What is Scripture? | Nārada Bhakti Sutra

Every spiritual and religious tradition in the world has some sort of scripture. One very interesting thing about South Asian spirituality (Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and others) is that there is no one authoritative scripture but rather a vast commentarial tradition of scripture that features a peer-reviewed and corroborated account of mystical experiences and the subtlest, most refined truths of spiritual life that are gleaned from them.

More importantly, the central claim of the South Asian scriptural tradition is a very scientific one: anyone anywhere if they follow the injunctions of any of these scriptures can verify for themselves, through direct experience, the truths claimed by the scriptures. As such, for many of these scriptures, dogmatic belief (though it can be in some cases nourishing for a certain type of person) is discouraged or at the very least, must be transcended.

So what really are the scriptures? In this lecture, I make a comprehensive defense of śāstra (scripture) and advocate for their importance in spiritual life. This is one lecture in a series on the Nārada Bhakti Sutra which you can follow along with here:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/narada-bhakti-80688555?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

These classes meet live every Friday evening at 6pm PST via this zoom link:
https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

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OM Tat Sat