Posted by Live Yoga Life in Yoga Philosophy on October 6th, 2010
Vedanta is a philosophy taught by the Vedas, the most ancient scriptures of India. Its basic teaching is that our real nature is divine. God is our innermost Self, an underlying reality that exists in every being. Religion is therefore a search for Self, a search for God within. We don’t need to be “saved”. At worst, we are unaware of our true nature.
“Children of Immortal Bliss, what a sweet, hopeful name. Allow me to call you, brethren by that sweet name, heirs of immortal bliss. The Hindu refuses to call you sinners. You are the children of God, holy and perfect beings. Sinners? It is a sin to call a person so. It is a standing libel on human nature. Come up, oh lions, and shake of the delusion that you are sheep! You are souls immortal, spirits free, blessed and eternal.” – Swami Vivekananda
All ethics are merely a means to the end of finding God within ourselves. “Right” action is action that brings us nearer to the knowledge of God (the God within us). “Wrong” action leads us away from that knowledge. Our ideas of “good” and “evil” are therefore only relative values and must not be used as an absolute standard by which we judge others. Each of us has our own problems and our own development – our own path to self-mastery. But the goal is the same for all.
“Find God (the divinity that is you). That is the only purpose of life.” – Sri Ramakrishna
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