mr. addiction....family painss

[Guest guest]

Om Amrtesvaryai Namah!!

 

Namaste all you dear ones!!!!

 

thank you Mani for your wonderful letter on the war and its effects

upon you...and your wonderful exposition of the differences between

the US and the rest of the warring world at the time...Canada was

similar, but there was MUCH paranoia here of the the Japanese menace

from the sea....it was said that subs were constantly patrolling up

and down...and Canadians feared an invasion any time...this was why

the Japanese civilians in this country were rounded up and put into

concentration camps...(in the very valley where i live...not 3 miles

away in one direction and 2 miles in another direction...(north and

south)...it was a good valley to keep folks in...easy to control

exits...

 

it was also the reason why the Alaska Highway was built...by the

American army IN CANADA...to make a quick route to ferry troops and

materiel up to Alaska, which was where the feared invasion could

easily have taken place!

 

the Japanese DID fire occasionally upon the coast as well, and set off

fire starting balloon all the way from Japan, which were intended to

start major forest fires in America...

both Canada and the US fortified their coasts as much as

possible...mainly the cities...the annual retreats with Amma used to

always take place at Fort Flagler State Park in northern

Washington...it's on an island, and is essentially a fortified island

base...from which they could protect the ways leading to Seattle...

 

So they didn't get off totally either...also there was rationing and

such here too...

 

but i suspect you've a great point re the locals not understanding

what the men who went overseas to the war suffered...how could they?

as to it's ongoing influence...i would state that we're STILL

"suffering" the results of that war...as well as all the later

ones...all of which have added their weights to the list of horrors,

and broken lives.

 

i do take issue however, dear brother with your use of the word "Jap",

although i remember growing up with that as the word too...it is

pejorative, and "insulting"...and isn't really appropriate for today's

discussions...we should be able to get some distance from it all by

now...but then...YOU had to be in the bomb shelters, and met the

people who had lived thru the horror of Japanes occupation...so

possibly this might be colouring your way of thinking....However,

Japanese Americans and Canadians, do NOT like being called

"JAPS"...neither would the folks in Japan...AND despite the horrific

past...they are now our FRIENDS....so we should be a little more kind

in our words which we use to refer to them... most of the folks who

perpetrated the horrors are long gone now...and only their children

are left to deal with the associated karmas...including addictions,

and depression...think how it feels to be born in Germany or Japan,

and realise what your country was responsible for...(not that Canada

is much better with its "assimilation" policies for Natives, and

Doukhobours....and its concentration camps for Japanese, and

Doukhobour children...(as well as Native children...only for them and

the Doukhobours (a pacifistic Russian Christian vegetarian cult who

emigrated to Canada at the turn of the century to pursue the peaceful

life....), they were called "residential schools".

 

>>KV´s example of his father is very telling: "Don´t wake me up, for I

might kill

you!" This trained and conditioned existence for

years cannot be wiped out in a

moment of victory!<<<

 

What you said here is true...and it doesn't matter whether you are on

the "winning" side or the "losing" side...all were losers in the

emotions and caring department...having married a German lady, myself,

and having visited a few times with her family, in the 80's (now i'm

separated)...i came to know that all these issues are not nearly as

simplistic as the school textbooks made them out to be....i came to

see what it was like from the German point of view too...and couldn't

help but have empathy for them too!!...the same for the Japanese

perpetrators of war crimes...think of the pain that those folks must

have gone thru both before and after their roles in the horrors...

 

All one can say is that most people are suffering, and we should not

judge them for this...but should instead extend a welcoming, helping

hand...and a loving, forgiving, accepting heart...which nevertheless

is strong enough to say NO to tyranny...Even murderers are human, and

are not SO much different from the rest of us...except for this major

sickness which allows them to do these horrid things...i am not

condoning the crimes, but rather emphasizing the "humanity" of the

perpetrators.

 

as Amma says..."are we not all beads on the same string of Life?"

and "can i reject even these?"

 

So in a spirit of goodwill, and desire for universal harmony, let us

please be ever-so-careful in how we speak, write, and deal with our

sisters and brothers....We are not alone in this room!!! it is

possible as Mani says to condemn the crime without condemning the poor

soul inside the body of the "criminal"...

 

Yogananda used to say that a Saint is only a "sinner" who never gave

up....(i remember that 'cause i'm one of the "sinners" who is trying

never to give up!!)

 

Shraddha!! Shraddha!! Shraddha!!

 

in the Divine Mother's Love,

and in Her Service

as well as yours,

 

as ever,

your own self,

 

visvanathan

 

Om Amrtesvaryai Namah!

[Guest guest]

kasi_visvanath wrote:

> i do take issue however, dear brother with your use of the word "Jap",

> although i remember growing up with that as the word too...it is

> pejorative, and "insulting"...and isn't really appropriate for today's

> discussions..

 

Dear KV,

 

 

There is a story of how a Yankee joined the army, because it promised him a jeep

- and he thought it was a female Jap!

 

I actually used the term "Jap" to reflect the thinking of those times. Had I

said "Japanese" I´d be insulting the Japanese and the Nisei. I was insulting the

"Jap" of the war. I do not talk of "German" atrocities, but of "Nazi2

atrocities. By saying German I´d be accusing all the people, not just a nasty

section. Similarly by saying Japanese I´d be accusing all the people of Japan,

not just that brutal "Samurai/Kamizaki" section. "Japs" was the only word I

knew, not knowing the equivalent of "Nazi".

 

The "Jap/Samurai" mentality was strong since the Japanese victory over Russia.

The then emperor sent out investigators to find out why the west was more

successful than the east. He wanted to convert the people to Christianity, if

that was the reason! But his investigators said, "No, the people have no faith

in Christ". At that time Vivekananda was preaching in the States, with some

obvious success.

 

So the emperor begged Vivekananda to come to Japan and preach. The aim was

material gain and lust for power. Vivekananda refused politely.

 

So at the governmental level, the Japanese were the dreaded "japs".

 

So for me the Japanese are a people I accept and love, but a "Jap" is a person

with chauvinistic and brutal mantality. I have to keep these separate! I cannot

say the Japanese invaded so many countries and created havoc: only those with a

certain mentality did this, not the women and children - or the intellectual men

who opposed this!

 

If there is a Japanese or Nisei on the list, I hope he understands me: I will

not accuse a nation for the crimes of a few!

 

 

My respect for humanity was perhaps instilled by the Upanishads and the Gita,

but my love for humanity was gathered from literature. When it comes to modern

times, the novels or books by Pearl Buck, Lin Yutang, Nevil Shute, Somerset

Maugham, Hemingway, Stuart Cloete, Simmel etc. expose the human soul in its

struggle,

 

So my dear brother and son, I plead, "Not guilty" of having offended!

 

regards

Mani

[Guest guest]

gjlist, subra@t... wrote:

 

> Dear KV,

>

>

> I actually used the term "Jap" to reflect the thinking of those

times. Had I

> said "Japanese" I´d be insulting the Japanese and the Nisei. I was

insulting the

> "Jap" of the war.

 

 

Om Amrtesvaryai Namah!!

 

Namaste dear brother/father Mani!!

 

Hey....it does work to put father and brother together!!! so that 7

karaka system should work that way! (just stirring up

trouble...heehee!!...)

 

thank you so much for your clarification of your terms; i thought

it might be something like that, but was still feeling the necessity

to bring it up as a "formal" thing...to get some clarification...and

to make sure that we are being careful in our words as to other

people's feelings...you cleared that up perfectly...and i would

support your view in that respect...however, we do tend to use the

more generic terms...even in Scholarly books, history books and so

on...they will speak of Germans invading Russia and Poland...not

Nazis...and they would NEVER use the term "jap" except possibly in a

quote from the times...when it was "acceptable"..

 

of course we are now living in very politically "correct" times, and

need to watch our pens, mouths, and feet...careful what we step

on!!!it might bite us....or worse, we might hurt it....

 

i notice, as an interesting coincidence, that when i go to mail,

right now...for the last few days, it's been heavily advertising the

latest "Hollow"-wood blockbuster..."Pearl Harbour"...and here we are

talking about it too....and not all of us are at ...so it can't

be that....it must be that energy in the air...Mars in

Sagittarius...my 12th...along with Ketu...hemming in my

Mercury...Hmmm!! i guess i'd better watch out!!

 

In the Mother's Divine Love,

and in Her Service

 

as ever,

your own self,

and

your brother/son

 

visvanathan....(only i'm a little closer to you in age...49 almost 50)

 

Om Amrtesvaryai Namah!!