Now what?

[Anonymous No.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)? Do I need to be part of the caste system? I am also interested in other forms of hinduism as long as they are initiatic.

[Anonymous No.18951618]

>>18951591
>Do I need to be part of the caste system?
How are you going to be a part of the caste system? That sounds nonsensical to me.

[Anonymous No.18951634]

>>18951618
I will be the sum of all the brahmins who ever lived.

[Anonymous No.18951701]

I would be careful about reading Advaita Vedanta interpretations such as Shankara's as a commentary to the Upanishads, they are extremely reliant on Buddhist philosophy (Shankara is called a "cryptobuddhist" by most Hindus, and most scholars agree). If you want to read the Upanishads, work through them with editions and commentaries that aren't sectarian, or at least read an interpretation that is closer to the original meaning of the Upanishads, rather than Shankara's 9th century AD quasi-buddhism.

[Anonymous No.18951708]

>>18951634
So basically, you’re not actually going to take it seriously at all?

[Anonymous No.18951714]

>>18951591
I knew this happy go lucky guy who went to India and came back sad because it was shithole.

[Anonymous No.18951744]

>>18951708
You were the first one who made fun of my ESL

[Anonymous No.18951756]

>>18951714
I am not american, I am used to shitholes so this is not a problem for me.

[Anonymous No.18951918]

>>18951744
I’m not making fun of you’re ESL. I’m asking you a serious question. How are you going to get a caste?

[Anonymous No.18952012]

>>18951918
I was asking if I need to be part of a caste or not. Since obviously I am not.

[Anonymous No.18952387]

>>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.

[Anonymous No.18952410]

>>18952012
It's too hard to join a caste. You can find a guru who might teach you though. It's much easier to become a Muslim. I'm a Muslim and have tried Hindu meditation methods and the experiences of higher consciousness that come from both kind of meditative practices are the same. So there is no real benefit to becoming a Hindu.

[Anonymous No.18952441]

>>18952387
Which monasteries would accept a westerner who wanted to become a monk

[Anonymous No.18952461]

>>18951591
>Is there any chance for a westerner to find an authentic advaita guru (I will move to India if that is necessary)?
There must be plenty in California.
>Do I need to be part of the caste system?
No, since Advaita is crypto Buddhism and Buddhism rejects the caste system.

[Anonymous No.18952512]

>>18952410
I also thought about becoming a sufi muslim but 90% when I was talking with muslims I had the impression that they see religion like a sort of political ideology. I don't know if I can integrate among muslims.

[Anonymous No.18952583]

>>18952461
>No, since Advaita is crypto Buddhism and Buddhism rejects the caste system.
Advaita isn’t crypto-Buddhism, Shankara in his writings refuted Buddhism, praised the caste system, and in his Brahma Sutra Bhasya he says that Shudras are supposed to be prohibited from studying the Vedas

[Anonymous No.18952668]

>>18952410
go practice your taquiya elsewhere goatfucker

[Anonymous No.18952670]

>>18952441
>Which monasteries would accept a westerner who wanted to become a monk
Any of the Ramakrishna Order would, although they are influenced by Neovedanta and worship Ramakrishna et al. Also, there are separate Advaita-based monastic organizations/teaching-centers such as Sivananda’s Divine Life Society, Dayananda's Arsha Vidya, and Chinmayananda’s Chinmaya mission. Some of them have ashrams that teach Advaita to monastics and non-monastics alike. Some of the traditional Naga Advaita monks would probably accept you as a monk too but these tend to be more mobile, if you traveled to India and did some research you could probably track them down or link up at the next Kumbh Mela. You could also try at one of the 4 historical Advaita mathas but out of all these groups they would have the highest chance of rejecting you.

[Anonymous No.18952779]

>>18952583
Then this shankara guy didn't know much about advaita

[Anonymous No.18952861]

>>18952779
He did though, he is the central writer and thinker of the entire school

[Anonymous No.18952874]

Does anyone know anything about the state of non-Vedantic lineages in the modern day? Were they all absorbed into Vedanta?

[Anonymous No.18953203]

>>18951701
damn, advaita really is just buddhism dressed as hare krishna bullshit

[Anonymous No.18953597]

>>18952874
>Does anyone know anything about the state of non-Vedantic lineages in the modern day? Were they all absorbed into Vedanta?
I have read some sources who say that only Mimansa and Vedanta out of the 6 darshanas still survive as active traditions today. Vaisheshika in the medieval era merged into Nyaya and mostly ceased to exist as an independent school. The Nyaya school developed into the Navya-Nyaya school in the medieval era, they were active up to at least the 18th century but I dont know if they continued since then. There is apparently only 1 remaining monastery in the world still teaching Samkhya (the Kapil Math in Madhupur). Traditional Yoga lineages going back centuries survive through various Shaivist and Vaishnavite groups, but there is no surviving independent Yoga school going back centuries that is not subsumed as part of some greater sect from what I understand.

There are various Vaishnavite, Shaivist and Shaktist lineages which survive to the present day which were never incorporated into Vedanta schools, like the Shaiva Siddhanta. Sometimes an individual thinker from one of these schools may write a commentary on the Brahma Sutras like the Vedanta schools do, but the larger schools don't regard themselves as being a type of Vedanta.

[Anonymous No.18953631]

>>18951591
>nigga reads a single book and thinks it's the be-all end-all because it aligns with his personal views
many such cases. advaita shares a lot of similarities with the buddhist tradition and esoterism at large and i think you're doing yourself a disservice by ignoring what else is out there for the benefit of a single formalized system of thought.

[Anonymous No.18953643]

>Advaita
After skimming the wiki page, I don't see how this is different from the Islamic or Sikh views of God. What's the difference?

[Anonymous No.18954100]

>>18953203
the bottom right of this pic sums it up well

shankara was a buddhist with vedanta covering, but he paved the way for later thinkers like ramanuja whose ideas are closer to the real original contents of the vedanta

[Anonymous No.18954310]

>Appayya Dikshita (often "Dikshitar") 1520–1593 CE was a performer of yajñas as well as an expositor and practitioner of the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy but however, with a focus on Shiva or Shiva Advaita.

[Anonymous No.18954349]

>>18954310
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QVzKihKiYI

[Anonymous No.18954370]

>>18951591
I'm Indian. I wouldn't advise that.

[Anonymous No.18954414]

>>18951591
You can find a Sant Mat. Some have active traditions and similar philosophies to advaita. They are not so strict about caste. You might have to go to India though. Not always as difficult as this >>18952387

[Anonymous No.18954418]

>>18951591
>I read Guenon and I must say that I prefer Advaita over the abrahamic religions
'He is "not known ever to have recommended anyone to become a Hindu, whereas he introduced many to Islam".[77] René Guénon died on Sunday, January 7, 1951; his final word was "Allah".[79]'

[Anonymous No.18954462]

>>18954418
So what? Guenon believed in the unity of traditional forms until the last moment of his life. I just think that abrahamic traditionds are less fit for me.

[Anonymous No.18954493]

>>18951591
there is no such thing as converting to hinduism, there are some who do it but there is no basis for it. You need to be born into hinduism to be a savarna. Even if you "convert" you will technically be an avarna regardless of what you call yourself or what rituals you choose to perform. And if you live your life as an avarna then you won't be able to get married or have children, its a life of brahmacharya for you.

[Anonymous No.18954577]

>>18954493
>its a life of brahmacharya for you
I was thinking about that before wanting to be a hindu so no problem for me

[Anonymous No.18954829]

>>18951591
>And who would be averse to the religion of Abraham except one who makes a fool of himself. And We had chosen him in this world, and indeed he, in the Hereafter, will be among the righteous.
Abraham (pbuh) was Based.

[Anonymous No.18955526]

>>18952512
A lot do, but so do Hindus. Most Hindus are obsessed with hating muslims and Pakistan. I don't think it makes much sense for a westerner to start worshipping Devi, Krishna, Hanuman etc.. worshipping Allah is more plausible since it's closer to what we already are familiar with.

[Anonymous No.18955553]

>>18952512
Try to find some Naqshbandi Sufis. They are the most contemplative kind of Sufis. The practices are very similar to silent mental Japa as done by some Hindus. Some other Sufis spend more of their time doing devotional practices singing songs praising the prophet, which I don't think will do much for you.