Member Participation

[V V S Mani]

Dear All,
Namaskarams.
In fact, I have been one of the members having almost nil participation
except for reading some of the mails in full ( most topics to above) anyway,
I am leaving this country ( UAE, Sharjah to be precise) back to India due to
some problems back home. I am going back to Britannia in India as of now. My
other mail address would be vvsmani at excite.com or vvsmani32 at hotmail.com
I hope to get serious into getting towards DharmaAacharanam while at Madras.
I need to establish personal contacts with the memebers in Madras to help
this cause.
I sign off temporarily now.
Namaskarams.
VenkataSubramani.(V.V.S. MANI)
At 08:39 AM 09/01/2000 -0400, you wrote:
>On Thu, 31 Aug 2000, S. V. Subrahmanian wrote:
>
>> Dear Shri Raviji,
>>
>> I read your mail regarding people not participating.
>>
>> Among the 125+ that you mentioned there might be atleast
>> 20, (pure guess), who might be new to Vedanta.
>> Their participation might be curtailed by lack of
>> knowledge of certain Vedantic vocabulary used freely, by some
>> of the very erudite, veteran members.  Either they may have
>> difficulty following it or they may be feel shy for they may
>> not feel confident of asking.
>>
>
>Yes people have actually said this to us.  They find the discussions
>forbidding and wonder if they'll get flamed for posting on simple topics.
>
>While I think in this list we do not take kindly to those who spout their
>own views without understanding, if someone has a sincere desire to know
>-- even if he has doubts -- they should feel free to post without
>hesitation.  Because doubts cannot be removed if they are just
>supressed.  I have full confidence that Advaita Vedanta can withstand any
>amount of scrutiny.
>
>Also it is good even for the veterans to go back and look at
>"beginners" topics from time to time.  When I started my study of the
>Bhagavata some people asked me why?  Wasn't I "beyond" that sort of
>thing?  Because the perception was that the Bhagavata Purana is for old
>ladies and illiterate people etc.  But in fact it contains the highest
>philosophy as well as the purest Bhakti.
>
>> I have a suggestion in that regard.  If you permit me I will
>> start a series on a very simple text, a prakaraNa grantha ie.,
>> TATWABODHA by Shri Shankara which can be viewed as a book
>> of working definitions.  It is a very good "first-book" for
>> all beginners, that will get them acquainted to Vedantic terms.
>> That might hopefully give the beginner members SOME background
>> to assimilate scholarly postings.
>>
>> For eg., members who post regularly might use the word
>> "sAdhanachatushtayam", (certainly very simple for those who already know)
>> which if the reader does not understand precisely what it means, he is
>> practically barred from enjoying the posting.
>>
>> Also, many words like for eg., simplest being Sraddha, have been
>> understood loosely, by different people differently.  There are tons
>> of quotations floating around explaining, defining faith.  But
>> in Vedanta, it is important that we understand it the way our
>> AchAryAs (primarily Shri Shankara), have understood and used them.
>>
>> I am benefitting by reading that book.  I think some more might benefit. But
>> if you think, it is too sub-standard for the list,  I will skip the idea
>> (for I do understand that it is basic material).  Also, just to ensure you
>> that no errors would creep through my postings, I will stay TRUE to the
>> edition by Sri Chinmaya Mission Central Trust.
>>
>> I also seek the permission of the List Administrator Shri Jaldharji.
>>
>
>I'm sure neither Ravi, Vaidya or I would object to this wonderful
>idea.  However if you are going to quote extensively froma copyrighted
>work, you must get the permission of the copyright holder.  (small
>excerpts are considered "fair use" and are ok.)  Other alternatives would
>be to do your own translation using the one you've got only as a guide or
>to paraphrase.
>
>--
>Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
>
>--
>bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam
>
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--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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