The doctrine of Advaita Vedanta was not based on spiritual experiences of Adi Shankaracharya alone! Adi Sankara only highlighted Advaita Vedanta philosophy… nothing more! The complete philosophy of Advaita Vedanta exists in teachings of Lord Krishna contained in Bhagavad Gita. The A to Z of Advaita Vedanta philosophy, the work of Maya (veil of ignorance)… all was explained in Bhagavad Gita to minutest detail!
And what does Advaita Vedanta philosophy of Hinduism say! As per doctrine of Advaita Vedanta propagated by Adi Shankaracharya, God Almighty alone was the only truth of life! There was no untruth in this statement. Why? The big bang theory of evolution explains it all. Imagine dissolution of entire cosmos (Pralaya in Hinduism) is occurring. No sooner dissolution of entire cosmos completes… all souls atmans in cosmos devoid of dross impurities within carried the volume of half a thumb!
And what is this half a thumb? The combined power of all pure souls’ atmans in cosmos after complete dissolution of cosmos is what we term God Almighty in all its glory (Brahman in Hinduism). As per Bhagavad Gita… it is Brahman that exploded self to form present cosmos! After complete dissolution of cosmos and before occurrence of big bang… what exists in cosmos… only God Almighty, the cluster of pure souls’ atmans in all their glory!
With occurrence of big bang… all pure souls’ atmans scattered all over cosmos at unimaginable speeds. In the melee, hurtling souls’ atmans gathered impurities similar as a rolling ball gathers moss! To cleanse self of dross impurities within… starts cosmic life cycle of every soul atman! No sooner life supporting planets like mother earth evolved in cosmic system… souls’ atmans immediately started manifesting life! The massive big bang explosion results in creation of present cosmos (Brahman in Hinduism).
And why does big bang occur at all? The cluster of pure souls atmans… this magnanimous primordial cosmic energy, the size of half a thumb… unable to contain itself for long in its prime pure state explodes with a big bang! The whole process was automatic… not in control of God Almighty himself! At this stage… people argue if big bang occurrence was not in control of God, why call him God Almighty! My argument simply is… it was like removing the pin of a grenade and asking it not to explode! Some philosophies in the field of spirituality are better explained through path of contemplation… not literal reasoning!
Coming back to doctrine of Advaita Vedanta… Adi Shankaracharya further says the whole physical existence is but an act of Maya (veil of illusion)! If it was not so… we could have easily identified ourselves as a soul atman, the spirit within! But in practical life this does not happen. It was only due to Maya (veil of ignorance) we failed to realize our true inner self… our true identity as a soul atman, the spirit within!
Adi Shankaracharya further advocates… only by following path of jnana yoga human beings finally succeed in removing this veil of Maya (veil of ignorance). To reach our true inner self… we have to burn our ego in totality. Ego removed forever… our soul atman shines in all its glory! Removal of ego only becomes possible by travelling path of nishkama karma yoga… offering fruits of karma performed to God Almighty all the time! Unless we lived life as a true trustee of god, we could never successfully travel path of nishkama karma yoga!
Path of nishkama karma yoga was best travelled by King Janaka (father of Sita in Ramayana) and JRD Tata (erstwhile scion of Tata industry). Both King Janaka and JRD Tata were true karma yogis par excellence! Both believed in the fact that everything belonged to God Almighty… and they were only a custodian of things that all the time belonged to God Almighty! The precept of trusteeship is a wonderful concept. Unless we believed this fact of life, we could never travel path of nishkama karma yoga successfully! More on doctrine of Advaita Vedanta
By: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – (Ref 150806)
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