ishwara in its very pure form. Lord Narashimha murty is the rudra avatar of Bhavan Vishnu.
- Amsa avatar – one part or quality of Bahgavan manifests for a particular purpose and does the karma and disappears after a very short time. For example, Vamana avatar, matsya avatar etc
- Kala avatar – one particular quality or power takes form to help the Universe survive from complete destruction. For example, Narashimha avatar, Krishna avatar.
- Jnana avatar – Bhagavan takes a form and appears among human beings as a guru or a teacher to impart them knowledge. For example, Guru Dattatreya, Sri Adi Sankaracharya.
- Spurthi avatar – Bhagavan descends to exhibit the powers of nature and as a result there are many scientifically unexplainable mysteries of the nature. Like black holes, depth of the ocean etc.
- Archa avatar – A devotee can invoke the presence of the Lord (avahana) in a murti like saligram, vigraha. One could feel the presence of the Lord for a particular period and it is mainly used for worship and it elevates the mind of the devotee.
- Aavesha avatar – When the devotee unites his mind with the Lord, sometimes the Lord descends in the devotee for some time. One could witness such incidents in temple festivals and in certain poojas.
- Poorna avatar – The entire power of the Lord (sixteen powers) are manifest in a form. It is said that the perfect purna avatar is Lord Krishna.
- Nitya avatar – As jivas he is manifest in every being. Some realize it and some don’t realize it.
These are the nine types of avatars in Sanatana dharma. Taking these avatars the Lord helps the human being in many ways, which I will explain in my next article.
by advaitamandscience | Aug 27, 2022 | Articles
The understanding of God in Sanatana dharma is very unique. The understanding of God differs with the different levels of knowledge a person possesses. In sanatana dharma, the worship of forms with attributes is considered as preliminary, though a majority of the people follow this method. Worshiping of forms is a preliminary step through which a person attains one pointed concentration which helps his mind to evolve to the higher level of Consciousness. Worshiping forms, chanting mantras, slokas everything helps a person to evolve to the higher level of understanding God. Sanatana dharma encourages the method of meditation and understanding the highest principle. The pure Consciousness revels itself in deep meditation. There is nothing else in this creation other than the pure Consciousness, which in common terms is said as God. The differences in forms and names are due to maya, which is the power of the pure Consciousness.
There are four levels of understanding the concept of God from the Vedantic point of view.
In the beginning there was only shudda chit (pure Consciousness). It is otherwise said as Brahman. Creation didn’t take place at that time and there were no forms or names, not even a thought of creation. The concept of shuddha chit is very unique to sanatana dharma.
In the shuddha chit a thought arose. That thought was, “Let me become MANY”. The thought manifested due to the inherent power of Brahman called maya. Maya is said as the shakti (power) of Brahman. This thought is otherwise termed as the iccha shakti, the power of desire. Brahman along with the manifested shakti is said as Antaryami. The maya shakti is not different from Brahman, but at the same time it is not as same as Brahman. In shuddha chit, maya shakti existed, but it did not manifest. When shuddha chit or Brahman decided to become many, it manifested out.
Maya shakti designed the entire blue print for this creation and it slowly manifested out as many, many ideas as different thoughts. This knowledge about creation is said as jnana shakti. The whole idea of creation was there in a very subtle form and it is said as Hiranyagharba. Every minute detail of the creation was present in Hiranyagharba in a very subtle thought form. Hiranyagharbha is said as the womb of the universe.
From Hiranyagharbha the entire creation of forms and names unfolded. The totality of forms is said as virat. At this stage the kriya shakti manifested out. From this the different levels of creation unfolded. One must notice here that everything is the manifestation of Brahman using its power maya. That is why sanatana dharma says there is nothing in this creation other than Brahman or in common terms said as God. This is explaining the concept of God from one angle.
Another angle of seeing the concept of God is
Brahman is Nirguna nirakara – that is, He is without attributes, form or qualities
He becomes Saguna nirakara – that is, He is formless, but with attributes. These attributes are the manifestation of maya shakti. At this stage, that is, Brahman with basic attributes is called Ishwara. Ishwara has the power to create, sustain, to destroy, to conceal, and to merge back: it is commonly said in Sanskrit as shrishti, stiti, laya, thirodhana and anugraha. The concept of Ishwara is the root for incarnations (avatara).
He then becomes Saguna sakara – that is, He has attributes and form. At this stage He is said as Baghavan. From this stage He manifests in different levels with different levels of consciousness. The entire creation is His manifestation with different levels of Consciousness. These levels of Consciousness are decided by the subjective karma of the jivas. However, each individual has the power to rise from his level of Consciousness and can reach the pure Conscious state.
Like this the concept of God can be explained from different angles according to the individual’s knowledge of God. However, in this article I have explained only two views as explained in the scriptures.
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