New Member !!!

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Thu, 6 Feb 1997, VP Nandakumar wrote:

> Hi,
>
>         I'm Nandakumar and work as a  Database administrator for a bank in
 Iowa,
> US. I was born and brought up in Madras. Coming from an orthodox brahmin
 family,
> complete with the sacred thread, I've said prayers morning and evening,
 without
> really understanding them.
>
>         Being curious by nature and always demanding answers of logic and
> reason, my faith in my religion had evoporated by the time I was out of
 college.
> Then on, moral personal conduct and justification was what I help supreme.
>

I understand were you're coming from.  I was born and brought up in
England and while my parents did their best to give me a good background
in our traditions they were not able to answer advanced questions.
Luckily they were able to steer me to people who could and with their
blessings I can say I know a little today.

>         Then a few years back, I read this book called "The Razor's Edge" by
> Somerset Maugham (I'm a voracious reader), which explained concepts about my
> religion which I'd never heard of, but which made great sense to me!
>
>         The concepts in the book were based on Advaita. From then on I've
 tried
> to enrich my knowledge in the subject and I'm still in the beginner level. I'm
> sure this discussion group will enrich me further.
>
>         By the way, Advaita is being taught in the London School of Economics
> and advertisements for the course were all over the tube stations in London.
>

That's very interesting about Somerset Maugham.  I'll have to take a look
at that book.  I should warn you however that a lot of people read into
Advaita things which aren't actually there.  It is far better (and not
that much more difficult) to learn Sanskrit and read the shastras than to
rely on Somerset Maugham or the LSE etc.  I think you'll find this list is
a valuable resource too (as long as you ignore some of the nuttier members.)

--
Jaldhar H. Vyas [jaldhar at braincells.com]   And the men .-_|\ who hold
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