Practical Vedanta

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Sat, 15 May 1999, mmsudan wrote:

> very right. the more I think and more I am getting convinced to it. That
> Religious order i.e Maths, temples,organisations etc. the religious peoples,
> as a
> class are either not involved or less concerned  on certain
> aspects of our Physical, Social and Moral  life which is going to be, at the
> end of the day,
> very harmful.
>

This is a canard but it is pointless to argue about it with you.  The
pessimist will always see things in the worst possible light and the
optimist will always see things for the best.  Personally, based on what
Giri said and my own experiences in Gujarat and here in America, I incline
towards optimism.  Your mileage may vary.

> Let us have of look. what type of physical, Social and Moral life existed
> through the
> ages?
>

What makes you think history or the shastras give the full picture of what
happened in the past?  History acts as a filter.  Only the notable deeds
good or bad get remembered by future generations.  The petty criminals of
the past never made it into any history book.  You mention Chandraswami
but who will remember him in 50 years let alone 5000?

> What is happening at religious level? what our modern Rishi, Munis doing?

I'm running a mailing list and a website, studying Sanskrit, and doing
puja every day.  What are YOU doing?  Ok that's not fair, I know you asked
about Rshi-Munis and neither of us qualify for that rank.  The point I'm
trying to make is that there is so much that we can do with whatever
resourc
es are at hand so why wait around for Rshi-Munis to tell us what to
do?

> The ruffians in the streets are the
> custodians of moral order extracting  money in the name of organising
> religious
> functions like Bhagwati Jagarns etc.

So the course is clear.  You should organize Bhagawati jagrana and not
charge money for it.  Then the good people will come to you instead of the
ruffians.

[...]

> What is my supreme
> Dharma?

Kashmiri Brahmans are called Pandits because at one time every single one
of them was a scholar.  Restoring that part of your heritage (an
eminently doable and practical objective.) is your dharma.

[...]

>But what is the sAmAnya Dharama of today?Do we or Don't we
> need to
> interpret ancient texts to find new idioms suitable to to Present Physical,
> Social and Moral environment?

This is the difference between a traditionalist and a modernist in a
nutshell.  The modernist keeps tinkering with his religion to attempt to
fit it to the times.  The traditionalist adapts the times to fit his
religion.  Which will have a more lasting effect in the long run?

--
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>