[Sri Ramakrishna] Bullying and Hissing and Biting

[Guest guest]

I had posed this question before but in light of the " hiss but do not bite "

parable if i may be allowed to do so, i shall ask again...

 

we can hiss with effect only when the one being hissed at remains in

ignorance about our benevolence...i.e. we will not bite or inject venom.

 

what if tho' the one hissed at is in knowledge of our 'inability' to

bite...or our conscious refrain against biting and injecting venom..

 

our mere hissing will be rendered ineffective..

 

if the boys in the parable came to know that the snake does not now bite and

only hisses they would have taken advantage would they not?

 

regards

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

If you take things too literally, you end up not understanding what the great Master intended to say.

While being at such an exalted level Sri Ramakrishna Thakur was very very practical when advising householders and all the struggling devotees or doubting minds that used to visit him. You can make that out from the way he used to give tailored advise suited specifically to the level and the temperament of the person asking the question. Where he found that a person was carrying a big load of lustful tendencies he would even advise them to go ahead and fulfil their desires since it would have been useless to advise self control to an unprepared mind. In almost all conversations, there was a context and a person and no advice was supposed to be universal.

When it comes to hissing and biting to my mind the great Master meant that whatever needs to be done in self defense should be done by the householder provided the intention was not revenge or unnecessarily hurting the other person. To a person who does not understand the language of words a hard slap on the face could be a hiss so that the bully understands that there could be more coming if he does not behave. In this the important thing is that the intent of the person who is defending himself is not to hurt but just to do enough to put the necessary fear in a bully who is trying to be a menace. Take an example: the slap of a mother is not violence by any stetch of imagination since there is love deep down in the heart of the mother. So also the "hiss" of a person who is non violent and loving at the mental level. It does not matter if that hiss is a threat or some physical act which deters the bully.

Hope this helps.

Pranams

Dev

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Devinder wrote:

" ...When it comes to hissing and biting to my mind the great Master meant that

whatever needs to be done in self defense should be done by the householder

provided the intention was not revenge or unnecessarily hurting the other

person. " <snip>

 

I think that is a good answer. Self-defense is surely preferable to nonviolence

of the coward. (In addition to saving yourself, you are helping to prevent the

other person from committing a sin.) However, I am in favor of running away from

an attacker if possible! Once, someone tried to attack me (whom I could not hope

to repel, being a small woman with no fighting skills whatsoever), and I did

succeed in running away, while repeating the name of God.

It is difficult to say anything too specific in a hypothetical case. The

original questioner about bullying was undoubtedly referring to schoolchildren's

predicament, for which there must be strategies specially suited to the young

and to the possibly chronic nature of the problem.

In any case, to my mind it can't be a matter of rigidly applying a

principle. A whole way of life must be contemplated, practiced, and lived, and

then one acts spontaneously, moment by moment, and whatever happens happens. If

this physical body is injured, one has to accept that.