[Advaita-l] Amma Swamini Swathmabodhananda Saraswathi no more.

[Praveen R. Bhat]

Namaste Raghav ji,


On Tue, Nov 12, 2019 at 7:23 PM Raghav Kumar Dwivedula via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> > Excessive rigidity would lead to the Sanatana Dharma too falling in to
> the
> > trap of the quest for ostensibly purer and purer absolutist adherence to
> > customs a la the Islamic tradition. ( which successively declares their
> own
> > sects and subsects as deviant blasphemers until only the Salafis are left
> > as Muslims and everyone else is committing blasphemy to various degrees.)
> > Excessive flexibility in customs on the other hand  leads to a 'sab kuch
> > chalta hai' attitude which is also a problem. It needs a lot of
> 'kaushalam'
> > to find the balance.
>

Divine Life Society (DLS)/ Swami Shivanandaji Maharaj (SS) was a pioneer in
initiating women and foreigners into sannyAsa. I recall an incident quoted
by one Swamini Amma at DLS, Rishikesh. SS had asked to write a book on Yoga
while she was really an expert on Vedanta and not Yoga! By the time she
finished the book, SS had attained mahAsamAdhi and she approached HH
Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamiji for blessings. There she boldly told HH
that even if orthodoxy may not agree, she considers herself as a sannyAsI
belonging to the Sringeri tradition as SS was initiated by a sannyAsI of
the Sringeri tradition. HH said that he appreciated her courage and a wrote
a foreword to her book.

SS used to initiate people into sannyAsa even on postcard! When asked as to
this unheard-of way to initiate people into sannyAsa, he simply said
something to the effect so: there is a traditional view that mokSha is not
possible without sannyAsa and I do not want to deny the possibility of that
to anyone.

Kind rgds,
--Praveen R. Bhat
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