Guest guest Posted September 9, 1999 Report Share Posted September 9, 1999 Dear Dr. Shah, I have been thinking a lot about your question: " Should the monk have told the lie? " It is a vital issue that we face every day of our lives....those 'little white lies'.......are they acceptable? Well, after prolonged meditation, this is what I have come up with: Let us say that perhaps he had no intention of butchering the cow, but rather to bring it back from straying. This cow provided the milk for his infant son and daughter. These poor unfortunate children had gone without milk for three days, while the poor butcher was chasing around looking for the cow..... Finally, he sees the cow !! He says: " Govinda, Govinda ! Thank you ! Thank you!....but as he passes the next bend in the road, he sees the monk, who has ASSUMED that the butcher wishes to slaughter the beast....and then sends him down the wrong road. He loses the cow and his children perish from starvation. The monk didn't realize that this was a pious Vaishnava butcher, who only slaughtered sheeps and goats for a living, but never cows. So, if the monk had follwed Thakur's and Swamiji's advice, all would have turned out well ! om shanthi om ____ 123India - India's Premier Search Engine Get your Free Email Account at http://www.123india.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 9, 1999 Report Share Posted September 9, 1999 Tom too much suppositios. I think the monk will be wise enough to judge the intentions of butcher or we will to go in the past to see the incident for ourselves n decide the intentions of butcher. I too thought abt judging butcher's motive but frm Karmaa Yoga view point. But then i thought we r not to get lost in judging the motives of butcher. n wat if the bucher him a yogi someone like " Dharma Vyadha " . I think for him killing of cow is justified for he does his work unattached. I think story says that truth will lead to death of cow and a lie will save her. Truth leading to the death of cow i think we have to look at the story like this. the story says that they were without food n money for two days. So i guess it was killing the cow n selling her meat. U can also say that he will sell cow's milk. No one perished. There were hungry for just two days. i can be wrong too in all above On 9 Sep 1999 omtatsat wrote: > <omtatsat > > Dear Dr. Shah, > > I have been thinking a lot about your question: " Should the monk have told the lie? " It is a vital issue that we face every day of our lives....those 'little white lies'.......are they acceptable? > > Well, after prolonged meditation, this is what I have come up with: > > Let us say that perhaps he had no intention of butchering the cow, but rather to bring it back from straying. This cow provided the > milk for his infant son and daughter. > > These poor unfortunate children had gone without milk for three days, while the poor butcher was chasing around looking for the cow..... > > Finally, he sees the cow !! He says: " Govinda, Govinda ! Thank you ! Thank you!....but as he passes the next bend in the road, > he sees the monk, who has ASSUMED that the butcher wishes to > slaughter the beast....and then sends him down the wrong road. > > He loses the cow and his children perish from starvation. > > The monk didn't realize that this was a pious Vaishnava > butcher, who only slaughtered sheeps and goats for a living, > but never cows. > > So, if the monk had follwed Thakur's and Swamiji's advice, > all would have turned out well ! > > om shanthi om > > > ____ > 123India - India's Premier Search Engine > Get your Free Email Account at http://www.123india.com > > > > --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- > > How would you like to have a voice in the marketplace and be > rewarded for it? SurveySpot members earn cash and prizes for > taking part in market research studies! > <a href= " http://clickme./ad/surveyspot1 " >Click Here</a> > > ------ > Sri Ramakrishnaye Namah > Vivekananda Centre London > http://www.btinternet.com/~vivekananda/ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 10, 1999 Report Share Posted September 10, 1999 Another twist or possibility -- what if the butcher *was* going to slaughter the cow? At the critical moment, the monk can't really know, so he does what he *thinks* is best. Would it be correct to say that in the spirit of karma yoga, he does the best he knows how, then leaves the result (of his action) to God? I substitute a person in this story and imagine a person is running after -- I imagine the second person means to kill the first (i can't know for sure, so i do what i believe - in that split second -- to be correct). Aren't we in similar situations a lot even in our daily lives? Doesn't our devotion save us from our all-too-human errors? If not, I am damned for all time! Karen Westend Ashram ps - I have been accused of being an Honest Joe and telling the truth even when I shouldn't, so I do suffer from truth-telling!!!! :-) But, I think saving a person is a kind of truth that is higher than the kind of truth my computer understands - yes/no, right/left, etc. omtatsat wrote: > <omtatsat > > Dear Dr. Shah, > > I have been thinking a lot about your question: " Should the monk have told the lie? " It is a vital issue that we face every day of our lives....those 'little white lies'.......are they acceptable? > > Well, after prolonged meditation, this is what I have come up with: > > Let us say that perhaps he had no intention of butchering the cow, but rather to bring it back from straying. This cow provided the > milk for his infant son and daughter. > > These poor unfortunate children had gone without milk for three days, while the poor butcher was chasing around looking for the cow..... > > Finally, he sees the cow !! He says: " Govinda, Govinda ! Thank you ! Thank you!....but as he passes the next bend in the road, > he sees the monk, who has ASSUMED that the butcher wishes to > slaughter the beast....and then sends him down the wrong road. > > He loses the cow and his children perish from starvation. > > The monk didn't realize that this was a pious Vaishnava > butcher, who only slaughtered sheeps and goats for a living, > but never cows. > > So, if the monk had follwed Thakur's and Swamiji's advice, > all would have turned out well ! > > om shanthi om > > ____ > 123India - India's Premier Search Engine > Get your Free Email Account at http://www.123india.com > > --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- > > How would you like to have a voice in the marketplace and be > rewarded for it? SurveySpot members earn cash and prizes for > taking part in market research studies! > <a href= " http://clickme./ad/surveyspot1 " >Click Here</a> > > ------ > Sri Ramakrishnaye Namah > Vivekananda Centre London > http://www.btinternet.com/~vivekananda/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 10, 1999 Report Share Posted September 10, 1999 Had fun reading it. ))))) > > omtatsat [sMTP:omtatsat] > Thursday, September 09, 1999 10:49 PM > ramakrishna > [ramakrishna] addenda 2 > > <omtatsat > > Dear Dr. Shah, > > I have been thinking a lot about your question: " Should the monk have told > the lie? " It is a vital issue that we face every day of our lives....those > 'little white lies'.......are they acceptable? > > Well, after prolonged meditation, this is what I have come up with: > > Let us say that perhaps he had no intention of butchering the cow, but > rather to bring it back from straying. This cow provided the > milk for his infant son and daughter. > > These poor unfortunate children had gone without milk for three days, > while the poor butcher was chasing around looking for the cow..... > > Finally, he sees the cow !! He says: " Govinda, Govinda ! Thank you ! > Thank you!....but as he passes the next bend in the road, > he sees the monk, who has ASSUMED that the butcher wishes to > slaughter the beast....and then sends him down the wrong road. > > He loses the cow and his children perish from starvation. > > The monk didn't realize that this was a pious Vaishnava > butcher, who only slaughtered sheeps and goats for a living, > but never cows. > > So, if the monk had follwed Thakur's and Swamiji's advice, > all would have turned out well ! > > om shanthi om > > > ____ > 123India - India's Premier Search Engine > Get your Free Email Account at http://www.123india.com > > > > --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- > > How would you like to have a voice in the marketplace and be > rewarded for it? SurveySpot members earn cash and prizes for > taking part in market research studies! > <a href= " http://clickme./ad/surveyspot1 " >Click Here</a> > > ------ > Sri Ramakrishnaye Namah > Vivekananda Centre London > http://www.btinternet.com/~vivekananda/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 10, 1999 Report Share Posted September 10, 1999 > Doesn't our devotion save us from our all-too-human errors? > > If not, I am damned for all time! > > Karen > Westend Ashram > > ps - I have been accused of being an Honest Joe and telling the truth even when I shouldn't, so I do suffer from truth-telling!!!! :-) But, I think saving a person is a kind of truth that is higher > than the kind of truth my computer understands - yes/no, right/left, etc. :-) Karen wat a simple definition of truth. Fuzzy logic instead of binary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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