Advaita Vedanta

This hub is meant to display various thinkers of the Advaita Vedanta philosophy. It is an area that I have great interest in and I invite you to please comment and share your experiences and thoughts.

It has been a desperate plight since the inception of my own interaction with Advaita Vedanta to come to some conclusion about what the best way to communicate it might be. I have my own way, which is still in the works, and somehow has an awful lot to do with Art and Media. My mind is set to anything but the clock that Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj's seemed to be. One of absolute simplicity and anonymity.

I apologize for indulging in personal histories but it just happens to be my style. Everything that I say, can only be said through my own personal experiences, like a memoir. If that does not appeal to you I apologize. But that is how I will write everything in this Hub. Thank you for your time, and more is always to come.

I have a website, which is AlanAyazyam.com. In it, I speak candidly through my own experience about what I foresee for the future of this country and the world. Mostly though, I talk about a movement which I am the founder of. It is a young movement, but I have high hopes for it. it is an artistic movement which centers around the idea of being oneself and having true reactions to things. It is a movement whose sole purpose is to raise money for the artist so that quality work can be produced.

I am now a young man, I will not say how young, but I plan to make it my life's work. Recently my myspace account was vanquished, although I still do not know why. And I sometimes put out music through cafepress.com. This area which is called "Advaita Vedanta" will, unfortunately, have much to do with me and this movement as much as it has to do with the actual movement of Advaita which I believe is a serious religious movement in the united states right now.

A greater amount of information on me, if you want to hear it, is located at the aforementioned website, if interest strikes you. News on that particular movement will be more thoroughly discussed there as well.

I have authority to speak on this topic only because I consider myself "self-realized." I would not advise that anybody who is not self-realized speak on the topic, but hey, we all have to make money, right? So i can't blame people for wanting to pretend. Whether or not the reader wishes to "believe" in this conclusion is up to them. It just so happens that much of the feedback I receive on my website is positive, and a smaller proportion happens to be negative. I welcome comments of disagreement.

The nature of the awakening I had is not for me to speak about, except to say that it was the death of the mind. It is was the mind knowing itself. It is a moment that is as quick as the snap of a finger. It was not until I started reading Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj's book "I Am That" that I became utterly convinced that such a thing as enlightenment was possible. It not only seemed possible, it seemed like it was GOING to happen in a few years, and that it really was attainable. It just so happens, it only took 4 months.

To one who is awakened, it is obvious that the awakening is a lot like death. it's pretty hard to dispute. It is even more permanent than death! People can be brought back from death, but nobody is brought back from the awakening.

Such is the power of the book. Many people have commented on Maharaj's power with words, I believe Maurice Friedman will always be my most favored interpretor of Maharaj's words. Maharaj spoke in Marathi and this was translated.

There are many who have a relationship not only with Maharaj's words but with the man himself, although he has been dead for many years. They have written books. One such that is still living is Stephen Wolinsky who regularly has seminars on the subject of Maharaj and non-duality. Another is Jean Dunn, who has translated but not to my knowledge written anything original. Robert Powell has written books strictly on the subject of advaita as a philosophy, but he never met Maharaj. His writing style is very agreeable to me and I recommend his books to anyone. He is also no longer alive.

The basic premise of Advaita Vedenta is that everything is "One Substance" and secondly that all "knowledge" is useless, and that true knowledge is only attained through the exiting of all thoughts. Thoughts must not be supressed, but rather "sorted" as in a giant filing cabinet, until it is clear what their place is in the mind. This is what the mind does in sleep.

My basic reference is the experience I've had. Second to this is Maharaj. The seed of consciousness, I agree, is the sound "Om" and this is represented in the thought "I Am." If the "I Am" is meditated on, it is hoped that one will transcend it to the no-man's land of universal consciousness. The purpose of this is to realize your true identity, which is not in fact individual but universal, as in, all things. You are not in fact an individual, but the universe itself. So goes the teaching.

If, in the course of your study, you come to this conclusion and find yourself interested in the ideas themselves, you are in the right place. I will continue to expound on this topic ad infinitum, for I have just that much to say on the matter. If you have questions on the topic, I will be happy to respond.

Witnessing oneself, the eternal witness. Maharaj said, "my state ever prevails."

Now, who can answer this: what is witnessed? Can your Self ever be witnessed?

The truth is this: No.

You may grow older and find, "Yes, I know myself." But advaita vedanta and especially Nisarga Yoga which is the brand of Yoga Maharaj spoke of, will tell you, you know nothing of the sort.

Silly boy, silly girl, would he not say? What do you know about yourself? Everything you know is just what this body is. You know its habits, you know the personality, you know what goes on inside the so-called mind, but what part of the this are you? The Answer is:

None of it.

The State of things is this. Obvious thoughts exist to make the mind satisfied. But truthfully, these are nothing but entertainment. These thoughts pass "judgement" on the whole creation. But how can the source of your own intelligence pass judgement on the whole creation? It cannot. Think about it. So, at some point come to this conclusion and see that your mind cannot understand anything.

The most it can do is help you function in life, but to yourself, you are nothing. Being nothing you need nothing. Your body may need things, but the body is not who you are.