Guest guest Posted March 5, 2004 Report Share Posted March 5, 2004 Dear Sri Benjamin ji Namaste, Excuse me for interfering: Sri Benjamin ji wroe on 4th March:- <<<A fair question. <<<In English, we have a saying, 'Ignorance is bliss.' :-) In my view, Ignorance is bliss, when it is total ignorance. Partial ignorance or partial knowledge is the problem and that is what Advaita addresses. <<<The general tendency in Advaita is to seek happiness in the Self, in>>> I think there is “no seeking happiness in the Self” involved. In fact, with the knowledge of Self, all seeking ends. For a knower of Self or Brahman, Happiness shines itself without any effort, because it is his Swaroopa. It is like, no necessity for sugar to seek sweetness or to be sweet. <<<Of course, Advaita is not a cure for hunger or disease. The body must be taken care of.>>> Yes, Advaita does not address/cure hunger, or thirst, disease, etc. It puts right the false knowledge that “I am hungry”, “I am thirsty”, and “I am sick or ill” etc., because hunger, thirst, sickness, etc., as Poojya Swami Dayanandji says, are evident to the self-evident Atma or I. <<<Children are an excellent example of how happiness is not in the object.>>> Because they have (more or less) total ignorance, and it is when they pick up notions about the Self, as they grow up, they develop all the problems shadowing their happiness. It is said that a knower of Self is “Balavat”, i.e. like a child. Pranams and hari Om to all Mani Search - Find what you’re looking for faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 5, 2004 Report Share Posted March 5, 2004 Namaste. Yes. That is bhakti. Everything is Hers. I know that I own nothing. I am at Her Feet. I am happy. Many have lived and live that way. PraNAms to Her and all. Madathil Nair _________________ advaitin, "Raghavendra N Kalyan" <kalyan7429> wrote: > > Is there any case > when a man KNOWS that he has no posessions and still is happy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 5, 2004 Report Share Posted March 5, 2004 Namaste, In the words of Sri Ramana, "After you board a train with baggage on your back, do you continue to carry it or put it down? If you are willing to trust the driver to take you to your destination, how much more willing you should be to trust your life's journey to the Driver of this Universe?" Regards, Sunder advaitin, "Madathil Rajendran Nair" <madathilnair> wrote: > Namaste. > > Yes. That is bhakti. Everything is Hers. I know that I own > nothing. I am at Her Feet. I am happy. Many have lived and live > that way. > > PraNAms to Her and all. > > Madathil Nair > _________________ > > advaitin, "Raghavendra N Kalyan" > <kalyan7429> wrote: > > > > Is there any case > > when a man KNOWS that he has no posessions and still is happy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 5, 2004 Report Share Posted March 5, 2004 Namaste: I will put the question in the reverse direction: "Is there any case when a man who has possessions is happy all the time?" To seek or preserve happiness through one's possessions is a like driving through a deadend street. The person who measures happiness through possessions is likely to be under constant stress - the most luxurious houses become more like a prison with protective security systems, steel iron gates, sometimes even surrounded by an army of bodyguards! The person with the most possessions happens to be most insecure and how can he/she be happy under those circumstances! When a man start with one possession, it never ends with that only, it creates a chain reactions as this story illustrates! A sanyasi lived near a village on the banks of a river. He literally had no possessions, happily eating the fruits from the tree and drinking the water from the river. The villagers were quite impressed by his presence and one family offered him with a couple of dhotis (white cotton cloth as a cover). The sanyasi was happy to wear the dhotis instead of the tree leaves to cover his body and everyday he washed a dhoti on the river and dry it by spread it on the ground. One day, a rat came and bit the dhoti and made holes in several parts. When the villagers saw the hole in the dhoti , they asked him what happened. When they learnt about the rat menace, they brought a cat to keep the rats away! Now the sanyasi was forced to take care of the cat and asked for milk from the villagers. The villagers donated a cow to the sanyasi to provide the supply of milk. Then sanyasi needed feeds for the cows and the villagers suggested that him to grow some grains on the river bank. After few years, the sanyasi had several cows, several cats, a small hut and he wanted some help to take care of the animals. A young woman from the village came forward to help the sanyasi to cook food to the sanyasi and also to take care of the cows. After several years, the sanyasi got married to the same woman and left sanyasa! (Source: I don't remember the exact source but most likely told by a Swamiji from Chinmaya Mission) Warmest regards, Ram Chandran > advaitin, "Raghavendra N Kalyan" > <kalyan7429> wrote: > > Is there any case > when a man KNOWS that he has no posessions and still is happy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 5, 2004 Report Share Posted March 5, 2004 advaitin, "Ram Chandran" <RamChandran@a...> wrote: > When a man start with one possession, it never ends with that only, > it creates a chain reactions as this story illustrates! (Source: I don't remember the > exact source but most likely told by a Swamiji from Chinmaya > Mission) Namaste, This is one of Sri Ramakrishna's parables! (Shankara composed the famous Kaupina-panchakam to illustrate the glorious side!) Regards, Sunder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 5, 2004 Report Share Posted March 5, 2004 Beautiful story Ramji. I remember reading this somewhere. I think it was in Amar Chitra Katha Comics ! When I read your mail, all the illustrations came to my mind. Hari Om - "Ram Chandran" <RamChandran > > When a man start with one possession, it never ends with that only, > it creates a chain reactions as this story illustrates! A sanyasi > lived near a village on the banks of a river. He literally had no > possessions, happily eating the fruits from the tree and drinking > the water from the river. The villagers were quite impressed by his > presence and one family offered him with a couple of dhotis (white > cotton cloth as a cover). The sanyasi was happy to wear the dhotis > instead of the tree leaves to cover his body and everyday he washed > a dhoti on the river and dry it by spread it on the ground. One day, > a rat came and bit the dhoti and made holes in several parts. When > the villagers saw the hole in the dhoti , they asked him what > happened. When they learnt about the rat menace, they brought a cat > to keep the rats away! Now the sanyasi was forced to take care of > the cat and asked for milk from the villagers. The villagers donated > a cow to the sanyasi to provide the supply of milk. Then sanyasi > needed feeds for the cows and the villagers suggested that him to > grow some grains on the river bank. After few years, the sanyasi > had several cows, several cats, a small hut and he wanted some help > to take care of the animals. A young woman from the village came > forward to help the sanyasi to cook food to the sanyasi and also to > take care of the cows. After several years, the sanyasi got married > to the same woman and left sanyasa! (Source: I don't remember the > exact source but most likely told by a Swamiji from Chinmaya > Mission) > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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