Guest guest Posted January 19, 2000 Report Share Posted January 19, 2000 Dear friends, In the "tiruppAvai", AndAl has the "aayarpAdi" girls waking up each other and first congregating and only then proceeding in assembled procession to God's doorsteps. The principle of "worshipping together" is greatly stressed through the phrase: "koodi-irundu... kuLirnthu...mahizhirndu..." etc. In the whole of the "tiruppAvai" adiyen notices that the girls never even once speak in the first person singular! They all speak in one voice but never individually! The pursuit of God according to AndAl cannot be undertaken in solitude. Like most things in life, achieving God too requires "team work"... the ability to work with other people, communicate with other people and share with other people. Mahatma Gandhi, who may not have been a SriVaishnavan bearing the marks of "samAshrayanam", but who was deeply religious in outlook, once seemed to echo exactly the very same sentiment of the "tiruppAvai". He said, "I want to find God, and because I want to find God, I have to find God along with other people. I don't believe I can find God alone. If I did, I would be running to the Himalayas to find God in some cave there. But since I believe that nobody can find God alone, I have to work with people. I have to take them with me. Alone I can't come to Him." It is amazing how some of the truths of SriVaishnavam .... and of the poetry of the "tiruppAvai" ... are actually grounded in universalism... and not only in SriVilliputtur or SriRangam alone! adiyen hopes that my drawing this parallel between Gandhi and "tiruppAvai" will not hurt the sentiments of orthodox members on the list. dAsan, Sampathkumaran Talk to your friends online with Messenger. http://im. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 25, 2000 Report Share Posted January 25, 2000 Dear Sampath: I entirely agree with your sentiments. Group singing of Bhajans, Goshti Parayanam of Vedas and Divya Prabandham all add to the great joy of enjoying EmperumAn. There is a great emphasis on praying together in Sri Vaishnavism. I have always seen that whenever we work in groups, it provides us an opportunity to shed our ego and understand each other better. We realize that we are all united by the 'Vasudeva Tatva'. To borrow from Covey, as we evolve from dependance (Dvaita) to independance (Advaita), we soon realize that the process of evolution ends in inter-dependance (VishishtAdvaita). There are also thoughts from great thinkers that spiritual progress is made in loneliness - "Souls are not liberated in bundles" - Emerson. May be, we must achieve a good blend of everything - Bhajans, Japam, Dhyanam etc.. Dasan Vijayaraghavan Buffalo, NY >sampath kumar <sampathkumar_2000 >bhakti >"tiruppAvai" and Mahatma Gandhi >Wed, 19 Jan 2000 00:06:45 -0800 (PST) > >Dear friends, > >In the "tiruppAvai", AndAl has the "aayarpAdi" girls >waking up each other and first congregating and only >then proceeding in assembled procession to God's >doorsteps. > >The principle of "worshipping together" is greatly >stressed through the phrase: "koodi-irundu... >kuLirnthu...mahizhirndu..." etc. > >In the whole of the "tiruppAvai" adiyen notices that >the girls never even once speak in the first person >singular! They all speak in one voice but never >individually! > >The pursuit of God according to AndAl cannot be >undertaken in solitude. Like most things in life, >achieving God too requires "team work"... the ability >to work with other people, communicate with other >people and share with other people. > >Mahatma Gandhi, who may not have been a SriVaishnavan >bearing the marks of "samAshrayanam", but who was >deeply religious in outlook, once seemed to echo >exactly the very same sentiment of the "tiruppAvai". >He said, "I want to find God, and because I want to >find God, I have to find God along with other people. >I don't believe I can find God alone. If I did, I >would be running to the Himalayas to find God in some >cave there. But since I believe that nobody can find >God alone, I have to work with people. I have to take >them with me. Alone I can't come to Him." > >It is amazing how some of the truths of SriVaishnavam >... and of the poetry of the "tiruppAvai" ... are >actually grounded in universalism... and not only in >SriVilliputtur or SriRangam alone! > >adiyen hopes that my drawing this parallel between >Gandhi and "tiruppAvai" will not hurt the sentiments >of orthodox members on the list. > >dAsan, >Sampathkumaran > > >Talk to your friends online with Messenger. >http://im. ____ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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