Q: I am a philosophy lecturer, I am interested to see how much overlap there is between philosophical ideas and the teachings of Vedanta. I found Shiningworld a year ago and since then have been committed to inquiry, developing the qualifications and following the steps that you outline on your website. I have also been studying Sanskrit. I have high regard for both you and James and how you teach Vedanta. I have been a spiritual teacher and coach myself for many years, this is my calling. I feel confident enough in my understanding of Vedanta to teach it, and I have a strong drive to do this as I understand how important these teachings are. Do I require any special permission or vetting to go ahead, how does the lineage of Vedanta work? How did you other teachers get to be endorsed?
Sundari: Thank you for the feedback, you certainly found a goldmine of the highest level Vedanta when you found Shiningworld. James is one of the best teachers you will find, and I am blessed to have been taught by him. The first question to ask in reply to your question is this: do you want to teach moksa, meaning freedom from limitation and identification with the person or doer, or do you need to feed your ego with a role as a teacher that gives you importance? What are your true motivations? If think you want to ‘help’ people you have it wrong. Isvara does not need your help. And if you are truly meant to teach Vedanta, Isvara will find a way to ensure that you do. You, as an ego or doer, cannot ‘make’ that happen, though you can fake it.
The teachers we endorsed on our website all spent many years dedicated to self-inquiry and are Self-realized. They also dedicated themselves to learning to teach properly because they have the svadharma to do so. Meaning, teaching is part of their natural tendencies or skills, not a huge ambition. They have a complete understanding of the whole methodology of Vedanta and teach it correctly, though they are not are not ego invested in being teachers. Teaching Vedanta is a hat one wears when teaching and at no other time. It is not an identity.
It is true that anyone who has assimilated the nondual teachings of Vedanta sufficiently to talk about them coherently, even if they are not fully qualified as an inquirer, or even as a teacher, and have not realized the Self, can pass on the teachings, to some extent. Maybe not brilliantly, nor with the complete knowledge a qualified and Self-realized teacher would, but perhaps enough to disseminate a few seeds that will take someone on the receiving end further. We encourage people to share their understanding of the teachings with others.
It is not impossible to get moksa from a teacher who is not Self-realized if they teach correctly. But a teacher who does not have a complete understanding of the whole Vedanta pramana, even if they have the nature of a teacher, are likely to seed confusion. There are no rules or tests to pass to qualify as a Vedanta teacher, and many have climbed on the bandwagon and claimed that status, whether they deserve it or not. The thing is, to qualify as a teacher of this sacred means of knowledge requires one thing above all: disidentification with the ego.
The timeless lineage of Vedanta is what it is and has lasted since time immemorial because those who were and are qualified and truly upheld/uphold the high standards of teaching Vedanta understood/understand that the teachings are impersonal. That Isvara is truly, the only teacher. You may be totally facile in the teachings, but if you are teaching as an ego, desirous of validation as such and identified with the role, you are not qualified to teach Vedanta.
While complete knowledge of the teachings is of utmost importance to teach Vedanta, humility is the number one requirement. Without it, while you may impress many with the extent of your knowledge and you may even be able to help some, you – as an ego – are in the way. Not only for those you supposedly teach, but for yourself. In the spiritual world, the people who fall under this category are legion. A true Vedanta teacher teaches everyone as the Self, as equals and as a friend, because they know that there is only the Self. Nobody is ‘special’. There is no elevated status attached to being a teacher. It is thus very rare to find a true Vedanta teacher teaching moksa.
I can’t tell what your true motivations are, nor if you thave assimilated the whole methodology of Vedanta and know that the Vedanta pramana is a progressive teaching for good reason. It must be so given that people’s qualifications vary so much. While it certainly helps to understand Sanskrit, it is not essential if you understand the importance of the correct terminology used in the teachings and can wield the knowledge effectively. In no Vedanta text does it stipulate that Sanskrit is necessary for teaching or for moksa. James has moved away from using Sanskrit as much as possible where an English equivalent does the job because is easier for Western minds to assimilate.
The methodology that the Vedanta pramana provides and James has set out in his books so clearly, unfolds the teaching in a logical step by step format. While James sticks religiously to the scriptures, he has made Vedanta accessible by putting it in very simple language as well. A true eacher who follows in his footsteps will not go far wrong, providing their ego is out of the way.
It is also important to note that Vedanta is not a philosophy, though it is referred to as such by some teachers. A philosophy is based on and dependent the ideas and opinions of a person or persons. Though they may contain truth, they are still subject to interpretation and ignorance. Vedanta is an independent means of knowledge for Awareness and stands free of anyone, all ideas and opinions. It neither comes from nor belongs to anyone. While it can be taught incorrectly and thus seem fallible, it is not ever subject to error. The only error is in the mind of the teacher or student.
As a teacher of philosophy, you will no doubt know that non-dual teaching was known way before Socrates and his line of thinkers, even before the Bronze age. That is because nonduality exists out of time. Though the lineage of Vedanta originated in India, the idea of the ‘monad’ was not exclusive to India by any means. It is an impersonal, universal idea because it is the logic of Existence. Parmenides, who some say was the Greek equivalent of Sankaracharya, could be quoting the Mandukya in his argument about Being, enunciated in his book On Nature, or On Being, of about 475 B.C.17:
‘It is impossible, Parmenides asserted, for anything to come into Being, because it must either come from Being, in which case it already existed, or from non-Being, which is impossible, since non-Being does not exist. Similarly, nothing can pass out of existence, for it must pass either into Being, in which case it still exists, or into non-Being, which is impossible.’ End quote.
But, unlike the Indian rishis, nondual thinking never took among the Greeks and remained an isolated and unpopular idea. Many great thinkers during the time of and after Parmenides hated it because it sounded so nihilistic. People referred to the thinking with the term ‘infinite regress’, which is when a proposition is regarded as reduced to absurdity because infinity melts down identities. When any entity “enters” infinity it loses the identity which formerly differentiated it from other entities. In infinity everything is everything. Or we could say, in infinity everything is one without a second – meaning, non-dual..
Which is the whole point of nonduality, to disidentify from the person as an ego, and their limited narrative! The proposition which becomes entangled in infinite regress is no longer just itself in nonduality; it passed beyond the Law of Identity, and dichotomies such as true and false (duality) no longer apply to it. Nonduality destroys duality and with it, the ego’s sense of self importance. So of course, it is unappealing and even frightening for minds that are not qualified or have not assimilated the truth that there is nothing in this world to gain because you are what you want. And you always have that. Hence, the importance of qualifications for Vedanta – as an inquirer, but more so as a teacher.
James’ book ‘How to Attain Enlightenment’ sets out the whole methodology of Vedanta impeccably. Another book that is helpful for understanding the complete teaching is ‘Vedanta, the Big Picture’, by Swami Paramarthananda. James has rewritten it and elucidated it even more. Swami Dayananda also has a brilliant little book out, called the Teaching Tradition of Advaita Vedanta, a must read too.
Much love
Sundari
