Blessed are the Peacemakers

[Guest guest]

Hello All,

Ram Chandran wrote quoting Mahatma Gandhi:

Gandhiji: Not enough. I had that feeling myself one day, but I found

that it was not enough. Unless I accept the position that all

religions are equal, and I have as much regard for other religions as

I have for my own, I would not be able to live in the boiling war

around me. Any make-believe combination of spiritual forces is doomed

to failure if this fundamental position is not accepted.

 

I'm not surprised that Gandhi preferred the Gita to all other scriptures. I

always took him to be a good Hindu. Seriously though his views about

conversion are questionable though on the face of it they seem impeccable.

Let me explain. His view about the equality of all religions is a Hindu

one and the insistence that others take it up is an imposition and a demand

that they convert to that belief. Hinduism has never gone in for

conversion but Islam, Buddhism and Christianity do. The tolerant thing is

to maintain your respect for their position even when you feel that some

members of your community may be leaving their heritage behind for a 'mess

of pottage'. Ask yourself why they would be doing that? Ask yourself why

the name 'harijan' is being spurned for the coarser and more realistic

'dalit'?

 

Another thing, linking the Christian faith and the bible to Marx and Das

Kapital is offensive. You are probably not aware that more Christians were

martyred for being Christians by the Soviet State than were martyred by the

Roman Emperors in the early days.

 

Ciao and Blessings, Michael.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Namaste Sri Michael:

 

Gandhiji just reminds us all that 'human perfection' always comes

with 'human flaws' and we should keep that in our mind. Even during

the peak of his popularity, some staunch Hindus were dead against the

ideas of " religious tolerance" and "ahimsa." Good, bad, victory and

failure are human perceptions that differ across and within

religions. Hindus are no exceptions to this rule. The 'jiva' and

water always pure but with the touch of the world, they become impure

until they reach back the destination!

 

As a matter of fact, any word that we utter has high potential to

be 'rude' and/or offensive to someone and that is the price for

uttering a word. We can't achieve 'inner peace' without silencing

intellectual perceptions!

 

regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

advaitin, "michael Reidy" <ombhurbhuva@h...>

wrote:

> Hello All,

> ......

> Another thing, linking the Christian faith and the bible to Marx

and Das

> Kapital is offensive. You are probably not aware that more

Christians were

> martyred for being Christians by the Soviet State than were

martyred by the

> Roman Emperors in the early days.

>

> Ciao and Blessings, Michael.

[Guest guest]

On Wed, 12 Feb 2003 19:13:04 +0000, michael Reidy <ombhurbhuva

wrote:

> ...Gandhi('s) view about the equality of all religions is a Hindu one

> and the insistence that others take it up is an imposition and a demand

> that they convert to that belief....

 

Here we go drifting again into conflict over Hinduism and Christianity

again, ironically enough through a consideration of "Blessed are the

Peacemakers".

 

I know it goes against the grain of this thread and against the spirit of

the age, but I must again point out that these two religions are

fundamentally incompatible in their orthodox forms. Hindus may proclaim

Christ an avatar, they may put Leviticus on a par with the Yajur Veda, and

they may proclaim John's Gospel an upanishad, but they do not thereby

accept Christ in the sense that Christians accept him. In fact they end up

offending Christians by placing the "only begotten Son of God" on a par

with the fish, the tortoise, and the boar incarnations, and with Krishna

and Rama.

 

Nor is Advaita native to Christianity. It has been formally repudiated by

the Christian church. Indeed, the hallmark, genius, and distinctive

feature of Christianity (or rather the Abrahamic faiths - Judaism,

Christianity and Islam) is the irreducible distinction in "essence" between

the Creator and the creature. Even within those traditions, the

nondualists have been in a class by themselves, officially suspected or

spurned as heretics, e.g., the kaballists, the gnostics, and the Sufis.

 

A healthy respect for both traditions ought to allow for a frank

recognition of their distinctives. And in the end, you have to make your

choice.

 

Pranaams,

 

Shivaram

--

"Ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering.

There is a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."

--Leonard Cohen, "Anthem"