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Neo-Advaita is a term used by critics to designate a modern, western form of Advaita Vedanta in which the traditional prerequisites of knowledge of the scriptures and "renunciation as necessary preparation for the path of jnana-yoga" have been discarded, and the inducement of direct experience are emphasized. It has it's origins in the teachings of Ramana Maharishi, but also the Hindu modernism of Vivekenanda and Radakrishnan. Notable neo-advaita teachers are H. W. L. Poonja and hist student Andrew Cohen.
History
Advaita Vedanta can be dated back prior to the common era. It's greatest proponent was Shankhara.
The intellectual root of neo-Advaita lies in the reform and emancipation-movements from leading Hindus such as Radakrishnan, Vivekenanda and sri Aurobindo. In the 19th century Hinduism took on a new self-consciousness, in reaction to but also under influence of the British rule.
Vivekenanda saw all religions as paths leading to the same goal. This appoach presents ultimate reality in a substantialist way. This essentialist approach resembles the perennial philosophy, but has also been opposed. For example, it contradicts the Buddhist doctrine of sunyata.
The spiritual root of neo-Advaita is Ramana Maharshi, via his student Poonja.
One of the tragedies of Poonjaji's teaching ministry is that he either told, inferred, or allowed hundreds of individuals to believe they were fully enlightened simply because they'd had one, or many, powerful experiences of awakening. These "enlightened" teachers then proceeded to enlighten their own students in a similar way, and thus was born what is known as the "neo-Advaita", or "satsang" movement in western culture.
Criticism
The neo-Advaita movement has been severely critisized.
Traditional Advaita Vedanta...
nvolves decades of study and practice under the guidance of a qualified teacher and has little to do with the "enlightenment" that is proclaimed in much of the present-day neo-Advaita movement.
The enlightenment-experiences induced by these teachers and their satsangs are considered to be superficial:
To assume that such temporary experiences of perceiving emptiness and enlightenment are the end of the path is a grave error.
References
- ^ Davis 2010, p. 48.
- Yogani 2011, p. 805.
- ^ Smart 2009, p. 268.
- D'Costa 2000, p. 68.
- Caplan 2009, p. 16-17.
- ^ Caplan 2009, p. 17.
Sources
- Caplan, Mariana (2009), Eyes Wide Open: Cultivating Discernment on the Spiritual Path, Sounds True
- Davis, Leesa S. (2010), Advaita Vedānta and Zen Buddhism: Deconstructive Modes of Spiritual Inquiry, Continuum International Publishing Group
- D'Costa, Gavin (2000), Meeting of Religions and the Trinity, Continuum International Publishing Group
- Smart, Ninian (2009), Ninian Smarton World Religions, Volume 2, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
- Yogani (2011), Advanced Yoga Practices Support Forum Posts of Yogani, 2005-2010, AYP Publishing
Further reading
- Fort, Andrew O. (1998), Jīvanmukti in Transformation: Embodied Liberation in Advaita and Neo-Vedanta, SUNY Press
- Lucas, Phillip Charles (2011), "When a Movement Is Not a Movement. Ramana Maharshi and Neo-Advaita in North America", Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. Vol. 15, No. 2 (November 2011) (pp. 93-114)