[Advaita-l] A lost Vedic ritual is brought alive

[Amuthan Arunkumar R]

namo nArAyaNAya!

dear shrI mahesh ursekar and other list members,

i'm sending this mail to the list than to u as a
personal mail since i have some specific issues to be
brought into light. on the side issue of "secularism",
i agree with shrI satish arigela's viewpoint, but
since that is outside the scope of this list, i'll
just state the reasons why i agree with his views and
be silent on this. i have deliberately used a rough
language below to make my point clear. pardon me for
that.
 
---shrI Mahesh Ursekar wrote:
>
> it is not the main topic of this thread, but such
> sectarian thoughts are
> saddening on a list that professes oneness! Advaita!
> 

i agree with both abhiShek's and ur observation that
this side-topic doesn't fit into this list. but i
completely disagree with the reasoning u have used to
support it. since the reason why ur reasoning is not
apt fits into the scope of this list, i'm addressing
it here. advaita asserts only Atmabrahmaikya (oneness
of AtmA and brahman) and definitely NOT the oneness of
two entities in vyAvahArika sattA. to put it in other
words, bheda is accepted in vyAvahArika. if u disagree
with this, then u should have absloutely no hesitation
in say, eating mud instead of ur normal food since
both r "one" according to advaita :-). DIFFERENCES DO
EXIST IN VYAVAHARIKA (especially so among religions).
IMO, it is total nonsense to say that all religions r
equal. what mahAn-s like shrI rAmakR^iShNa paramahamsa
wanted to convey when they asserted the equality of
all religions is the idea of universal tolerance
towards all religions. regarding the 'abrahamic'
religions, i feel that these have done and still do
considerable damage to our vaidika dharma. while the
muslim invaders of the past have ruthlessly destroyed
our culture (and much more, everyone knows what and
how), in the present days, greater harm is done by our
christian brothers [especially those (IMO) "brainless"
proselytisers who don't hesitate to use the most
blatantly irrational means to convert people into
their fold]. we have always been secular and tolerant
and it is NOT WE who need to be taught what secularism
or tolerance is. if at all u want to talk about the
equality of religions, don't talk about it here. talk
about it to all the proselytisers (especially the
christians who are very active today) who don't have
any respect, much less, tolerance, for our vaidika
dharmam. SECULARISM SHOULD NOT LEAD TO DIGGING OUR OWN
GRAVE AS IT IS HAPPENING NOWADAYS. TOLERANCE DOES NOT
MEAN ALLOWING OTHERS TO DESTROY OUR RELIGION. i only
hope that the present indian populace gets rid of it's
(pseudo) secularism ideals ASAP. on the other hand, i
fervently hope our christian brothers (ONLY those who
r keen on "converting", i have no cribs about the
others) learn at least the existence of a word called
"religious tolerance".

i'm not interested in discussing further on this topic
either in the list or off the list, unless there r
"genuine" objections to the issues i have raised.
please do not send replies filled with the trite
notions of equality of all religions and the
importance of religious tolerance by quoting mahAn-s
like shrI kabIr dAs. this is because such replies r
almost always misinterpreted or addressed to the wrong
set of people. i'm sorry again for this blunt
statement, but i'm pretty much "closed" in my opinion
on this topic. regarding the tone of my language here,
i should say that i became totally irritated and
frustrated and what not,  a couple of years back when
i first came to know of all this "converting" and
"plundering" stuff and hence, i tend to become
volcanic in venting my anger while asserting my stand
on these issues (like "secularism" and all such crap).
while i've considerably calmed myself over the years,
the initial impact was so deep that remnants of it
still remain, as u might have by now understood :-)
i'm really sorry if i hurt anyone because of my
language. i tried my best to stay away from this
thread, but somehow i ended up typing this big mail. 

moderators, please forgive me for delivering a
harangue on a topic which does not fit into the list. 
 

vAsudevaH sarvaM,
aparyAptAmR^itaH. 

Amuthan Arunkumar R,
Final year, B.Tech/M.Tech Dual Degree,
Dept. of Aerospace Engg., IIT Madras.


		
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