Dear Sri Tatachar, Sri Vasudevan
May I say what a beautiful selection of verses that was from Sri
tAtAchAr swAmin on how to elucidate concepts of salvation and grace
within bhakti tradition and Hinduism in general.
If I may offer some input, I have also had experience with this
debate - as a university student, interfaith interaction is very
common for me and have had such discussions with devout evangelical
Christians.
My troubles in the past stemmed from a desire to somehow defend
all of Hinduism from the criticisms of Christians or Muslims. Before
I had any awareness on sampradAyam, I understandably found this a
very difficult task - perhaps it is an impossible one. My personal
experience is that if you wish to carry out this discussion at all,
focussing more on a specific tradition (e.g. bhakti/Vaishnava, or
Advaita, or Dvaita etc) will be a little more useful. The Sri
Vaishnava's answers to common Christian questions may be very
different to the Advaitin's answers, for example. Our University
Hindu student bodies in the UK are only just coming round to this
reality.
Lastly like Sri tAtAchAr swAmin, I too came to realise that
there is little point in trying to set out to convince a devout
Christian that his view on other religions is wrong - his/her
sincerely held convictions are based on his interpretation of their
scripture and 'anubhAvams'. We can say exactly the same for us in
many ways. Perhaps a staunch Sri Vaishnava would insist that without
performing samAshrayaNam, there is no way to salvation. This isn't
that different to their stance, to a rough first approximation.
For the less clever ones like me, I like to simply hope that the
Lord will shower his grace on every being in His creation, whether
they follow the same 'sAdhanA'/'tattvam' as me or not. I haven't got
the intellect to prove one or the other right or wrong, and so to me
anyway, all such arguments become futile after a while. I hope no
offence was caused to anyone.
sarvAparAdhAn kShamasva
with praNAmams,
Ranjan
--- In SriRangaSri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, tatachar@xxxx wrote:
>
>
> I have gone through this.
> Based on my experience, here are some simple tips:
>
> First, forget all you know about Hinduism, exept for the
> simple translation of 4 shlokas of Gita (see below) in parts.
> They are not interested in breadth and depth of information;
> nor will they help you in the debate.
> Because, the debate will come to 4 points:
> 1. Jesus said he is the only way...
> 2. He died for your sins and whoever believes in him will be saved.
> 3. This is available readily and equally to anyone.
> 4. You don't need any mediation, except to let you know that it is
available!
>
> The following shlokas of Bhagavadgita is all you need:
> Also, note just simple direct translations. NO BHASHYAMS please!
> 1. api-chEt su-durA-chA-rO bh-ja-tE mAma-na-nya-bAk....sah.
> Even the gravest sinner, if he prays me alone, he should be
considered wise.
> (this is important because no prior qualification is needed,and the
worst of worst
> are equally and readily saved)
> 2. xi-pram bha-va-ti dha-rmA-tma......na-mE bha-ktah-prana-shya-ti.
> Such a person is instantaneously transformed spiritually..
> (This is important because of the speed with which
thetransformationhappens)
> 3. stri-yO-vai-shya ta-thA shU-drAh......ga-tim.
> (Irrespective of caste/sex)
> 4. sa-rva dha-rmAn pa-ri-tya-jya.....mA shu-chah.
> Setting aside all other religious doctrines and dogmas, just
surrender to me alone.
> I will relieve you of all your sins and save you. Don't worry!
> (ESPECIALLY HERE STAY AWAY FROM OUR ACHARYAS BHASHYAMS).
>
> Good luck.
>
> dAsan
>
> K.S. tAtAchAr
>
> PS: Also it would be a good thing to read the Bible (and Koran) for
yourself.
> However, prior knowledge of The Bible is not necessary for above
debate.
> But it will enlighten you to how wrong most Hindus (Including the
Mahatma)
> in dealing with the Muslims and the Christians. You will better
appreciate
> where the Jinnahs and the Missionaries are coming from.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vasudevan Raghavan <vasu_erfolg@xxxx>
> To: SriRangaSri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; enthralling-archa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx;
tdsingh@xxxx
> Sent: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 23:53:28 -0800 (PST)
> Subject: [SriRangaSri] Need some guidance and help regarding
Sanathana Dharma
>
>
> Dear Bhagawathas, Gurus and Friends,
>
> My name is Vasudevan and I need some help from the
> learned ones on this forum. I recently came across an
> article written by a Christian activist, titled "Is
> there a true religion?" and as I read on, I found that
> the title was deceptive and that the article
> eventually went on to eulogise the christian faith.
>
> I challenged this writer to a debate with me and we
> have been having some exchanges over the past one
> week. When I started this debate, I was fully aware
> that I was not entirely equipped to carry on with the
> debate entirely on my own and that I would need a lot
> of help and assistance from other learned Sanathanis.
>
> I write this mail to call upon anyone who may be
> interested in joining this debate on the side of
> Sanathana Dharma and participate in answering the
> questions that get thrown in, in defence of Sanathana
> Dharma.
>
> For those who are interested, I would like to give the
> URLs of the postings that have happened so far:
>
> http://vasuerfolg-sanathanadharma.blogspot.com
>
> is the Blog-site where I have posted the discussions
> that have happened so far.
>
> You could send me your reply to the following mail
> IDs:
>
> vasu_erfolg@xxxx and vasuerfolg@xxxx
>
> I will then add your mail ID to the Blog-site and
> invite you to participate (that is, if you are
> interested)
>
> I look forward to your responses in upholding our
> Sanathana Dharma.
>
> Thanks and with warm regards
>
>
> R. Vasudevan
> Bangalore
>
>
>
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>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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