Guest guest Posted October 8, 2001 Report Share Posted October 8, 2001 hariH OM! dear friends. namaste. in light of the u.s./british decision to attack the taliban, etc, i decided to share the following letter to the human rights commission of the UN, the u.s. dept of state and others, despite that it's yet a rough draft and incomplete. last week i spoke to a member of the white house staff as well as left a 10 min message on the opinion line of the state dept, relaying the gist of this letter. i'm offering it to the List is--among other reasons--because there is much we can learn by way of creative approaches in human communication, effective debating, the need for full disclosure, integrity, and maintaining--as advaitins--the underlying [focus on] unity at all costs(!)...upholding our best and most honest understanding into the nature of the dharma, and doing what we must [if it is our karma to do so]. thus have i written this letter: having *watched* it happen; yet with more than a small measure of personal concern for my loved ones, my people of the world, and myself as well, for i love to live to love. this leela, regardless of its component of treachery and illusion, is truly sacred. the way the relative leela must work however is through the maya of duality, and thus the forgetfulness begins, and chaos and war can erupt. only that part of the letter is shown below (i.e. its first paragraphs), where i felt it has direct bearing on the interest of the List, especially in terms of effective debating/arbitrating potentially highly charged conflicting views, and how we might be able to share our opinions without adversely impacting the rights of each other to constructively express our views. the means to true communication, beyond the individual impress of socio-cultural indoctrination, must be our goal, bot individually and as members of the global community. i then provide a link where the letter can be read in its entirety. i would appreciate any suggestions as to how to deliver the message as effectively and clearly as possible. please email me at egodust ..thanks! the potential for wisdom-insight has never been so high. peace in ONE, frank __________________________ Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Geneva, Switzerland webadmin.hchr Dear Hon. Commissioner: Before anyone prepares to debate a given issue, they must tell themselves there's always a possibility they can be wrong. Even if it seems to them that it must be impossible, adopting the attitude that they *can* be wrong increases their capacity to be open-minded and better able to hear and be empathetic to the viewpoint of the other. Before any debate, therefore, if both parties openly established and acknowledged this to each other, the level of learning and understanding that could take place would better their chances of solving problems literally exponentially. Having said that, I will now open with the acknowledgment that the following are my views, and I fully realize there is indeed a chance that I could be partially or even completely wrong. I ask that the reader acknowledge the same [to themselves] upon reading this, for their own edification. Of course, ordinarily, the reader will determine for him/herself the relevance and accuracy of these statements and views. The difference is that by mutually acknowledging fallibility in our respective views, we're opening a unique possibility for true communication to take place, human to human, where the real interest is finding out the truth as best we can, under given circumstances. The second thing we should bear in mind, and also openly acknowledge, is that since none of us are perfect as individuals, neither are we as nations. Now, let's cut to the chase of the problem before us. The idea that we can defuse and eliminate the brand of terrorism we're dealing with is utterly false if we think we can do so without addressing its cause. However, the problem is that, as a nation, we're not even aware that there's a cause to address! This is nothing new. It's the result of the manipulation of public opinion through propaganda. remainder of letter: http://digital.net/~egodust/terrorism.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 9, 2001 Report Share Posted October 9, 2001 Dear Frank, Your attempt to mold the US government into peaceful discussions is laudable. But it does not make sense under the current situation. My responses are given below in bold. My point is not to criticize your approach but to point out it is misplaced in time and sequence. -- Vis - <egodust <advaitin> Monday, October 08, 2001 7:43 AM global dharma 2001: the role of jnana > Before anyone prepares to debate a given issue, they must tell > themselves there's always a possibility they can be wrong. Bin Laden is neither ready for debate nor discussion. He wants annhilation of everything which is not subjugated to fundamental Islamic view that all non-believers have no right to exist unless they embrace Islam. To think we can be "wrong" plays into his hand as our weakness in front of his Islamic almighty power. No need to defeat ourselves by our own confusion just as Arjuna would have done but for Lord Krishna telling him the nature of real action. > Before any debate, therefore, if both parties openly established and > acknowledged this to each other, the level of learning and > understanding that could take place would better their chances of > solving problems literally exponentially. Bin Laden does not know acknowledgement of another except himself. The understanding then is truly illusary. > > Having said that, I will now open with the acknowledgment that the > following are my views, and I fully realize there is indeed a chance > that I could be partially or even completely wrong. My appreciation is for your frank opinion that you can be partially or completely wrong. In reality you are only partially wrong! > > The idea that we can defuse and eliminate the brand of terrorism we're > dealing with is utterly false if we think we can do so without > addressing its cause. Bin Laden's cause is very clear. Destroy all infidels, the non-believers of Allah. The mother of all infidels is US. Naturally it must be slain -- That is his cause. Knowing Bin Laden's cause do you want all of us in this world to become true believers of Islam, Mohammad, and Allah? To conclude: Lack of timely action is sometimes more violent than the action which is apparently violent. Our history (world history) should prove it again and again. Even great and powerful accomplished persons such as Ravana, Maha Bali, Kamsa, Hiranyakashibu, etc. had to be destroyed (surely by violent means), if one wants to look at ancient histories! Let's teach the people responsible how to perform Dharmic action (no vengeance and anger) agains Adharma specially when it is pure evil such as the Sep 11 terrorist actions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 10, 2001 Report Share Posted October 10, 2001 Namaste: Frankji in his reply to Madhavaji correctly pointed out that he would conduct the discussions privately. Frankji is quite right. The subject matter under discussion is more political than spiritual and as such should be conducted by the discussants privately. Members are once again reminded that please make sure that your reply is meant and also relevant for other members of the list. When you are in doubt, please just send your reply to the poster as a private mail. The moderators are very confident that the members of this list understand the problem and will fully comply with the list policies. Advaitin List Moderators. Note: Currently, when you send a reply to a mail from the list, it goes back to the list unless you delete the mailing address with the poster's email address. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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