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Vedanta asserts that the goal of life is to realize and to manifest our own divinity. This divinity is our real nature, and the realization of it is our birthright. We are moving towards this goal as we grow with knowledge and life experiences.
No matter what Vedanta means to us, one thing is certain: the roots of Vedanta are neither in the East nor in the West, neither in any particular culture nor in any particular language. The roots of Vedanta are neither in books, nor in persons, nor in places.
Vedanta ethics and moral virtues are rooted in the ideal of realizing and manifesting our own innate divinity. Simply put, whatever brings us closer to that goal is ethical and moral; whatever prevents us from attaining it, is not.
He lectures frequently and gives retreats on Vedanta topics throughout the United States. What is Self-Development from a Vedantic standpoint? “Each soul is potentially divine,” says Swami Vivekananda.
The unity of existence is one of the great themes of Vedanta and an essential pillar of its philosophy. Unity is the song of life; it is the grand theme underlying the rich variations that exist throughout the cosmos.
Sri Ramakrishna used to speak of two kinds of ego—the ripe and the unripe. The ego that says, “I am the child of God, I am the servant of God” is the ripe ego. The unripe ego is that which attaches itself to different ideas and objects of worldly enjoyment. It says, “I am beautiful”; “I am powerful”; “I am wealthy.”.
Mental prayer came to be divided into two: active prayer and passive prayer, also called infused prayer. Of these, active prayer is a state in which prayer is done with self-effort, and consists of three progressive stages or degrees: meditation (or discursive prayer), affective prayer, and prayer of simplicity.
This article is based on question-and-answer sessions at the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society of North Dallas, which were transcribed and compiled by Ranjana Chopra, President of the Society, and edited by Pravrajika Brahmaprana.
Vedanta declares that our real nature is divine: pure, perfect, eternally free. We do not have to become Brahman, we are Brahman. Our true Self, the Atman, is one with Brahman.
Vedanta says that we can master the mind and, through repeated practice, we can make the mind our servant rather than being its victim. The mind, when trained, is our truest friend; when left untrained and reckless, it’s an enemy that won’t leave the premises.
