Guest guest Posted March 9, 2003 Report Share Posted March 9, 2003 Hare Rama Krishna Dear Sanjay and Lists, Thanks for fully understanding the true intent behind my words…Cultural language barriers so often misrepresent and impair the intent of the post. L Let me clarify a bit more for all before everyone starts blasting me for stating an opinion J… I am of the western belief that dedication and devotion to a spiritual profession, along with freely sharing and giving of knowledge, is admirably quite noble and rare, but does little for putting food on the table, clothing the children, or paying the bills. It is a spiritual calling that benefits many. So for a Guru to initiate a form of recommended dakshina, well this appeals to me (personally) as a compensatory avenue of encouragement for future considerations with respect to acceptance of a Sisya…any Guru elects to tutor…and I personally feel there should be no harm or shame in administering such policies into effect for some form of monetary reimbursement for their selfless efforts. I understand it may be a highly individual (Guru) choice for implementing such a procedure prior to acceptance of a Sisya, but in my view, it is certainly not anything to deny, or have condescending or inhibited feelings about. That is just my view as a westerner… With respect to asking questions, I ask very few. I actually prefer to do the legwork, learning, and evaluations on my own, and have no expectation of anyone doing that for me. I’m an adult, not lazy, and fully understand how the learning process works. And yes, I do also feel frustrated, at times, at my lack of understanding of the terminologies so foreign to my culture, which are compounded sometimes only by an additional vowel or consonant added to the wording, which can then result in an entirely different context altogether. So I cannot safely “assume” that a terminology has the same definition when that effect occurs without possibly incurring serious errors in my understanding. So I guess that because I ask very few questions, and normally prefer to do the legwork and evaluations of techniques myself, when circumstances arise that involve only finding a single reference to one specific terminology, and I have no time to go through 23,000 messages plus on a vedic list that I only recently became involved with, my dis-allusions about any help begins to set in strongly. Language barriers are a huge deficit to full comprehension of many systems. So it is at these curves in my learning that I would then appreciate some simple assistance or direction to a source. I do not in any way feel very justified or easy about asking my Guru, Sanjay, to please clarify this term for me, because he owes me nothing, I have contributed nothing, and I therefore hesitate and hesitate to ask anything until I finally feel I must ask someone. I would feel much more justified in doing this occasionally if I at least contributed something. Taking without giving is not my preference for operating on any level…spiritual or otherwise. And although Sanjay has asked that I go through COVA and make corrections to the typos and suggestions as to where more clarity may be required (probably for the westerner J), this is giving very little on my part, as I am going through his books on a meticulous learning level as it is, and would be doing so anyway. So the skinny of it all, is that short of “checking in” with my Guru from time to time, I feel no justification, whatsoever, in asking him to assist me with some terminology that is foreign to me, as I have given him no support of any nature up till this time. If I can assist him in some small manner, I will feel less frustration and more confidence to ask for assistance at those times when I am seriously stifled… Hope I did not upset anyone further by my outspoken bluntness on this matter…but any type of profession in the physical reality requires compensatory sustenance in my opinion…and just because a profession is of a spiritual nature, it should not be knocked out of the realm of suggestive avenues in which to help financially support those who are helping us… Thanks for hearing me out… Again…this is just my outspoken western viewpoint, and so I therefore never did understand what all the fuss was about when addressing the topic of Guru’s receiving some form of compensation for their work and efforts…they deserve it…don’t they? ~Namaste~ Sandy Crowther http://www.jupitersweb.com/ -----Original Message----- Sanjay Rath [daivagyna] Sunday, March 09, 2003 1:38 PM Varahamihira (AT) (DOT) [sJC: Varahamihira] Re: Varahamihira] RE: [sJC: Achyuta Gurukul] Re: Membership Fees Om Gurave Namah Dear Sandy, Thats an interesting point and perhaps rightly so. To give Guru dakshina is the bhakti of the Sisya and it is the wish of the Guru to accept. This has been in vogue not only in the west but also in India. Suka deva the son of Vyasa gave a large amount of gold, clothes et al to Rishi Janaka His diksha Guru. Robert has also raised this point earlier, but we at SJC have not taken any fees till date. The membership fees are for the research work and administration, and other expenses of SJC at India and other parts of the world. Sarbani will mail the details. The Gurus also have to pay, and I feel we should have a system for giving them benefits for their work. I for one am struggling with this notion of forced poverty as being the best course for spiritual development...yes you are quite right about time and inclination. When one hand does so much it is difficult, but it will continue. Another thing, please send queries directly to one person you have in your mind..if it is me, then I will reply, sometimes very late though. Take care and thanks for all the caring..it is the water signs domination At the feet of Guru Pandita Kasinatha, I remain, Sanjay Rath Mail: 71 Vasant Apartments, Mayur Vihar Phase-1, New Delhi 110091, India Tel: +91-11-2713201; SJC Web pages: http://.org; Personal Web: http://srath.com ----- Original Message ----- Sandy Crowther ; varahamihira Sunday, March 09, 2003 11:39 PM [sJC: Varahamihira] RE: [sJC: Achyuta Gurukul] Re: Membership Fees Hare Rama Krishna Dear Visti, Dear Sandy, Only 5 or so people have submitted fees, and i'm yet to follow. So the lack of money is not the reason for lack of answering querries.. actually thats quite an insult to push of among spiritually minded people. Also NOONE has had any idea of who has payed and who hasn't, other than Sarbani. With all due respect, I was absolutely not pushing this statement as an insult among spiritually minded people…I was simply stating that this intuitively appears to me to perhaps be an obstacle with respect to communications or lack thereof…and perhaps others who are new to the organization have experienced the same thought process. I would think that spiritually minded people would respect the opinions of the elder newcomers who have been around the planet for a while, and not receive this opinion as an insult, especially with respect to questions about supporting their organization and their Guru, and consequently have the courtesy to respond to the basic questions of the newcomer as far as how to help monetarily support them in their efforts. Lack of any response about anything certainly does not result in any type of good support or communications for either relationship or organization… Some talk has also been that this money goes to the SJC Guru's for soliciting their services on the internet.. THIS IS NOT SO! I, for one, have never heard, nor ever come across anything of this nature. Please do not read more into this than my own personal feelings. I, for one, couldn’t care less how this money is dispersed, as I am of the belief that the Guru’s should be supported in some fashion for their outstanding efforts…but then again, I’m a westerner… ~ Sincerely ~ Sandy Crowther http://www.jupitersweb.com/ Hare Rama Krishna Archive:varahamihira Files:varahamihira varahamihira/database Your use of is subject to the Terms of Service. Hare Rama Krishna Archive:varahamihira Files:varahamihira varahamihira/database Your use of is subject to the Terms of Service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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