[Advaita-l] Chanting Gayatri overseas

[Ravi Mayavaram]

Items #8 and #9, if true,  will undermine the shraddhaa of disciples/devotees. One will then never know when the blessings are genuine and when it  is done as a formality (and which probably means nothing). This may not be the position of the aacharya.

The way I would like to construe is - blessings are there (and with kindness) but for attaining chitta shuddhi and bhakti towards Ishvara - no matter with what request a devotee approaches them.  Hence, it is never a mere formality (at least that is my take). 
 
On the aside, for all those living abroad, real threat is what Ravi Chandrasekhara pointed out.  A large percentage of the children of these immigrants will marry people from other religions and/or other castes. There is a high probability that the  family line of dharma these immigrants may  come to a grinding halt with them. 

 I am convinced that only way to help them is by teaching paatanjala yoga-darshana (and rigorously when they are in high school).   May be via yoga darshana, they may get back to other things later in their lives. Even on the bhakti side, we should mean what we say. For example, never dismiss phala shruti as mere arthavaadaa. That is enough to undermine it. If phala shruti of Sri Vishnu Sahasranaama, says  some things, then that is it. It is true. If we have that conviction and help other Hindus in need, nobody will convert to other religions. 

--
Ravi

 

    On Sunday, October 8, 2017, 12:03:58 PM CDT, Sujal Upadhyay via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:  
 
 Namaste Sri Kalyan ji,

I talked to my friend who has visited Sringeri Matha several times. He
daily practises nitya karma and anusthana, that he is supposed to do as a
Brahmin.​ He did not have all the answers, but honestly gave some answers.
I will share the same.


  1. In Sringeri Matha, there is a belief that crossing ocean is not
  permitted.
  2. Sringeri Jagadguru himself never initiated any setting up of any
  matha or branches in any foreign land.
  3. It is the locals who wanted to practice sanAtana dharma and so kept
  requesting Sringeri Jagadguru many times.
  4. Who actually initiated this establishment is not known to him, but
  according to him matha is just for administrative purpose.
  5. Sringeri Jagaguru may be aware of all these happenings. He has been
  getting invitations for foreign travel but has declined everytime and he
  does not intend to travel to foreign land.
  6. Foreign travel should not be more than 3 days
  7. Those Brahmins who trael abroad and settle there or stay for long
  time may return. However they are not allowed to participate in any of the
  yajna-s i.e. havan and vedika yagja-s organised by matha and denfinitely
  not in the Sringeri matha itself. Only Bra
  ​h​
  mins from Bharat are allowed to perform Yajna
  8. Sringeri Jagadguru may bless anyone who approaches him but this does
  not mean that he endorses their actions. Many come with a hope to solve
  personal or material problems from Jagadguru. He may bless them but this
  does not mean he will actually take away all their sorrows or say tathastu
  and fulfill their wishes.
  9. ​He indicated that at times, Acharya remains detached and neutral to
  many activities and may bless the work as a formality​
  ​. Actually it's not blessings nor it's appreciation, but just a
  formality.


​As per my understanding, Sringeri Acharya does not give upadehsas to all,
but to a select few. He does not give diksha to all. He will not share his
opinion with anyone, but may give casual instruction just to satisfy the
questioner. Only to sincere seeker will he give upadesha which if followed
will change his life and one will surely progress on spiritual path. Like
Ramana Maharshi, he too at times remains aloof from matha activities, like
Sri Chandrashekara Bharathi Swami ji, the guru of Sri Abhinav Vidyatirhta
Swami ji.​

​Regarding degradation of Brahmins, my friend too is worried and he is also
sad that western Hindus actively defend attacks on dharma but not much is
done by traditionalists.


As far as I am concerned, I am not on any side, neverthless foreign travel
is happening. We are doing business with them. We import and export goods.
So their money comes to us. So with it comes their samskAra-s, the
vibrations. We are in a particular situation as described by other members.
So just curious about future and what steps traditional Brahmins are taking
to arrest this trend.


There are dharma and punishments that changes with time. For some sin,
these days it is not possible to donate 9 cows and one bullock as
repentance or punishment. However there are some things that should not be
changed. If certain rules are pivotal for spiritual progress to realise
Atman, they should not be compromised. Maybe ban on foreign travel is one
of them or may be not. I can't judge.


If I have stretched too much. Maybe I should give myself a break.


Hari OM

Sujal



On Sun, Oct 8, 2017 at 9:31 PM, D.V.N.Sarma డి.వి.ఎన్.శర్మ via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Does somebody 's approval disapproval
> ​of marrying outside hindu fold ​
> make a difference?
> Suppose one disapproves what can he do?
>
> Puranas have already predicted
> ​that ​
> in Kaliyuga
> ​
> all the
> ​earlier ​
> norms will be broken. They ha
> ​ve ​
> said that this is *Yuga Dharma*.
> ​That means that *for this age this  is the dharma*.​ Why do we hanker for
> Kritayuga dharma in Kali. Is it not wrong to do so.
> Is there not a motive behind such a desire?  This I think is due to
> mechanisms of vested interests
>
> Every age has a dharma. That dharma evolves slowly in order to keep the
> society at that time in order.
> The modern human society is also slowly evolving its own dharma. The modern
> Hindu society also will do the
> same. I do not think that any of us can stop it.
>
> Vidura has described the highest dharma as
> "Do not do to others those things, when done by others pain your mind"
> He said that this is the supreme dharma. Can there be any higher authority
> for dharma.
> than the incarnation of Yamadharmaraja himself.
>
>
> regards,
> Sarma.
>
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