Abhivadaye!!!

May 4, 2007

Namaste,

Thanks for accepting me into the group. The acceptance mail asked me

to introduce myself with brief notes on my background, interest and

spiritual background so here i go....

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abhivAdaye bargava vaidhahavya savedasa traya RSHaya

pravarAnvita:vadula gotra: Apasthambha sootra: yajushshAkAdhyAyi

badrinatha Sharma- naama aham asmi bho:

ok i will not translate that but I am

Name : Badrinath Vengalathur Srinath

Age : 24

Occupation : Software Engineer

Place : Hyderabad

Nationality: Indian

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Background:

My family is originally from a village called Vengalathur near Kanchipuram

but i must say the main connection we have with

that past is the occasional visits we make to the place for the

maintenance of a temple built there by my family folks. Currently my

family is settled with most kith and kin in Singara Chennai.

On the " laukika " side, I finished my B.E in Electrical and Electronics

from University of Madras

in '03, and I'm now a software consultant at Motorola Hyderabad.

Staying away from family(my comfort zone) in hyderabad I have had the

luxury of bombarding myself with questions and the time to search for

the answers.

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Interest/Spiritual Background:

A devotee of Lord Shiva from my childhood, I had been going to temple

for every pradhorsham for almost 5-6 years continuous without fail.

But then due to some sudden materialistic urges I wandered among

various " exotic " paths, and the only thing it all seemed to result in,

was make me more eager for my own. There was always this great

dissatisfaction about my inability to not reach my max strength, not

doing something purposeful. Something i felt deep down inside at an

untranslateable level.

I turned to books to find peace, discover the inner strength I

believed existed and to get answers for many questions that tortured

my mind. After grazing through Siddartha(Herman Hesse) , Autobiography

of a Yogi(Paramahamsa Yogananda), Bhagavad Gita(A.C.Bhaktivedananta),

Sanatana Dharma(Kanchi Periyaval), Quran, King James Bible,

Dhammapada, Manu Smriti, Dvaita, Vishishtadvaita(Yamunacharya and

Ramanujacharya), Advaita(Sri Sankara) and many books and notes found

on the web and purchased from shops, I finally found most of my

questions answered in the words of Swami Vivekananda.

I cannot honestly say I am a " serious student " of the Advaita, I have

come to appreciate it rather late. Like mainly in the last 4-5 months

in which i have become a big fan of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and

Swami Vivekananda. But that said I am still searching for a lot of

answers and am a bit vulnerable in my belief of advaita and can easily

be dragged to another school that provides me with the answers. In

fact i will make no secret of the fact that I have a strong attraction

to Sankhya and its concepts of controlling mind and attaining samadhi.

But that said I am very open to any thoughts and ideas that agree to

my reasoning and scientific logic(one of the reasons why my practices

dont confirm strictly to some of the doctrines laid down by dharma

sastras, they dont appeal to reasoning or scientific logic in the form

they were explained to me).

Also I have only grazed through the above mentioned lists of books and

am hence am not good at terminoligies but i believe I have to some

extent grasped the main ideas of each of those books. Currently, it

is meditation that holds my interest, here too i experimented with a

few meditation classes and have currently settled for the one form

taught by Sri Vedathri Maharishi.

One more disclaimer, I strongly believe in swami vivekanandhas words

that

" Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divine

within, by controlling nature external and internal. Do this either by

work, or worship, or psychic control or philosophy -- by one or more,

or all of these -- and be free.

This is the whole of religion. Doctrines or dogmas or rituals or books

or temples or forms are but secondary details. "

Thus to me advaita is secondary and realizing the divinity in me is

the primary goal.

But that said thanks to the great souls I consider my guru, Sri

Sankara, Ramana Maharishi, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swami

Vivekanandha, I have a very strong attraction to advaita. While on the

topic of Guru, one of my hardest and longest fought battles with

myself has been the need for a guru. Sometimes I feel I need a Guru to

lay the questions in my mind to rest and show me the direction and at

some other times I believe in " Atmo Deepo Bhava " .

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Reason for joining the group:

The main reason I must admit is my uncle Sri.C.S.Baskaran with whom I

debate on advaita and god and everything under that dominion. He

directed me to this group and I went through some mail threads in the

group beforing deciding to join. I believe by listening to the

discussions in here and sometimes voicing my questions, I might be

able to get a clearer perspective of God, Advaita and eventually the

sure shot way to become free.

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As it might be clear from my lengthy mail(my apologies for the same) ,

I am bombed with a million questions and am in the search for answers.

I questions every answer that is given to me as long as it doesnt

appeal to my reason or logic. But I strongly want to realize divinity

and am very open to any ideas and thoughts that might help me in my

pursuit. In the meanwhile, it's my pleasure to join this group. I hope

for many interesting discussions.

Shivoham,

--Badrinath--

May 5, 2007

Namaskarams Sri Badrinath-ji,

Welcome to the group. I joined earlier this year, but my presence is

more off than on. However I am happy to be here at this moment to see

your intro.

I too am devoted to Lord Shiva although this Advaita and scientific

logic and a crazy life pulled me out of a path of pure devotion. The

result is mental mess that takes a while to sort out. My small group

of teachers is essentially same as yours: the kanchi acharya, Sri

Ramana, Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. Except it was also my

beginning group more or less. I have not really dabbled much further

as far as teachers.

Well, there are many philosophies. Since you speak like a

science-person, only advice: don't give up Advaita too quickly. It

takes a while to get a feel for what it says: I have read the same

words of Sri Ramana and Sri Ramakrishna for years, and it has taken me

years to realize I never understood what the heck they were saying.

Or, now I think I better understand. The outsider who criticizes, you

may be certain, has no clue. Good wishes to your Self.

thollmelukaalkizhu

January 27, 2014

Let me introduce myself as Dr Balachander,an ecologist,retired botanist,from Loyola,secunderabad,and a vadhula gothram lineage.

I resonate with the advaita vibes of sri ramana maharishi,swami chimayamanda and swami vivekananda. It's divine to be a brahmin in the 21st century,more so an Indian,from south India.We are still blessed,by shankaracharya,and the lineage,individual still survives,due to our karmas,sastras and at the core-why I am born a Hindu!!