No subject

[Giridhar]

>>
>>         They leave their motherland with the sole objective
>> of fulfilling their material ambition, which itself is the antithesis
>> of the true practice of Hinduism. They do not want to be in the

Since you did not comment on the sentence above, I presume that
you agree with the above statement. As I remarked earlier, this
applies to _everyone_ who forsakes spirituality with the objective
of fulfilling their material ambition. Of course, that includes me.

>> common folk of this country. They want to be hygenic, clean and
>> economically high-placed.
>
>        This is a social problem that has nothing to do with religion at
>all. Who doesn't want to be hygienic, clean and economically well-off.

 Was Ramana Maharshi economically well-off ? Did He ever
_want_ to be economically well-off ? Well, there's your answer to the
question, 'Who doesn't want to be ... economically well-off ?'  Did any of
our other saints want to be rich ? Have you heard of Ramakrishna paramhansa
constant warning against attachment to kanchana ?

>Does "Hinduism" preach that a man should not be any of these?

No, but it does say that these are not _as important as_ having bhakti or
jnana. To extend it further, any one who forsakes
spirituality for being clean and economically  well-off is living a life which
is antithesis to moksha. Just imho.


>that the mind creates. And now the "followers" of the "Hindu" dharma are
>so righteous and so great that they will protect the dharma from being
>harmed. Personally, this is a ridiculous attitude that has lead to as much
>"harm" as its absence might have done.

Maybe.

>
>>
>>         First we have to become rightful insiders to understand
>> the subtlelities involved in religion. Only then we will have a
>> right to criticize. [A]
>
>        Perhaps the only sensible thing written in this article.


Ah ! Then you agree that you should become a rightful insider to
understand the subtleliyies. Well, then to understand Shankara, don't
we have to listen to acharyas in that lineage and not impose our own
ideas and thoughts. Think about it. All that was presented here were
several quotes from HH from Sringeri and Kanchi to clarify various
issues on fate, free will, puja, dharma etc.
                Is it right of us, without becoming a rightful insider, to criticize

the views of these great acharyas _without_ any logic or reason ?

>        Notice that nobody talks about improving the situation, of
>removing inconveniences so that culture can flourish. They all talk about
>some doomsday predictions.

Who is this nobody ? Do you read all the articles which appear in various
newspapers and magazines ? Even a cursory glance would reveal that there
are several social organizations which spend their time and effort so that
the culture flourishes. Of course, there are numerous obstacles and problems,
but there are enough articles on removing inconveniences so that the Hinduism
culture can flourish.


>for perusal of course.  I remember the issue of copyright violations
>coming up then, and it being recommended that no such articles be posted
>on the list. I just hope that Shri Giri's posting doesn't fall under that
>category.

Don't worry about it.

AUM shaantiH