What is Vedanta?

The word 'Vedanta' means the end (or final chapters), or essence of the Vedas, the ancient sacred scriptures of Hinduism. The end portions of the Vedas are also called the Upanishads. These scriptures are the record of the spiritual experiences of many ancient sages of India in their search for God and Reality. The sages who wrote these books are largely anonymous; the truths they taught, not their personalities, were important. Thus Vedanta, though it represents the philosophical and religious backbone of the many sects of Hinduism, is not relevant only to Hinduism. Its teachings are universal and impersonal. They consist of basic principles of spiritual life which can be experienced and tested by earnest seekers of every race, religion, and epoch.

The first and foremost of these principles states that our true Self is divine. We are not what we normally think we are: a bundle of body, mind, and ego whose pleasures and interests are to be served at all costs. The identification of ourselves with the states of our body and mind has always been a mistake. Through spiritual practice we can discover our true Self, which is pure Spirit, distinct from the body and mind, perfect, free, and one with Divinity itself. This discovery is the ultimate goal of life. Having found the Divine Being within ourselves, we see It likewise in all living creatures and even inanimate objects. We pour ourselves out in the service of others, regarding our fellow beings as the very embodiments of God.

Vedanta does not teach the divinity of all things merely as a theory or dogma. Vedanta teaches various methods, called yogas, by which the individuals, according to their temperament, can realize their inherent divinity or God. There are four primary methods called "yogas": jnana yoga, the path of discrimination between the real and the unreal; bhakti yoga, the path of love and devotion; karma yoga, the path of selfless action; and raja yoga, the path of concentration and meditation. By following one or more of these under the guidance of a qualified teacher, the aspirant can fully realize the existence of the divine reality as the very essence of oneself and the world. As a practical matter, the earnest student is strongly advised to search out a qualified spiritual teacher to guide him in his practice; for the straightest course to God varies from individual to individual, is often hard to determine, and contains many subtle pitfalls.

How is Vedanta related to other faiths? Vedanta teaches that all religions lead to the same ultimate goal, the experience and realization of God. What then of the seemingly irreconcilable differences between the dogmas of the different world faiths? Vedanta holds that the universe is vast enough to include many different views of the Truth. No one set of dogmas, however profound and inspiring, can contain all of the Truth. The Ultimate Truth or God, which is one and the same for all, is beyond words and ideas. But words and ideas are necessary. Therefore Vedanta, though it is a religion and a path in its own right, accepts with reverence all religions; indeed, it provides the rationale of all religions. It does not seek to convert others from their faiths, but rather to strengthen and deepen all faiths. Vedanta can help the Christian to be a better Christian, the Jew to be a better Jew, the Hindu to be a better Hindu. The important part of each religion is its practical side-the mental and spiritual fruits of the disciplines which it inculcates. It is here that Vedanta finds the thread of unity running through all faiths. Each religion, in its own way, is trying to persuade us to give up selfishness and egotism, to "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself."

Vedanta is impersonal and universal. It regards principles as primary, and the personalities of particular saints and sages as secondary. Nevertheless, if the principles had never been demonstrated in a human life, we could not believe in them. Therefore Vedanta places the utmost value on prophets and saints whose lives embody the ideals of spiritual life. Moreover, Vedanta holds, like Christianity, that God Himself sometimes appears in human form, to teach us the way to Him and to provide a focal point for our love and devotion to Him. There is however this difference: Christianity teaches that God's Incarnation as Jesus Christ was unique and sufficient for all time. But Vedanta holds that God has come to earth in answer to our needs many times in the past and will come many times in the future.

One such great spiritual teacher was Sri Ramakrishna, an extraordinary Hindu saint of the nineteenth century. He is looked upon by many as a perfect embodiment of the principles of Vedanta. His greatest disciple was Swami Vivekananda, who came to the United States in 1893 to represent Hinduism at the Parliament of Religions held that year in Chicago. After the Parliament, Swami Vivekananda spent some years in this country and Europe teaching the philosophy of Vedanta. It was he who founded the Vedanta Movement in America. He also built up in India the monastic order which bears the name of his Master, the Ramakrishna Order. After Swami Vivekananda's death in 1902, the Ramakrishna Order, under the inspired leadership of Swami Brahmananda, another great disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, continued to train monks to carry out the program of work initiated by him in India and the West. In India the Ramakrishna Order not only maintains its many monasteries and convents and conducts classes in meditation and Vedanta philosophy, but also, as part of its total effort to realize and serve the Divine in man, engages in famine relief and maintains orphanages, hospitals, and schools. On the other hand, the Swamis who are sent by the Order to work in the United States and elsewhere concentrate mainly on spiritual activities.