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Neo-Advaita, also called the Satsang-movement [1] is a new religious movement, emphasizing the direct recognition of the non-existence of the "I" or "ego," without the need of preparatory practice. Its teachings are derived from, but not authorised by, the teachings of the 20th century sage Ramana Maharshi, [web 1] as interpreted and popularized by H. W. L. Poonja and several of his western students. [2]
It is part of a larger religious current called immediatism by Arthur Versluis, [3] [web 2] which has its roots in both western and eastern spirituality. [3] Western influences are western esoteric traditions like Transcendentalism, and "New Age millennialism, self-empowerment and self-therapy". [4] [3]
Neo-Advaita makes little use of the "traditional language or cultural frames of Advaita Vedanta", [5] and some have criticised it [6] [7] [8] for its lack of preparatory training, [9] [10] [note 1] and regard enlightenment-experiences induced by Neo-Advaita as superficial. [12] [13] [note 2]
The basic practice of neo-Advaita is self-inquiry, via the question "Who am I?", [14] or simply the direct recognition of the non-existence of the "I" or "ego." This recognition is taken to be equal to the Advaita Vedanta recognition of the identity of Atman and Brahman, or the recognition of the "Formless Self." According to neo-Advaitins, no preparatory practice is necessary, nor prolonged study of religious scriptures or tradition: insight alone suffices. [web 3] [web 4] [web 1] [web 5]
Poonja, who is credited as one of the main instigators of the neo-Advaita movement, saw this realization as in itself liberating from karmic consequences and further rebirth. According to Poonja "karmic tendencies remained after enlightenment, [but] the enlightened person was no longer identified with them and, therefore, did not accrue further karmic consequences." [15] According to Cohen, Poonja "insisted that the realization of the Self had nothing to do with worldly behavior, and he did not believe fully transcending the ego was possible." [15] For Poonja, ethical standards were based on a dualistic understanding of duality and the notion of an individual agent, and therefore were not indicative of "non-dual enlightenment: [15] "For Poonja, the goal was the realization of the self; the illusory realm of relative reality was ultimately irrelevant." [15]
According to Lucas [16] and Frawley, [web 1] the spiritual root of neo-Advaita is Ramana Maharshi, whose teachings, and method of self-inquiry could easily be transposed to North America’s liberal spiritual subculture. [17] Popular interest in Indian religions goes as far back as the early 19th century, and was stimulated by the American Transcendentalists [3] and the Theosophical Society. [18] [19] In the 1930s Ramana Maharshi's teachings were brought to the west by Paul Brunton, a Theosophist, in his A Search in Secret India. [20] Stimulated by Arthur Osborne, in the 1960s Bhagawat Singh actively started to spread Ramana Maharshi's teachings in the USA. [20]
Since the 1970s western interest in Asian religions has seen a rapid growth. Ramana Maharshi's teachings have been further popularized in the west via H. W. L. Poonja and his students. [2] [21] Poonja, better known as Papaji, "told, inferred, or allowed hundreds of individuals to believe they were fully enlightened simply because they'd had one, or many, powerful experiences of awakening." [22] It was those students who initiated the "neo-Advaita", or "satsang" movement, [22] which has become an important constituent of popular western spirituality. [5] [3] It is being spread by websites and publishing enterprises, which give an easy access to its teachings. [5]
Lucas has called the popularisation of Ramana Maharshi's teachings in the west "the Ramana effect". [14] According to Lucas, Ramana Maharshi was the greatest modern proponent of Advaita Vedanta, well known for emphasizing the enquiry of the question "Who am I?" as a means to attain awakening. [14] According to Lucas, following Thomas Csordas, the success of this movement is due to a "portable practice" and a "transposable message". [14] Ramana Maharshi's main practice, self-inquiry via the question "Who am I?", is easily practiceable in a non-institutionalized context. [14] His visitors and devotees did not have to adopt the Vedantic culture, nor to commit themselves to an institution or ideology, to be able to practice self-inquiry. [14] Ramana's teachings are transposable into a western context. Ramana Maharshi himself did not demand a shift in religious affiliation, and was himself acquainted with western religions, using quotes from the Bible. [14] Neo-Advaita teachers have further deemphasized the traditional language and worldframe of Advaita, using a modern, psychologized worldframe to present their teachings as a form of self-help, which is easily accessible to a larger audience. [23]
The western approach to "Asian enlightenment traditions" [24] is highly eclectic, drawing on various Asian traditions, as well as "numerous Western discourses such as psychology, science, and politics." [24] Neo-Advaita uses western discourses, such as "New Age millennialism, Zen, self-empowerment and self-therapy" [4] to transmit its teachings. It makes little use of the "traditional language or cultural frames of Advaita Vedanta," [5] and is framed in a western construction of experiential and perennial mysticism, [25] "to the disregard of its social, ethical and political aspects." [25] This "modern experiential and perennialist mystical framework" emphasizes Perennialism, the idea that there is a common, mystical core to all religions, which can be empirically validated by personal experience. It has pervaded the western understanding of Asian religions, and can be found in Swami Vivekananda and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan's Neo-Vedanta, but also in the works of D.T. Suzuki and his "decontextualized and experiential account" of Zen Buddhism. [25] It can also be found in the Theosophical Society, and the contemporary New Age culture, with influences like Aldous Huxley's The Perennial Philosophy and The Doors of Perception , and writers like Ken Wilber. [26] [note 3]
Gregg Lahood also mentions Neo-Advaita as an ingredient of "cosmological hybridization, a process in which spiritual paradises are bound together", [28] as exemplified in American Transcendentalism, New Age, transpersonal psychology and the works of Ken Wilber are examples: [29] Brown and Leledaki place this "hybridization" in a "structurationist" approach, [30] pointing out that this is an "invented tradition", which is a response to a novel situation, although it claims a continuity with a "historic past", which is "largely facticious." [30] Brown and Leledaki see these newly emerging traditions as part of western Orientalism, the fascination of western cultures with eastern cultures, but also the reduction of "Asian societies, its people, practices and cultures to essentialist images of the 'other'". [31] Brown and Leledaki also note that this Orientalism is not a one-way affair, but that "there has been a dynamic interaction between Asian and Western representatives of various religious traditions over the last 150 years," and that this "blending of thought and practice" is a co-creation from modernist religious movements in both East and West. [32] [note 4]
According to Arthur Versluis, neo-Advaita is part of a larger religious current which he calls immediatism, [3] [web 2] "the assertion of immediate spiritual illumination without much if any preparatory practice within a particular religious tradition." [web 2] Its origins predate American Transcendentalism. [web 2] In American Gurus: From Transcendentalism to New Age Religion, Versluis describes the emergence of immediatist gurus: gurus who are not connected to any of the traditional religions, and promise instant enlightenment and liberation. [35] These include Eckhart Tolle, and Andrew Cohen. [36] "Immediatism" refers to "a religious assertion of spontaneous, direct, unmediated spiritual insight into reality (typically with little or no prior training), which some term 'enlightenment'." [37] According to Versluis, immediatism is typical for Americans, who want "the fruit of religion, but not its obligations." [web 2] Although immediatism has its roots in European culture and history [37] as far back as Platonism, [38] and also includes Perennialism, [39] Versluis points to Ralph Waldo Emerson as its key ancestor, [37] who "emphasized the possibility of immediate, direct spiritual knowledge and power." [38]
Neo-Advaita has been called a "controversial movement," [web 6] [40] and has been criticized, [6] [7] [note 5] [8] for its emphasis on insight alone, omitting the preparatory practices. [web 5] [web 7] [note 6] It has also been criticised for its references to a "lineage" of Ramana Maharshi, whereas Ramana never claimed to have disciples[ citation needed ] and never appointed any successors. [web 8] [web 9]
Some critics say that seeing through the 'illusion of ego' is the main point of neo-Advaita, and that this does not suffice. [web 4] [note 7] According to Caplan, the enlightenment-experiences induced by these teachers and their satsangs are considered to be superficial. [1]
According to Dennis Waite, neo-Advaita claims to remove ignorance, but does not offer help to remove ignorance. [web 10] According to Caplan, traditional Advaita Vedanta takes years of practice, which is quite different from the neo-Advaita claims. [1] Classical Advaita Vedanta uses the "fourfold discipline" (sādhana-catustaya) [41] to train students and attain moksha. Years of committed practice is needed to sever or destroy the "occlusion" [42] the so-called "vasanas, [web 7] samskaras, bodily sheaths and vrittis", and the "granthi [note 8] or knot forming identification between Self and mind," [43] and prepare the mind for the insight into non-duality. [web 7] [note 9] After awakening, "post awakening sadhana," or post-satori practice is necessary: "all of the great ones had a post awakening sadhana, including Ramana Maharishi, who spent many years sitting alone in Samadhi before he ever accepted his first student." [web 11] [note 10] After realization, further practice is necessary 'to ripen the fruit', as stated by Nisargadatya Maharaj: "the fruit falls suddenly, but the ripening takes time." [45] Ed Muzika refers to Nisargadatta Maharaj, stating
He met his teacher in 1933 and had his awakening in 1936. He then traveled as a wandering monk for two years visiting many shrines, temples, and teachers across India, until he recognized there was no difference in his beingness no matter where he was. So he returned home to his wife and business in 1938. Apparently he spend many years discussing all aspects of consciousness and the absolute with another disciple of his teacher, wherein they both worked out the concepts he put forward in the book “I Am That.” He did not accept students for another 13 years, in 1951. You see, he was still maturing, learning, changing, even though he already had a firm grasp on the absolute. [web 11]
Western critics object to the perceived relation between Ramana Maharshi and Neo-Advaita, [note 11] noting that Ramana never promoted any lineage, [note 12] did not publicize himself as a guru, [46] never claimed to have disciples,[ citation needed ] and never appointed any successors. [web 8] [web 9] [note 13] Despite this, there are numerous contemporary teachers who assert, suggest, or are said by others, to be in his lineage. [16] [web 13] [web 14] [web 9] [note 14] [note 15] These assertions have been disputed by other teachers, [web 7] [web 5] stating that there is no lineage from Ramana Maharshi. [note 16] Critics have also noted that Ramana and like-minded teachers like Nisargadatta Maharaj [web 5] did not charge fees or donations. [web 5]
Ramana Maharshi was an Indian Hindu sage and jivanmukta. He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Advaita Vedanta is a Hindu tradition of textual exegesis and philosophy and a Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience. In a narrow sense it refers to the scholarly tradition belonging to the orthodox Hindu Vedānta tradition, with works written in Sanskrit, as exemplified by the Vedic scholar and teacher (acharya) Adi Shankara ; in a broader sense it refers to a medieval and modern syncretic tradition, upholding traditional Hindu values and culture, blending Vedānta with Yoga and other traditions and producing works in vernacular.
Nondualism includes a number of philosophical and spiritual traditions that emphasize the absence of fundamental duality or separation in existence. This viewpoint questions the boundaries conventionally imposed between self and other, mind and body, observer and observed, and other dichotomies that shape our perception of reality. As a field of study, nondualism delves into the concept of nonduality and the state of nondual awareness, encompassing a diverse array of interpretations, not limited to a particular cultural or religious context; instead, nondualism emerges as a central teaching across various belief systems, inviting individuals to examine reality beyond the confines of dualistic thinking.
Andrew Cohen is an American spiritual teacher. He is an author, former editor of What Is Enlightenment? magazine, and founder of the global spiritual community EnlightenNext, which dissolved in 2013.
Paul Brunton is the pen name of Raphael Hurst, a British author of spiritual books. He is best known as one of the early popularizers of Neo-Hindu spiritualism in western esotericism, notably via his bestselling A Search in Secret India (1934) which has been translated into over 20 languages.
Sampradaya, in Indian origin religions, namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, can be translated as 'tradition', 'spiritual lineage', 'sect', or 'religious system'. To ensure continuity and transmission of dharma, various sampradayas have the Guru-shishya parampara in which parampara or lineage of successive gurus (masters) and shishyas (disciples) serves as a spiritual channel and provides a reliable network of relationships that lends stability to a religious identity. Shramana is vedic term for seeker or shishya. Identification with and followership of sampradayas is not static, as sampradayas allows flexibility where one can leave one sampradaya and enter another or practice religious syncretism by simultaneously following more than one sampradaya. Samparda is a punjabi language term, used in Sikhism, for sampradayas.
Ajātivāda (अजातिवाद) is the fundamental philosophical doctrine of the Advaita Vedanta philosopher Gaudapada. According to Gaudapada, the Absolute is not subject to birth, change and death. The Absolute is aja, the unborn eternal. The empirical world of appearances is considered unreal, and not absolutely existent.
The Vivekachudamani is a philosophical treatise within the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism, traditionally attributed to the Vedāntic philosopher Adi Shankara, though this attribution has been questioned and mostly rejected by scholarship. It is in the form of a poem in the Shardula Vikridita metre.
Śrĩ Atmananda, also referred as Sri Atmananda Krishna Menon, was an Indian sage, guru, and philosopher. He has been described by scholars as a "neo-Hindu". His teachings have become a foundation for a spiritual method called the Direct Path.
Hariwansh Lal Poonja was an Indian sage. Poonja was called "Poonjaji" or "Papaji" by devotees. He was a key figure in the Neo-Advaita movement.
Self-enquiry, also spelled self-inquiry, is the constant attention to the inner awareness of "I" or "I am" recommended by Ramana Maharshi as the most efficient and direct way of discovering the unreality of the "I"-thought.
Nome is a spiritual teacher at Society of Abidance in Truth, known by the acronym SAT, which established and maintains a temple for nondual Self-knowledge in California. He expounds the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi and Advaita Vedanta. He, along with Dr. H. Ramamoorthy, translated into English the essential and classic work of Advaita Vedanta, "Ribhu Gita", which was highly recommended by Sri Ramana Maharshi. The English translation has been published by Society of Abidance in Truth and has since then been re-published by Sri Ramanasramam and translated into Hindi, Italian, Korean and German.
The Society of Abidance in Truth (SAT) is a spiritual nonprofit organization consecrated to the teachings of Advaita Vedanta, especially as revealed by Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Sri Ramana Ashram, also known as Sri Ramanasramam, is the ashram which was home to modern sage and Advaita Vedanta master Ramana Maharshi from 1922 until his death in 1950. It is situated at the foot of the Arunachala hill, to the west of Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, where thousands of seekers flocked to be in his presence. His samadhi shrine continues to attract devotees from all over the world.
The Advaita Guru-Paramparā is the traditional lineage (parampara) of divine, Vedic and historical teachers of Advaita Vedanta. It begins with the Daiva-paramparā, the gods; followed by the Ṛṣi-paramparā, the Vedic seers; and then the Mānava-paramparā, with the historical teachers Gaudapada and Adi Shankara, and four of Shankara's pupils. Of the five contemporary acharyas, the heads of the five Advaita mathas, four acharyas trace their lineage to those four pupils and one to Adi Shankara himself.
Arthur Versluis is a professor and Department Chair of Religious Studies in the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University.
Neo-Vedanta, also called Hindu modernism, neo-Hinduism, Global Hinduism and Hindu Universalism, are terms to characterize interpretations of Hinduism that developed in the 19th century. The term "Neo-Vedanta" was coined by German Indologist Paul Hacker, in a pejorative way, to distinguish modern developments from "traditional" Advaita Vedanta.
In Advaita Vedanta and Jnana Yoga Nididhyasana is profound and repeated meditation on the mahavakyas, great Upanishadic statements such as "That art Thou", to realize the identity of Atman and Brahman. It is the fourth step in the training of a sisya (disciple), consisting of preparatory practices, listening to the teachings as contained in the sruti, reflection on the teachings, and nididhyasana.
Robert Adams was an American Advaita teacher. In later life Adams held satsang with a small group of devotees in California, US. He mainly advocated the path of jñāna yoga with an emphasis on the practice of self-enquiry. Adams' teachings were not well known in his lifetime, but have since been widely circulated amongst those investigating the philosophy of Advaita and the Western devotees of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. A book of his teachings, Silence of the Heart: Dialogues with Robert Adams, was published in 1999.
David Godman has written on the life, teachings and disciples of Ramana Maharshi, an Indian sage who lived and taught for more than fifty years at Arunachala, a sacred mountain in Tamil Nadu, India. In the last 30 years Godman has written or edited 16 books on topics related to Sri Ramana, his teachings and his followers.
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This article may contain excessive or inappropriate references to self-published sources .(August 2023) |