Vedanta is the teaching of the reality of oneself. It is in the form of inquiry herein one discovers the real meaning of the word ‘I’ the self that remains unchanged from the childhood to youth to old age. It leads one to discover that the unchanged self is free from any form of limitation.

The vision of Vedanta is an equation of the identity between the jiva, individual and Ishvara. This vision of oneness is not available for perception or inference. Nor is the oneness that is unfolded by Vedanta contradicted by perception or inference. Oneness is purely in terms of understanding the equation.

The entire vision of Vedanta expressed in one sentence – tat tvam asi. This sentence is a mahavakya, the central theme of our scriptures. All other sentences in the Upanishads are only meant to prove this equation. To recognize the truth unfolded by vedanta one requires a prepared mind. For the one with an unprepared mind, Vedanta is like calculus for a person who is still learning basic mathematics. To gain such a mind implies the recognition, the importance and the understanding of certain values and attitudes.

In the vision of the Veda, self-growth is the aim that will lead you to self-discovery. Whether you say dharma or karma it is one and the same. Dharma in terms of its expression, in a given situation, becomes karma, what is to be done.

The vision of the Vedas, being what it is, advocates a lifestyle that is entirely unique. Since you are already a complete person, the tradition is only an aid to help you discover this profound truth. Nobody rests content with what he or she is. Inspite of one’s accomplishments and skills, one always has a sense of inadequacy. To discover this, however, one must be mature. One’s physical maturity (adulthood) does not assure emotional maturity. One can remain as angry, self-centred, jealous and hateful as one was in childhood. However, as an adult one has to grow out of these tendencies and become emotionally mature.

The Veda gives us a plan to make ourselves mature. It teaches a lifestyle and value structure that helps us grow so well that we can discover we are the ‘whole’. Since it is based on knowledge, it is not confined to a culture of a particular time, nation or geography.

Gaining knowledge is neither difficult not easy. It appears difficult if you are not ready, but if you are, there is nothing easier. In case of Vedanta what you want to know is what you want to be. This is unlike any other knowledge. Naturally one requires a unique preparedness that the Vedas prescribe as a life of duties. One’s duties are broadly given under two categories – duties in society (varna dharma – brahmana, vaishya, kshatriya and shudra based on one’s duty and not on one’s birth / family caste) and duties in one’s personal life (ashrama dharma – brahmacharya, gruhastha, vanaprastha, sannyasa). Even though today in our society, we do not follow the varna system anywhere by birth, the four-fold spheres of work are always there. We have to understand the spirit of the system. The spirit is duty. No matter under which varna and ashrama one falls under one has to work towards his or her self-discovery by neutralizing his or her like and dislikes. For this one must give precedence to values.

Through the system of duties imbibed with values, the vision of the Veda is designed to make everyone’s disposition predominantly sattva. In other words, a brahmana by guna. One may or may not be a brahmana by birth or karma. That is not important. Where one does his job as Ishvara aradhana, then any work becomes an outcome of one’s devotion performing puja in a temple is not different from sweeping the floor. This is our culture. This system is designed to lift one to gain the required maturity to understand the truth, that he or she is not different from the Lord himself.