Scholasticism alone falls short.

Maitreya · August 2, 2001

Relying solely on the mundane intelligence presents problems.Sifting through the works of past mundane scholars one has to

dodge their many misconceptions and prejudices that they are undoubtly conditioned by,and unwittingly pass on.Here is one

example.

In 1966 Edward C.Dimock published The Place of the Hidden Moon.In 1989 it was brought out again in paperback.This

edition also has a note from the author in which he admits to errors in the previous 1966 edition.

He writes;"If I were to write the present book today, it would be a very different one."And "There is one area, however, of

which I am no longer so sure."

He received criticism for connecting " ...the names of various devotees of the Vaisnava school to its Sahajiya branch(I suspect

there would be an objection to my caling it a "branch"), and in some ways I think he(Professor Joseph T.O'Connell) is justified

in his criticism.The reader might be advised to be cautious when going through the list of names in the chapter

entitled,"Caste,Women, and the Sahajiya Movement,"for often the evidence is flimsy or circumstantial."

Mr. Dimock had listed even Ramananda Raya as a Sahajiya.He backed away from that position and admits his mistake,which

is laudable.But what of those who never read his retraction?What an erroneous impression they are left with.

He has recently passed away but not before translating Caitanya -Caritamrta.Too late for him to be able to correct any errors

that he may have found.

I am not trying to attack this scholarly gentleman.It is just that recently there was a suggestion on these forums that we read the very chapter mentioned above, so it seemed fitting to point out the authors own warning about that section.

Hare Krishna

jijaji · August 12, 2001

Originally posted by Maitreya:

Relying solely on the mundane intelligence presents problems.Sifting through the works of past mundane scholars one has to

dodge their many misconceptions and prejudices that they are undoubtly conditioned by,and unwittingly pass on.Here is one

example.

In 1966 Edward C.Dimock published The Place of the Hidden Moon.In 1989 it was brought out again in paperback.This

edition also has a note from the author in which he admits to errors in the previous 1966 edition.

He writes;"If I were to write the present book today, it would be a very different one."And "There is one area, however, of

which I am no longer so sure."

He received criticism for connecting " ...the names of various devotees of the Vaisnava school to its Sahajiya branch(I suspect

there would be an objection to my caling it a "branch"), and in some ways I think he(Professor Joseph T.O'Connell) is justified

in his criticism.The reader might be advised to be cautious when going through the list of names in the chapter

entitled,"Caste,Women, and the Sahajiya Movement,"for often the evidence is flimsy or circumstantial."

Mr. Dimock had listed even Ramananda Raya as a Sahajiya.He backed away from that position and admits his mistake,which

is laudable.But what of those who never read his retraction?What an erroneous impression they are left with.

He has recently passed away but not before translating Caitanya -Caritamrta.Too late for him to be able to correct any errors

that he may have found.

I am not trying to attack this scholarly gentleman.It is just that recently there was a suggestion on these forums that we read the very chapter mentioned above, so it seemed fitting to point out the authors own warning about that section.

Hare Krishna