respect for Ramana

[Guest guest]

http://realization.org/page/doc0/doc0080.htm

 

 

--- John Metzger

--- riverjohn77

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/8/00 6:21:43 PM, aurasphere writes:

 

<< "No way!" the lady said "Who are you anyway?"

>>>.... it got me wondering what Ramana himself would think about this

question of showing respect to him.<<<

 

Let' ask him?

"Stutter... stutter.....stutter?"

Oh did you hear that?

He said: "Who's asking?"

 

Love and reverence for all beings,

Wim

 

Very funny, that is how I saw you and Ivan respond to the question

on LIGHT. And, I see this often in the way people write, and who

thinks what is funny, it is very interesting. And, just having sent

Richard Adams material to someone who is steeped in Tibetan tradition

and an American friend, I received back very interesting responses.

 

One was heated and went through the entire dialogue and took it

apart word for word and in essence didnt think much of it.

 

The other warmly and kindly described different paths, Celtic,

Kabbalistic, and a few others and said that this path wasn't for

her as she found the response disturbing.

 

So, having grown up in a home with Uncles visiting from Holland,

Rome, Paris, Heidelburg, having two students rent rooms behind the

house, Persian and Indian, and growing up with multiple languages

ever present and all the different nuances, one becomes extremely

attuned to the ever changing norms.

 

In the end, i think it makes one a chameleon, whatever works for the

moment is the color one becomes. Perhaps it makes who am i easier,

because one changes personalities like one changes clothes, so, whether

with impoverished inner city, or on a farm, one just becomes that, in

whichever country one finds oneself that day.

 

Another interesting aspect of this is that one finds that those who travel

alot have more in common with others in different countries, than with

those who may be of the same citizenship but never travel, because

of the recognized need for flexibility.

 

no home but Earth herself,

 

Does in the end make for thin egos <g>,

rainbo light

[Guest guest]

Dear John,

 

Thanks for sending us the link to

riverjohn77

 

I'll quote a bit from it:

>>>

A FEW DAYS AGO, the editor of this website (see above) received a letter

from a reader which said in part: Kindly ask your authors to learn proper

conduct while writing about gurus ...

The writer was upset because we had referred to Sri Ramana Maharshi, the

great Indian saint, simply as "Ramana" without his usual honorific titles.

....

The writer thought we did this due to a lack of respect, but actually we did

it because it's customary in American publications... to call religious

figures by their first names alone after they have been introduced... This

custom has nothing to do with respect or lack of it; it's just a convention.

.... the Bible, where Moses is plain old Moses and Peter is plain old Peter.

.... it got me wondering what Ramana himself would think about this question

of showing respect to him.

<<<<

 

Wim:

Ah, culture clashes.

When I immigrated from Holland to Canada in 1971 the first thing that stood

out was greetings, salutations and different ways of showing respect. In

Holland I used to work for a multi-national company, 100,000 emplyees world

wide. The Big Dutch Boss was driven around by a chauffeur in a silver Jaguar

and we never got to speak to him. Whenever he did come around, he was

announced on the PA system and a hush went through the plant where some 700

employees worked.

In Canada, I worked for a similar company, the big boss came around as well,

but more often. OK, he had a Mercedes but he chauffeured himself. He got his

coffee with us and lo and behold he even stirred it himself, he actually

went to the same bathroom as I did, in fact for the same reasons as I did. I

met him there one time and I had a question for him about a merger, "Len...

" I said, "can I ask you something?" He put his hand on my shoulder and

said. "Who's asking?"

 

On the other hand, the reverse also happened. Let me just call him Franklin

Jones (He eventually had so many names that I could not keep up anymore.) He

is a very reverred American Guru in the lineage of Muktananda, Nityananda,

etc. He gets driven around, a hush all around him, he is appropriately

dressed in a little... or a lot... depending on where he is going. One day

he went Holland, all dressed up in Guru gear, to meet the large community of

devotees there. He did not get as many flowers as the American devotees

thought he should have gotten. Also the Dutch devotees used his holy name as

though it was his first name. They also asked him (no, they did not offer

him a joint), they asked the customary Dutch question: "Would you like a cup

of coffee?" He did not decline, but he quickly figured out that he better

stir his coffee or whatever himself. A little later he went to a clothing

store to get a normal western outfit. When he had to go to the bathroom in

that clothing store he found out that he had to pay the lady who takes care

of the cleaning duties the customary quarter. (No I did not meet him in the

bathroom, just spoke to the lady.) He said something cute to her, trying to

get in for free. "No way!" the lady said "Who are you anyway?"

>>>.... it got me wondering what Ramana himself would think about this

question of showing respect to him.<<<

 

Let' ask him?

"Stutter... stutter.....stutter?"

Oh did you hear that?

He said: "Who's asking?"

 

Love and reverence for all beings,

Wim