Questions & answers etc

[Guest guest]

I, for one am not an advocate of either blind faith, or blind following.

 

I would ask you all to remember this; for the young who live in the

west, and especially those who were born in the west, the 'sitting at

the achaarya's feet' is not at all possible.

 

And when friends and families gather together, the elderly who may be in

the position of imparting knowledge have barely enough time to sit and

gossip and to catch up oncommunity needs, let alone give detailed and

comprehensive instruction to the young.

 

The only way the young can get any 'learning' is through books (and

eMail of couse). This learning is generally done in the privacy of ones

own environment with little outlet for question and queries.

 

This is why forums such as this must be encouraged. The questions asked

_must_ be answered knowledgeably. It is morally wrong for the elders who

have 'learning' to condem the young for asking questions. And what is

this nonsesnse of 'asking in personal mails'? Does anyone truly think it

is only the one person who wants answers to questions? I know I learn a

lot from the questions of others and am often frustrated when the

subject matter drops from sight and I am left hanging, waiting for more

instruction, just because it has gone into 'personal mails'. Locking

things behind closed doors is not the way to encourage the pursuit of

knowledge.

 

If I ask a question I am, I think, entitled to an answer. As childish

and as my question may be, I think that everyone should hear the answer

because just maybe this may help othrs who also have the same thoughts

or doubts but may not express them because of fear of ridicule or

condemnation.

 

On another point, humour is one way of refocusing our attention. If we

look (listen to) at any authority who is giving a discourse, we note

that there are moments of humour in the discourse. This snaps the mind

back into attention so that we can concentrate on the main message.

 

Just my thoughts.

Ramadas

 

all spelling mistakes are of my own invention

[Guest guest]

> I, for one am not an advocate of either blind faith, or blind following.

>

> I would ask you all to remember this; for the young who live in the

> west, and especially those who were born in the west, the 'sitting at

> the achaarya's feet' is not at all possible.

>

> And when friends and families gather together, the elderly who may be in

> the position of imparting knowledge have barely enough time to sit and

> gossip and to catch up oncommunity needs, let alone give detailed and

> comprehensive instruction to the young.

>

 

I do not agree with this. I know of families here in US who do take time

to teach their children the 4000 paasurams and other slokas. There are

regular classes in Bay Area Chinmaya Mission for young children who usually

go along with their parents.

 

If there is a will there is a way.

> The only way the young can get any 'learning' is through books (and

> eMail of couse). This learning is generally done in the privacy of ones

> own environment with little outlet for question and queries.

>

 

Not necessary, reading from the books may be useful, however, with little

more enquiry, one can find places where there are religious discources and

can make time to attend them. Same thing goes to philosophical quests.

> This is why forums such as this must be encouraged. The questions asked

> _must_ be answered knowledgeably. It is morally wrong for the elders who

> have 'learning' to condem the young for asking questions. And what is

> this nonsesnse of 'asking in personal mails'? Does anyone truly think it

> is only the one person who wants answers to questions? I know I learn a

> lot from the questions of others and am often frustrated when the

> subject matter drops from sight and I am left hanging, waiting for more

> instruction, just because it has gone into 'personal mails'. Locking

> things behind closed doors is not the way to encourage the pursuit of

> knowledge.

>

 

This i agree, but, please remember that as the frequency of criticisms and

counter criticisms increase, the knowledgeable members of the group might

tend to withdraw from posting, which is conter productive. A bit of caution

and constructive criticism would always be appreciated.

 

Also, one needs to know when to stop arguing in the open forum. some times

too much information on one incident or single person may be

uninteresting to some, but a few would like pick it apart for various

reasons (example recent Vidyaranya related posting).

 

Just expressing my thoughts,

 

regards

-vke

 

 

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