/lit/ - Literature

>>18951591
>I read Guenon and I must say that I prefer Advaita over the abrahamic religions. Is there any chance for a westerner to find an authentic advaita guru(I will move to India if that is necessary)?
Yes, but you can only be initiated into traditional Advaita if you agree to join an Advaita monastic order and become a celibate monk with little/no possessions for the rest of your life. Only do it if you are fine with never getting married or having children, possibly never seeing your friends and relatives again unless they traveled to visit you.

There are different sub-groups of Advaita monastic lineages and some of them care less about caste and would probably accept you, you can read about the specific monastic lineages in this paper:

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/161528649.pdf

>Do I need to be part of the caste system?
The different Advaita monastic lineages have different standards

>I am also interested in other forms of hinduism as long as they are initiatic.
If you want to be initiated into a school of Hindu non-dualism but dont want to become a monk, the next closet option is the non-dual Shaktist school called Śrī Vidyā, which is followed by many householders in India today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shri_Vidya

One of the most important Shaktist philosophers is a man named Bhaskararaya who is also the main writer/theologian of the Śrī Vidyā sect. Apparently in his works he praises Shankara and gives an interpretation of non-dualism similar to the 16th century Shaivist-Advaitin Appayya Dīkṣita. Douglas Renfrew Brooks has two books on the Śrī Vidyā movement I would check out if you are interested, one of which contains a translation of one of Bhaskararaya’s commentaries. The Śrī Vidyā movement has temples in India that you can travel to and be initiated in and they also have a temple in New York state. Generally, Shaivists and Shaktists dont care at all about caste because in the Shaktist and Shaivist Agamas it says you can initiate people without regard for caste if they are spiritually mature/ready. You can also be initiated into the qualified non-dualism Lingyatist movement, although that entails becoming a vegetarian, teetotaler and wearing a Shiva-linga every day for the rest of your life; I think Śrī Vidyā has less requirements than that.