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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00063 Jan 2004

 
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Dear Sri Ramesh,

I can certainly appreciate and empathize with your concerns and
suggestions. As a US raised Asian Indian American, I have struggled 
for many years in trying to seek a balance between my religius
interests and my secular responsibilities. So, I must apologize in
advance for my strong opion on this. But, based on my experience,
however, the process of trying to offer 101 and 201 levels of
Vaishnvas practice is far less easier than it seems for several reasons. 

Part of the problem lies in the often over-used term "samprada:yam"
and our misinterpreting it as being more or less equal to "religion"
or "tradition" in Western life. Seeing things this way makes us think
that Vaishnavam, like Judaism, Christianity, or Islam, is a "religion"
based on a specific set of dogmas, rituals, and polarized notions of
right and wrong that can be applied at various levels of practice to
suit our individual and collective needs.

What we need to understand is that what Bhagavad Sri Ramanuja had to
offer was not just another set of sectarian principles that apply only
to a specific set of followers. Rather, his incomparale contribution
to this world was one of the most, if not the most, comprehensive and
wholistic understandings of Veda ever offered. Veda is so vast, so
rich, that to say that it could be boiled down to a single set of
"cookbooks" would do nothing more than limit its ability to inspire us
on spiritual, emotional,and intellectual levels. And, since the Veda
is Eternal and Universal, it really applies us to wherever we are, and
whomever we are, irrespective of whether we live in the USA or in a
Divya Desam in India. And, for that matter, I would like to add thaat
its vast wisdom is something that should apply to all of us, whether
we are Indian, American, Hindu, Christian or Jew.

In a sense, the Vedas can be seen as a vast ocean and we, both
individually and collectively, are like receptacles waiting to be
filled with enough of its "waters" of wisdom and spiritual insight to
the capacity that is necessary for our well-being. And, the only
person who is knowledeable and capable of knowing how much Vedic
knowledge to provide and to whom it should be gifted to is the
Acharya; it is only a matter of our respectfully submitting to him
with the desire to learn and apply.

So, if I were to offer any "practical" solution as to how to preserve
and promote the "spiritual attitude" that has come to be known as
Ramanuja Sampradayam, it would be to simply encourage everyone to
place themselves under the care of qualified Acharya, and to learn
with the intent of bettering oneself and this world. In this way,
Vaishnavam can be the dynamic and vibrant spiritual force that once
inspired our ancestors to serve God and Humanity, rather than being
yet another mere "cookbook to salvation" that applies only to a chosen
few.

Ramanuja dasan
Mohan 








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