Guest guest Posted December 1, 2005 Report Share Posted December 1, 2005 ) From Sankarraman Dear Friends, I believe that the Danish existential philosopher Soren Kierkegaard is a great mystic, although I am not able to understand his philosophy, having been brought up in Hindu ideas. I am able to understand J.K very clearly in spite of his alleged iconoclasm. But I was wonder struck when I went through some of the utterances of Soren Kierkegaard, all these clearly indicating that he has the making of a transcendental being, or already is in that state. I am giving an extract of some of his utterances. With warm regards Sankarraman "The present condition of the world is diseased. If I were a doctor and was asked for my advise, I should answer, Create silence, bring men to silence-the word of God cannot be heard today. And if it is blazoned forth with all the panoply of noise so that it can he heard in the midst of all other noise, then it is no longer the word of God. Therefore, create silence. Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom. At the bottom of enmity between strangers lies indifference. Boredom is the root of all evil - the despairing refusal to be oneself. Concepts, like individuals, have their histories and are just as incapable of withstanding the ravages of time as are individuals. But in and through all this they retain a kind of homesickness for the scenes of their childhood. Don't forget to love yourself. During the first period of a man's life the greatest danger is not to take the risk. Father in Heaven! When the thought of thee wakes in our hearts let it not awaken like a frightened bird that flies about in dismay, but like a child waking from its sleep with a heavenly smile. God creates out of nothing. Wonderful you say. Yes, to be sure, but he does what is still more wonderful: he makes saints out of sinners. How absurd men are! They never use the liberties they have, they demand those they do not have. They have freedom of thought, they demand freedom of speech. I begin with the principle that all men are bores. Surely no one will prove himself so great a bore as to contradict me in this. I feel as if I were a piece in a game of chess, when my opponent says of it: That piece cannot be moved. I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations - one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it - you will regret both. It is so hard to believe because it is so hard to obey. It seems essential, in relationships and all tasks, that we concentrate only on what is most significant and important. It was completely fruitless to quarrel with the world, whereas the quarrel with oneself was occasionally fruitful and always, she had to admit, interesting. Just as in earthly life lovers long for the moment when they are able to breathe forth their love for each other, to let their souls blend in a soft whisper, so the mystic longs for the moment when in prayer he can, as it were, creep into God. Life must be understood backwards; but... it must be lived forward. Listen to the cry of a woman in labor at the hour of giving birth - look at the dying man's struggle at his last extremity, and then tell me whether something that begins and ends thus could be intended for enjoyment. Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it. Not just in commerce but in the world of ideas too our age is putting on a veritable clearance sale. Everything can be had so dirt cheap that one begins to wander whether in the end anyone will want to make a bid. Old age realizes the dreams of youth: look at Dean Swift; in his youth he built an asylum for the insane, in his old age he was himself an inmate. Once you label me you negate me. One can advise comfortably from a safe port. Patience is necessary, and one cannot reap immediately where one has sown. People commonly travel the world over to see rivers and mountains, new stars, garish birds, freak fish, grotesque breeds of human; they fall into an animal stupor that gapes at existence and they think they have seen something. People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use. Personality is only ripe when a man has made the truth his own. Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays. Take away paradox from the thinker and you have a professor. The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays. The paradox is really the pathos of intellectual life and just as only great souls are exposed to passions it is only the great thinker who is exposed to what I call paradoxes, which are nothing else than grandiose thoughts in embryo. The present generation, wearied by its chimerical efforts, relapses into complete indolence. Its condition is that of a man who has only fallen asleep towards morning: first of all come great dreams, then a feeling of laziness, and finally a witty or clever excuse for remaining in bed. The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins. There is nothing with which every man is so afraid as getting to know how enormously much he is capable of doing and becoming. To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself. Trouble is the common denominator of living. It is the great equalizer. When you read God's Word, you must constantly be saying to yourself, "It is talking to me, and about me." People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use. Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced. Prayer does not change God, but changes him who prays. Life has its own hidden forces which you can only discover by living. Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it. If a man cannot forget, he will never amount to much. In addition to my other numerous acquaintances, I have one more intimate confidant. My depression is the most faithful mistress I have known -- no wonder, then, that I return the love. ( Remember Saint Pattinathar's utterance: " The one being who has been my unfailing companion in all my sojourns, is disease. I bow down to this great companion.) A poet is an unhappy being whose heart it torn by secret sufferings, but whose lips are so strangely formed that when the sighs and the cries escape them, they sound like beautiful music... and then people crowd about the poet and say to him: "Sing for us soon again;" that is as much as to say. "May new sufferings torment your soul." And when the hourglass has run out, the hourglass of temporality, when the noise of secular life has grown silent and its restless or ineffectual activism has come to an end, when everything around you is still, as it is in eternity, then eternity asks you and every individual in these millions and millions about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not. ( Saint Pattinathar laments: " Let the intense heat of the earth come to an end; let the sky be free from the fumes of smoke; let the many mothers that have been giving birth to me be spared the pain of labour; let the Maker be free from the tiresome business of pushing me into this existence; let my pain full wanderings in the world come to an end. Oh Lord of Tiruvaiyaru, I beseech thee thus.") , "The Sickness Unto Death" The most painful state of living is remembering the future. If you marry you will regret it. If you do not marry you will regret it. If you marry or do not marry, you will regret it. Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2005 Report Share Posted December 1, 2005 Namaste Sri Sankarraman: I want to share with you few of my observations regarding your posting of extracts from the Danish Philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard: First, since you have taken a large amount of 'extracts' from his works, it is very important that you provide the sources (most probably the Websites) frow where you have taken these extracts. This will help those who want to pursue further on his works to get the access. Also Internet Ethics requires all of us to provide source information. Second, after browsing through your posting, I did not find any coherency with respect to any specific subject matter that is directly (or even indirectly) related to Sankara's advaita Vedanta or related theme. This raises the relevance of posting a series of quotations with no clear connection to vedantic philosophy! Please consider my observations as a friendly reminder from one of the moderators of this list and the purpose of this note is just to remind the members regarding list policies for posting materials. An ideal resolution for informing members about other philsophical works is to provide just the Website address along with a paragraph describing the relevance of the quoted philosophical works with respect to Vedanta. Warmest regards, Harih Om! Ram chandran advaitin, Ganesan Sankarraman <shnkaran> wrote: > I believe that the Danish existential philosopher Soren Kierkegaard is a great mystic, although I am not able to understand his philosophy, having been brought up in Hindu ideas. > ...... > "The present condition of the world is diseased. If I were a doctor and was asked for my advise, I should answer, Create silence, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2005 Report Share Posted December 1, 2005 Ram Chandran <ramvchandran wrote: Namaste Sri Sankarraman: I want to share with you few of my observations regarding your posting of extracts from the Danish Philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard: Dear sir, The following is the website in which I found the material. Ram Chandran <ramvchandran wrote: Namaste Sri Sankarraman: I want to share with you few of my observations regarding your posting of extracts from the Danish Philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard: Dear sir, The following is the website in which I found the material. http://www.literaturepage.com/. Apropos your not being able to find coherence in my relating Kierkeggard's thought, I think it is your subjective opinion, which I do not want to comment upon. I think that the independent articulations of all philosophers is only a pointer towards their search for freedom, which they might not have built into a system; but that does not detract from their real search towards truth. If you want me to quote only from the Hindu scriptures, and you feel the rest are alien thoughts, I had better not write, as I am not well-versed in traditional scriptures; nor do I subject myself to the strait-jacket of particular system of thought. Advaita, I think, is transcendence of thought, which we cannot limit to a label. I am sorry if I happen to hold a different view. As Ramakrishna says that there are as many religions as there are as many individuals. If some people think that search for truth is limited to a particular system, it is their subjective philosophy. However, if you think that I have transgressed the ethics of this forum, well, I am sorry. Sankarraman Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2005 Report Share Posted December 1, 2005 Sri Sankara-ji, i am happy to note that you are able to take both 'praise and criticism 'in your stride ! i guess we all have our prescribed duties in our life ... As a moderator, shri Ramji has some duties that is to make sure we all follow list guidelines and adhere to list policies as closely as possible ! in the past , i was a big offender .... i used to 'cut and paste' from all sources from the internet without posting the links ! There are two problems in this - one is 1) as ramji says it is only internet to acknowledge the source of the information ; also some of us like to check facts and as you know all that are posted on the internet are accurate! 2) secondly, there are copyright issues ! and you know , in a 'sueing' society, people are waiting to make big bucks on frivolous grounds! Smile! But one thing i did enjoy reading in your post and i say this from the bottom of my heart and that is " Don't forget to love yourself." That is the highest form of ADVAITIC BHAKTI ! AFTER ALL, THE BASIC TENET OF ADVAITA IS YOU ARE THE 'SELF' - and Self is God ! i Luv it ! i luv it ! and believe me , we are not being Narcisstic! ALL IS IN THE 'SELF' AND THE 'SELF' IS IN ALL ! ADWAITA IN A CAPSULE! and then Thanks for introducing 'Pattinathar' and who is Pattinathar! Scholars believe that there were actually two poets with who composed their songs under the name Pattinattar. One probably lived in the 10th century, the other in the 14th - 15th century. Whether composed by one or two authors, the poetry of Pattinattar is the greatest sacred poetry to emerge from the Tamil Siddha tradition of southern India. The Tamil Siddhas tradition is a rather unorthodox expression of Shiva worship that mixes asceticism, alchemy, Tantra and a social egalitarianism that rejects the caste system. Though somewhat looked down upon by more orthodox Hindu authorities, the Tamil Siddha tradition is still widely respected by the common people of southern India. The poetry of Pattinattar revolts against ritualism and the caste system, finding in the universality of mystical union reason to decry artificial distinctions of social order. Like some of the other Tamil Siddha poets, in his zeal for the celibate ideal, some of his poems can seem misogynistic, however. does this not remind you of the great adwaitic saint shri Narayana guru who was held in high esteem by gandhiji? Here is a poem by this great siddha Pattinathar I left the world. I do not wish the two-fold deeds. I do not mix with idle, useless men. I do not listen to their speech. I touched the state when only Truth remains. I swept away pleasures and pains. The Highest which is beyond the reach of the four ancient Vedas came here to me! http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/P/Pattinattar/leftworld.htm One last note : i think the moderators here are more liberal than many other moderators of other . They can relate to an affinity between saiva siddhanta and vedanta ! after all sri ramana himself has endorsed it! Can't you tell by the way they even allowed a discussion of the 'gospel of thomas' ? love and regards ! i would love to invite you to my group - we would love to read all your quotes ... my group is not 'theme' specific ! advaitin, Ganesan Sankarraman <shnkaran> wrote: > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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