Practice

In Vedanta, just gaining knowledge by reading books or looking at online video's, is not enough. We need practice, or Sadhana, and guidance from a spiritual teacher who has realized this truth and who can transmit them to you, and to help you to practice it in everyday life. This practice is very important in the eyes of Bhagavan and IVS, and further involves inner inquiry, meditation, moral living, and selfless service. The goal is moksha—liberation, Self-realization—and with it, peace within and harmony with all around.

Everyone can walk this path, regardless of social background, religion, or culture, for everyone carries that same Self within. In realizing that unity lies hope for true peace.

Swami Probuddhananda provides Vedanta classes, live in Varanasi, or online in English, with Dutch or Spanish translation. If you want to know more about Advaita Vedanta and these classes, please contact us, follow one of our online sessions (link toevoegen), or view our social media.

Vedanta provides answers to fundamental questions about life and the universe, originating from the highest Vedic texts, most importantly the Upanishads, but also other Vedic scriptures, like the Bhagavad Gita, and the Brahma Sutra. Vedanta helps us understand who we truly are, and that is the Self, Supreme Consciousness or Brahman. It is what goes beyond the body, and beyond the mind, intellect and ego. It states we are not that, we are not the body, not the mind, not the intellect or ego. Even though through identification with those we think that we are. According to Advaita Vedanta, our true nature is identical with the Supreme Consciousness, Brahman—which goes beyond all that. There is ultimately no separation between you and the Self, or Supreme consciousness.

Most of us identify with our thoughts, desires, emotions, or body, but Vedanta teaches that these are transient, and because they are not everlasting, they are not true. If we give it al up, what remains is consciousness—pure consciousness, peace, joy, love and bliss.

This world of duality and multiformity with its extremes and opposites, like good and evil, joy and sadness, pleasure and suffering, etcetera, can not affect our true nature as the changeless, vibrationless Brahman, Paramatman, Self, or supreme consciousness. That is who we truly are. According to Vedanta we are Sat-Cit-Ãnanda (Existence, Knowledge, and Absolute bliss) [Vedanta in vraag en antwoord - Swami Sankaranananda]. Knowledge here referring to the end of all knowledge, Vedanta, the knowledge, which in the end we can find within ourselves.

...When Brahma was creating the universe, at one point he got stuck. He gathered all the Gods and deities and told them, "now I have created this universe, with all the beauty in it, but at one point I am lost about what to do. I created living, and nonliving beings, matter, and nonmatter, and within living beings I made human also. But now I don't know where to keep this peace, love, this highest knowledge of the Self, I don't know. Because wherever I may keep it, if human kind finds it, it will misuse and destroy it, because of their ignorance. I where should I keep it." Someone answered, "Keep it in the depth of the ocean". Someone else said, "Keep it in space", and another "Keep it in the Himalayas". But Brahma said, "there will be a time, when people will be able to go to the depth of ocean, to space, to the Himalayas, and the moment he does, he will find it, and misuse it, that is not the solution". Lord Shiva then spoke, "keep this peace, this love, this knowledge of the Self, in the heart of the human being. People will go everywhere, but he can not penetrate its own heart. So this knowledge is within our heart..."