This is a book summary of What is Vedanta? by Swami Sarvapriyananda (Amazon):
Quick Housekeeping:
- All content in “quotation marks” is from the author (otherwise it’s minimally paraphrased).
- All content is organized into my own themes (not the author’s chapters).
- Emphasis has been added in bold for readability/skimmability.
Book Summary Contents:
- What Vedanta is not
- About Vedanta
- Tat Tvam Asi (You are That / That Thou Art)
- Bonus: Swami Vivekananda’s Practical Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta 101: What is Vedanta? by Swami Sarvapriyananda (Book Summary)
What Vedanta is not
“It is not a journey in space or time, not a journey from one reality to another or from one object to another, but it is right here and right now. It is who or what we are right now.”
Vedanta is not a journey in space:
- “The spiritual journey of Vedanta is not a journey in space i.e, it is not a journey from one place to another.”
- “In Vedanta, it is not that Brahman is there, not here. The Vedantic journey is not a journey from here to there.”
- “Vedanta speaks about a reality that is both here and there. In fact, space itself is included in the conception of the Absolute.”
Vedanta is not a journey in time:
- “When you say after death you will see God, or after the saviour comes, you will go to heaven, here again notice the word ‘after’. Even in Yoga, it is said that after samadhi you will be free. Vedanta does not say that. Vedanta is not a journey in time. You are not waiting for something to happen, like death or a mystical experience, or the coming of the saviour, or the coming of the millennium.”
- “In Vedanta, it is not ‘then’ or ‘after’, it is here and now … Vedanta tells us the Absolute is right here and right now.”
- “Time itself appears in the Absolute, and thus cannot limit it.”
Vedanta is not a journey from one object to another:
- “The spiritual journey in Vedanta is not even a journey from one object to another. It is not as if I am something and Brahman is something else, that I need to attain.”
About Vedanta
“Vedanta understands the spiritual journey as one from ignorance to knowledge. From not knowing or not realizing to knowing and realizing. From questioning, ‘what I am, what this universe is, what is the point of all this’, to realizing the truth with clarity and conviction. So, ignorance to enlightenment – that is the spiritual journey in Vedanta.”
Meaning of the word Vedanta:
- ‘Veda’ = the ancient fundamental texts of Hinduism.
- ‘anta’ = the end (meaning Siddhanta, the final conclusion of the Vedas).
- ‘Vedanta’ = the end of the Vedas (the final/highest teachings of the Vedas/Hinduism).
Vedanta is the core philosophy of Hinduism:
- “Vedanta is at the heart of Hinduism … Vedanta is the core philosophy of Hinduism, consisting of various schools which underlie the various Hindu sects.”
- “In practice, on inquiring about the background of any tradition of Hinduism, one will find that it is based on some school of Vedanta or the other.”
Triple textual foundation of Vedanta:
- “The traditional definition of Vedanta is this – the knowledge you get from the texts called the Upanishads is called Vedanta. In a secondary sense, the texts themselves are called Vedanta.”
- “The Bhagavad Gita is the essence of the teachings of the Upanishads and it is considered a part of the canonical texts of Vedanta.”
- “Vedanta comprises the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita as well as the commentaries which give rise to the various schools … These three texts, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras, are together called the triple foundation of Vedanta, or the Prasthana Traya.”
Advaita Vedanta:
- “The Vedanta Societies (the Ramakrishna Order of monks) also belong to a particular school of Vedanta. Our core philosophy is the Advaita Vedanta (meaning: Non-dual Vedanta), studied and understood in the light of Sri Ramakrishna’s life and teachings.”
- “Shankaracharya’s commentary on the Brahma Sutras is the foundation for Advaita Vedanta, the non-dual Vedanta.”
Tat Tvam Asi (You are That / That Thou Art)
“Vedanta is Tat tvam asi ‘that thou art’, and all that follows from it.”
· ‘that’ = God, Saguna Brahman, Ishwara, the reality behind this universe.
· ‘thou’ = you, the individual being (jeeva).
About tat tvam asi:
- “You can describe Advaita Vedanta in just one sentence – ‘tat tvam asi’ – You are That … You and That are the same reality.”
- “This is what is meant by Tat tvam asi … You, the Self, are the witness of the three states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep. You, the Self, are beyond the five sheaths – the physical, the vital, the mental, the intellectual and the causal.”
- “This is the core idea of Advaita Vedanta – ‘That thou art’. Your existence is certain, but it is surrounded with problems. Vedanta shows you those problems are not your problems. They are either the body’s problems, or the mind’s problems. Vedanta shows you how you are not the body, or the mind. The moment you see that you are not body-mind, the limitations imposed by the body and mind disappear (they do not apply to you). You realize your infinite Self which is one with God. When you realize this, you see that not only is there no problem now, there never has been one. This whole conception of problems and trying to get out of them is what is called Maya in Advaita Vedanta. This is remarkably good news!”
God-oriented vs Self-oriented spiritual approaches:
- God/That-centered spiritual approach: The search for God. If you ask the question, what is the reality about this universe – that is the search for ‘God’. The God-centered religions and mentality are likely to be dualistic, devotional, worship-oriented, and temple-church-mosque oriented. You are likely to see lots of worship, joyous celebrations, music, food etc. All the Abrahamic religions are God-centered, they are theistic religions. This is the only kind of religion that the Western world has been used to, and hence people in the West find something like Buddhism very confusing. They question how there can be a religion without God. Whereas in India this is not a problem at all. Buddhism has existed in India for 2,500 years, and Jainism since even before that. In Buddhism and Jainism there is no mention of God. Buddhism is openly agnostic.
- Self/Thou-centered spiritual approach: An inquiry into the self (‘What am I? or Who am I?’). If you ask the question, what is the reality about yourself – that is an inquiry into ‘thou’, into the individual. There are religions and systems like Buddhism, Jainism, Sankhya and Yoga that are based on Self-Inquiry. The religions based on Self-inquiry tend to be relatively more introspective. Think about Buddhism, it tends to be inquiry-based and meditative, rather than devotional. It tends to be a bit more intellectual, more monastic and more meditation-hall-oriented rather than temple-oriented. Notice how much effort is put forth in trying to convince others and yourself that God exists. In contrast, nowhere will you find any effort put forth for proving that ‘I’ exist. Nobody really doubts his or her own existence. If you doubt, then who is the one doubting? The one who is doubting certainly exists!
Vedanta brings both spiritual approaches together:
- “The great insight of Advaita Vedanta is, the reality you reach through the God-centered approach (‘that’ based approach), and the reality you reach through the Self-inquiry approach (‘thou’ based approach), is exactly the same reality. By bringing them together – Atman is Brahman, ‘That thou art’, the stunning insight is – that indubitable personal existence is also the infinitude of God. The unproblematic, infinite nature of God and the indubitable certain existence of the self are brought together. You have an infinite existence which is also beyond doubt.”
- “‘Atman’ means the self itself – Who I am, what I am – right here, right now … You, the Atman which Vedanta talks about, you cannot attain it; because you are already ‘you’ so what will you attain? You cannot produce it. Since it is already there and eternally so, you cannot produce it. You can neither refine it nor change it into something else.”
- “Religions of the world in general deal with three fundamentals. Imagine a triangle comprising the individual, the world, and God – Jeeva Jagat Ishwara. You exist and there is the world which you experience. Further, we have faith or belief in God. Theistic religions end with this much. But Advaita Vedanta goes beyond that. It claims that there is a deeper reality, an ultimate reality beyond the individual, beyond the world and even beyond God. That is the Absolute, or Brahman, which is ‘Existence Consciousness Bliss’ or Sat Chit Ananda. Upon enlightenment, you will realize Brahma Satyam, Brahman alone is real. But what about the world? Jagat Mithya, the world is an appearance. And what about me, am I an appearance or reality? You need not worry, you are real, but you are real as the Absolute, jeeva bhramhaiva naparah. Vedanta analyses the entirety of experience to one absolute reality, and it insists that this can be understood and realized. This is the purpose of spirituality, to realize yourself as Brahman, Aham Brahmasmi. When the teacher teaches ‘That thou art’, the student will realize ‘I am that’ – Aham Brahmasmi – I am Brahman.”
Bonus: Swami Vivekananda’s Practical Vedanta
“Vedanta is Swami Vivekananda’s conception of oneness of existence and the divinity within, expressed as practical Vedanta.”
- “The deepest meaning of philosophy is Jnana Yoga, the inquiry into reality … Vedanta is distinct from rituals, devotion and meditation – karma, or bhakti and dhyana.”
- “When you inquire into the ‘thou’, or the individual, you come to the divinity within yourself. You are not the body and not the mind, but are beyond body and mind … That is the divinity within each one of us.”
- “Vedanta says the Self which is beyond body and mind, is one. So, there is not only divinity within each of us, but that divinity within each of us is one reality. This is what he means by the oneness of existence.”
- “Vedanta shows us how I and the other are not separate. This oneness of all beings is the foundation of morality … Swami Vivekananda held that, because we are one reality, if I hurt someone or cheat someone, I am injuring myself in a profound sense. Just as we take very good care of ourselves, we should take equally good care, if not more, of everyone else.”
- “Oneness at the core is expressed as plurality, as the many. What we have to practise is the harmony of the many. Living together, learning and assimilating from one another is the way to harmony.”
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