Monistic interpretation of Gita appears to be not reasonable

One of the principal works of Adi Sankaracharya is : Gita bhAshyam (Commentary on one of the important principal scriptures of Hinduism: Bhagavad Gita).

Critics say that Sankaracharya interpreted Gita from a monistic or non-dualstic view.


th> Question: What is monism or non-dualism?

Answer: One question which haunts those who admit that there is a soul, apart from body, and that the sould is a resident of the body, -- is whether the soul in the body (called jivAtma or life soul) is the same as Supreme God (paramAtma or God Soul). Or whether both are different. Adi (First) Sankaracharya supported Non-dualism (Advaita or only one).
Question : Why do you find fault with the monistic interpretation of Gita?
Answer: It is not exactly finding fault with Adi SankarAchArya. I am too small to show a fault-finding finger towards him. I appeal to you is to just hear this small argument. Bhagavad Gita is a Vaishnavaite text. (VaishNavaite = Those who worship God VishNu). Proof: Mahabharata was a VaishNavaiTe text. It portrays Krishna as an incarnation of Lord VishNu. There are very few references to Lord Shiva (Shankara) in Mahabharata. The chapter headings of Bhagavad Gita have a suffix : 'Yoga'. This suffix means 'Yoking or Union'. Yoking with whom? Yoking of the human soul with the Supreme Soul. Krishna urged Arjuna to yoke himself to the Supreme Soul. Non-dualistic philosophy has a totally different angle. The human soul within the body and the Supreme Soul outside the body are not different. An ignorant person thinks that they are different. The soul in the body is actually Supreme Soul. There is nothing like a separate human soul. The human skin separates the human body from Nature. The Supreme Soul in the body should recognise that it is the same eternal (sat) dynamic (cit) Supreme Soul which purveys outside. It is not clear why Adi Sankaracharya attempted a monistic interpretative commentary of Bhagavad Gita. Allowing Bhagavad Gita to have its dualistic approach would have been more apt. Adi Shankaracharya should have propounded his own Adi Shankara Gita.
Question: How can Supreme Soul No. 1/6 billion (one part of the 6 billion humans living on this earth) recognise the remaining part of Supreme Soul? I shall give you an example: Take bread with 6 slices. I may be present in one of the slices. How am I going to identify myself with the .99 billion particles of flour in my slice, and the remaining 5 billion particles of flour in the remaining slices?
Answer: This blogger's guesswork answer: It is a beautiful question. A body will have a sense of 'I' or consciousness as long as it has faculties suggestive of life i.e. locomotion, response to external stimuli, nutrition, excretion, respiration etc.). as living body will thus be conscious. It is the living human body which should and which has the capacity to recognise its micro-oneness with the macro-outside. It is like a drop of water recognising that it is a part of ocean. One important obstacle in this direction is : the world. Shankaracharya called this 'jagat'. One which is born and which dies. One which comes and which goes. This world causes us ignorance and makes us to think that we are different from things outside. Once this hymen of ignorance is ruptured supreme bliss of orgasm will arise. But this supreme bliss will be only momentary, if we fail to bring into our daily life, our personal and social behaviors, the sense of unity with Nature and other humans. This is not a practical proposition in a Capitalist World. Example: We see somebody suffering. The Knowledge of Supreme Bliss (GnAna in Sanskrit ) says that he and we are one and the same and that we should help him. The Knowledge of Supreme Bliss (GnAna) is not wrong. We help him once or twice or sometimes or many times. But, we cannot always help him, though he is we and we are him. If we continue, we cannot survive in this world of 'money'. I am not writing this out of selfishness. I am writing this out of common sense. All the religions in this world (exception: Advaita non-dualistic philosophy) are based on dualism. They may say thousands of things in books. The essence of prayers in all relgions is dualism. When we pray "All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above, and we will never forget who is our true provider. We thank you as you bless this food and bless this time together. Amen" we are presuming that our earth is different from earth and that we receivers of food are different from the sender of foods. The prayer business is easy to practice both to the preaching temples, churches and mosques. Getting rid of ignorance and understanding that "we inside and we outside are same" needs hard work both for the preacher and the learner. Both cannot practise it any way. The preachers of Advaita (Non-dualisam), including the monasteries of Badari, Kanchi, Dwaraka, Puri, Sringeri and their heads who claim to be the Teachers of the World (Jagadgurus) practise dualism. Proof : You approach the Administrative Officer of any of these monasteries and seek their permission for sitting at the feet of the current Shankaracharya of the monastery and worship his feet. You may be asked to pay some Rs. 10,000/-. What should have been a better reply? "You are the Supreme Soul. The Head of our Monastery is also the Supreme Soul. I am also the Supreme Soul. One Supreme Soul need not fall at the feet of another Supreme Soul. Realise this and implement in your life. You will get Supreme Bliss." Swamy Vivekananda of the 1893 World Congress of Religion fame, and who had credit of taking the message of non-dualist philosophy (advaita vEdAnta) to the Western World, also did not practice non-dualism. Proof: Vivekananda boasted in a letter addressed to a German girl, that they in Calcutta sacrificed a goat and burst fireworks during Durga Puja Celebrations. A non-dualist can never sacrifice a goat to appease a Goddess. To a non-dualist, there can never be entities such as Rama, Krishna, Sankara, Alla, Yehova, so on and so forth. Summary: The one who prays is the shooter. He is also the target. This is the essence of meditation. This will give us ATHEISM. The contemporary critics of Adi Shankaracharya condemned him as an atheist. Some people consider Buddha also, as an atheist. Sadly enough, the Buddhists pray now Buddha. That means they are practising dualism. Sadly enough, all the monasteries (Badari etc.) I have referred above, are today practising idol worship and prayers. If they get true awareness, they will throw away their idols. Meditation is also needed only for a limited time say ten minutes just to prevent being swept away by the 'tsunamis' of the worldly desires. The essence of Advaita is practice and not meditation. Meditation is a small tool, not the goal in itself.

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