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Thread: Is it fine to like a different tradition and shift to it?

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    Is it fine to like a different tradition and shift to it?

    Namaste,

    Is it fine to like a different tradition and shift to it?Did this happen to anyone?Has anyone felt that a different system seemed better?

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    Re: Is it fine to like a different tradition and shift to it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ram116040 View Post
    Namaste,

    Is it fine to like a different tradition and shift to it?Did this happen to anyone?Has anyone felt that a different system seemed better?
    Namaste,

    It is recommended, as per tradition, to stay with what you have. But this is also the reason why many traditionalist Hindus will also tell you, though the official number count of how many actually still do this is rather dwindling, to not jump into to a sect or Bharatiya philosophy so quickly. Otherwise, it's kind of like window shopping at the same place for so long that one starts to think that you are a regular but when the time comes, the employee finds out you have left and didn't buy anything---waste of time, in other words. A different analogy would be that of exoticizing. I mean, please by all means, follow wherever your heart takes you, you know? But if it is just trying to find a belief/tradition to fit in with only to "find something better" down the road, that's lying to yourself and being rude to the practitioners of that faith (especially if that faith doesn't proselytize and is rather vigilant of misappropriation and the like). The best I'd say is to not use a label right now. Only when time has matured one's intellect and consistency is applied in holding steadfast to a certain belief/tradition, then I can see a label being appropriate. But please be kind as to pardon my frankness: this whole "better tradition or shifting to one" concept is so foreign to me. This is because I was born a Hindu, and I don't see my religious affiliation changing anytime soon (at least not in this lifetime). The sublimity of Dharma, I believe and have always believed, is uncompromisable.

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    Re: Is it fine to like a different tradition and shift to it?

    Vannakkam Ram: Your question isn't specific enough for me to respond about much at all. There are times when one can and should change easily, and then there are times where loyalty is involved.

    For example, if you discover from reading that a certain make of vehicle is of better quality and value that the one you currently own, switching is just being a wise consumer. However, if for some reason you tire of your spouse, it's adharmic to switch off. For both examples, you need a really good reason, not just some whim.

    Aum Namasivaya

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    Re: Is it fine to like a different tradition and shift to it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sudas Paijavana View Post
    Namaste,

    Only when time has matured one's intellect and consistency is applied in holding steadfast to a certain belief/tradition, then I can see a label being appropriate. But please be kind as to pardon my frankness.
    Namaste Sudas Ji,

    Thanks for the reply,it cleared a lot of things.I can understand what you say.Probably,I stuck to a label without knowing what it signified.

    I'm born Hindu too.I should have been specific when I asked the OP questions yet what you have said is totally applicable.I've not taken any official diksha kind of thing into any Vedantic tradition.I assumed that a particular Vedanta tradition is the best because most people around me are initiated followers of that tradition.But in my mind,sometimes I knew that I had certain different views than that venerable Vedanta tradition.I started reading about other schools of Vedanta and some seem more closer to my thoughts.Though
    I read that new,distinct philosophies developed because different individuals interpreted the same scriptures in their own ways,I did not know whether an individual has the freedom to choose from the various Vedantic traditions.

    I think as said you one can have a label only when one has studied a tradition beyond the surface and is in complete agreement with it.I think I'll spend time learning in detail about the Sampradaya that I'm interested in.

    Thanks for this valuable advice,I'll keep this in my mind and move forward carefully.

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    Re: Is it fine to like a different tradition and shift to it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Eastern Mind View Post
    Vannakkam Ram: Your question isn't specific enough for me to respond about much at all. There are times when one can and should change easily, and then there are times where loyalty is involved.

    For example, if you discover from reading that a certain make of vehicle is of better quality and value that the one you currently own, switching is just being a wise consumer. However, if for some reason you tire of your spouse, it's adharmic to switch off. For both examples, you need a really good reason, not just some whim.

    Aum Namasivaya

    Namaste EM Ji,

    Sorry Ji,I should have posted the questions in a clear manner.

    Thanks for the reply.I think I've been seeing some good omens for a long time but I did not pay adequate attention to them.In the recent past,as I'm reading more about this tradition,I'm understanding how things work based on this tradition.As you have pointed out I'll introspect and then take a decision.

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    Re: Is it fine to like a different tradition and shift to it?

    Namaste Ram,

    Quote Originally Posted by Ram116040 View Post

    Is it fine to like a different tradition and shift to it?Did this happen to anyone?Has anyone felt that a different system seemed better?
    Everything is fine if it has been decided by you cool-headedly and after due consideration. Initially, I was on Bhakti tradition and later on I switched over to Advaita.

    OM
    "Om Namo Bhagvate Vaasudevaye"

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    Re: Is it fine to like a different tradition and shift to it?

    Quote Originally Posted by devotee View Post
    Namaste Ram,

    Everything is fine if it has been decided by you cool-headedly and after due consideration. Initially, I was on Bhakti tradition and later on I switched over to Advaita.

    OM
    Namaste Ji,

    In my recent post on the Advaita-Smarta school,Amrut Ji provided some links(#9).In one of the pages,Sri Kanchi Paramacharyaji said that Bhakti(actually,he said about Karma Kanda) is a valid path and the destination is Advaita.You might already know this but in case you haven't read it,do read this lucid explanation.

    http://kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/chap32.htm

    http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=13574

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    Re: Is it fine to like a different tradition and shift to it?

    Dear Friend.,

    Your question has two important words.. Tradition and then System. If it means philosophical and linked practices as System, it is perfectly fine to switch and what is suitable and convincing to individuals are not static but again not random choices but something that elevates and meets the various quest of the spiritual sadaka.

    Traditional practices rather than tradition itself is part and parcel of the "System" and thus when you adopt to new system obviously the practices changes that comes as part of that particular tradition.

    Every system available in india has great personalities switched from one system of thought and practice to another with out issues! So, its very normal and common.

    Hare Krshna!

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    Re: Is it fine to like a different tradition and shift to it?

    Namaste

    Quote Originally Posted by Ram116040
    Is it fine to like a different tradition and shift to it?Did this happen to anyone?Has anyone felt that a different system seemed better?
    ... ...

    I've not taken any official diksha kind of thing into any Vedantic tradition.I assumed that a particular Vedanta tradition is the best because most people around me are initiated followers of that tradition.But in my mind,sometimes I knew that I had certain different views than that venerable Vedanta tradition.I started reading about other schools of Vedanta and some seem more closer to my thoughts.

    If you want you can share with us some of your experiences in your quest, what is it that attracts you to these other traditions?

    My personal take on the issue of this "switching to a different sampradaya (tradition)" thing is that it is a sign of a certain spiritual immaturity, and it is the search for spiritual fulfillment and satisfaction for which the soul strives and aspires for in this, let's call it, a kind of soul's pursuit for spiritual fulfillment and happiness.

    In fact it is something entirely natural, I would say. It is a natural aspiration of the soul to find himself in something where he will feel Lcompletely fulfilled, satisfied and happy. Is it not what we all seek after?

    It's a sort of a spiritual quest, the spiritual journey of the soul to find something final, something ultimate that will make him completely fulfilled and happy.
    When I think about it, two examples comes to mind to illustrate this.

    First example is a story about Baladeva Vidyabhushana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baladeva_Vidyabhushana), a Gaudiya Vaishnava acarya who was known for having been one of the most learned philosophers and authors in the tradition, who was well versed in Shruti literature and probably the greatest Vedantist in the tradition because it was he who wrote a commentary on the Vedanta sutra and principal Upanishads (unfortunately of those principal Upanishads only a commentary on the Isha Upanishad is preserved) in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition in the 18th century.
    While he was young he became a follower of Madhvacarya's Vaishnava sampradaya and was initiated into this Vaishnava tradition. It is even said that he became a powerful exponent of Madhvacarya's Vedanta system throughout India. But later, while traveling through India, he met some devotees who were followers of Sri Caitanya's sampradaya -- Gaudiya Vaishnavas -- and so he became interested in the teachings of Sri Caitanya, and began to study writings of the Gosvamis of Vrindavan who were prominent disciples of Sri Caitanya, namely Jiva Gosvami, Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami, and others. It seems that he became so impressed with all this that he soon decided to become a follower of Sri Caitanya's Gaudiya Vaishnavism, and took a refuge in one senior Gosvami -- Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura -- who was at the time the leader of the sampradaya. Thus Visvanatha became his spiritual master, spiritual guide and mentor.
    Now, I would not say that this is an example of "making converts" in a literal sense, primarily because it is a story about a person who was a Vaishnava of one tradition but whose heart has become attracted to and led him to another Vaishnava tradition. But I think that this story nicely illustrates something that can be described as "go to where your heart is calling for you" or something like that.
    It is a story which tells us that even when a person becomes very learned in the Vedic knowledge as Baladeva was, the great Vedantist and a Vaishnava scholar, an expert in the Shruti literature and Vedanta, later in his life he may become attracted to another tradition because he felt that this tradition can better fulfill his spiritual needs and provide a spiritual fulfillment in the heart.

    If this was the case with a learned person as Baladeva was, then what can we expect from people who are by far not as learned as Baladeva was?

    I would like to extend this with another example. It's not about "switching to a different sampradaya (tradition)" thing but it's more like the spiritual journey of the soul, a natural aspiration of the soul to find something final, something ultimate that will make him completely fulfilled, satisfied and happy. It is something what we all seek after. Right? Isn't that what we all seek after?
    In the Lokas thread (http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/sho...239#post121239) I mentioned the story of Gopa-kumara from a novel Brihad Bhagavatamrita written by a Gaudiya Vaishnava acarya Sanatana Gosvami (I have already mentioned his name above, he was known as one of the Gosvamis of Vrindavan who were prominent disciples of Sri Caitanya). Gopa-kumara is one devotee of Lord Krishna who is exactly a typical example of a soul who was on the spiritual journey of his life. He was traveling and went through various abodes of the Lord but nowhere found satisfaction and fulfillment in his soul. It was only when he came to Lord Krishna's Goloka that he finally found something final, something ultimate that will make him completely fulfilled, satisfied and happy. And that was company of Lord Krishna and His followers.

    Isn't it that everyone of us is one such Gopa-kumara? Everyone of us is on the spiritual journey of his life until reaching the final spiritual maturity, the soul's natural aspiration to find final fulfillment and happiness.



    regards

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    Re: Is it fine to like a different tradition and shift to it?

    Quote Originally Posted by grames View Post
    Dear Friend.,

    Traditional practices rather than tradition itself is part and parcel of the "System" and thus when you adopt to new system obviously the practices changes that comes as part of that particular tradition.

    Hare Krshna!
    Namaste Grames Ji,

    Yes,some systems can be distinguished broadly by their traditional practices.At times,as you said some systems require aspirants to practice a whole new set of traditional beliefs.

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