Guest guest Report post Posted March 11, 1996 Mani wrote: >Here is a paragraph that is worth thinking about. >It is from a private email sent to me from someone >who shall remain unnamed. > In my understanding, any discussion however speculative, > if it will trigger sincere aspiration to see for oneself > the Truth and even a glimpse of it, is more important > than a thousand pages of verbatim quoting of poorvacharyas, > forgeting to focus on the essence and latching on to > the outmoded forms. >Mani I am somewhat confused by the above comments. Can I seek the following clarification: (1) Is he implying that Anushtanams like sandhyavandhanam, ekadashi etc., represent only the ritualistic part of our religion (outmoded forms?) and therefore do not represent the essence of our religion or that even if we decide to perform them, we should not attach too much importance to how they are done. Therefore we should discourage discussions pertaining to correct performance of these activities. (2) Will the same person also include in the category of outmoded rituals, worship of idols (Archa Murthys). For example pouring of milk during Abhishekham etc. Being born in a scientific age, one may not be wrong in assuming that people who practice the path laid out by our fore-fathers do think and not act blindly. I think I would be also be correct in assuming that the people who participate in this group investing their time and effort are all sincere aspirants. View-points and emphasis can differ. For example, some may value learning about our prabhandhams more than say the life history of our acharyas. If we cannot appreciate what is being written, at least we should show restraint in not condemning such contributions as outmoded etc.. Vijayaraghavan Srinivasan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
