What is Vedanta?

by Sarvapriyananda

Achintya bheda abheda (meaning: Inconceivable Identity-in-difference),

The Upanishads are called Shruti Prasthana because they come from the Vedas (Shruti). The Gita is called Smriti Prasthana as it forms part of the Mahabharata, and the Brahma Sutras are called Nyaya Prasthana because they are the logical foundation of Vedanta.

Vedanta understands the spiritual journey as one from ignorance to knowledge. From not knowing or not realizing to knowing and realizing.

According to Advaita Vedanta, it is one divinity. Sankhya says we are all separate selves, but Vedanta says the Self which is beyond body and mind, is one. So, there is not only divinity within each of us, but that divinity within each of us is one reality. This is what he means by the oneness of existence.

Swami Vivekananda held that, because we are one reality, if I hurt someone or cheat someone, I am injuring myself in a profound sense. Just as we take very good care of ourselves, we should take equally good care, if not more, of everyone else. The golden rule is - treat others as you would have them treat you. Variations of this phrase are found in every religion in the world. If you go to the United Nations Headquarters in New York, you will see this golden rule inscribed there.

Vedanta shows us how I and the other are not separate. This oneness of all beings is the foundation of morality.

Swami Vivekananda laid out certain principles. He said, ‘that which strengthens you is true. Reject as poison, that which weakens you’. Vedanta gives strength. What unites all of us is true, what divides us, reject it as false, because of the oneness of existence.

A great teaching of Sri Ramakrishna was Shiva jnaney jeeva seva - “serve all sentient beings, knowing them to be none other than God”.

Swami Ranganathananda, the thirteenth President of the Ramakrishna Order. He defined spirituality thus, “when I close my eyes, I find peace within and when I open my eyes, my attitude is ‘what can I do for you? This is spirituality.” The whole idea of ‘‘tat tvam asi’ as the oneness of the universe and the divinity within, is expressed in this statement. When I close my eyes, I feel the divinity within and I find peace, when I open my eyes, the same divinity exists outside, so of course I want to serve.

1. Vedanta is the core philosophy of the various sects of Hinduism. 2. It is the highest teachings of the Vedas, it is the cutting edge of knowledge. 3. Vedanta is Upanishad pramanam. It is the texts called the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras and all the schools that follow from these. 4. Vedanta is not a journey in space or time or an object - it is a journey from ignorance to knowledge. 5. Vedanta is distinct from rituals, devotion and meditation - karma, or bhakti and dhyana. 6. Vedanta is Tat tvam asi ‘that thou art’, and all that follows from it. 7. Finally in its most broad and magnificent declaration in the world today, Vedanta is Swami Vivekananda’s conception of oneness of existence and the divinity within, expressed as practical Vedanta.