ADVANTAGE OF VEDANTA

Christopher Isherwood, novelist and devotee of Vedanta, noted in the introduction to Vedanta for Modern Man that Vedanta teaches the practice of mysticism.  It holds that a person may directly know and be united with “the eternal Nature,” the Atman, through meditation and spiritual discipline, without the aid of any church or delegated minister.  This was good news to me.

Some of us writers are solitary, introverted, interior people, monks essentially.  We are not joiners, not inclined to become members of religious organizations or institutions.  Congregations have no appeal to us.  I began practicing hatha (physical) yoga and raja (mental) yoga alone in my room when I was eighteen years old, and did so for many years.  Going to a temple to do so was the furthest thing from my mind.

Buddhist meditation was likewise an interest of mine, related as it was to raja yoga.  As much as I loved original Buddhism, the Threefold Refuge of the Buddha, the dharma (teachings), and the sangha (monastic order) repelled me, if only because the sangha meant I would have to be around other Buddhist monks.  I understood why the sangha was necessary, not the least of which was social interaction for the sake of sanity, but I still didn’t like it.  No, I was too solitary, what is called in Buddhism “a lone rhino on the plain.”

The matter was sorted out when I grew close to the Atman, when he and I were alone together.