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Thread: Symbols and their importance

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    Symbols and their importance

    Namaste,

    In another thread, there was a discussion on Symbols and whether these were important. In this gross-world and mental state we have been given as humans, symbols play strong roles and in my opinion, we should not ridicule / make fun of symbols without understanding the implications of doing it. I will give some examples below :

    a) We worship Lord Shiva in the form of a Shivalinga. It can be made up of a piece of sand-stone/sphatik etc. Now, that piece of stone is Shiva for the devotee and the same piece of stone may appear just a conglomerate of Silicon Compound mixed with many various compounds/mixtures to a scientist. Who is right and who is wrong ? The devotee and the scientist are both right in their own perspectives. However, if the scientist starts saying to the devotee in Shiva temple, "Hey, what are you doing ? Worshiping this piece of stone which is nothing but conglomerate of Silicon Compound mixed with some other compounds and mixtures ??" Or, a devotee goes to scientist's lab and starts worshiping a piece of stone kept there for Scientific analysis ??

    Both would be doing it wrong. A piece of stone kept in a temple is not a piece of stone there, it is Lord Shiva. The devotion of devotees turns that "just a piece of stone" into Shiva.

    b) Now, in the same manner, to a non-Hindu or those who decide to think the other way, wearing Sindur or Mangalsutra by a married Hindu woman may appear just a symbol and a sign of being "property of husband"/having lower status than husband etc. but it is not so for those women who wear it. They treat these symbols with reverence and we must respect their feelings.

    Marriage is a relationship arising out of social contract but religions makes it sacred. It is upto the couple to see it like just a contract which can be terminated at will of both parties or a sacred relationship which should be treated as sacred. A great majority of Hindus treat marriages as sacred. If we start treating our marriages as just social contracts and start telling every Hindu couple to treat it in that manner ... Hindu concept of marriage is going to be destroyed and in my opinion, it won't be good for the Hindus.

    c) A flag of a nation is just a piece of cloth. The citizens respect that flag and this symbolism creates feeling of nationhood. If we tear that flag and throw it in a dustbin, we are just throwing a piece of cloth into dustbin ... but we will also be hurting the feelings of people of that country.

    d) Why does a doctor wear a white shirt and why does a lawyer wear a black one and why must the soldiers wear dresses of one type prescribed for them ?? These are just symbols and these symbols are utilised to generate feeling of unity and alertness towards one's duty.

    ********************************

    Talking high-level philosophy does more harm than good if done without taking care of the time and place where we do it. That is why teaching of Vedas/VedAnta was not prescribed to all and sundry. Let's take some examples :

    a) Worshiping God in form / Going to pilgrimage etc.:

    VedAnta advises that meditation etc. is a higher spiritual practice than above practices. However, if one starts saying this to devotees who are ardent Saguna devotees we will not only hurt their feelings but will also will do sin of creating bhrama (doubts on right path) in their mind and if they fall, we would be getting a share of their sins. Why ? Spiritual practices differ from person to person and that is why different spiritual practices are prescribed for different people. You create bhrama about one practice in a person and thus he leaves that practice but cannot do the practice which is prescribed in lieu or has been categorised as a higher one ... so he loses both ways. His faith is broken and he falls spiritually.

    This is the mistake that Buddha committed. He denied existence of God. He gave a philosophy which was a great and very high level philosophy. He also started preaching this to each and everyone. This resulted in various modifications seen in Buddhism today :

    i) People started worshiping Buddha in the same way a they used to worship God. So, God could not be eliminated altogether.
    ii) Buddhism went in three different ways : HInyAn, MahAyAn and VajrayAn. This was because, for suiting a special need for a class of people, there was need for a different modified version of Buddhism.

    b) Giving spacial status to some days in a week like Monday for Lord Shiva, Tuesday for Lord HanumAn/Mothyer Goddess Durga. If we start thinking scientifically, it is ridiculous as days are named by humans just for the sake of keeping a track of time and one name given to a certain day cannot bestow it some special status in real sense. A Monday/A Tuesday is just a day. Why treat it differently ?

    c) Flesh of Cow and flesh of a goat are just the same thing ... flesh. Why eat a goat''s flesh and avoid Cow's meat ? If you have to meat, all forms of meat must be same for you. However, Hindus have considered Cows as sacred and that must be respected when we are among Hindus.

    d) The relations are only for the bodies we are born with and yet we try to treat relations as if they last even beyond life. This is a Hindu way to inculcate sacred feelings for a relationship even though our scriptures (VedAnta) say that One who is Wife in this birth might be your mother in earlier birth. But these "truths" can be dangerous if we start saying these to each and everyone indiscriminately. If my wife might be my mother in earlier birth ... how should I treat my wife, as a wife or my mother ? How should I treat her body as all bodies are just made up of five elements of Nature and before and after death there is no individuality in them ? I and my wife are both Jeevas and not the bodies ... and when Jeevas are not related why should we give so much importance to bodies and treat them differently ?

    The symbols and relations have importance only to the extent we give to them. However, if a society is stripped of symbolism and feelings (which are only mental in nature) towards relations by our indiscriminate arguments, we will be doing great harm to our society and culture.

    OM
    "Om Namo Bhagvate Vaasudevaye"

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    Re: Symbols and their importance

    Quote Originally Posted by devotee View Post
    d) The relations are only for the bodies we are born with and yet we try to treat relations as if they last even beyond life. This is a Hindu way to inculcate sacred feelings for a relationship even though our scriptures (VedAnta) say that One who is Wife in this birth might be your mother in earlier birth. But these "truths" can be dangerous if we start saying these to each and everyone indiscriminately. If my wife might be my mother in earlier birth ... how should I treat my wife, as a wife or my mother ? How should I treat her body as all bodies are just made up of five elements of Nature and before and after death there is no individuality in them ? I and my wife are both Jeevas and not the bodies ... and when Jeevas are not related why should we give so much importance to bodies and treat them differently ?

    Namaste Ji,

    There is no danger in any truth..the truth that relationships change from Janam to Janam does not mean its licensing immoral behavior and confusion on how one should treat a wife or mother ..the truth helps instill in us that nothing is permanent and everything changes..even who we think as wife or mother could have been someone else in a previous life..it just reinforces the fact that do our duty right and not to hold on to any relationship beyond the required limits.

    When one holds on too tight for anything..the feeling of Mamaiva(Mine and Thine) sets in and one is bound.

    Analyzing all these makes us able to practice detachment easily but detachment does not mean running away from our duties.

    It is normal to sometimes think "hey when I am also Atma..you are also Atma..why did I marry you? That means I married myself! Why do I call you Mother..why do I call you Father..Do I really have all these relationships??..so who am I?"

    Hence echoed as:

    Na Me Mrityu Shanka Na Me Jati Bhedah
    Pita Naiva Me Naiva Mata Na Janma
    Na Bandhur Na Mitram Gurur Naiva Shishyah
    Chidananda Rupa Shivoham Shivoham


    I do not have fear of death,
    as I do not have death.
    I have no separation from my true self,
    no doubt about my existence,
    nor have I discrimination on the basis of birth.
    I have no father or mother,
    nor did I have a birth.
    I am not the relative,
    nor the friend,
    nor the guru,
    nor the disciple.
    I am indeed,
    That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,
    love and pure consciousness.

    When one thinks on those lines..then one starts to look at everyone as the same as himself/herself and all bodily attachments stop and the whole world becomes a family for such an individual and he/she lives in it performing his/her duties with Divine Love towards everyone alike. That is ..One is still in the world yet out of it.

    So analysis of any kind does not create confusion...in fact it helps steady the mind..its the mind that cant give up attachment that prefers to hold on tightly and defining all relationships with clear cut demarcations that they will never ever give up and feel "truth" can do more harm than good.
    Last edited by renuka; 22 July 2014 at 01:01 AM.

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    Re: Symbols and their importance

    Quote Originally Posted by devotee View Post

    This is the mistake that Buddha committed. He denied existence of God. He gave a philosophy which was a great and very high level philosophy. He also started preaching this to each and everyone.
    Namaste Ji,


    There is no mistake here.

    The mistake is on us humans who fail to understand His message.

    Point blank Truth might sound blunt and hence many can not digest the apparent Impersonal Concept..just like how some Qualified Non Dualist might find digesting even Advaita very very hard. Its a well known fact that Qualified Non Dualist feel that Advaita is dry and sans Bhakti(but this is not true as we know).

    Impersonal Concept does not necessarily mean denying the existence of God..in fact Lord Buddha never spoke about the concept of a personal God..He kept silent about it..silence does not mean denial.

    The human mind loves to have a Saviour..a higher entity which many choose to call God to "save" them..to deliver them..to bestow upon them blessings..its like how a child feels secure with his/her parents around.

    Now when God is shown to be Impersonal in some schools of thought..this can be scary for some whose minds have been used to having a concept of a Personal External God.

    Not having a Personal External Concept of God makes you fully fall back on your self..that is its up to us to help ourselves and its also entirely our fault if we fail to uplift ourselves.

    This is a major responsibility for the human mind just as Lord Krishna said

    uddhared atmanatmanam
    natmanam avasadayet
    atmaiva hy atmano bandhur
    atmaiva ripur atmanah


    A man must elevate himself by his own mind, not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well.

    Now this is no easy feat and that's why many people prefer the concept of an External Personal God so that its less responsibility on the mind..just like when we have a problem and we talk to a friend and even though the problem still remains we do feel a bit lighter because we shared the burden with an external entity(that is our friend in this case).

    So what Lord Buddha preached is indeed the Higher Point Blank Truth with no sugar coating of His words..its not easy to follow a Impersonal Philosophy but not entirely impossible..if one seeks the truth he has to be brave enough to conquer fear of even being without an External Personal God for its finally Aham Brahmaasmi.

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    Re: Symbols and their importance

    Namaste Renuka ji,

    As far as advaita is concerned, we will have to take following into consideration.

    1. updeSa-s (spiritual instructions) are given on adhekAra-bheda. i.e. spiritual instructions are given keeping in mind the purity of mind and nature (svabhAva) of questioner

    2. updeSa-s are given from two levels of truth - vyavahArika satya and pArmArthika satya. vyavahArika satya is relative reality / practical /empirical reality and pAramArthika satya is absolute reality.

    Any statement that asks us to rise and abide in Self are given from pArmArthika satya. the verses quoted by you from nirvANa SaTaka are asid from absolute standpoint.

    Advaita is not for the masses. We need pre-requisites. this is mentioned in all prakaraNa granthas and in gItA and upanishads.

    When living in vyavahAra, we need to stay in duality and carry out our duties. Our mother remains a mother, Guru a Guru. But while meditating one must meditate on Brahman and think of non-difference.

    You cannot go to bank as say 'I am Brahman' Brahman does not have hands, so I will not sign my cheque

    Equality funda will never work, we God has not made us equal. God has made us unique. so rather than comparing ourselves with others and my females have to live such as such life, I prefer to think about advantage of being a women from spiritual POV (this is another topic). Sure negatives created by this world has to be eradicated.

    Symbols are not just symbols. If we take Yoga, energy into account, then it is a deep connection. Each thing that is sanctioned by shastras is interconnected, each door opening to yet another door in our journey to Enlightenment. Our way of life is weaved together with symbols, rituals, puja, etc.

    Things are true from more than one standpoint. Pandavas are within our mind as positive qualities and they were true characters historically. devatA-s are inside us as energy points and they are also living outside us in heaven. Each one interprets according to his/her understanding and nature.

    If anything is downgraded or given low importance, then it is for the good of disciple. It is time to rise above it. That's why not everything must be tossed in wild. upanishads (brahma-vidyA) are not for laymen.

    OM
    Only God Is Truth, Everything Else Is Illusion - Ramakrishna
    Total Surrender of Ego to SELF is Real Bhakti - Ramana Maharshi

    Silence is the study of the scruptures. Meditation is the continuous thinking of Brahman which is to be meditated upon. The complete negation of both by knowledge is the vision of truth – sadAcAra-14 of Adi SankarAcArya

    namah SivAya vishnurUpAya viShNave SivarUpiNe, MBh, vanaparva, 3.39.76

    Sanskrit Dict | MW Dict | Gita Super Site | Hindu Dharma

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    Re: Symbols and their importance

    Namaste Renuka,

    Quote Originally Posted by renuka View Post
    There is no danger in any truth..the truth that relationships change from Janam to Janam does not mean its licensing immoral behavior and confusion on how one should treat a wife or mother ..the truth helps instill in us that nothing is permanent and everything changes..even who we think as wife or mother could have been someone else in a previous life..it just reinforces the fact that do our duty right and not to hold on to any relationship beyond the required limits.
    That is where I and you differ. See, everyone is not having as good understanding of vyAvhArika Satya and ParamArthika Satya as you have. There is no prescribed path for those who have attained the Reality but it is there for those who are not there still. A ladder becomes useless when you reach the top of roof but until that it has its value. It is not that I believe in Seven life-relationship between husband and wife. And be sure, I have read almost the whole of VedAnta well enough to understand how from one life to another the relationship may change and that nothing is permanent. Still, I would not dissuade those who believe in it unless it starts harming them. I will tell you how such theories help :

    a) You have to make this relationship strong by using artificial means because it is not biologically decided. It is like instilling the feeling of nationhood in the hearts of people in a newly created Nation. What do they do ? They have National Anthem, National Festivals, National Flag, National Sports Festivals, Emblems, National Bird, National Animal, National Sports Team etc. First you create them from nowhere and then starts using them by an agreement/law ... slowly, these symbols become identified with one-nationality. Similarly, we use symbols for better relationship.

    b) Sisters in India tie RakshA-bandhan on the hands of their brother's wrists. It is just a thread but it strengthens bonding of love between sister and brother. What is this ? Just a symbol working for a good relationship.


    When one holds on too tight for anything..the feeling of Mamaiva(Mine and Thine) sets in and one is bound.

    Analyzing all these makes us able to practice detachment easily but detachment does not mean running away from our duties.
    Do you think everyone is readying oneself for becoming free from the bondage in this world ? Such people who are interested in this stuff are not even 1 % of the total population. Their goals are different.

    It is normal to sometimes think "hey when I am also Atma..you are also Atma..why did I marry you? That means I married myself! Why do I call you Mother..why do I call you Father..Do I really have all these relationships??..so who am I?"
    Exactly ! If you have problems in differentiating between VyAvaharikA satya and Parmarthika Satya, this confusion would arise. ... and let's never assume that everyone is at such a state where he/she has no confusion. There was one Bengali Sadhu in Kolkata. He was interested in Advaita but was not capable of understanding its finer points well. He, once, in front of all his relatives and friends stood on a Shivalinga which was worshipped by them saying this, "I am Shiva. This is Shiva. So, what difference it makes if I step on this Shivalinga ?" At the highest level, there is nothing wrong. But how did it act on the common people who were present there and who were badly hurt by this unnecessary/uncalled for show of one's VedAntic Knowledge ?

    Moreover, when the Reality really dawns upon oneself, the questions that you have raised would never arise. There is no You, I, act of marriage etc. ... everything is just the Self. So, such questions won't arise.

    When one thinks on those lines..then one starts to look at everyone as the same as himself/herself and all bodily attachments stop and the whole world becomes a family for such an individual and he/she lives in it performing his/her duties with Divine Love towards everyone alike. That is ..One is still in the world yet out of it.

    So analysis of any kind does not create confusion...in fact it helps steady the mind..its the mind that cant give up attachment that prefers to hold on tightly and defining all relationships with clear cut demarcations that they will never ever give up and feel "truth" can do more harm than good.
    Analysis of Quantum Theory among students of History would really put them in great discomfort. What I want to say is that we should not assume that everyone is spiritually at the same stage and therefore, we must be careful in advocating same theory to everyone.

    OM
    Last edited by devotee; 22 July 2014 at 05:35 AM.
    "Om Namo Bhagvate Vaasudevaye"

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    Re: Symbols and their importance

    Quote Originally Posted by Amrut View Post

    Advaita is not for the masses. We need pre-requisites. this is mentioned in all prakaraNa granthas and in gItA and upanishads.


    You cannot go to bank as say 'I am Brahman' Brahman does not have hands, so I will not sign my cheque

    Equality funda will never work, we God has not made us equal.

    OM
    Dear Amrut,

    Namaste..Advaita does not mean we run away from doing our duties and keep reciting Aham Brahmaasmi.

    The example you cited that one refuses to sign his cheque that is not Advaita but that is insanity!LOL

    You see Advaita does not mean one has to live in his own world like a recluse..one can have equal vision and yet go about life and do his duties right.

    Equality funda wont work if we do not want to put it into practice.

    God did not make anyone unequal to start with..all of us have created our own life destiny with our past actions..its our Karma that shapes us.

    What we call inequality is our own doing.

    Its only the Abrahamic religions that dont lean on the Karma theory that makes God seem unjust because without the Karma theory they cant explain why they see inequalities and just say its God's will.

    For us Hindus that is not how we think..its our Karma that shapes our lives and there is no doubt about that..so what seemed like inequality is our own past doing and we can shape the future lives if we make the effort.

    Personally I feel nothing is impossible to reach if we try hard..it might take even 1 kalpa or more even to gain one grain of truth but whatever effort no matter how small does not go to waste as in:

    TEXT 40

    nehabhikrama-naso 'sti
    pratyavayo na vidyate
    svalpam apy asya dharmasya
    trayate mahato bhaya

    In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.

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    Re: Symbols and their importance

    Namaste Ji,

    My answers in bold.


    Quote Originally Posted by devotee View Post
    Namaste Renuka,



    That is where I and you differ. See, everyone is not having as good understanding of vyAvhArika Satya and ParaArthika Satya as you have.

    Dear Sir,I would not say I have a good understanding but I make a lot of effort to go beyond what lies in front of my eyes and try to think what lies ahead..that has been my thinking since a child.

    When I was a child and if it was a cold day and my mum gave me a blanket sometimes I would refuse it and suffer the cold and she would ask me why I was doing this. I used to tell her that some child in some corner of the world would be shivering in the cold so let me at least feel and share that childs feeling too.

    I would always want to test myself and to know how it feels when others suffer.So since I was always having an experimenting mindset I started to view things very differently and that is why I found the concept of an Impersonal Reality the easiest for me to follow because with that one focuses on the Self and not desires.

    Lord Buddha's teachings appealed to me the most because it seemed very direct to the point where its all about upliftment of Self and trying to eradicate sorrow and suffering by ceiling on desires.


    There is prescribed path for those who have attained the Reality but it is there for those who are not there still.

    Agreed..but unless we try how would we know if we are ready or not for a higher understanding?

    We should not underestimate ourselves..there is no harm trying and then falling back..get up and try again.
    In any sincere endeavor God guides us through various forms.

    We have to keep an open eye around to learn things.

    Many a times we hear that not everyone is ready for a deeper understanding..but why not let anyone try to learn?




    A ladder becomes useless when you reach the top of roof but until that it has its value.

    Agreed...but at times when a person is ready to climb but others tell him you are not ready and pull of the ladder while he is trying to climb.
    Why not try to climb?
    Understanding anything needs effort..one gains knowledge of any kind with 1/4 input from teacher/guru..1/4 input from fellow students..1/4 effort from self effort and 1/4 in the course of time.

    Without effort to know more one can not gain anything for a deer does not enter a mouth of a sleeping lion.





    It is not that I believe in Seven life-relationship between husband and wife. And be sure, I have read almost the whole of VedAnta well enough to understand how from one life to another the relationship may change and that nothing is permanent.

    Dear Sir..I also have read almost every book possible about Vedanta but I still I would not want to say that I might be right in my opinions..that is why I leave the option for others to differ with me.


    Still, I would not dissuade those who believe in it unless it starts harming them.

    I believe that we can actually never preach to anyone..everyone has to learn himself finally.There is no short cut..one has to learn or unlearn by trial and error.
    I will tell you how such theories help :

    a) You have to make this relationship strong by using artificial means because it is not biologically decided.

    This I totally beg to differ because one should never think blood is thicker than water.
    When someone is not related to me I dont see him or her as different from my own self or own relatives because that would only show that we have bodily attachment to some and see others as different.



    There have been times in my life where I had even supported a person who is not related to me in anyway because I felt that person was right and my family member was wrong much to the displeasure of my family members!

    I dont feel one needs extra effort to make non blood relations work out if we have love in our hearts for everyone and do our duties right.

    When we love everyone the same and not hate anyone that is the best effort we are already doing.I know its not easy to handle everyone the same but when faced with a challenging person in life who can make me get angry I try to tell myself that to see beyond that behavior and try to see God in that person and tell myself "Ok here you have God giving you a hard time in the form of Mr X"..the next moment we can note our temper goes down.

    So you see one can condition the mind to try to have equal vision..its all training the mind..not forced upon but training with effort.



    It is like instilling the feeling of nationhood in the hearts of people in a newly created Nation. What do they do ? They have National Anthem, National Festivals, National Flag, National Sports Festivals, Emblems, National Bird, National Animal, National Sports Team etc. First you create them from nowhere and then starts using them by an agreement/law ... slowly, these symbols become identified with one-nationality. Similarly, we use symbols for better relationship.

    b) Sisters in India tie RakshA-bandhan on the hands of their brother's wrists. It is just a thread but it strengthens bonding of love between sister and brother. What is this ? Just a symbol working for a good relationship.

    Here we dont have this custom but still I love my brothers even if they stop loving me.




    Do you think everyone is readying oneself for becoming free from the bondage in this world ?

    Such people who are interested in this stuff are not even 1 % of the total population. Their goals are different.

    Not everyone has the same interests...there have different goals thats all.One has the right to choose his own lifestyle..no one is right or wrong in their choice.




    Exactly ! If you have problems in differentiating between VyAvaharikA satya and Parmarthika Satya, this confusion would arise. ... and let's never assume that everyone is at such a state where people have no confusion.

    Agreed..but that doesnt mean some facts need to be hidden from everyone and we assume that no one is ready.
    Hiding facts is a great disservice..let everyone know other options too and let them choose what is conducive for their own understanding and not anyone else deciding for them who is LKG or who is Phd.




    There was one Bengali Sadhu in Kolkata and he was interested in Advaita but was not capable of understanding its finer points well. He, once, in front of all his relatives and friends stood on a Shivalinga which was worhsipped by them saying this, "I am Shiva. This is Shiva. So, what difference it makes if I step on this Shivalinga ?" At the highest level, there is nothing wrong. But how did it act on the common people who were present there and who were badly hurt by this unnecessary/uncalled for show of one's VedAntic Knowledge ?

    If he did that to show off than he is wrong but if his intentions were to teach then he is not wrong.

    Moreover, when the Reality really dawns upon oneself, the questions that you have raised would never arise. There is no You, I, act of marriage etc. ... everything is just the Self. So, such questions won't arise.


    For each question there is an answer..Reality does not dawn upon one's self overnight...it starts with Ko'ham and to reach the answer of So'ham there are still many grades.

    Even for a Knower of Brahman there are 4 gradations according to the teachings of Ramana Maharishi...word of Ramana Maharishi:




    The fourth stage is the final one of liberation. Even there some
    distinction is made according to the degree, as
    (1) the knower of the Brahman (Brahmavid)
    (2) Brahmavid-vara
    (3) Brahmavid-varya
    (4) Brahmavid-varishta
    But all of them are in fact liberated even while alive."


    Analysis of Quantum Theory among students of History would really put them in great discomfort. What I want to say is that we should not assume that everyone is spiritually at the same stage and therefore, we must be careful in advocating same theory to everyone.


    Agreed but at the same time there is no harm letting others know the various options and those who are interested may apply to know more.We cant take it for granted that others always do not know or might not want to know.

    OM

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    Re: Symbols and their importance

    Namaste Renuka ji,

    Please be kind enough to give the source you are quoting.

    TEXT 40

    nehabhikrama-naso 'sti
    pratyavayo na vidyate
    svalpam apy asya dharmasya
    trayate mahato bhaya

    In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.
    This is Bhagavat Gita. You could have written BG 2.40. this helps a lot .

    and yes advaita does not ask one to run away, but you didnt answer my point. Do you agree with adhikAra bheda and two levels of truth? Do you agree that adviata is not for everyone?

    If there is basic difference in our thoughts, we cant communicate properly.

    OM
    Only God Is Truth, Everything Else Is Illusion - Ramakrishna
    Total Surrender of Ego to SELF is Real Bhakti - Ramana Maharshi

    Silence is the study of the scruptures. Meditation is the continuous thinking of Brahman which is to be meditated upon. The complete negation of both by knowledge is the vision of truth – sadAcAra-14 of Adi SankarAcArya

    namah SivAya vishnurUpAya viShNave SivarUpiNe, MBh, vanaparva, 3.39.76

    Sanskrit Dict | MW Dict | Gita Super Site | Hindu Dharma

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    Re: Symbols and their importance

    Devotee ji's OP has many good points. If I may add, we Hindus celebrate the goddess of the rivers - Ganga, Kauveri, and many others. It is done to honour our rivers who are truly believed to be dieties because our society has been agricultural in olden days and rivers were thus our life-giving sources. There are even stories such as 'Pundarika' who was a sinner once sighted 7 holy rivers in their god forms and thus was blessed and became a good soul. Similarly we worship books - children in our households are told that books and paper are Ma Saraswathi and thus one should not step on them. To Westerners, this might seem silly but such values add meaning to our everyday life. And we also worship plants and trees - Tulsi, Neem trees, etc. To an advaitin of advanced caliber as Sri Ramana Maharishi alone everything become equal. But to ordinary folks holding on to such sentimental and spiritual values gives us a sense of respect to everything god has given us - big and small. A sense of purpose comes into every single thing that comes in contact with us.

    It is said that once Guru Nanak ji went on a pilgrimage to 'Kaaba' and there he sat with his legs stretched in front of the prime worship structure. A monk noted that he should give respect to god by not stretching his legs in that direction. To this Guru Nanak ji is said to have exclaimed, "In which direction does he not exist then?". This shows advanced introspection and equation of things with 'aham' or similar vedantic explorations and explanations suits only the realized and not for us ordinary souls who have to first learn to respect every opportunity and every little thing that god has given us.

    Great message, devotee ji!
    jai hanuman gyan gun sagar jai kapis tihu lok ujagar

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    Re: Symbols and their importance

    Quote Originally Posted by Amrut View Post
    Namaste Renuka ji,

    Please be kind enough to give the source you are quoting.



    This is Bhagavat Gita. You could have written BG 2.40. this helps a lot .

    and yes advaita does not ask one to run away, but you didnt answer my point. Do you agree with adhikAra bheda and two levels of truth? Do you agree that adviata is not for everyone?

    If there is basic difference in our thoughts, we cant communicate properly.

    OM

    Dear Amrut ji,

    namaste

    Sorry that I did not cite where I took it from..its indeed from the Geeta.Thanks.

    I would not say that Advaita is not for everyone because as a mere human being I would not be able to judge who is ready for Advaita and who is not.

    Only God would be able to know who is ready for what.

    So at a human level we can only try to understand various options and choose what we feel is conducive for us.

    So for me I feel its very hard to streamline a person right away as ready or not ready for a school of thought and that can not be done over night in one sitting.

    Only God can give that answer or a human Guru who is totally not biased nor having any pre conceived notions.

    Do you realize that we Hindus keep pushing away people by such thinking that no one is ready etc?

    Other religions are ever ready to guide but we Hindus keep saying "Not everyone is ready" even without letting anyone try.

    We need to adopt a user friendly approach to the masses just like what Lord Buddha did..user friendly for the common man and giving him a chance to uplift himself instead of saying "not everyone is ready for this or for that"

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