[Advaita-l] Chanting Gayatri overseas

[V Subrahmanian]

On Sun, Oct 8, 2017 at 9:09 AM, Kalyan <kalyan_kg at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Subbuji,
>
> I appreciate your liberal and practical outlook.
>
> But as far as crossing the ocean is concerned, what applies to any
> brAhmaNa also applies to the Sringeri Acharya. So if there are "vibrant
> Hindu communities with Vedic knowledge" in distant lands, what prevents the
> AchArya from going there physically? Perhaps because he knows that it is
> prohibited. If it is prohibited for him, same for others.
>

There is no compulsion for him to go there physically. For those who have
gone there and settled, he does not refuse his blessings. His attitude in
this has been already stated by me in this thread: So far the Jagadguru of
this peetham has not gone abroad. We do not know what will be the case with
the future pontiffs. That said, here is what he said, in a different
context, about his predecessor Guru, Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha as
published in the book Yoga, Enlightenment and Perfection :

//He was not in the least dogmatic. The ancients held that the earth is
fixed while the modern scientists aver that it moves.

purāṇamityeva na sādhu sarvaṁ
na cāpi kāvyaṁ navamityavadyam ।
santaḥ parīkṣyānyataradbhajante mūḍhaḥ
parapratyayaneyabuddhiḥ ॥4 (Malavikāgnimitra I.2)
(All that is ancient is not good nor is a work censurable because it is
modern. The wise accept an alternative after examination; the
unwise are guided by the beliefs of others.)
In keeping with this statement of the pre-eminent poet Kālidāsa, His
Holiness subscribed only to the position that the earth moves. He
ignored, in this manner, the distinction of ancient and modern in numerous
matters and gave weight only to that which was reasonable
and accorded with evidence. Broadmindedness such as His was difficult to
come by in anyone else. //

And Jagadguru Chandrashekhara Bharati Swamiji, admittedly a very orthodox
Sannyasin, 'encouraged his disciple (Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha) to
take a free and independent line of thinking in such matters in keeping
with the need to cater to a changing a less orthodox society. For his part
however, he was content with directly holding the views he had.' (cited
from the book The Crest Jewel of Yogis, Vol I,p.109).

So, there is no worth in asking 'why the Jagadguru does not travel
abroad?'

Swami Paramarthananda had said about 'personal habits/interests': In a
spiritual retreat spanning a few days, every morning the participants would
arrive at the dining hall in the morning for breakfast and beverage. A
choice of Coffee, Tea, milk, etc. will be offered. Each one takes that
which he is used to, is comfortable with, preference, etc. There is no
censure of those who prefer coffee over milk. In fact if some of the
beverages offered there were a taboo, they would not have been given as a
choice.

So, a person may not have objection to someone else travelling abroad but
he may not be inclined to do so. Does not one have the freedom to hold a
particular view?


>
> So, your arguments don't really sound convincing.
>

Conviction arising from an argument is subjective.

regards
subbu

>
>