Q&A

Q: Is Advaita a mental process? Does Advaita mean tricking the mind into believing that we are not the mind? - Advaita Vedanta Q&A Introduction A: An interesting question may arise when studying Vedanta: I am reading the words, I am trying to understand these words, I finally got the meaning. Where does all of this happen? It’s very simple, it all happens in the mind. So, is it correct to say that Advaita is merely a mental process?...

Q: “According to Advaita all is Brahman, so why should one worship Shri Krishna and do Puja? Isn’t that also Maya?” Introduction A: This question needs some clarification starting from a pure philosophical view. The concept of “worship” cannot be put on the same level of Advaita, they are on two different planes of reality. Advaita considers Brahman to be the only reality, everything else is just illusory or relative....

Q: Adi Shankaracharya taught Advaita philosophy. What was his belief on how one should see Shiva and Vishnu? Was he a Shaiva or a Vaishnava? Are Shiva and Vishnu same as per Him? A: Shankaras Advaita is called Kevala Advaita ie. Only Advaita; there is no duality at all and any duality that is perceived is just due to ignorance. Here are some features of Shankara’s philosophy: 1) Omniscience, omnipotence etc....

Q: According to Advaita Vedanta if I am always the witness consciousness, Brahman, then who ‘controls’ the mind? Mind control is an important part of most Sādhanā, and if I am the watcher of my thoughts, how do ‘I’ control the mind? Just by shining the light of consciousness on the mind? For all of us, there is the choice to think both nice and nasty thoughts, there is the choice to engage in both right and wrong actions....

Q: “How comes Advaita doesn’t regard Krishna as a personal form of God?” A follower asked this question and I thought I would share the answer I would give to everyone here because some may have this very same doubt. First of all we need to make a distinction between Nirguna Brahman and Saguna Brahman, what are those? As you may guess the word “Nirguna” contains “Gunas” which means qualities....