Arsha Vidya Parampara

We belong to the unbroken teaching tradition of Advaita Vedanta tracing back to the Lord himself and preserved through eternity by an illustrious line of teachers including Bhagawan Vyasa and Adi Sankaracharya. As it is brought out in the following verses - People were introduced to Self knowledge either during the course of the Study of Vedas, in one's childhood or through listening to the stories of Mahabharata, Ramayana or the Puranas. In adult life even though the majority may not have been pursuing Self Knowledge actively the various religious activities, culture and lifestyle in general, was designed to drive one towards a search for the truth at some point. For example, the third stage in a person's life, which is vanaprastha or living in a forest, was meant to devote most of the time at one's life, along with the spouse, towards this quest and finally commit oneself fully in the fourth stage or sannyasa, the stage of renunciation. And if the person wants to study the Upanishads then go to the Himalayas or Kasi, where the environment was ideal for gaining spiritual knowledge. Beginning from childhood, happiness is taught as a measure of how successful we are. And success is primarily defined in terms of material prosperity viz. money, wealth, power, status, career achievemets etc. At some point in the journey of life even if we manage to be reasonably successful happiness and peace of mind remain elusive. And even if we have achieved a good number of our goals we find that the goals are only being continuously replaced by newer ones! This is when question arises as to whether this mundane existence, this endless running around and the rat race is all worth it. We then start seeking spiritual solutions and begin looking towards Hatha Yoga, meditation techniques, visiting temples, trying to understand God, going to different spiritual organisations etc for help. Even though all of it may be somewhat helpful and even give a temporary peace of mind, the fundamental problem remains. There is nothing more worthwhile than devoting oneself to the pursuit of knowledge of oneself. All material pursuits are temporary and at best give short lived happiness. Once one understands this fact and begins the pursuit of Self knowledge, life becomes meaningful and purposeful. The key requirement of assimilating this knowledge is purification of mind or in other words emotional maturity. This is accomplished by Karma Yoga which is right attitude towards action. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that if the attitude with which action is performed is modified, it goes a long way in helping us grow and gain emotional maturity. This makes us a better human being and helps look at all our experiences as a blessing from the Lord. This attitude is only possible by a proper understanding of the Lord, not as someone located somewhere like heaven etc, but as having manifested in the form of Universal Order or intelligence pervading the creation. And I am non-separate from the order. My body, mind, sense organs etc are only incidental and do not have a reality separate from the universal order. That is, my understanding of myself as an individual distinct from the rest of universe may not really have a valid basis. This, in a nutshell, is what the Teaching is all about and over the course of the study one gains a growing clarity.