Vedanta is a philosophy, and unfortunately, the commonly practiced Hindu religion draws very little from it. How can a philosophy be exclusive to a religion? Religion includes a God, a prophet, holy books, and commandments, none of which apply to Vedanta. It lets one explore 'who I am', what this world is, and how to end my suffering.
This summary is AI-generated. Please read the full article for complete understanding.
Questioner: My name is Grant Holly. I live in Virginia in the United States. It’s an honor to speak with you today. I have watched many of your videos in the last few months.
Acharya Prashant: Welcome.
Questioner: Very good, it’s very good. My question is, Vedanta is from the Hindu religion and I myself grew up in a different faith, different religion. How can the teachings of Vedanta help me in my life?This is my question.
Acharya Prashant: No. First of all, please see that Vedanta is a philosophy and as far as the usually prevalent and practised Hindu religion is concerned, it actually draws very little from Vedanta, unfortunately. So, there’s the philosophy and then there is the religion. What we usually call as religion, has a God, has a messenger or a prophet, has a holy book, has a canon, has a set of commandments. Now, none of that applies to Vedanta. Vedanta is simple darshan, philosophy. So, in that sense it is universal.
