[Advaita-l] On the forms of Guru

[Anbu sivam2]

"It should be perfectly obvious to anyone, from the context, when the word
"heart" is used to refer to the physical organ and when the word is used in
a non-literal manner. In my opinion, there is no need to go on and posit
another entity, also called heart, non-physical in nature, but still
physically
located in the body on the right side of the chest. I mean no disrespect to
Ramana Maharishi here."

Sure, You have been labouring hard for a while to say Bhagavan Ramana is
wrong.

That's OK.

Sri SatgurubhyO Namaha.

On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 6:37 PM, Vidyasankar Sundaresan <
svidyasankar at hotmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> > And Sunilji is right. Bhagavan says the locale of the hrdhayam is on the
> > right chest where we all point to when saying 'I'. Hrdhayam is translated
> > as heart in English for whatever reason but that does not mean it is a
> > physical heart that is on the left that is meant.
>
>
> hRt (Sanskrit), heart (English), herz (German), hjarta (Swedish/Icelandic),
> hjerte (Norwegian/Danish), hart (Dutch), cardia (Greek) - all have a common
> ancestry in the Indo-European languages. There is a good reason for the
> translation and part of the connotation is the physical heart. In all these
> languages, there are also many non-literal usages of the word heart, e.g.
> to lose heart, to steal one's heart, etc. Even in English, the word heart
> does not refer only to the physical organ.
>
>
>
> Also, "the physical heart is on the left side" is overdone in common talk.
> It
> is really quite along the center of the chest. There is a slight leftward
> tilt
> in its orientation - that is all. If it were substantially on the left
> side, there
> would be no room for the left lung! When we point to the chest and talk
> of hRdaya, our fingers land on the sternum bone, almost exactly on top
> of the physical heart. We don't point over the right pectoral muscle.
>
> It should be perfectly obvious to anyone, from the context, when the word
> "heart" is used to refer to the physical organ and when the word is used in
> a non-literal manner. In my opinion, there is no need to go on and posit
> another entity, also called heart, non-physical in nature, but still
> physically
> located in the body on the right side of the chest. I mean no disrespect to
> Ramana Maharishi here. I would request you to see whether he said this
> himself or if it was something a disciple asked and he merely said, "yes,
> people say this." There is a world of difference between the two scenarios.
> A lot of what people attribute to Ramana Maharishi lies in the questions
> that
> his disciples and devotees put to him, not quite in the answers that he
> gave!
>
>
> Finally, returning to the vedAntic source-texts, even the location of the
> Atman/ISvara in the heart is meant primarily to focus a sAdhaka's
> attention.
> The Atman is really all-pervading - there is no one place where it is nor
> is
> there any place where it is not.
>
>
> > The vedanthin hold that the locale of the mind is at the throat. Sorry to
> > differ with you on that one (because you think it is in the physical
> heart)
> > and hold on to a view that is much more ancient than the 19th century!
>
>
>
> It should be clear that I am pointing to a view that is timeless, more
> ancient
> than ancient and more modern than modern, because I base them on the
> upanishad-s and their commentaries. But you are always welcome to differ;
> no need to feel sorry about it!
>
>
>
> I presume your view about the mind being located at the throat is based on
> the taittirIya passage, "antareNa tAluke | ya esha stana iva ..." Again,
> this
> is not meant literally, but only to focus attention as part of a
> meditation. This
> is made clear in the upanishad itself at the end of the same anuvAka, "iti
> prAcInayogya upAssva |" (Meditate thus, O Pracinayogya).
>
>
>
> > I know that so many people consider western education to be superior and
> all
> > knowledge should be known in its light. On the other hand we folks talk
> of
> > 'para' vidya some of which are not even written or spoken, yet
> transmitted
> > from the Guru to sishya. The western education would be nowhere near it!
>
>
> Let me clarify that I neither privilege Western education nor deny that it
> has made a deep mark on Indian thinking in the recent past and now has
> a permanent place there for the conceivable future. And it is unfair to
> disparage Western education by comparing it with parA vidyA. Because,
> standard Eastern education also, of whatever variety, is still aparA vidyA,
> nowhere near the parA vidyA.
>
> Best regards,
> Vidyasankar
>
>
>
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