Guest guest Posted January 25, 1999 Report Share Posted January 25, 1999 [This message contained attachments] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 25, 1999 Report Share Posted January 25, 1999 In a message dated 99-01-25 12:38:33 EST, you write: << It is three weeks since we started this list. We have about 80 rs.The best way to introduce yourselves (only if you wish) may be to send in a short personal introduction and to say what attracts you to Sri Ramakrishna. >> Hello, As suggested, I will attempt a short introduction. I have been a student of Vedanta since 1977. In my personal quest to understand a particular " incident " that had happened in my life, I began a search for answers. This search led me first to hatha yoga. The teacher of this hatha yoga class was a wonderful lady named Mildred Jensen. She had a storehouse of books on Vedanta and other topics. She use to also tell me stories of her trips to St. Louis to see Swami Satprakashananda. The first books she introduced me to were books about Swami Vivekananda. It was Vivekananda who " grabbed " me. His personality, his boldness, his unwillingness, in the beginning, to except anything without proof. I wanted to know more about his teacher, the one who " grabbed " HIM. Thus, I became familiar with Ramakrishna. It is Swamiji who inspires and uplifts me, and it is Ramakrishna who holds the helm steady through the many stormy seas I have encountered. A discussion on celibacy? In what context? I think such a discussion would be marvelous. Controversial yes, in many ways, if one is a monastic, but what of those who are not? Do you feel the question of celibacy is so controversial among the non-monastics? I, for one, do not. We perhaps have lots of questions about it tho. I know I do. Example: It is said that celibacy is a requirement for god-realization, yet we find many examples of illumined souls who were NOT celibate. Just thought I would toss this out for discussion. I hope this post gets through alright. I noticed that Jay says there has already been alot of discussion taking place, yet, I have yet to receive a post from anyone. Sincerely, Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 25, 1999 Report Share Posted January 25, 1999 Hello, Sathyanarayanan.K is my name. I am from Madras, India. Sri Ramakrishna Swami's simplicity in preaching, has attracted me. I thought, this mailing list is a good place to gain some indepth knowledge about his preaching. thanks, Sathya Vivekananda Centre <vivekananda wrote: > > Revered Friends > > It is three weeks since we started this list. We have about 80 rs.The best way to introduce yourselves (only if you wish) may be to send in a short personal introduction and to say what attracts you to Sri Ramakrishna. > > We have had a fair bit of exchanges so far. One person asked, " Why do you call me revered - I am just an ordinary person " . Well, if you like Sri Ramakrishna then you automatically become 'revered' in our eyes. A senior monk on the list suggested why don't you put something controversial on the list. So let us introduce a topic which is unique to Sri Ramakrishna. > > " Celibacy " . > No prophet in recent times has been as severe in his teachings of celibacy as Sri Ramakrishna. He says even if you are married do not treat that as a license to lust. After the birth of one or two children treat your partner as a spiritual companion. > > pranams > Vivekananda Centre. http://www.btinternet.com/~vivekananda/ > > <HR> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC " -//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN " > <HTML> <HEAD> <META content=text/html;charset=iso-8859-1 http-equiv=Content-Type><BASE href= " file://C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Stationery\ " > <STYLE> <!-- body { margin-left: 8em; font-family: " Times New Roman " , " Arial " ; font-weight: plain; font-size: 12pt; } --> </STYLE> <META content=' " MSHTML 4.72.3110.7 " ' name=GENERATOR> </HEAD> <BODY background=cid:000301be4860$ea1bbfe0$0100007f@nnnyx bgColor=#cc99cc> <DIV><FONT color=#800000 face= " Comic Sans MS " size=2>Revered Friends</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#800000 face= " Comic Sans MS " size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#800000 face= " Comic Sans MS " size=2>It is three weeks since we started this list. We have about 80 rs.The best way to introduce yourselves (only if you wish) may be to send in a short personal introduction and to say what attracts you to Sri Ramakrishna.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#800000 face= " Comic Sans MS " size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#800000 face= " Comic Sans MS " size=2>We have had a fair bit of exchanges so far. One person asked, " Why do you call me revered - I am just an ordinary person " . Well, if you like Sri Ramakrishna then you automatically become 'revered' in our eyes. A senior monk on the list suggested why don't you put something controversial on the list. So let us introduce a topic which is unique to Sri Ramakrishna.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#800000 face= " Comic Sans MS " size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#800000 face= " Comic Sans MS " size=2> " Celibacy " .</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#800000 face= " Comic Sans MS " size=2>No prophet in recent times has been as severe in his teachings of celibacy as Sri Ramakrishna. He says even if you are married do not treat that as a license to lust. After the birth of one or two children treat your partner as a spiritual companion.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#800000 face= " Comic Sans MS " size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#800000 face= " Comic Sans MS " size=2>pranams</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#800000 face= " Comic Sans MS " size=2>Vivekananda Centre. <A href= " http://www.btinternet.com/~vivekananda/ " >http://www.btinternet.com/~viveka\ nanda/</A></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#800000 face= " Comic Sans MS " size=2> </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML> > ATTACHMENT part 2 image/gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 30, 1999 Report Share Posted January 30, 1999 > Revered Friends It is three weeks since we started this list. We >have about 80 rs.The best way to introduce yourselves (only if >you wish) may be to send in a short personal introduction and to say what >attracts you to Sri Ramakrishna. We have had a fair bit of exchanges so >far. One person asked, " Why do you call me revered - I am just an >ordinary person " . Well, if you like Sri Ramakrishna then you >automatically become 'revered' in our eyes. A senior monk on the list >suggested why don't you put something controversial on the list. So let >us introduce a topic which is unique to Sri Ramakrishna. " Celibacy " . No >prophet in recent times has been as severe in his teachings of celibacy >as Sri Ramakrishna. He says even if you are married do not treat that as >a license to lust. After the birth of one or two children treat your >partner as a spiritual companion. pranams Vivekananda Centre. Dear Dilip and Friends, Yes, it is a hard saying. We have a class here weekly in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. We read aloud and comment and ask questions. On nearly every page I feel obliged to somehow soften the blows for our American friends, especially where the Master's remarks are about sex and women. It's different for Indians, who have a long tradition of control and abstinence, but as noted above, difficult even for you. As avatar of the age, he no doubt felt he had to set before us the very highest ideal, and no compromise. We just have to take it as that, and remind ourselves how much farther we have to go, to perfection. I say this to the devotees: you can attain spiritual experience and move up the ladder of yoga from the married life. But if you aspire to the highest, to bhava samadhi and on up, sex life has to be left behind. No two ways about it. I stress the positive side: Swamiji used to say, " Just imagine how wonderful it will be to feel yourself in ALL bodies! " And Sri Ramakrishna: " The bliss of God is like having orgasm in every cell of your body, not just a small part, for a short time. " In HIm, Yogeshananda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 31, 1999 Report Share Posted January 31, 1999 In a message dated 99-01-31 15:48:26 EST, yogeshananda writes: << But if you aspire to the highest, to bhava samadhi and on up, sex life has to be left behind. No two ways about it. I stress the positive side: >> I do not disagree with this statement, however, is it not also true that as one advances toward the Ultimate, that the desire for sex begins to diminish? Sex life looses it's " glamor " once one has tasted the bliss of God. It becomes dull in comparison. Also, to lead a celibate life, without having lost the desire for sex, to me seems to be mere supression, and that which is supressed can at times become greatly intensified. Thus this seems, to me, to be a bit of a dilema for those aspiring to lead a celibate life. Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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