Part of the answer to the question "Are There Prerequisites for Advaita?" lies in the question itself.
The question implies that the topic belongs to, or has to be steeped in a particular culture or tradition. Au contrare - I've got a brother-in-law who has a heart attack, dragged half dead to the hospital, cut open from bow to stern . . . and he walked out of that hospital an advaita thru and thru. He's never heard of the concept, or come across any of its precepts. But he speaks of the meaninglessness of worldly pursuits, how his daily duties only left him only with fears and anxieties - he experienced a discontent that went right to his core. That dude has really lightened up. So the question "Are There Prerequisites for Advaita?" Hell, forget whether there's prerequisites or not - ask yourself - without the (near) extinguishing of 'that person in charge of my life', can advaita be practiced at all? The practice of advaita without the honest recognition that it will never work is doomed to create the same anxieties and fears that a 9-5 job will do. I recommend eating a bunch of deep fried cheese curds. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <vajradh...@...> wrote: > > From the excellent article by David Frawley "Misconceptions about > Advaita", First published in the Mountain Path of the Sri Ramanashram > LINK > > Are There Prerequisites for Advaita? > > One of the main areas of difference of opinion is relative to who can > practice Advaita and to what degree? What are the prerequisites for > Self-inquiry? Some people believe that Advaita has no prerequisites, > but can be taken up by anyone, under any circumstances, regardless of > their background or life-style. After all, Advaita is just teaching > us to rest in our true nature, which is always there for everyone. > Why should that rest on any outer aids or requirements? This is a > particularly appealing idea in the age of democracy, when all people > are supposed to be equal. > > In much of neo-Advaita, the idea of prerequisites on the part of the > student or the teacher is not discussed. Speaking to general > audiences in the West, some neo-Advaitic teachers give the impression > that one can practice Advaita along with an affluent life-style and > little modification of one's personal behavior. This is part of the > trend of modern yogic teachings in the West that avoid any reference > to asceticism or tapas as part of practice, which are not popular > ideas in this materialistic age. > > However, if we read traditional Advaitic texts, we get quite a > different impression. The question of the aptitude or adhikara of the > student is an important topic dealt with at the beginning of the > teaching. The requirements can be quite stringent and daunting, if > not downright discouraging. One should first renounce the world, > practice brahmacharya, and gain proficiency in other yogas like Karma > Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Raja Yoga and so on (the sadhana-chatushtya). > One can examine texts like the Vedanta Sara I.6-26 for a detailed > description. While probably no one ever had all of these requirements > before starting the practice of Self-inquiry, these at least do > encourage humility, not only on the part of the student, but also on > the part of the teacher who himself may not have all these requirements! > > Ramana keeps the requirement for Advaita simple yet clear a ripe > mind, which is the essence of the whole thing, and encourages > practice of the teaching without overestimating one's readiness for > it. Yet a ripe mind is not as easy as it sounds either. > > Ramana defines this ripe mind as profound detachment and deep > discrimination, above all a powerful aspiration for liberation from > the body and the cycle of rebirth not a mere mental interest but an > unshakeable conviction going to the very root of our thoughts and > feelings (note Ramana Gita VII. 8-11). > > A ripe, pure or sattvic mind implies that rajas and tamas, the > qualities of passion and ignorance, have been cleared not only from > the mind but also from the body, to which the mind is connected in > Vedic thought. Such a pure or ripe mind was rare even in classical > India. In the modern world, in which our life-style and culture is > dominated by rajas and tamas, it is indeed quite rare and certainly > not to be expected. > > To arrive at it, a dharmic life-style is necessary. This is similar > to the Yoga Sutra prescription of the yamas and niyamas as > prerequisites for Yoga practice. In this regard, Ramana particularly > emphasized a sattvic vegetarian diet as a great aid to practice. > > The problem is that many people take Ramana's idea of a ripe mind > superficially. It is not a prescription that anyone can approach or > practice Advaita in any manner they like. Advaita does require > considerable inner purity and self-discipline, developing which is an > important aim of practice which should not be lightly set aside. > > Is Advaita Against Other Yoga Practices? > > A related misconception is that Advaita is against other spiritual > and yogic practices like mantra, pranayama, puja and bhakti, which > from its point of view are regarded as of little value and only serve > to condition the mind further. Even a number of traditional Advaitic > texts speak of setting all such other yogic practices aside as > useless. Many neo-Advaitins emphasize such advanced teachings. They > may tell even beginning students to give up all other practices and > discourage them from doing mantras, pranayama or other yoga > techniques. We could call this `Advaita without Yoga'. > > Traditional Advaita, which Ramana echoed, states that advanced > aspirants who are truly ready for a dedicated path of self-inquiry > can discard other yogic practices if they are so inclined. But it > also states that for gaining a ripe mind, developing proficiency in > these preliminary practices is a good idea. Most people can benefit > from at least some support practices, particularly beginners, even if > their main focus is Self-inquiry. Note the Ramana Gita VII. 12-14 in > this regard. > > If we study traditional Advaita, we find that Yoga practices were > regarded as the main tools for developing the ripe mind necessary for > Advaita to really work. Many great Advaitins taught Yoga as well. > Even Shankara taught Tantric Yoga in his teachings like Saundarya > Lahiri and composed great devotional hymns to all the main Hindu Gods > and Goddesses. This tradition of Yoga-Vedanta using Yoga to create > a ripe or sattvic mind, and using Advaita for the higher realization > through it has been the dominant approach in Vedanta found not only > in the works of older gurus like Shankaracharya and Vidyaranaya, but > in modern gurus like Vivekananda, Shivananda and Yogananda. > > Ramana, though he emphasized Self-inquiry, never rejected the value > of other yogic practices. He commonly extolled such practices as > chanting the name of God, chanting Om and doing pranayama. He had > regular Vedic chanting and pujas done at the ashram which continue > today. > > This traditional Advaitic view of different levels practice should > not be confused with an approach that rejects all practices as > useless. In this regard we can contrast traditional Advaita Vedanta, > which Ramana followed, and the teachings of J. Krishnamurti, which is > often the source of neo-Advaita's rejection of support practices. > > Advaitic aspirants may not be attracted to all such Yoga practices > and need not be, but they should not therefore regard them as of no > value or discourage others from doing them. Until the mind is fully > ripe or sattvic, such practices have their value, though we should > use them as a means to Self-inquiry, not in exclusion of it. Advaita > without Yoga, like Advaita without Vedanta often leaves the student > without the proper tools to aid them along their sometimes long and > difficult path. >
