Guest guest Posted September 11, 2006 Report Share Posted September 11, 2006 Mangesh Hoskote <mhoskote2000 > Ram V. Chandran ramvchandran Dear Mr Ram Chandran, Please post this on advaitin list if appropriate. This was a message posted today by the Interim Dean, School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. Dear Colleagues -- As we undertake the activities of the day and week, I hope that each of us will pause to consider the impact of past events associated with September 11. On September 11, 1906, Indian political leader Mohandis K. Ghandi launched his history altering pacifist movement by pledging to use nonviolence and civil disobedience in a quest for justice and peace for all. Ninety-five years later, the significance of 9/11 took on a more sinister association as terrorists brought down the World Trade Center, damaged the Pentagon, and took the lives of the brave souls of United Flight 93. Five years after those sobering events and 100 years after Ghandi's actions changed the course of human history, I hope, today, we will choose to remember.... and to reflect.... and to ultimately rejoice in the resilience of the human spirit. I am reminded, once again, of William Faulkner's words as he accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950: "I believe that man will not merely endure; he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance." Beverly J. Warren, Ed.D., Ph.D., FACSM Interim Dean, Virginia Common Wealth University -------------------- Also, there is an event today at the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the 100th anniversary of MK Gandhi's launch of non-violence movement. http://www.gandhiinstitute.org/upload/GandhiGatheringSept11.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 11, 2006 Report Share Posted September 11, 2006 Thanks for sharing this. It is so appropriate for the times that we live in. I feel proud that Gandhiji, who cherished and practiced the principles of the Geeta, has been remembered on this day. Veena. On 9/11/06, Ram Chandran <ramvchandran > wrote: > > Mangesh Hoskote <mhoskote2000 <mhoskote2000%40> > > > Ram V. Chandran ramvchandran <ramvchandran%40> > > Dear Mr Ram Chandran, > > Please post this on advaitin list if appropriate. This was a message > posted today by the Interim Dean, School of Education at Virginia > Commonwealth University. > > > Dear Colleagues -- > > As we undertake the activities of the day and week, I hope that each of us > will pause to consider the impact of past events associated with September > 11. On September 11, 1906, Indian political leader Mohandis K. Ghandi > launched his history altering pacifist movement by pledging to use > nonviolence and civil disobedience in a quest for justice and peace for all. > Ninety-five years later, the significance of 9/11 took on a more sinister > association as terrorists brought down the World Trade Center, damaged the > Pentagon, and took the lives of the brave souls of United Flight 93. Five > years after those sobering events and 100 years after Ghandi's actions > changed the course of human history, I hope, today, we will choose to > remember.... and to reflect.... and to ultimately rejoice in the resilience > of the human spirit. > > I am reminded, once again, of William Faulkner's words as he accepted the > Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950: > > "I believe that man will not merely endure; he will prevail. > He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures > has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, > a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance." > > Beverly J. Warren, Ed.D., Ph.D., FACSM > Interim Dean, Virginia Common Wealth University > > -------------------- > > Also, there is an event today at the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the > 100th anniversary of MK Gandhi's launch of non-violence movement. > > http://www.gandhiinstitute.org/upload/GandhiGatheringSept11.pdf > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 11, 2006 Report Share Posted September 11, 2006 advaitin, "Veena Nair" <nairvee wrote: > > Thanks for sharing this. It is so appropriate for the times that we live in. > I feel proud that Gandhiji, who cherished and practiced the principles of > the Geeta, has been remembered on this day. > Veena. > > Namaste One more recalling would be worthwhile. It was on Sept.11, 1893 that the Eastern World spoke to the whole world at Chicago addressing them 'Sisters and Brothers' and the very address opened up a new world of spirituality to the West, in the form of the clarion call of Swami Vivekananda! PraNAms to all advaitins. profvk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 11, 2006 Report Share Posted September 11, 2006 Namaste - Indeed Swami Vivekananda's clarion call is being remembered today in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Please see article below. http://thechronicleherald.ca/Religion/527136.html Statue of famous monk to be erected in Halifax Swami’s words of an earlier Sept. 11 warned against religious fanaticism By LOIS LEGGE Features Writer He called for an end to religious fanaticism. He spoke about the holiness and purity of all faiths. And he spread the ancient Hindu philosophy of universal acceptance. Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda first brought those ideas to the west more than 100 years ago to be precise, on Sept. 11, 1893, during the World Parliament of Religions convention in Chicago. In this century, Sept. 11 has become synonymous with tragedy, fear and religious fanaticism. But as the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States approaches, the Hindu community in Halifax is hoping those long-ago words by a revered leader will resonate in today’s world. In fact, a statue of the Hindu Swami the first of its kind in Canada will soon stand in Halifax as a symbol of the acceptance he preached a century ago. A life-sized fiberglass statue of Vivekananda will be unveiled Sept. 17 on the front lawn of the Vedanta Ashram Society, a Hindu temple and community centre on Cork Street which serves about 400 families. "We were looking for an appropriate symbol of Hindu philosophy, what Indian culture or Hindu philosophy had to contribute to our Canadian society and then we figured . . . that he would be the most appropriate symbol," says Prabir Basu, chairman of the statue installation committee. The monk’s words are as relevant today as when he first appeared at the convention, becoming an instant celebrity and subsequently travelling across North America, says Mr. Basu, who notes that many wars and deaths have been caused over the years by religious fanaticism. In fact, the Swami’s speech at the Sept. 11 opening session of the convention, which included religious leaders from across the world, seems both profound and prophetic given the history of world affairs. "Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often . . . with human blood, destroyed civilization, and sent whole nations to despair," he told the gathering. "Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time has come and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal." He went on to say that no religion is better than another; that "holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world." But Basu calls Vivekananda’s words "the gift we did not open." People of different faiths are still often more concerned with the rituals than the substance of their religions, he says. "If you really go to the philosophy of all religions, they are essentially the same. All religions (say) we are essentially divine, we are the children of the God, nobody disputes that. But when it comes to how we worship, whether we bow three times or four times, whether I go to this building or that building, that’s where our difference comes so that’s why that we say the biggest gift that he gave us, we did not open it," says Mr. Basu, a professor in Dalhousie University’s mechanical engineering department. "And if we had opened that and used what he told us, then we would not have the animosity of infighting in our today’s society." Even in today’s society, Swami Vivekananda is considered the "spokesperson of Hindu philosophy," says Mr. Basu, noting that in India virtually everyone knows his name. His writings are also well known in other parts of the world, adds the professor, who calls Vivekananda "an extraordinary genius.." He became a monk at a very early age and traveled through the poorest areas of India in order to understand "the misery and suffering of ordinary people." And he was just 30 when he addressed the Chicago convention with a philosophy Basu says is still so important today. He says unveiling his statue so close to the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, is a fitting commemoration of the man and that horrible day five years ago. "Sept. 11 to every one of us is one of the most tragic days and the tragedy comes from inherent hatred of one group of people for others and so in order to fight the hatred, we really need to cultivate within us that concept of universal acceptance. . . . We need to accept that every path, every culture, every faith is just as good as others. So that’s why we thought this would be the right and fitting response to what happened on Sept. 11th." ( legge (AT) herald (DOT) ca) "V. Krishnamurthy" <profvk > wrote: advaitin, "Veena Nair" <nairvee wrote: > > Thanks for sharing this. It is so appropriate for the times that we live in. > I feel proud that Gandhiji, who cherished and practiced the principles of > the Geeta, has been remembered on this day. > Veena. > > Namaste One more recalling would be worthwhile. It was on Sept.11, 1893 that the Eastern World spoke to the whole world at Chicago addressing them 'Sisters and Brothers' and the very address opened up a new world of spirituality to the West, in the form of the clarion call of Swami Vivekananda! PraNAms to all advaitins. profvk Everyone is raving about the all-new Mail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 11, 2006 Report Share Posted September 11, 2006 As we commemorate the 100 years of 'SatyAgraha' with which Gandhi Ji guided us to Freedom through the means of Non-Violence, I want to reflect on a question that is troubling me as a Human and As a Hindu. In a nut-shell, Gita's teaching at a practical level is if your 'Dharma' is in danger of extinction, you can resort to violence (without hatred) to preserve and establish Dharma (that is after we exhaust all means of resolution). That presupposes and accepts some collateral damage. For a Hindu, seeing the bombings in Mumbai and elsewhere in India due to Islamic nature; For a Muslim, seeing Israel's aggression in Middle East and for that matter for Jews the very existence of their land due to Islam's refusal to recognize them, do all these justify violence and the resultant collateral damage as prescribed in Gita for greater good? Thanks Sudesh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 11, 2006 Report Share Posted September 11, 2006 advaitin, "Sudesh Pillutla" <sudeshpillutla wrote: > > As we commemorate the 100 years of 'SatyAgraha' with which Gandhi Ji > guided us to Freedom through the means of Non-Violence, I want to > reflect on a question that is troubling me as a Human and As a Hindu. > > In a nut-shell, Gita's teaching at a practical level is if > your 'Dharma' is in danger of extinction, you can resort to violence > (without hatred) to preserve and establish Dharma (that is after we > exhaust all means of resolution). That presupposes and accepts some > collateral damage. NamasteS-ji, There really is only collateral karma! Remember more children died this week, of hunger, than died in the NY attack. 100,000 innocents have also died in the so called 'War on Terror'. WTC is a media event so it is on our tv screens, with politicians etc etc. In perspective it is a dramatic event but it is also used to show that some lives seem more important than others. To quote Gandhiji. 'Violence is the language of those that aren't listened to'. Tony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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