Vedānta वेदान्त East + West

Vedānta वेदाꅍत East + West

- Educational Fair Use Only - Vedānta वेदाꅍत = वेद + अꅍत Veda + anta ~ “end of Vedas”

M. Monier-Williams, “Vedānta,” in A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Clarendon, 1899. https://sanskrit.inria.fr/MW/26.html. - Educational Fair Use Only - Vedic Literature Categories Scriptural Foundational Influences on Vedānta

Deshpande, Madhav, "Language and Testimony in Classical Indian Philosophy”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.):  The Vedic scriptural texts (1500–500 BCE) consist of the four ancient collections, i.e.,  the Ṛgveda, the Sāmaveda [liturgical sāman (harmony/song)], the Yajurveda [ceremony rites], and the Atharvaveda [daily life rites].  The next layer of Vedic texts, the Brāhmaṇas, consists of prose ritual commentaries that offer procedures, justifications, and explanations.  The last two categories of Vedic literature are the Āraṇyakas, “Forest Texts”, and  The Upaniṣads- Educational, “Secret Mystical Doctrines” Fair Useliteral Only“END of Vedas”- श्री वमी वववेकानꅍद Swami Vivekananda Founding Father of Contemporary Vedānta

- Educational Fair Use Only - श्री वमी वववेकानꅍद Swami Vivekananda ‘s “1893 Speech to the World Parliament of Religions”

Sisters and Brothers of America,

My thanks, also, to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honor of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: “As the different streams having their sources in different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or- straight,Educational all lead to Thee.” Fair Use Only -

Art Institute of Chicaco. “Swami Vivekananda and His 1893 Speech: Speech Delivered by Swami Vivekananda on September 11, 1893, at the First World’s Parliament of Religions on the Site of the Present-Day Art Institute.” Accessed September 13, 2019. https://www.artic.edu/swami-vivekananda-and-his-1893-speech. श्री वमी वववेकानꅍद Swami Vivekananda‘s “1893 Speech to the World Parliament of Religions”

The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita: “Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me.” Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal. - Educational Fair Use Only -

Art Institute of Chicaco. “Swami Vivekananda and His 1893 Speech: Speech Delivered by Swami Vivekananda on September 11, 1893, at the First World’s Parliament of Religions on the Site of the Present-Day Art Institute.” Accessed September 13, 2019. https://www.artic.edu/swami-vivekananda-and-his-1893-speech. qualified (unitary) dualism non-dualism non-dualism P 2

श्री वमी वववेकानꅍद Swami Vivekananda‘s “Reply to the Madras Address”

Upanishads (śruti) <> oral-transmissions of scriptures Gita (smṛiti) <> explanatory commentaries, Shariraka Sutras/Brahma Sutras- ( nyāyaEducational) <> reasoned explanations Fair Use Only -

Swāmi Vivekānanda. “Reply to the Madras Address [The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 4/Writings: Prose/Reply to the Madras Address].” Accessed August 31, 2019. https://www.esamskriti.com/e/History/Great-Indian-Leaders/In-Defence-Of-Hinduism-By-Swami-Vivekananda-1.aspx. p5

श्री वमी वववेकानꅍद Swami Vivekananda‘s “Reply to the Madras Address”

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श्री वमी वववेकानꅍद Swami Vivekananda‘s “Reply to the Madras Address”

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 Brief reminder about Sri Aurobindo [1872-1950]:  Born in Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal  Went to King’ s College Cambridge  Returned to India in 1893 to work in government  Becomes political activist for independence; starts daily paper Bande Mataram  Retires to take up spiritual life in 1910; starts religion writing in 1914 - Educational Fair Use Only -

Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust. “Life Sketch [Of Sri Aurobindo].” [Passages excerpted from Volume 30, SABCL, p.1-6.]. Accessed September 12, 2019. https://www.sriaurobindoashram.org/sriaurobindo/life_sketch.php. Sri Aurobindo Interpretation of the Vedas

 Forward to Aurobindo’ s English translation of the Ṛg Veda (1st book) Sri Aurobindo Ghose. Hymns to the Mystic Fire. Sixth impression. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, 1998. [Forward: The Doctrine of the Mystics pp1-35; 1st edition 1946].  Page 2: Western scholarship projects Vedas as primitive (Secrets of the Veda, p. 25):  “The modern theory of the Veda starts with the conception, for which [the commentator] Sayana is responsible, of the Vedas as the hymnal of an early, primitive and largely barbaric society crude in its moral and religious conceptions, rude in its social structure and entirely childlike in its outlook upon the world that environed it. The ritualism which Sayana accepted as part of a divine knowledge and as endowed with a mysterious efficacy, European scholarship accepted as an elaboration of the old savage propitiatory sacrifices offered to imaginary superhuman personalities who might be benevolent or malevolent according as they were worshipped or neglected.” - Educational Fair Use Only -

Sri Aurobindo Ghose. The Secret of the Veda. Sixth impression. The Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo 15. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1998, 1998, 25. [Originally published in monthly review Arya 1914-1916]. https://www.sriaurobindoashram.org/sriaurobindo/writings.php. Sri Aurobindo Foreward to Hymns of the Mystic Fire

p.6: Hermeneutics for Reading the Vedas (Yaska):  Ritualistic interpretation  Historical/mythological interpretation  Philological interpretation  Spiritual interpretation » Vedānta Spiritual Tradition “the last is the true sense and when one gets it the others drop or are cut away.” - Educational Fair Use Only -

Sri Aurobindo Ghose. The Secret of the Veda. Sixth impression. The Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo 15. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1998, 1998, 6. [Originally published in monthly review Arya 1914-1916]. https://www.sriaurobindoashram.org/sriaurobindo/writings.php. Sri Aurobindo Foreward to Hymns of the Mystic Fire

p.6-7: Hermeneutics for Reading the Vedas (Aurobindo ऋषि; ṛṣi = referencing commentator Yaska): singer of sacred  Spiritual interpretation: “The Rishis saw the truth, the true hymns law of things, directly by an inner vision; afterwards the (Vedas) knowledge and the inner sense of the Veda were almost lost and the Rishis who still knew had to save it by handing it down through initiation to disciples and at a last stage outward and mental means had to be used for finding the sense such as Nirukta and other Vedangas. But even then, Nirukta=explict/ he says, “the true sense of the Veda can be recovered directly by definitive meditation and tapasya [purification]”, those who can use these means need no outward- Educational aids for this knowledge. Fair” Use Only -

Sri Aurobindo Ghose. The Secret of the Veda. Sixth impression. The Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo 15. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1998, 1998, 6-7. [Originally published in monthly review Arya 1914-1916]. https://www.sriaurobindoashram.org/sriaurobindo/writings.php. Sri Aurobindo: Doctrine of the Mystics 7 Principles of Existence + 7 Puranic Worlds

EXISTENCE PRINCIPLE PURANIC WORLD Pure existence - Sat World of highest truth of being - Satyaloka Pure consciousness - Chit World of infinite will or conscious force - Tapaloka divine Pure Bliss – Ānanda World of creative delight of existence – Janaloka Knowledge or Truth –Vijñāna World of Vastness – Maharloka Pure Mind World of light – Svar Life Force [Terrestial] World of various becoming (Bhuvar) mundane - EducationalMatter Fair UseThe materialOnly world - (Bhur)

Sri Aurobindo Ghose. Hymns to the Mystic Fire. Sixth impression. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1998, 1998. [Introduction: The Doctrine of the Mystics pp21-35; 1st edition 1946]. Vedānta: Eastern वेदाꅍत 5 SHEATHS / KOŚAS

Annamaya Manomaya Prāṇamaya Vijñānamaya Anandamaya Material body Mental body Energetic body Intuitive Nondual bliss (made from food) (pranic nervous wisdom body consciousness system) Physical Non-analytical 5 pranas Awakened Peek + peak preoccupations compulsive driving intuitive states thinking material and wisdom converting mental actions (eventually) to stable traits - Educational Fair Use Only -

Saraswati, Swami Niranjanananda. Yoga Darshan: Vision of the Yoga Upanishads. Bihar: Yoga Publications Trust, 2005. Vedānta: Eastern वेदाꅍत

CONSCIOUSNESS STATES Jāgaritṛ Svapna Nidrā (wakefulness) (dream) (deep sleep) Conscious mind Subconscious mind Unconscious mind Gross Subtle Causal (sthūla) (sūkśma) (kāraṇa)

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Saraswati, Swami Niranjanananda. Yoga Darshan: Vision of the Yoga Upanishads. Bihar: Yoga Publications Trust, 2005. वेदाꅍत Vedānta: Eastern Vedānta Traditions

Aṣṭāṅgamārga / Eightfold Path Yoga (yoke) Common Practices Yama – external control: truth, non-violence, honesty, non- Karma – aware worldly actions Tarka – discussion (w reasoning) possessiveness, celibacy; (satya, ahimsa, asteya, aparigraha, brahmacharya) Niyama – internal control: cleanliness, contentment, Jñāna – knowledge Tyāga - renunciation purification, self-study, faith; (shaucha, santosha, tapas, (transcendental) svadhyasa, ishvara pranidhana) Asana – abiding (postures) Haṭha– purification through forced bodily & Mauna - silence mental elements (ṣat karma) Prāṇāyāma – controlled breathing Raja – refined awareness Deśa – place (conducive to spiritual practice) Pratyāhāra – withdrawal from ego absorption (witness Mantra –instrument of thought; sacred / Kāla – time consciousness) transcendental speech (routine and protected for spiritual practice) Dharaṇa – subduing the mind (outer and inner Laya – dissolution (non-duality consciousness / Bandha – locking concentrations) personal ego transcendence) (targeted breath holding) Dhyāna – meditation Dehasaṃya – bodily stillness Samadhi - Educational Fair Use Only -Dṛṣtisaṃya – visual stillness

Saraswati, Swami Niranjanananda. Yoga Darshan: Vision of the Yoga Upanishads. Bihar: Yoga Publications Trust, 2005. Vedānta: Western Correlations वेदाꅍत Veda + anta ~ “end of Vedas”

- Educational Fair Use Only - वेदाꅍत Vedānta: Western correlations

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Wilber, Ken. Integral Psychology. 1st ed. Boston Mass. [u.a.]: Shambhala, 1999. http://worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/oclc/247294144. वेदाꅍत Vedānta: Western

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Wilber, Ken. Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World. Boston: Integral Books, 2006. http://worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/oclc/63122749. References

Art Institute of Chicaco. “Swami Vivekananda and His 1893 Speech.” Speech delivered by Swami Vivekananda on September 11, 1893, at the first World’s Parliament of Religions on the site of the present-day Art Institute. Accessed September 13, 2019. https://www.artic.edu/swami-vivekananda-and-his-1893-speech. Oberhammer, Gerhard, and Marion Rastelli. Studies in Hinduism: On the Mutual Influences and Relationship of Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta and Pāñcarātra. Sitzungsberichte / Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse 756. Bd. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2007. Monier-Williams, M. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Clarendon, 1899. https://sanskrit.inria.fr/MW/26.html. Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust. “Life Sketch [Of Sri Aurobindo].” [Passages excerpted from Volume 30, SABCL, p.1-6.]. Accessed September 12, 2019. https://www.sriaurobindoashram.org/sriaurobindo/life_sketch.php. Sri Aurobindo Ghose. Hymns to the Mystic Fire. Sixth impression. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1998, 1998. [Introduction: The Doctrine of the Mystics pp21-35; 1st edition 1946]. Srinivasa Chari, S. M. Fundamentals of Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta: A Study Based on Vedānta Deśika's Tattva-Muktā-Kalāpa. Delhi: Motilal Banorsidass, 1988. Swāmi Vivekānanda. “Reply to the Madras Address [The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 4/Writings: Prose/Reply to the Madras Address].” Accessed August 31, 2019. https://www.esamskriti.com/e/History/Great-Indian-Leaders/In-Defence-Of-Hinduism-By-Swami-Vivekananda-1.aspx. Wilber, Ken. Integral Psychology. 1st ed. Boston Mass. [u.a.]: Shambhala, 1999. http://worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/oclc/247294144. Wilber, Ken. Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World. Boston: Integral Books, 2006. http://worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/oclc/63122749. Isherwood, Christopher, ed. Vedanta for Modern Man. Hollywood Calif. Vedanta Press, 1964. http://worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/oclc/1087093042. - Educational Fair Use Only -