A Note on the New List and my Role

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

This message may seem unnecessary, but I am making it public to avoid

giving a bad impression to list members later on regarding my role in

the tentative new list of 'Advaitin Highlights'.

 

I recently proposed such a list, and clearly Sri Ram has been

encouraging me to 'volunteer' to moderate it. Also, others have

encouraged me to improve my spiritual life by volunteering some

selfless service to the cause of Advaita. This is a very noble

sentiment, and if I am unable to fulfill this responsibility, then I

would like to make it clear to the list members that I have some

reasons and am not just a selfish person who likes to talk but

doesn't like to work. Hence, I am broadcasting this message publicly

instead of just discussing it privately with Sri Ram (which I will

also do).

 

I am not sure exactly what tasks are entailed in moderating this new

list. It all depends on my free clock time, of which I have a very

short supply. Please understand that I have set myself an ambitious

(and possibly egoistic) life task of digesting a huge amount of

literature from all spiritual paths that interest me, and they are

many. I have accumulated over 1 GB of text files on religion (mostly

Indian) and hundreds of megabytes on philosophy. Furthermore, I have

a large library of books at home on these topics. Even though I am

unmarried, I still find myself spending almost all my free time

studying this mass of information, and it seems I am always behind.

Later, after I retire in the not too distant future, I intend to

write several massive (or perhaps not so massive) treatises on a

grand synthesis of this information and the underlying essence of all

traditions based on mysticism, realization, enlightenment or whatever

you want to call it. I am full of ideas, however naive they might be.

 

So I am busy! That is why I have contributed so enthusiastically to

this list. It is great preparation. I believe that my writing style

has improved, and above all I have learned to deal with opposing

views, which is not always so easy. And now you can see why I was so

determined to compare Advaita and Buddhism. I am seeking the holy

grail of the underlying essence, which must be the One Truth! (At

least, according to my way of thinking, for what that is worth.)

 

If managing the new list requires many tedious and time-consuming

tasks, then I must respectfully decline. We will see, and I will

discuss it with Sri Ram. If I do decline, I hope that those list

members who have even bothered to notice will not think ill of me,

considering that I have found another way to devote my life to

service, however self-serving that may seem. Who is to say that my

grand treatise may not be of spiritual benefit to some, however vain

it may seem now? (You might argue that I must first become a saint

before I am qualified to write this, but I am not so sure about that.

Not being a saint may actually provide more objectivity when

comparing the different spiritual paths.)

 

OK, I think I have said enough on this. An example of a task that

would be too tedious and time-consuming would be rewriting the

messages of others to improve the English. It seems that Sri Ram was

alluding to this at one point. I cannot do that. Besides, I can

understand everyone on this list, and I think that Indian versions of

English can be quite creative, colorful, enjoyable and even provide a

certain expressivity that might otherwise be lost! I am as liberal

with language as I am with ideas. Let us all be liberal. Spiritual

freedom is the essence of the Indian tradition, even if it leads to

some mistakes, from which we may learn.

 

Respectfully

Benjamin