Shri Krishna Janmashtami

[Anand Hudli]

 Today happens to be the day when the birthday of Krishna is
 celebrated.

 Please see the following article for more details on this
 observance and for the shrIkR^ishNAShTakam.h attributed to
 Shankara:

 http://www.hindunet.org/alt_hindu/1995_Aug_1/msg00070.html

 The same article is also available at :

 http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/1415/sanskrit.html

 I had problems connecting to the jaguar.cs.utah.edu site which is
 also supposed to carry the article.

 There is  a fairly elaborate Krishna Janmashtami Puja description
 at :

 http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/8891/krishna.txt

 But please bear in mind such rituals are best learned from a
 Guru, not from manuals; such manuals are good sources of reference.


 Anand


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>From  Fri Aug 14 14:56:25 1998
Message-Id: <FRI.14.AUG.1998.145625.0400.>
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1998 14:56:25 -0400
Reply-To: chandran at INTSERVER.econ.ag.gov
To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
        <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
From: Ram Chandran <chandran at ECON.AG.GOV>
Subject: Re: message to my friends
Comments: To: Advaita List <advaita-l at tamu.edu>
Comments: cc: Greg Goode <goode at DPW.COM>
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Greg Goode <goode at DPW.COM> writes

> Jumping in here.  Picking up on your ideas that only one philosophy can get
> you "there," and that another philosophy will take you somewhere else.  One
> of the things that all non-dual philosophies are in agreement about (though
> with different words) is this: there are no two "theres" for there to be.
> So how can any of these philosophies take you to any *other* place?

Greetings Greg:

You have made some valid points. Let me add some additional
clarifications.  Religions and Rivers are both essentials for the Jeeva
to survive.  Religions carry the TRUTH and Rivers carry the water.  The
waters of different rivers may flow, taste  and look different.  But
after purification, PURIFIED water from every river will have neither
color nor taste!  Similarly, TRUTH contained in different religions may
appear different but after careful, unbiased and thorough investigation,
it is possible to RECOGNIZE that PURE TRUTH is not different.  Just
like, the rivers get polluted through human adventures, religions were
also subject to corruption.  Human pollution (physical in the rivers and
mental in the religions) is the major cause for the changes that we see
in modern rivers and religions.

Ganges at Gangothri is purer than its stauts in Banaras and everyone
knows the level of pollution in rivers.  Religions in general and in
particular, the vedic and the visions of Sankara, Jesus and Buddha have
also got polluted. Until we remove those human corruptions in religions,
it is very difficult for us to visualize the Pure TRUTH.  This may
explain why we have so many exchanges in this thread with no clues to
the TRUTH!

I believe that Sankara's Advaita is the first serious unified approach
to resolve the issues that were brought our attention by Egodust.
Sankara demonstrates that TRUTH is an experience beyond intellectual
analysis and hence beyond any "Proof."  Examples can illustrate the
validity of a philosophy but it is not a proof. Those who know
mathematics can understand tha many examples do not imply proof.
Examples can develop faith in a philosophy  or religion.  Religion is
based on faith and faith varies from person to person and it depends on
traditions, environment and culture.  I believe in the TRUTH of Vedas
and Sankara's Advaita and consequently, I visualize "TRUTH" within my
framework. But others with a different background are likely to see
differently.  All of us want to reach the same destination, however, we
want to use different modes of transportation.  No one knows the fastest
and easiest way of reaching the destination of TRUTH.  Experiences of
other travellers can greatly help us to proceed our Journey.  Sankara,
Ramana and others have given us their experiences of their journeys and
it is upto us to follow thier maps and guidebooks.  Until we reach the
destination, we do need the maps, guidebooks and efforts.

--
Ram Chandran
Burke, VA