Guest guest Posted May 23, 2003 Report Share Posted May 23, 2003 Namaste! I know that this message and the article to which I will refer may really upset some people and perhaps get them angry with me. But I feel that our discussions of Advaita are not really meaningful unless we address the misery of the world from time to time. At the Nonduality site http://www.nonduality.com/ you can find an article called 'Alone and ashamed' ... just do a string search on the front page. This article is about the misery some women in the world are experiencing ... a horrible medical condition that I never knew existed. I am only mentioning this because after reading the article the other day I could not get it out of my mind, and it makes me seriously question whether the beautiful thoughts and feelings I have experienced studying Advaita and Buddhism might not just be a 'fool's paradise'. Is this question not relevant to Advaita? When it comes to the misery of others, please don't just say 'It doesn't really exist' .... even if that is true in some ultimate sense. By the way, let me add a brief political note. According to the article, President Bush has (perhaps unintentionally) denied funds to help this condition, because they were part of a larger anti-abortion package which he vetoed. I do not want to get into the difficult question of abortion, which many Hindus are opposed to. I only want to point out how tragic it is that some mechanism could not be found to send those funds along anyway to help with this non-abortion misery. Why can't our leaders be wise, nuanced and compassionate, instead of taking a sledgehammer to their crusades? I wouldn't mention this except that I find it really disturbing. Om! Benjamin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 23, 2003 Report Share Posted May 23, 2003 advaitin, Benjamin Root <orion777ben> wrote: > > Namaste! > > I know that this message and the article to which I will > refer may really upset some people and perhaps get them angry with > me. But I feel that our discussions of Advaita are not really > meaningful unless we address the misery of the world from time to > time. Namaste, This is a recurrent issue for many, whether spiritual aspirants or not. Here is the ideal an advaitin can follow: http://www.sentient.org/maharshi/mayjun96.htm" "…Bhagavan's whole life was simply an offering to the world. Everything he did was for others only. The scriptures say that a jnani has no will of his own and whatever he does is prompted by Ishwara, or God. Bhagavan knew that social service could temporarily relieve suffering to some extent. He also knew that the same person who was helped, would some day come to grief again, not only later in this life but in life after life. To remove all suffering, to completely extinguish the cause of all suffering, the Maharshi was born. He wanted to liberate us from the mistaken belief that we are this frail body, mind and ego. To do this he gave the method of Self- Enquiry, showed us how to practice it and effectively aided seekers by his powerful presence and grace. But even with all that he taught us, there were many who came to him, stayed for some time and then went astray……………." Each of us has to play the role allotted to us. The best service is to know Reality and let others know it by example! Regards, Sunder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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