Vedanta
Vedanta is a philosophy based solely on pure intuitive Knowledge which has manifested in the hearts of countless inspired seers meditating deep in the forests of India and in Himalayan mountain caves ever since the world was new, and it continues to manifest in the hearts of seers and be restated by them for new generations even today. That intuitive Knowledge appearing after immersion in the state of pure consciousness, samadhi, the ultimate destination of all spiritual paths, is known as ‘Veda,’ ‘Vedanta’ is the end or essence of this Knowledge. Accessed through our own hearts, the root of the mind, the essence of Veda is that point from which the knowledge and the knowable are projected. For him who attains to that point, the master-knot of life is undone.
Divided into two parts, the first and lower part of which seeks to explain the ultimate nature of reality and the individual being, and the second and higher part of which seeks to develop and practise various methods suitable for all kinds of mind for advancing along the spiritual path, the very highest form of life, from the deepest ignorance to the highest spiritual realisations.
There are various levels of philosophic explanation in Vedanta, but the highest is non-dualism, for non-dualism is the only type of philosophy that is in line with the ultimate experience of nirvikalpa samadhi. Non-dualistic Vedanta is not Hinduism, it is not Indian philosophy, way beyond religion, it is based on pure Knowledge and nothing else. This Knowledge is not a knowledge merely thought up by the intellects of men, but received intuitively by seers who have gained Self-Knowledge through nirvikalpa samadhi. That Knowledge is eternal, omnipresent and never-changing. To get it, we must only tap into it by realising Brahman, the Self.
Knowledge is not built on religion; religion is built on Knowledge, so an understanding of Vedanta will undoubtedly help the followers of any religious or yogic tradition to proceed in knowledge. To those seekers of Truth that desire to make their way to the Ultimate without the distractions of the fetters of religion, Vedanta is the spiritual science that has made that possible from the time of the Rig Veda, the oldest book in the world, in which it is described, down to the present day.
The first purpose of life is to gain the spiritual realisation, and not just the intellectual knowledge, that we are not merely a compilation of flesh and thoughts, but Brahman, the omniscient, omnipotent, all-pervading consciousness. When that has been achieved, comes the second purpose, namely to try to make everyone else realise that they are not merely bodies, but Brahman itself. When we have attained to that realisation, we will regard all as our own self, we will automatically love all and, having already achieved the pinnacle of life, sacrifice our all for the welfare of humanity, backed up by the wisdom of the Omniscient manifesting in our hearts. So rare is the opportunity to attain to this, the very highest form of life, that we must surely leap up and grab the opportunity with both hands, for Brahman is everything and the world is but a training ground designed to enable us to develop the desire, the strength and the will to attain to that Brahman, and thus undo the master-knot of life.
Non-dualism has for the majority of history been hidden away in the forests and mountain caves without being understood by the masses as it is a relatively complex philosophy which requires a certain amount of intellect and effort to understand if no significant spiritual realisation has yet been achieved. Previously, aspirants were taught simpler philosophies that motivated them to do spiritual practices until they had attained a certain level of spiritual attainment so that they could then intuitively understand many of the subtleties of non-dualism, having realised them already. Now, however, the world is more intellectual than ever before, which has had the double result of making far more people capable of intellectually understanding non-dualism and less likely to accept simpler philosophies that are not logically water-tight. The time has come for the philosophy of Knowledge to be delivered unto the world.