Guest guest Posted January 11, 2007 Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 God is neither exclusively male nor female. The Eternal One is all genders and more. Peace in The Oneness, Yoshe >"Veena Nair" <nairvee > >advaitin >advaitin >Re: Introduction to Vedanta-2 >Thu, 11 Jan 2007 09:41:37 -0500 > > > > > Sadanandji, PraNams. > > > > > >Thank you for this post, a "thinking aloud"..exercise that most people go >through, I guess, especially when we are plagued by problems and bouts of >unhappiness. Along with all the issues you have raised, one thought that >has >often cropped up in my mind is 'why did God create the world?" I am sure >some of the esteemed members have pondered on this or already have some >rationale to explain the question based on their studies. I 'think' I know >several answers :-) I would be grateful if members pitched in with their >views: > >firstly, the very question is wrong, because as per Advaitha all that we >see >is an illusion, ascribed to Maya. We are all actors in a live dream, so >that >when each of us wakes up, we will no longer be asking this question. It is >a >very unsatisfactory answer, but at this point in time seems the most >appealing. > >Then there is the possibility, that God created the world for his pleasure. >The first few chapters of the Bhagavatham does talk about how the world was >created, right? with Brahma meditating on Brahman and then generating the >seven sages, Sanatkumara, Sadananda, et al., and setting off a chain. But >the problem here is why would God create a world where people end up >forgetting him? > >Then the third possibility is that, God did create the world for his >pleasure as well as ours, so that we could enjoy his creations; but then >God >also gave Man "free will" so that he could exercise it as he chose. Now the >problem that happened is that Man exercised it so much that it gradually >took him away and away from God. So if we start at the top, sages like >Sanatkumara, were only occupied with God and nothing else and quickly at >the >end of their life-span merged back with Him. This continued for some >generations, or several hundreds of years, so that even in the age of >Yagnavalkya and Maitreyi we see them at the end of a life of enjoying all >the worldly pleasures, they have an urge to realize God. But this urge >reduced with time as Man got more busy with the worldly pleasures, to such >an extent that we now need to observe austerities for several janmas before >we can hope to merge back into God... This is an okay explanation but puts >too much importance on "free will". Then concepts such as "prarabdha karma, >sanchita karma" all can be accommodated in this view. I am squarely >responsible for my current life and the best I can do is try and pay off >the >'debts' and not incur any new ones. > >PraNams. >Veena. > > > > > >..-------------------- > > > > > >..where I am going. I have no knowledge of the life before or life after. > > Religions tell me that I go heaven or hell, depending on whether I >follow > > them or not. Only thing that I am sure of is that I am here and the >world is > > there, and I am forced to deal with it through out my life. In fact, >life is > > nothing but transacting with the world from > > birth to death................ > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 11, 2007 Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 Dear Doug , How can you say this with authority dear Doug ? Sometimes the Eternal One appears in the beautiful feminine form (Sri LALITA MAHATRIPURA SUNDARI) and sometimes the eternal one assumes the form of a very handsome man !( Muralidharsa with flute in his hands and peacock feathers in his hair ) Sometimes God appears as half man half woman !( ARDHANAREESHWERA) - It is all in the beholder's eye! The eternal one can assume many names many forms depending on your imagination , would you not agree ? on Another note , since we are on the subject of Genders , please contemplate on this... Let me make you think in terms of God in terms of the Divine feminine (Goddess) "She alone is Atman. Other than Her is untruth, non-self. Hence is She Brahman-Consciousness, free from (even) a tinge of being and non- being. She is the Science of Consciousness, non-dual Brahman Consciousness, a wave of Being-Consciousness-Bliss. The Beauty of the three-great-cities, penetrating without and within, is resplendent, non-dual, self-subsisting. What is, is pure Being; what shines is pure Consciousness; what is dear is Bliss. So here is the Maha-Tripura-Sundari who assumes all forms. You and I and all the world and all divinities and all besides are the Maha-Tripura- Sundari. The sole Truth is the thing named `the Beautiful'. It is the non-dual, integral, supreme Brahman." Bahvricha Upanishad (1.5) Translated by Dr. A. G. Krishna warrier Dear one , it does not matter either way - once you are beyond names and forms Let each one think in terms of the Eternal one in their own way ! if it makes someone happy to think of God as 'He' so be it ! If someone wants to worship God as a 'she ' , it is their privilege ... Their is unity in 'oneness' as also there is peace and joy in such oneness of thinking! Smile ! love and best wishes -- In advaitin, "doug revelle" <mdrdsr41 wrote: > > God is neither exclusively male nor female. The Eternal One is all genders > and more. > Peace in The Oneness, > Yoshe > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 Namaste Sri Dough: Here is my feedback to your many short messages and this is only my opinion. All knowledgeable members of the list will have no problem in accepting your summary conclusions. Our chief moderator has rightly pointed out a sizable number of members of the list are novice and they need substantive information on philosophical conclusions. This is the reason that he has initiated <weeklhy definitions> and Sadaji has initiated the series of articles on <Introductory Vedanta>. Your short conclusions such as the contained in the message do indicate that you are knowledgeable and I request you to expand your conclusions with additional materials. How much we should write is left to the messenger and the following analogy may provide some help: On a cold night, we all enjoy sitting in front of a camp-fire or fireplace to get warm. As a general common sense rule is to neither stay too close to the fire nor too far from the fire. In posting messages also, we can all benefit by not sending messages neither too short nor too long! With my warmest regards, Ram Chandran advaitin, "doug revelle" <mdrdsr41 wrote: > > God is neither exclusively male nor female. The Eternal One is all genders > and more. > Peace in The Oneness, > Yoshe > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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