SIVA

[Chelluri at AOL.COM]

                                             OM
NAMASTE!

APPRECIATE IF SOMEONE PROVIDES MEANING TO THE LETTERS "SI" "VA" IN SIVA.

THANKS                                                NAGESWAR

>From  Mon Oct  6 20:40:20 1997
Message-Id: <MON.6.OCT.1997.204020.0400.>
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 20:40:20 -0400
Reply-To: chandran at tidalwave.net
To: "Advaita (non-duality) with reverence" <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
From: Ram Chandran <chandran at TIDALWAVE.NET>
Organization: Home Personal Account
Subject: Scriptures, intellect and learning
Comments: To: Advaita List <Advaita-L at tamu.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Nanda Kumar <nkumar at OPPENHEIMERFUNDS.COM> wrote:

< < "The Self is not known through the study of scriptures, nor through
subtlety of the intellect, nor through much learning. But by him who
longs
for him is he known. Verily unto him does the Self reveal his true
being."

This is the kind of statement which has great scope for
misinterpretation.
Does this statement mean that a person can realize his self without the
study of the scriptures, without exercizing his intellect or learning
from
relevant sources.>>

Dear Nandakumar:  Namaskar.

Literal translation of quotations can lead to misinterpretation and
misunderstanding.  Spiritual experiences are beyond the intellect and
hence beyond intellectual explanations.  By reading and learning
scriptures, we can become religious scholars.  But religious scholars
are not necessarily the spiritual masters.  Self-realization is a divine
experience and hence beyond human description and perception.  We can
safely say that Self-realization is not like getting a school diploma or
a college degree! This does not mean we should not become proficient in
our scriptures.  When we look back to past Indian history, great
spiritual masters were also scholars with a knowledge on the
scriptures.
        One can realize the self without the study of scriptures. But study of
scriptures can motivate a person to look for the TRUTH and direct him
(her) into spiritual path.   At some point of time the spiritual seeker
can get an abundance of guidance from the scriptures and spiritual
masters (Guru).  I would suggest you to read biographies of Adi Sankara,
Ramanujar, Ramanar, Swami Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Swami
Arbindo,  etc. to get further insights.  Most of these biographies are
available in the Internet using appropriate search routines.

Ram Chandran

>From  Mon Oct  6 20:57:47 1997
Message-Id: <MON.6.OCT.1997.205747.0400.>
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 20:57:47 -0400
Reply-To: chandran at tidalwave.net
To: "Advaita (non-duality) with reverence" <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
From: Ram Chandran <chandran at TIDALWAVE.NET>
Organization: Home Personal Account
Subject: ManuSmriti
Comments: To: Advaita List <Advaita-L at tamu.edu>
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Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
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Nanda Kumar <nkumar at OPPENHEIMERFUNDS.COM> wrote:

> ..... But recently I came across an English translation of the text
> called, "The laws of Manu". It was by a Western author and when I
> read the introduction, I was a bit appalled by the crudeness of
> thought from some of the excerpts from the book,.............

Dear Nandakumar: Namaskar.

        After reading your mail, I went to the attic and tried to read my
Master's thesis, written some thirty years back.  When I read this time,
I found that the thesis contained crude language, crude derivations and
with plenty of typos.  Then suddenly, it occured to me, it was over
thirty years back!  Now Manusmriti was written and represented the
ethical and legal laws of a society over five thousand years or more
back! Who are we to judge the appropriateness of laws for that time
period! Societies formulate laws according to social acceptance at that
time!