Re: Advaita Vedanta and non dual teachings.
Namaste,
It is a favorite pastime for many people to indulge in debates on authenticity of a teacher/path. I won't say that it is not required as it is very important to select a proper teacher / path if you are really serious about your quest for the Truth.
My Guru ji says that a Guru can be only one who Himself has reached the destination where you want to reach through your Guru. A blind person cannot guide another blind person towards the right direction to our ultimate goal. So, if there is someone who claims to be Guru of Advaita, the pertinent question should be "Has he attained Self-realisation ?". If he has not attained Self-realisation, then whether he is a traditional Advaitin or Neo-Advaitin, he cannot be a Guru. Ramana Maharishi was a Neo Advaitin and he was Self-realised. There are many saints who give fluent and highly impressive lectures on VedAnta but they are not Self-realised. So, if one has to choose a Guru between Ramana Maharishi and those saints, I would vote for Ramana Maharishi as "he knows the way with his own experience". Who should I rely upon for getting the taste a Rasogulla ? That who has read about the taste of Rasogulla and is a Ph.D in that field but has no practical experience of tasting Rasogulla or that who has tasted Rasogulla himself ?
Similarly, if someone claims to be a Guru of Bhakti-path, one should ask this question : "Has he seen / met God ?" If he has not, then he is unfit to be taken as a Guru in spite of his being highly learned in Shastras. Vivekananda asked this question from Ramkrishna : "Have you seen God ?". Ramkrishna said, "Yes. I have seen God more clearly than I see you". The next question he asked was, "Can you show God to me ?". Ramkrishna unhesitatingly said, "Why ? Yes.". That should be the test of Guru. Don't go by the name of the path / sect / his qualifications in Shastras / Neo or traditional ... these are useless discussions. The question is : Where do I want to go ? Has the person who I am going to select as Guru reached where I want to reach ? Can he take me there ? " All other things are just mental concepts and useless for real spiritual benefits.
Now, there are many people who would claim that they have seen God or they are Self-realised but they are just cheats. Bhagwad Gita tells us the qualities of Sthitpragya, a JnAni and one who has realised Self. If one doesn't have these qualities, he is certainly a fraud.
OM
"Om Namo Bhagvate Vaasudevaye"
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