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Re: God and Demigods-is Ganesha demigod?
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To: alt-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Subject: Re: God and Demigods-is Ganesha demigod?
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From: srinivas@Glue.umd.edu (Nagulapalli Srinivas)
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Date: 17 Jan 1995 12:07:10 -0500
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From srinivas@Glue.umd.edu Tue Jan 17 11: 57:13 1995
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Newsgroups: alt.hindu
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Organization: Project Glue, University of Maryland, College Park
In article susarla@great-gray.owlnet.rice.edu (H. Krishna Susarla) writes:
>I just realized something. You actually were not able to condemn Rajneesh.
>This is the same guy who advocated free sex, and you simply said that you
>would follow him if he was "better for you."
Yes I will never condemn anyone until I know for sure the truth about them.
Besides, I do not hold much value to people harping on condemning sins of
others. So what? Krishna did not condemn Arjuna for trying to desert from the
field of action. He made him understand his false estimation of the situation
and inspired him to render his duties as best as he can. Jesus did not condemn
those who nailed him on the cross. He only prayed for them saying they know not
what they do. Also I do not understand how my approach of following, if he is
"better for me" is different from your approach to follow Prabhupada/whosoever
because he is "better for you"???
: course not always I have to test it myself this way. If I am inspired by him,
: probably I can go over his works and step further only if I am still inspired
: by it. God gave me ability to think and analyse not to pack it and keep it
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>Obviously, God was playing a joke on you, since what you were given was
>not even up to the task of telling the difference between a sex-crazed
>fraud like Rajneesh and a genuinely spiritual person.
Oh that is interesting. So you know when God plays jokes also!! Your saying
"God was playing a joke on you" is the biggest cartoon I can think of in
Vedanta, as here is a mortal who can decipher the Infinite Supreme's intentions
so accurately. Gandhiji said, "Condemn the evil and not the evil-doer". If
Rajneesh did really do fraud and inflicted harm and injury on others, there are
enough laws and Criminal Codes that can handle the situation more efficiently
without waiting for my or your posting. And the spirituality that I know of has
nothing to do with what can be handled by ordinary Criminal Codes and Law books.
Now, you analyse.
>Is there anyone here who still thinks that personal experience/taste is
>the best criterion for selecting a spiritual master?
I do not know if you want to get some statistical data on this. Also let me
clarify that personal experience and analysis is not the _best criterion_ for
selecting spiritual master, but for me, it is the _ONLY CRITERION_. Also,
spirituality that I know of and experienced is not dictated by how majority
people think or even endorse. It is how in my own subjective experience the
Truths are convincing or not.
>That's the problem in this Age of Kali-- people are not generally
>interested in God. They want to find someone who tells them that what
>they are doing is okay. Hence, many popular swamis these days don't
>speak out against meat-eating and illicit sex. And this is exactly why
>so many people go for chinmayananda, vivekananda, and rajneesh... and
>dislike Swami Prabhupada and ISKCON.
That is a very superficial observation. It is not true that people are
not interested in God, the point is what TYPE of God, people are NOT
interested in. I already said I do not know Rajneesh. But I can certainly
assert that neither Swami Chinmayananda nor Swami Vivekananda ever endorsed
meat-eating or illicit sex. Now, you can read in the biography of Swami Viveka-
nanda that he did eat fish, only to survive in inclement weather and not to
appease his taste buds. I do not understand your griping about the popularity
of Swami Chinmayananda and Swami Vivekananda. After all those spiritual masters
(leave alone Rajneesh, because I do not know about him) neither craved for
publicity nor name or fame. Also your saying that "people are not interested
in God" is very tickling to me, as my understanding of God is that of
Supreme Beauty and Infinite Intelligence, and if someone doubts His smartness
to enable people get interested in Him, then I doubt who else will???!!!
Very interesting thought!!
-Srinivas Nagulapalli
