Let me openly state some issues. I hope no one mistakes me since nothing here
is meant to be personal.
I wonder how many of us really have strong conviction in visistadvaita. What
should one do to really to get conviction in a system of thought? One answer is
?by just devotion to one?s acharya or guru and praying to the almighty
constantly. How do you know that guru is right? One obviously has to learn from
several Gurus and also contemplate on the teachings in the light of shastras ?
particularly prasthana traya - ie. Gita, Upanisads and Bramhasutras. Then one
can verify what a Guru has said and if it is in line with the prasthana trayas
it is fine. How can one really understand prasthana trayas properly since there
are so many interpretations? Again by discussing various bhasyas with
appropriate gurus and filtering out the wrong views to get the right meanings
and truths. There is no short cut to contemplation. Based on one?s orientation
one may get pratipatti or strong conviction in a system of thought. How long
does it all take? - Several years for sure.
The bottom line is there is NO replacement for ? pariprashnena sevaya ? ie.
serving a guru and understanding by repeated questioning. (ie. kalakshepa
method and not merely by studying books). don?t get me wrong. Studying on
internet or a book is good, but will not substitute studying under gurus.
I personally feel after talking to SMS Chari today in San Diego that one
should definitely study ? Paramatha Bhanga, a classic by Sri Vedanta Desika so
as to get a strong conviction in Visistadvaita as opposed to Advaita, or Dvaita
or the bhedabheda schools such as Bhaskara, Yadavaprakasa or slightly different
schools such as suddhadvaita, achintya bheda-bheda etc.. A Tamil explanation is
available from Villivalam Naranacharya, the purvashramam brother of HH 45th
Jeer of Ahobilamutt.
One could ask why should one get conviction in Visistadvaita? All I can say
is that I would like to meet that person who gets a strong conviction in a
different system of thought once that person studies Paramatha Bhanga carefully
and completely under an able teacher !
Believe me, I respect all acharyas, who have helped us take the right steps
in life. However, some of them stand out when viewed from the angle of
consistency with the message of Srutis, Sutras and Srimadbhagawadgita.
Asmad gurubhyo namah
Adiyen Krishna Kashyap
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