Re: Closed the thread in Vishishtadvaita forums?
Namaste,
My thinking on this matter is that it is the F in HDF which is defended by this rule. Unless one is a university professor employed to educate others, or a guest speaker invited to give a lecture, one would not enter a room full of people and speak on a single topic for an hour continuously. We are a forum, i.e. a place for discussion and debate. Large blocks of text, especially when posted over a short period of time, serve more of a storage and reference purpose; they are excellent resources for members, but are cumbersome and do not encourage people to debate the material at hand. This monologue format seems the equivalent of a person claiming forum space to host a personal lecture series; such material would be more appropriately hosted on a blog or website.
Here are two suggestions, not to circumvent this rule per se, but to keep HDF a place for Hindus to actively engage in spiritual discussion with each other:
--Host the relevant verses and interpretations off-site, provide a link in a thread, and ask for opinions and discussion about the material. Cite only brief quotes in responses, to help keep the discussion on-track.
--Post the material little by little, perhaps one brief chapter each day. This practice would give members an appropriate amount of time to consider the profound meaning of each section and to formulate quality responses. It would also keep the thread active over a long period of time and encourage ongoing conversation, instead of making so many points at once that any reader must write a corresponding essay to reply.
I avoid long "dumps of text" because, when I see large masses of material, following one post after another, my impression is that the author does not wish to engage with HDF on the topic at hand, but to draw attention to his/her scholarship and/or opinions. I hope that members do adhere to this forum rule, understanding Satay's reasons for it, as I believe it to be an excellent one.
"What was, what is, what will be: I am That." -from Bāṣkalamantra Upaniṣad
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