Guest guest Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 The following posting came from Edith. We had to edit out the earlier message. Once again we remind all members to remove tail end of earlier messages as else they keep getting reposted..........................jay - " Edith Tipple " <edtipple <Ramakrishna > Tuesday, May 04, 2004 08:08 Re: [sri Ramakrishna] Digest Number 1780 Dear Sunil, I am distressed to continue to read in this list the assumption that Americans are overwhelmingly materialistic and Hindus are spiritual. I have many many many Christian American friends whose lives revolve around their spiritual life -- and isn't India becoming enchanted with material things? The cultures as a whole still appear to be materialistic vs. spiritual, but the individuals within those cultures at this particular point in time are what we should be looking to. Edith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 --- Edith, you are right. There is no truth to the statement that Americans are materialistic and Indians are spiritual. Wherever we live, whether we are materialistic or spiritual depends on our psersonality. There are many Americans who have deicated their entire lives to serve others. There are many Indians, on the other hand, who dont care for anyone but themselves. So let us not generalise. In India today, there is so much of imitation of the West in terms of dress, entertainment, speaking English and showing -off instead of speaking their own language, expansion of night clubs, drugs, drinking.... etc. It is amazing that many millions of Hindu folks dont even know some basic prayers that we use on a daily basis. People go to temple asking for all kinds of material things and want to " use " god. Is n't that materialism? A person can live anywhere in the world and can be a materialist or a spiritualist. It is the difference between going outwards and going within. There is a very nice stanza in BHagvadgeetha: " Yaa Nisha sarvabhoothannam tasyam jagarthi samyami yasyaam jaagrti bhhothani sa nisha pashyatho muneh " This means A real muni is one to whom it is day when it is night to everyone and night when it is day to everyone. It is therefore hard to judge people whether they are materialistic or spiritual just based on their appearances. ===== Incredibly low long distance phone rate: 4.5 cents pm! go to:http://www.ldpcphonemodem.cjb.net Need extra cash? Click on:www.theexplodingbusiness.cjb.net Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at HotJobs http://hotjobs.sweepstakes./careermakeover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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