Dear Sundari, dear Ramji, I really miss my guru and his direct teaching, so by now I’m studying Swami Paramarthananda’s classes on Sankara’s Vivekachudamani, and even when I go slowly on the teachings (sometimes I listen/read twice the same teaching), I have some questions that I’d appreciate your answer. That’s why I haven’t watched the lake sessions yet because am finishing the first part of the verses.
Sundari: Ramji sends his love, he just got back from an extensive trip so has been resting, but we will soon be holding our regular zoom satsangs, starting Sunday 3rd Oct. We are going to hold a whole day satsang and will send out more information shortly.
Lina: In verse 33 or 34 Swami P. talks about the importance of religion in the qualities or qualifications of the Vedanta student and I’ve been thinking so much about that because I grew up without religious beliefs and didn’t know a temple until I was a teenager. All the dogmas are a little bit strange for me and I’ve been approaching religions and cults with sincere curiosity and fascination.
Sundari: In many ways, it is an advantage not to be indoctrinated by religious dogma. But it can also be a drawback because many secular people have disdain for religion because they find it intellectually insulting. In some way, religious dogma can be intellectually challenging, but it can also instill the recognition and appreciation of the value of reverence for the creator, however one sees it. The problem with all religions is that they are dualistic and have no means of knowledge to realize the Self. They are not designed to make you think but to make you a good believer.
Vedanta is the opposite, it has no dogma to believe in. There is only something to know and understand. Vedanta is a valid and independent means of knowledge not based on opinions or beliefs (which are all subject to interpretation) which if applied to your life removes the ignorance of your true nature as the non-dual Self and ends existential suffering. You are required to think, you need certain qualifications for the teachings to assimilate and you need to be taught by a qualified teacher. Though Vedanta is not a religion, it encourages a religious attitude and devotional practice in conjunction with karma yoga, as an essential part of self-inquiry.
In fact, karma yoga is in itself a religious practice because it requires the understanding that something other than you is in control of the results of action. It does not take much to understand that the creation must have come from somewhere because you did not create it, nobody did. The creation is intelligently designed so must have an intelligent creator. Karma yoga also requires love and respect for the creative force, not as a big person or daddy you must fear and obey, but as the principle that keeps the creation going. Vedanta calls that force Isvara, which is another name for you, the non-dual Self.
The creation is made up of certain forces and is run by certain non-negotiable natural laws or dharmas. You may be the Self but as a jiva living in this world, whether you know you are the Self or you think you are a person, you need to understand these forces and laws and abide by them, or your life will be hell. In karma yoga, all actions are done in the spirit of gratitude and renunciation to the creator because life is a great gift that must be honored. This takes care of the childish dissatisfied ego that wants what it wants when it wants it. Therefore, karma yoga is the greatest tool anyone can have to live a sane and happy life, whether your approach is secular, religious, or as an inquirer.
Swami P has written about the three stages of God devotion, from the purely dualistic to the nondual, which I extrapolated on and posted in the satsang called Why Everyone Needs God. I have attached it for you.
Lina: So, my question is: How the lack of religious dogma and beliefs could affect me as Jnani and as a future Vedanta student (because I think I’m still way too far from having all the proper qualifications).
Sundari: They do not. See above, read the satsang I attached on this topic.
Lina: I do believe in a Universal consciousness, but not as the Christians or Muslims or Judges or even Hinduists believe.
Sundari: Good. Understanding Isvara, which is Pure Consciousness in association with Maya, what we also call the creator, is essential to moksa. There is no way to progress with self-inquiry if you exclude Isvara. More on this in the satsang I attached.
Lina: You know I’m a Yogini, not just Hatha Yogi. I try to follow the Patanjali Yoga Sutras philosophy and practice Karma Yoga and try to study every day. But I just don’t have a religion and that doesn’t generate any conflict in me. So, could you please explain to me how could I compensate for the lacking of religious dogma? And the dogma is necessary for the religious person? Thank you for your answers and for reading me. I miss you so much!
Sundari: Ramji says thank you, he misses you too! All this is explained in more detail in the satsang I attached. Religious dogma is necessary for religious people under the spell of Maya (duality) who believe that God is a benefactor, a great being outside of far superior from them whom they must obey and supplicate. The teachings of Vedanta are not dogma because they are the logic of existence that explains perfectly what Consciousness is, what you and this world are, and that reality is non-dual and therefore, there is nothing other than you, Consciousness. The teaching on the identity between Isvara (or God, if you prefer), the jiva, and the world is the essence of self-inquiry. Vedanta tells you upfront that you are the Self. Consciousness. But to fully appreciate that fact requires the removal of the hypnosis of duality, and this is what the methodology of Vedanta is set up to address. And for this, karma yoga is essential, as is a practice of devotion, which in essence, is what karma yoga is.
Much love,
Sundari
