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  1. #1
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    Some Personal Thoughts

    Namaste,

    When someone in the forum has a question, we attempt to answer it to the best of our abilities. Since we all come from different backgrounds, the responses are also varied and sometimes conflicting. It appears that we have different specialities - some are very literate in scriptures, others have a lifetime of experience to draw upon, and some possess a mix of the two. Some questions are area specific - the answers may be applicable either to residents of India or of those residing in the Western world. Would it not be advisable to choose questions pertaining to our area of expertise, or at least areas we have some knowledge of before jumping in to make a post. For example, I am a HDF shudra who tends to stay near the feet of the forum section listings, leaving the hallowed upper reaches to those who have deep scriptural knowledge. I tend to mix the general Hindu philosophy with a lifetime of personal experiences and intuition to make posts. People with brahminical qualities/bend could opt out of tackling mundane posts on everyday news events/politics. People with actual yoga/ayurveda/jyotish etc. experience could choose to answer questions from their fields. Of course, many a times, questions involve overlapping backgrounds, in which case there will be advice from different perspectives. This is just an observation/suggestion and HDF being an open forum, I am not suggesting that anyone should refrain from making any posts; but being disciplined would produce better results.

    Another item is that many a times consulting 'your guru' is suggested for answer to a question. Common sense tells us that in the West, you can hardly find learned people capable of serving as gurus. Many people are fortunate even to have a mandir in their neighborhood, and often have to drive long distances just to have a darshan of the deities. Even in India, one could find many fake pandas (guru type material) ready to take your money, but unable to provide anything tangible. So, we should take that into account for our answers. Somebody once asked about yoga positions and out came the answer to consult your guru. Are you kidding me? What guru? Where can you find one in Timbuktu? Assuming that everyone lives in a large metropolitan area with tons of gurus to choose from is a big fallacy.

    The answers to 'area specific' questions become very amusing at times. Someone from Australia expressed disappointment at not being able to connect with divinity through bhajans because of the language barrier. In came the answer from a senior member, 'start speaking Hindi'. Now, one would be hard pressed to learn Hindi (or one of the other Indian languages) in the West, much less 'start speaking' from today onwards. It is laughable to expect a person from a Western country with no one around him/her to teach Hindi to 'start speaking Hindi'. What does that mean? The person does not even know the Hindi alphabet, has no one to teach it to him/her; how in the world do they 'start speaking Hindi'. Obviously the brains need to be put in gear before we start pounding on the keyboard, else something extremely stupid could come out and be posted for all to see. Another person wanted help in identifying the available avenues to go to India and learn Hindi. The premise was to be able to become a Hindi teacher for Hindu kids at some mandir in the US. But one of the answers was that it was not worth learning Hindi (or any other India language) as people on the street in India speak a version of Hindi which is highly contaminated with Arabic/Farsi/Turkish/English words. Overlooked was the fact that it was a Westerner wanting to learn Hindi to teach it to the Hindu kids in the US, and not to converse with people on the streets of Delhi or Mumbai or Hyderabad.

    Many more thoughts come to mind, but I will stop with these for now.

    Pranam.
    Last edited by Believer; 13 April 2013 at 10:56 AM.

  2. #2
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    Re: Some Personal Thoughts

     
    hari o
    ~~~~~~
    namast

    I am quite impressed on the balance you offer in your post. You make excellent points e.g.
    Someone from Australia expressed disappointment at not being able to feel divinity through bhajans because of the language barrier. In came the answer, 'start speaking Hindi'
    This is like hearing ' I am poor and cannot _________ ( fill in the blank)' . The answer is then, 'become rich' ; easy to say hard to execute. And as you mention finding a guru is not the easiest thing. For some not even looking he came , for others , well not so much. And in some cases the guru can be the one casting out the net and you become the fish that is caught ( a blessing indeed).

    Your points are well taken. I note that people come from their POV's with so many influences. These shape the conversation and to get to the ~truth~ of the matter, many-many filters are past though before one gets to the cream of the conversation. Yet with patience and persistence it , at times, is worth the journey. But often then not, people are not even aware the filters are in place and think their view of things is the proper one. This is just how it is, but the way to break through this ( as I have found) takes a few things: humility, and the ability to let yourself be wrong. This beats one's ego into shape the same way a goldsmith hammers metals into a new shape.

    That said, at times, the ~goldsmiths~ on HDF use a sludge-hammer verses a light forming tool. And this is done with the notion that 'the truth must be told'. For me , I do not work well within that goldsmith's shop and choose to just watch and listen. For me , the truth should be sweet to the ears and leave no scars. Then people may think ' oh yajvan, you just can't take it, you are thin skinned.' My answer is simple, I choose not to take it, as what good can come from it ?

    iti śiva
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

  3. #3
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    Re: Some Personal Thoughts

    Namaste,

    The effort to read, analyze and respond to my post is greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, I am a straight shooter and cannot comprehend circular logic or obfuscatory text. And now if I may, I have to go look for the sludge hammer verses in my poetry book.

    Pranam
    Last edited by Believer; 21 March 2013 at 12:49 PM.

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    Re: Some Personal Thoughts

    Vannakkam: I personally usually just watch. What bothers me is when it gets so that some saner people leave, to never come back. What is gained from that? You think you won the intellectual cricket match by forcing your opponent off the court?

    But there is really no solution to set subconscious minds, other than maybe getting a plane, grabbing certain people and hauling them around for a year to see the 'other Hinduism' they are unfamiliar with. Believer, you have a private plane, don't you?

    I'm reminded of Kenny Rogers, "Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em."

    This place evolves though. New faces, many watchers, many come and go. Some of us stick with it, fools that we are.

    Aum Namasivaya

  5. #5
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    Re: Some Personal Thoughts

    Namaste,
    Quote Originally Posted by Eastern Mind View Post
    But there is really no solution to set subconscious minds, other than maybe getting a plane, grabbing certain people and hauling them around for a year to see the 'other Hinduism' they are unfamiliar with. Believer, you have a private plane, don't you?
    I can do better than that; I purchased a space shuttle for faster travel, from the US Dept Of Defense surplus stores. Now only if I could get the darn thing started....

    Pranam.

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    Re: Some Personal Thoughts

    Namaste.

    Since things...happened, I have learned to stick to the Shaiva Forums, unless I can answer a question directly (either by reference or experience) or can robo-quote some scripture somewhere.

    People have their own 'niches' in Hinduism, as well as in life and I figure I can always fall back on my Lord if my other lines of 'reasoning' don't work.

    On the internet, it's quite difficult. You are an 'idiot' (or similar) until proven otherwise and sometimes (oftimes) that can take a very long time.

    I understand about giving 'personal opinions' however, I also understand that most humans have the ability to judge for themselves whether my opinion or experience relates to them or not. Sometimes it does and they thank me, other times it's not applicable and they either ignore me, say 'they've tried that and it doesn't work' or flame me for having the audacity to give my opinion on an Internet Forum to begin with.

    There are also online 'cliques' and 'private forums' and 'exclusivity' so one doesn't know how thick the ice they are treading on is most of the time. We can only be polite, respectful and hope to 'do our best' even if others don't believe in what we do.

    I like the Kenny Rogers reference. I use that a lot as part of my personal philosophy.

    I also read Sun Tsu's 'The Art of War' and sometimes if a battle cannot be won, it should not be fought, so avoidance is the key issue here.

    I figured I can't go wrong talking about Lord Shiva and chanting...

    Aum Namah Shivaya

  7. #7
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    Re: Some Personal Thoughts

    Quote Originally Posted by Believer View Post
    Namaste,

    When someone in the forum has a question, we attempt to answer it to the best of our abilities. Since we all come from different backgrounds, the responses are also varied and sometimes conflicting. It appears that we have different specialities - some are very literate in scriptures, others have a lifetime of experience to draw upon, and some possess a mix of the two. Some questions are area specific - the answers may be applicable either to residents of India or of those residing in the Western world. Would it not be advisable to choose questions pertaining to our area of expertise, or at least areas we have some knowledge of before jumping in to make a post. For example, I am a HDF shudra who tends to stay near the feet of the forum section listings, leaving the hallowed upper reaches to those who have deep scriptural knowledge. I tend to mix the general Hindu philosophy with a lifetime of personal experiences and intuition to make posts. People with brahminical qualities/bend could opt out of tackling mundane posts on everyday news events/politics. People with actual yoga/ayurveda/jyotish etc. experience could choose to answer questions from their fields. Of course, many a times, questions involve overlapping backgrounds, in which case there will be advice from different perspectives. This is just an observation/suggestion and HDF being an open forum, I am not suggesting that anyone should refrain from making any posts; but being disciplined would produce better results.

    Pranam.
    Namaste...

    This is excellent advice, Believer, and such advice is certainly advisable.

    I used to teach university students how to think and argue, having years of education on those matters. So I had much advice. Unfortunately, it was a case of "the blind leading the blind." It's not that I was unqualified; I simply had not learned much of importance from experience. For example, I had not learned to take simple advice from those who were wiser than me. Did Duryodan not receive fine advice from Krishna to give the Pandavs their rightful land? Did he not have to learn through the pain of trials that he was in error?

    So too is the case here and in all walks of humanity. We will do things that should be avoided and have the wrong attitude sometimes. I do not condone such actions. But we also have to be willing to accept the faults and shortcomings of others. We must be ever-ready to show love to them, ourselves, and God. We can do our best to encourage their best efforts, but everyone can learn for themselves, through experience.

    Please forgive me if I presume.

    Pranam.
    "Be the change you wish to see in other people." ~Gandhi

  8. #8
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    Re: Some Personal Thoughts

    Hari Om

    Namaste to all,

    Think your offering is beautiful BelieverJi. Period!

    Thank you.

    Om Namah Shivaya

    FFTW

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