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- Is Vedanta a Religion? ….. 4:07min
- Is the law of karma a superstition? ….. 4:24min
- What is true charity? ….. 6:04min
- Why did Karna have to suffer? ….. 4:27min
24.1.2016
Pujya Janki ji,
I am pained at the apathy and selfishness of my fellow citizens. Such an attitude is costing us dear – there is increase in corruption, abuse of power by our public servants and public representatives and mal-administration. I wish to bring about a change in their attitude so that every citizen fulfills his / her duty as a good citizen of India.
Can you please guide me.
Om !
Gautam
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Dear Gautam Bhai,
It is good to see your concern for our society.
The Bhagavad Gita recommends we live the life we would like the world to live. By example is the best way to teach. Or as Mahatma Gandhi put it: Be the change you wish to see.
Further, all that we do for the education of people on the knowledge of life and living i.e. Vedanta will help. By the spread of the knowledge people will understand the cause and effect relationships and thereby correct themselves and their surroundings. For this to take place we will all have to get together and work hard.
All the best,
Hari Om
Janki
Respected janki ma’am,
I was listening to your video about difference between Shruti n Smriti; where you agreed to Abrahamic concept of one God by saying,”God is one; we call it by different names.”
But if God(Brahman) was really one ma’am would it not contradict with our belief that Brahman is omnipotent??
One is but a number ma’am; it has got its fix value; it is definite n rigid.How can Brahman which is part of ever changing universe be explained with a mere rigid number?
We believe the Brahman is both in existence n non-existence. If we tie it down to a single entity how do we explain it being part of nonexistence?
The reason for my questionin this “One God” theory is that I have always believed creation to be a part of creator; and only way I could have related to this was to think Brahman as infinity. The nature of which is more like fluid than absolutism. As we can’t count the no. of water in a glass; it would be hard for me to believe oneness of God.
I would like to apologize if my rants semmed childish ma’am. But I would like to seek worthiness of your guideline over this observation.
Om Shanti,
Shubhojit
Hari Om,
Apologies for the delay in replying.
The concept of God or Brahman is beyond the human intellect. It is that which enables the intellect to think, what makes it think, not what it thinks. Hence any conception we have of it is necessarily limited.
While most of your concepts on Brahman are largely in the right direction, the following points may be considered:
1. Omnipotence is not in opposition to oneness. The correct description is non-dual i.e. one without a second. Hence if Brahman alone exists, it has to be all-powerful.
2. Brahman is the unchanging reality. It is the imperishable in this perishable reality. It does not change as it is not subject to time and space, it is not a substance. Ornaments change but the gold remains the same.
3. It is neither existence nor non-existence. In the sense we cannot say it exists because exists means having birth and death. Brahman has neither. But we can’t say it doesn’t exist because it is not non-existent like the horns on a man’s head.
These Vedantic concepts are difficult to grasp thus. You may like to attend a class in your area and gain more clarification. There are classes all over the world. The list is on the vedantaworld website. If you are in Mumbai you are welcome to attend ours here.
All the best,
Hari Om
Janki
Respected ma’am
I would like to thank you for your comment.
As you rightly pointed out Brahman is beyond Human intellectual
Though I still have doubts over Human attempts to define Brahman as “The One”. As I find concept of infinity from the following shloka
ॐ । पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥
ॐ खं ब्रह्म । खं पुराणम्; वायुरं खम् इति
ह स्माह कौरव्यायणीपुत्रः; वेदो’यं
ब्राह्मणा विदुः; वेदैनेन यद्वेदितव्यम् ॥ १ ॥
इति प्रथमं ब्राह्मणम् ॥
But I would like to rather blame those doubts on my ignorance; and it seems I have got much to learn from you n other Gurus.
Again I thank you for your comment ma’am; n also seek apology if any of my statements sounded foolish
Seeking your blessings ma’am
Hari Om
Shubhojit
Since you quote here the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, maybe you would like to read the the Shankarabhashya on this verses to clarify your point. He clarifies in this verse itself how Brahman is the one, appearing as the many.
Please note that the concept of Brahman as infinity is not in opposition to the concept of Him being non-dual. Infinity is something which has no beginning and no end. The infinite Being has no boundary. There is nowhere He is not. He is all-pervading. He is everything. Hence there is nothing other than Him. Hence it is non-dual or one.
The difference between saying non-dual and one is that one implies the possibility of the second while ‘non-dual’ rejects that possibility.
Mam I want to know about the who is god and who is the sound of silence if u want a survey of sound if silence you should wath this video sound of silence by sandeep maheshwari on youtube and basic meditation by sandeep maheshwari. .. plz help me
Thank you, You are very very good at explaining
Your ideas,knowledge andexpression are remarkable for vedantic knowledge.I appreciate your depth in vedanta.