Traditional Non-Duality (Advaita Vedanta): Where Do I Start?

Now , mind you , this is coming from the perspective of traditional non-duality . So , advaita Vedanta , and if we had to think about where do I begin , what's the best way to start ? How can I truly understand Vedanta ? So what we're going to be doing now and then is reading from Vedanta Sara , which is a text by Satyanandaji , and we will go over that .

The whole point is that , as we're doing these daily kind of spontaneous discussions , reading from Vedanta Saro may be helpful for those that are beginning on this journey , so we'll title those as Vedanta Saro sessions . It's something that Swami Sarvabriyananda Ji recommends and obviously , whatever Swami Ji recommends , we take it very seriously .

But it's one of those foundational texts which gives you a list of definitions , and so , with those definitions , you can rightfully understand what this spiritual foundation that's required for Advaita Vedanta . It's all there , basically , for you to take in . Now , what I also suggest is so , once we've read that .

That means that we'll probably go into like a daily little kind of session into reading the Upanishads or something like that . So yeah , this is something spontaneously I'm thinking about . So you know , sometimes there's days when I probably don't have much to talk about and those are perfect for those occasions . But we can go into going through the process .

For traditional Advaita is okay . You read a foundational text . This is something I recommend . But what we should start off with is the Upanishads . So the Upanishads will tell us exactly the knowledge of Brahman very directly . It's the core philosophy and this is required reading .

Now I've been thinking about how we can do this , because I would love for us to read the Upanishads , but with the commentary of Adi Shankaraji , so we can understand it together and go through it together like a proper study .

So what they do recommend is first to start with the Upanishads , obviously with the commentary of Adi Shankaracharya , because that is where the foundation of Advaita Vedanta is formulated .

Then you go to the Brahma Sutras , or known as Vedanta Sutras , and they kind of they're aphorisms , they're little sutras , they're little sayings and they're very terse and it's not for everyone to understand . So that's where you kind of need the guidance of a commentary , and so that's where you can need the guidance of a commentary .

So it's really important that that is also read , like the Brahma Sutra is read with the commentary . Then you have the Bhagavad Gita .

Now the Bhagavad Gita is basically so if the Brahma Sutra is basically addressing , so Shravana so you're listening is the Upanishads , manana , which is the kind of the contemplation , reflecting and doubts and doing all that type of work , making sure there's logic .

That's where the Brahma Sutras come in , with the commentary of Adi Shankaracharya , and then comes the practical aspect . The nididhyasana aspect , which you could say of the practical application of the teachings of the Upanishads , is in the Bhagavad Gita , and that also should be read with the commentary of Adi Shankaracharya .

Now , the good thing is that all of those books with the commentaries are available on Amazon . So if you search Swami Gambiranandaji , he has eight of those Upanishads . He translates at least eight of them , and then I think also Chandogya Upanishad , which is not in there , but you can get that as a PDF , and the Bhradiyarayanika Upanishad .

That is done by Swami Madhavanandaji , I think so . So so those are the Upanishads , but Brahma Sutra and the Bhagavad Gita you can get that on Kindle as well , or Amazon or any other . It's on Google Play as well , so you can get it there .

Those are very important things to read , in my opinion , and they help you to understand the richness that Advaita Vedanta comes from . It's not just simply really knowing that you're it , I mean that's you know . Anyone can tell why that is and how that comes about , and describing the practical application of that . That's really important .

You see , nobody can go into a psychotic breakdown if they've gone through the foundational work first .

So , for example , the first sutra of the Brahman Sutra is , you know , now , therefore , an inquiry into Brahman , and what's interesting there is you don't need to be told what it says there in that very beginning is that you kind of dealt with the , uh , kind of the there's a , there's a , there's six , there's four guidelines .

Uh , that you're meant to have those four characteristics . We've spoken about them before as well . Uh , so you know , do you have control of the mind ? Have you ? Do you have control over your desires ? Do you have forbearance ? Do you ? Are you seeking liberation ? Can you withdraw your senses within ? Can you withdraw your mind within ? Can you just simply observe ?

Uh , yeah , these little things , you know , when an emotion comes up , are you able to , like , stop an action from forming from that emotional , uh turbulence that's created ? If those things aren't addressed prior to realization , they will come up after realization .

And when they come up after realization , what you don't realize is that the truth hasn't entered deeply into your being . So here , and this is very important to understand , and this is why Advaita Vedanta is such an incredible philosophy . So , or Vedanta in general , you have the causal body , the Garana Shriya . We've spoken about this previously , but even more so .

That is that's where avidya still functions . Ignorance , the individual ignorance , not ignorance as in you don't know facts , not that type of ignorance , the ignorance of your true nature or the not knowledge of your true nature . Now , that is known as Anadi beginningless .

So what happens is when you have somebody who tells you what the direct truth is without you doing the required work to do so . So where you're not a seeker one , you're not going to appreciate the teaching as much .

And even if you do , it's just the surface level , it's not going to go deep into the Ikaar and Ashuriga , it's not going to actually address the Avidya . So the Vidya , the knowledge in order to transcend the vidya , will not do much .

So , because that ignorance is also beginningless , you can feel like , oh yeah , I've gained something , but actually all you've got is this kind of void of ignorance that you've not dealt with . And what the vidya does , what the Brahma vidya does , what the knowledge of brahman does , this brahma jnana that we talk about , what that does ?

It deals with the vidya , with the ignorance that you have , and says you know what ? This is not real , this is a veil upon the truth , and my course goes into this . My course has a special section on just Avidya . It's a whole week where we go into Avidya and the whole point is to bring it out , to remove it completely .

So you know that each week that I have in the course is literally a progression . You have to progress . If you don't , I would say you just stay on the current week until you've addressed those things . And the very first lesson that we talk about is suffering . Very first week is based on suffering .

So the whole point is that all these things have to be addressed . And so where do you start ? Like I said , said the Upanishads , then the Brahma Sutras , then the Bhagavad Gita . Now a lot of people read the Bhagavad Gita .

It's all good , you can start with the Bhagavad Gita , but to truly understand the depth that Sri Krishna talks about , you need to know the Upanishads and therefore , to know the Upanishads , to understand them fully , you need the Brahma Sutra .

So you need all three of them and therefore , after you've dealt with those doubts and delusions that the Brahma Sutra addresses , then you can practically apply it . It becomes a lot easier . So the Bhagavad Gita makes a lot more sense , because a lot of people can view the Bhagavad Gita as a dualistic text , all because they've not checked the other two .

All because of that . And the other aspect is the reason why we would look at Vedanta Sara beforehand is because we need to know the definition . So when you go into the Upanishads it becomes a familiar , you know , kind of playing field for you . So I would say check out Swami Savabhrinandaji's Vedanta Sara lectures .

They're not , they're going to be , they're much better than what I'm going to share with you . He is a great teacher of Vedanta and um , his , his explanations and his way of teaching is just beautiful . And I would always say check him out , check his work , um .

But yes , I would just probably give you a more quick , concise version and less kind of formal , but make sure that you understand that the groundwork is necessary and don't don't try to jump too far . You know , someone had written , actually , a comment in my on one of my videos today .

I saw it today and it was about how no foundation is necessary , because this is we are it . I mean I can't say that person is wrong from the ultimate perspective , but even from the ultimate perspective he'll be like , yeah , the foundation was necessary for you . For example , you know .

So my son's going through physical therapy because he's delayed in walking right now and the biggest concern was well , even if we get him from sitting to walking , he will struggle to get up . So we need him to crawl , because that would be an easier step for him to then get up to walk , so he can get to his knees and walk .

So that path cannot be that , that step cannot be . You can't , you can't forget the steps that you took to walk , basically . So everything has a process . So if you are truly understanding of Vedanta , of the truth , then you know that these , or if you know the power of the realization , then you know that one has to fully understand the groundwork .

So that's my little spiel , but let me know your thoughts , let me see if you disagree , like comment and subscribe and rate and review , share this and , most of all , if you have any questions , let me know and join my Discord community and we can definitely chat more there . Okay , thank you , take care , namaste .