A #MustRead : Like in Science the outlook of #AdiShankaracharya begins with beliefs & ends with Experience.

"Shankara's conception of the Absolute is not solely a matter of intellectual subtlety. He assumes that the realisation of the "brahman" with the world is 'anirvachaneeya' impossible of explanation. 'Brahman' is attributeless and immutable. 'Iswara' himself, is a product of 'Maya' being the highest approach to the 'Nirguna Brahman' (for) possible to the individual soul", who can in most cases conceive of the supreme only through his attributes and many-faceted glory.

Shankara expounds the view that 'Nirakara'or the Absolute becomes "Akaravat" (or embodied) for the individual worshipper as a personal or "Saguna" Godhead, which is the only form in which the Absolute can be comprehended by the finite mind. The religion of a personal God is not a mere dogma, but it is a product of realisation, intuition and experience. Upasana is in fact a means of obtaining a continuous current of thought:
upAsanaM nAma samAna-pratyaya-pravAha-karaNam
or contemplation is like the flowing of oil poured out of a vessel (तैलधारावत्) As the end of religion is the unification of the limited with the Infinite, what is termed Bhakti is the striving for this Sakshatkara or realisation by means of and through devotion to a personal God or symbol or Pratika which may be an image, a painting or other object evoking veneration. It will thus be seen that Shankara does not exclude or expel the framework of the external world. The outlook of Shankara as of all true Science begins with belief (or axioms) and ends with experience (अनुभव)
-Dr. C P Ramaswami lyer

भवता जनता सुहिता भविता
निजबोधविचारण चारुमते।
कलयेश्वरजीवविवेकविदं
भव शंकर देशिक मे शरणम्॥

Enable me to understand the wisdom relating to God and the soul. Be Thou my refuge o Jagadguru

#SanatanaDharma #Sringeri #Shankaracharya #Advaita #spirituality #Bhagavatpada #Sadguru