Authors Word
Advaita is as ancient as it is modern, as rational as it is pragmatic, and as practical as it is theoretical. Advaita is a vast ocean of knowledge in which all the diverse streams ofknowledgel flow into and merge. It is the very cuemination of human knowledge. It is the sole solution of life and its problems. Such sublime knowledge, unfortunately, is sought and found by ninety percent of the people in the tricks performed by the babas. People wash their feet and feel their sins are washed off. They listen to their speeches and are reassured of redemption. What a fall for the knowledge-without-a-second (advaita)! People are deluded that there is nothing beyond these pious acts. They believe that the mantras that these babas whisper in their ears are the essence of Vedanta. ‘What is there in Vedanta beyond this worship of babas and the practice of yoga they speak of?’ These people are like the blind men who grope a part of the elephant and conclude that it is this and that, without knowing the elephant as a whole. It is like a man climbing a small rock and thinking that he is atop the Everest. Everyone these days gathers some fragments of knowledge here and there and deludes himself that it is advaita. Those who teach and those who are taught are equally deluded and believe that it is all advaita. Those who teach make sweet speeches to attract gullible seekers. The teacher seeks renown and riches, and nothing more. People are deluded that listening to these speeches and deifying those gurus fulfils all their spiritual and secular needs. This is the stark truth. Truth is always unpleasant. But the world must be told the truth, even if it be unpalatable. That is why the sages of the Upanishads proclaimed and propagated this advaita truth to the world to save it from untruths and half-truths. This advaita was taught thousands of years ago. And the tradition was continued by the great commentators like Sankara who taught this stark truth unceasingly in their writings, uncompromisingly and unambiguously. Theirs is the true advaita and theirs the true way of imparting knowledge. That is the true tradition of the guru-shisya, the teacher and the seeker. Man’s welfare consists in knowing this and in moulding one's life in accordance with this hoary and holy tradition. Thus alone does one realise the true meaning of life. This royal path, revealed by the sages of yore, is now in danger of being closed. The bylanes are now taken to be the royal path. Our effort now is to make people realise that these diversions from the royal road lead them nowhere. Life’s real problem is not solved in these shortcuts to spirituality. They will result in short circuits and endanger the seeker. This is a movement for the propagation of the true Vedantaic wisdom, the legacy left by the ancient commentators, with the current scientific findings integrated into it, and revealing it as the timeless knowledge eminently adaptable to the modern times. In short, what we seek to do is to tell the teachers not to deceive, and the seekers not to be deceived. To deceive is evil enough, and to be willing to be deceived is a worse evil. Our effort is to save the world from the self-seeking teachers, who divert and delude people who are seeking the true self. This is the service we can render, and we aim to render. And we seek nothing for this in return, except your acceptance of this ancient wisdom. Your realization is our reward. Fare well.
Brahmasri Yallamraju Srinivasarao