We are resuming our ongoing class on "Bhagavad Gita in the Light of Sri Ramakrishna." For the new students here at the Vedanta Society of Sacramento, I'm starting with a Crash Course.
Assignment:
Please read Chapter 1 of Swami Medhananda's book Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality and answer the Study Questions based on it.
Study Questions:
1. What are the three main interpretive approaches to Sri Ramakrishna’s philosophy?
2. Why does Swami Medhananda call Sri Ramakrishna’s philosophy “Vijñāna Vedānta”? Do you think it’s a good name for his philosophy, or would you suggest a different one?
3. Please briefly summarize the five interpretive principles Swami Medhananda employs to reconstruct Sri Ramakrishna’s philosophy on the basis of his teachings in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Do you agree with these principles? Why or why not?
4. Swami Medhananda explains Sri Ramakrishna’s Vijñāna Vedānta as a nonsectarian form of Advaita (nondual) philosophy. What are some of the main similarities and differences between Sri Ramakrishna’s Vijñāna Vedānta and Śaṅkara’s Advaita Vedānta?
5. How, if at all, has this reading changed your understanding of Sri Ramakrishna’s philosophical teachings? How might it enrich your spiritual practice?
6. Do you have any questions about the reading? Did you have difficulty understanding anything? Do you have any doubts or confusions?