New posting on village life in Tamil Nadu - Moderators' response

[Guest guest]

Dear Richard and other respected members:

 

Currently the list only moderates the messages from the newly

enrolled members. Members who have been posting responsibly for most

of the time have not been moderated. When a member violates any of

the list polices, he or she will be reminded with a warning not to

repeat such violations. The repeating violators (less than 5 so far)

will be put under moderation and their messages will be reviewed by

one of the moderators before releasing to the list.

 

Now questions have been raised regarding the message from Sri Richard

regarding its relevance to Vedanta and specifically with respect to

Sankara's Advaita. Strictly according to the guidelines of the list,

certain contents of the linked webpage may not be relevant. But

Richard did not post the complete contents of the webpage as a

message but just provided the link. The issue is whether it is

relevant for members to discuss the contents of that webpage in this

list and the moderators do believe that it is not RELEVENT!

 

In future members are requested not to discuss the contents of a web

page that are not relevant with respect to Vedanta. Also members

including Sri Richard who posts link should state appropriate

warnings such as the following:

1. The post link with a summary of a typical village life in South

India is only for information.

2. Some aspects of the link page may likely be objectionable to some

members of the list.

3. If anyone wants to discuss the contents of the webpage, please

correspond with me through private emails.

 

Finally, we request members to stop discussing the contents of the

linked homepage.

 

Thanks again for your cooperation and understanding.

 

Advaitin List Moderators

 

 

advaitin , " Richard Clarke " <richard wrote:

>

> I have a new posting for you to look at, on village life in South

> India. This is about a family feast we attended yesterday in a

village

> about 60 KM from Tiruvannamalai.

>

> 2008/07/19/family-feast-in-gondapatai-village-

tamil-nadu/

>

> Read and enjoy.

>

> Om Arunachala,

> Richard

>

[Guest guest]

advaitin , " R Henry " <rhenry1210 wrote:

>

> List Moderators' Note:

> Vedanta discussions can include almost everything that we encounter

in our life. But as a discussion list, some aspects of our life is

more relevant than others and consequently we are forced to limit our

discussions that are more directly related to Sankara's advaita

vedanta. Consequently, we have to prioritize what we want to discuss

and that is the reason for the guidelines and regualtions.

> ============================

>

> I am aware that this message will be moderated and I would not

expect it to posted publicly. I only wanted to respond to this message

to suggest that the ensuing discussion did, in fact, BECOME relevant

to Advaita. I am very new and my knowledge is limited to my own ideas

and the few books I have been able to read thus far.

>

> Some of the replies during the discussion gave me some valuable

insight into the philospohy of Advaita itself. The relevence of the

discussion, in my own humble opinion, was the simple notion of what

was or was not relevant to Advaita. Further, some of the replies

illustrated how even the seeming irrelevant could be viewed in a

manner which WAS relevant; how, because there are not two things, one

discussion is not more or less relevant than another, in truth, and

how anything can be seen in a way that is appropriate to the philosophy.

>

 

 

There is something called " Shankara sampradaya " which takes into

account all these cultural factors, ties together the Vedanta with the

Vedas and the dharma shastras -- a whole package. That is one of

Shankara's successes, to accomodate for variety without absolutism and

guiding them all to the Vedantic conclusions. Orthodox schools value

all these things as indispensable for consideration, certainly not to

be belittled carelessly or overenthusiastically. It does not mean all

variations are considered equally virtuous (not advaita in that

sense), but all have their place in human (and other) evolution. A few

(like the Brahmanas or Sannyasis) have stringent requirements to

uphold the highest standards, whereas others adhere to easier

guidelines; for instance, meat-eating is done by the latter only on

certain days or avoided on certain days, or done through the practice

of rituals. The ideal for all is ahimsa but the requirement is for the

few, that being their social sva-dharma. As we see in arguments, those

who pursue the ideal can be seen as virtuous, and the sva-dharma

notion gets lost/equated with right-wrong, good-bad, superior-inferior.

 

There are people who give up milk on account of starvation of calves,

or yogurt since it has live cultures to ferment. There are some who

give up spinach etc since to eat that kills the plant, and eat only

food that does not harm the tree. There are jains who close their

mouths lest some insect (?) goes in and perishes. All these people are

serious ahimsaists who put me to shame; I wish (?) I was like that.

But right now, I am not nor have such a conviction to think so

particularly. I respect them but can I move from where I am? And the

practical Shankara sampradaya gives me a place as well, the common

goal being Brahma-Jnana with ahimsa becoming a natural consequence. Cool.

 

As for strictly Vedanta discussions, we can drop the culture-talk and

talk only on Brahman, etc.

 

thollmelukaalkizhu