[Advaita-l] Fwd: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} Swami Dayanand Saraswati (of Arsha Vidya Gurukulam) leaves his body

[Srikrishna Ghadiyaram]

Om!

Mr. Stephen Knapp's narration was simple. Only Sri Jaldhar and Others 
chose to see 'corruption' in that.

It is obvious/possible that Swami Dayananda, through his letter, wanted 
to inform any doubters that Stephen Knapp should not be prevented from 
being able to participate in his chosen temple visits, because he does 
not look like another common Indian.

I would even guess that Swami Ji would have had the intention that 
Stephen Knapp would write about Hindu (temple) culture which he learns 
from the eyes of a researcher, which we ourselves have ignored and 
destroyed or do not do enough to highlight. Even if someone argues that 
he/she is doing  a lot to represent Hindu culture, a new / foreign 
observation is a welcome addition, specially if it has a broader 
appeal/reach in and outside India.

The objective of the narration was to highlight how considerate Swami Ji 
was, to pay attention to individuals who were involved in the 
propagation of Hindu Dharma.

People should not read out-of-context.

There is no reason to have grudge even if some VIP (in general, not 
referring to Stephen Knapp's narration) gets preference and is being 
able to cut lines/queues, after all Isvara knows what is right. Those 
VIPs, more than common people like me, have to work in their allotted 
fields of public good. But, they may have their own needs of temple 
visits. So, facilitating them to move forward is not a loss. They will 
do good to public in general. Isvara knows, not just the internet critics.

No priest can attend Stephen Knapp or any others, over long period of 
time in a day, so they may want to finish the task and move on. So, the 
priest might have taken SK to the front of the line and finished his 
task first. It might appear differently to others.

Those who can't see Isvara's plan sulk and complain and lose sight of 
the Meenakshi who is shining in front.

If there is one lesson that can be taken from Stephen Knapp's narration 
of Swami Ji's letter, it is that one should do whatever they can to 
facilitate, propagate Hindu Dharma.

Because not everyone can see it, let the spiritual leaders direct common 
course.

Om!

Srikrishna

On 9/25/2015 2:32 AM, Jaldhar H. Vyas via Advaita-l wrote:
>
> Of all the accomplishments of Swamiji one could have mentioned, this 
> one doesn't exactly show him in a good light.
>
>>
>> written by Shri Nandanandana Das (Stephen Knapp):
>>
>> He was greatly influential, and was well-known all across India. In 
>> fact,
>> he had written and signed a letter of reference for me, stating that 
>> I was
>> a sincere Hindu and should be treated with the respect that I 
>> deserve. That
>> way when I would go to certain temples in India, I could show that 
>> letter
>> to get in, if they were not allowing certain people inside. So one time
>> when I went to the Meenakshi temple, the priests would not allow me into
>> the sanctums because of being white-skinned. So I showed the management
>> that letter from Swamiji, and after they had some discussion about 
>> it, they
>> arranged one of their priests to take us into all of the sanctums and do
>> pujas, taking us to the head of the long lines of India pilgrims, who 
>> were
>> watching and wondering why I and a friend of mine got to go to the 
>> head of
>> the lines while everyone else had to wait. It was like we were shown
>> special privileges that even the locals did not receive. I still have 
>> that
>> letter.
>
> Actually I don't think any pilgrim was wondering how he got to the 
> front of the line.  Being able to bend the rules by having connections 
> with a "big man" is par for the course in Mother India.
>