[Advaita-l] moxa-sAdhanA

[Ramesh Krishnamurthy]

Dear Sri Ananta,

1) ahiMsA in the vedic tradition is not an absolute, for the simple
reason that complete ahiMsA is not found in nature. It is a mahAvrata
only for the saMnyAsin. A soldier in the Indian Army defending his
country is not being adhArmic

2) Many kShatriya-s historically have been great yogin-s. For example,
the paramAra king bhojadeva, who was a patron of learning & the arts
as well as a military genius, wrote a bhAShya on the sUtra-s of
pata~njali

3) I was not referring to the bauddha madhyamArga. The bauddha bhikShu
may consume meat if it is known that the animal has not been killed
specifically for him (and not merely if somebody else kills it). The
reason given is that "beggars are not choosers". I had a small debate
on this with some bauddha bhikShu-s in Bhutan many years back.

4) For the Hindu, ancestral family tradition itself is an element of
dharma. To the extent that different Hindu communities have somewhat
differing traditions, they are all equally dhArmic.

5) As long as one follows *one's own* dharma, it leads to
sAdhana-catuShTaya. There is nothing to suggest that "pleasure seeking
activities" are against dharma, as long as they are within limits,
with the limits being determined by the dharma itself. The limits may
vary due to differences in traditions. What is within limits for you
may not be for me and vice versa.

The above is my understanding. List elders may point out if there are
any errors.

bhava sha~Nkara deshikame sharaNam
Ramesh

2008/5/24 Ananta Bhagwat <ananta14 at yahoo.com>:
> 1/ Your point on vegetarianism is thought provoking and a complex one.
> 2/ My book(ish) knowledge tells me that if yoga's ethics is a part of moxa-sAdhanA then ahiMsA (and hence indirectly vegetarianism) is also part of it.
> 3/ Perhaps you are advocating bauddha madhyama mArg as a part of our SishTAcAra. That, we should not kill anybody but if somebody else kills, cooks, and serves us then we are free to accept it or reject it as a part of our tradition.
> 4/ How can we identify a particular behavior (action, reactions, habits etc) as a movement towards paramArtha level? Can sAdhaka continue with many a things (drinking, sex, and other pleasure seeking activities etc) as a part of SishTAcAra in his sAdhanA? Well, all fuzzy issues and I think it is better to go by sAdhana catushTaya yard-stick. This is a personal opinion and not universal one :)
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