patit

You do not need to be a "philosopher" to read Mahabharata and Ramayana. I do not consider myself a "philosopher." Like all things, if you want to learn, you must invest the time. My point is simply that you should refrain from providing answers to questions which you do not know the answers to. Your answer as posted seems to acknowledge that Sri Rama and Sri Krishna did do all those terrible things. The Christian fundamentalist can then copy-cut-paste your quote to his Hindu hatred website and use it to stir up more prejudice against Hinduism. This in turn affects all of us.

 

Whether you like it or not, when you speak up on behalf of Hinduism in a public forum, you will be treated as an ambassador of your religion and culture. Your comments will affect how the culture and attitudes of millions are preceived by foreigners who have money and big guns. If you think that is far-fetched, then consider for a moment that the British rationalized their dominance over India by perpetuating ugly stereotypes about men routinely burning their women over dowry, killing people over caste, etc. And this was done without the instantaneous access to free information which the internet provides.

 

Those of you who took apologistic or neutral stances in regards to these kinds of prejudiced questions are not doing anyone any favors. Please resist the urge to post until you have familiarized yourself with the facts. This is not just directed at you, but also the Neo-Hindu who advised that we should go to the Greeks to get our answers about Hinduism, the Hare Krishna who just repeated that everything God does is "divine" (thus rationalizing the false accusations), etc.

Dear Raghu,

I wonder if you consider anyone but yourself to be a qualified ambassador of Hindu philosophy. My friend, I spent the last 2 hours looking through some of the posts you wrote. I can see you are very well educated. Please come to your senses. Please let go of that ego. You will shine bright with all your knowledge. This is not some official Hindu website. Even a Christian or Muslim could answer this saying something completely outrageous. Words are nothing...try to feel.

One simple thing you (and Tenali) could do is *READ* the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Sri Krishna and Sri Rama did not do any of those things that Tenali ascribed to Him.

 

If people could make it a point to read the source material, questions like these would not arise. You do not need to give oblique answers that do not answer the question. This only reveals that you yourself do not know what he was talking about.

 

A Christian missionary propagating lies about Hinduism is nothing new. What is disturbing is a Hindu accepting such lies as truth and then trying to rationalize them using philosophy. Please take the time to familiarize yourself with the literature.

Raghu,

Thank you for instructing me to read further. I am no philosopher like yourself. It was an answer to help a sincere person understand how to overcome contradicting statements in our scriptures rather than answering the question itself. You are right. I am wrong.

Your servant,

Patit.

Hare Rama/Hare Krishna

 

Rama asked his wife to walk on fire. This doesn't seem nice. He also slaughtered a low-caste man who was reciting the veda.

 

Krishna, on the other hand, called himself brahmachari and yet abducted many women. He lied throughout the Kuru war, instigated Arjuna to kill his relatives.

 

All this doesn't point to any divinity at all in these two blokes. Why is it we consider them on par with the Brahman described in upanishad?

It is hard for ordinary people to unerstand the extraordinary ways of the Supreme Lord. I never knew why my mom would give me a spanking when I was a kid. But now I do. So the point here is that what ever Ram and Krishna did is for the ultimate good of everyone. Understanding that good is the goal of life.

What things should I do to practice at home? I'm an artist so I drew a picture of Krishna and made a little altar.. But now I don't know what to do with it..

Pranams to you Trisilex. It is such a nice thing to want to serve the Lord. Truly inspiring. Though I am not an expert, I would suggest you start by perhaps offering Krishna one incense in the morning and one in the evening. You offer that by rotating the incense in front of Krishna clockwise for 7 times. You can decorate his alter with different flowers or leaves. You can offer Krishna any food you prepare. You can clean his altar on a daily basis even though it may not be dirty. Try to care for him like you would someone you hold very dear to your heart. There is no amount of rituals one can do to please the Lord. He is simply satisfied with our sincerity and love.

Your Servant,

Patit.

Purely from a practical viewpoint.

 

There are people in this world, who are pretty much happy through their lives, though they may not have been happy all the time. This category appears to be completely ignored by religionists - for obvious reasons.

 

Now you said one should not focus on the happiness one gets during this lifetime, because one should worry about what happens after death. Why? This is my time to be happy here. I will worry about death and afterlives later. Of course, If I am not happy now, if my material life is screwed up, then perhaps I will start thinking of an afterlife right now. Otherwise not.

 

If you are living in society with a family, you have to conform to the social model. This includes a means of livelihood which in turn requirs you to perform well in your job, which in turn requires a certain amount of passion towards the work you do and so on. If you brand this passion as Maya and call it a bad thing, then you will mess up your career - all because you are scared of the quality of your afterlife. But in truth, you would have made a mess of your present life!

 

Your education was not intended to conquer Maya. It was a foundation, preparing you to function effectively in society. This will include passion for your work and dedication to excel at whatever you do. This is what you should focus on. Do not get confused with religious ideals of detachment, etc., which are not really meant for people playing an active role in society. Indian religion has had the unqiue concept of Sanyasa for thousands of years, just to address this afterlife concern. Trying to merge a sanyasi lifestyle with a Grhasta lifestyle will only cause confusion and problems.

 

Cheers

Dear kaisersose,

It is not that this category is ignored by religionists. Material happiness is actually just less distress. There is no real happiness derived from material nature. When there is less stress we call that happiness. In order to understand this point, we have to be acquire higher taste. When we acquire higher taste, we realize what true happiness is. Therefore we can be situated in true happiness while being in this world.

Yes this is your time to be happy. Thinking you are happy and actually being happy are two different things. Ignorance is bliss. The true way to get happy while you are here is to get in touch with your real self. Why should one try to get happiness via temporary sources when the same amount of energy can be spent towards getting something permanent? Its true what you say about distressed people taking up spiritual practices. There are 3 other types of people who take to spiritual life as well. Namely the wise, inquisitive and in need of money. Of the four, you may come in the category of wise.

Actually, one who is self realized has no fear. It is not recommended to neglect your duty. It is recommended to do your duty without being attached to the results of your duty. This way, your duty does not become a distraction. Rather, it becomes a type of meditation.

Yes no amount of education can conquer maya. The only thing that can conquer maya is the the mercy of guru and the Lord. Every type of varna and ashram is supported by the Vedas. If you wish to be a grhasta, go for it! One only has to perform his duty no matter what ashram he may be in. The point is to always remember god and never forget him.

I am sorry...but if you are not affected by the happiness and sufferings of the world, then you are in a some kind of a zombie/robot state. Why is that a good thing? Its greatness appears to be simply because it is hard to reach.

 

Suppose the individual is happy with the world. Say things are going well for him. Do you agree that such a person would have no incentive in moving to such a vegetative state?

Dear Kaisersose,

I am not a great scholor but I will try my best to answer.

I do not think being self realized is a "zombie state". What it means is you are in touch with your real self. Not the material covering. Rather, not knowing yourself is a zombie state. We think we are happy with the way things are going for us, but the bottom line is, that happiness is temporary. Even if you somehow manage to stay "happy" all your life, its still temporary. No one can escape the clutches of death. So the goal of spiritual life is to achieve a state of permanent happiness. One that does not end. Its ever increasing. If we live our life as if though we are eternal then the little happiness or distress brought to us by the different modes of material nature will not effect us. The goal of spiritual life is to arise above the material nature and be situated under the spiritual energy. Being situated thus and being in touch with our real identity we can be free from the "zombie" like state and be situated in our true position. You may be very happy dreaming about something beautiful...but even a little child can tell you, that dream will end.

So to endeavour to achieve something that will bring you so called happiness but comes with an expiration date is basically useless.

It all depends on what one defines as education.

 

 

 

What are you expecting to happen if/when you come to the conclusion that you are the spirit and not the body - when you still have a body? Is that how it is supposed to work?

 

It is natural for someone living a worldly life to desire one or more of name, fame, recognition, wealth, power, etc. To give up all of these and yet live a wordly life is meaningless. One has to be a sanyasi to give up all of these. Should the entire world's population work towards Sanyasa?

 

Cheers

Dear kaisersose,

Coming to such conclusion or realizing that one is not this body will automatically answer your questions. One who has come to such a realization is indeed very great. A simple example can be given. In India and maybe some other places around the world, we find many snake charmers that play with deadly snakes like cobras. The snakes sometimes bite the snake charmers but the snake charmer is not affected because they have taken the poison teeth out of the snake. Similarly, the senses of those who are truly self realized is compared to a snake that may bite but has no consequence. A self realized soul lives and walks in this world but is not affected by the happiness or sufferings of this world.

Your Servant,

Patit.

It is very interesting to note how mayadevi has her claws on even the most educated people. What use is education if it does not help us to understand the very basic point that our desire for name and fame must be demolished? We acquire so much knowledge, memorize so many verses and preach high philosophy. What use is all that if all its doing is making us feel greater. Are we not just feeding our false ego? Is it not making us more trapped in this bodily designation? Does such fire of desire help us to come to the conclusion that we are not this body but the spirit within? Or is it the biggest block for such realization? What use is all this knowledge if its becoming such a block in our path to liberation. "Divya jnana hrde prakasito" not by merely memorizing and repeating like a parrot...this is how maya gets us..we must think about it sometimes. We may be committing lots of offenses on the strength of Gods teachings..this is misuse of the basic knowledge that the Lord has kindly given us to get perhaps half a step closer to DIVYA JNANA. It is easy to point fingers...we must look within.