Re: Topic for Discussion
From the Bhakti List Archives
• January 7, 2000
--- Venkat Nagarajanwrote: > Dear Bhagavatas, > A Vedantin is concerned not just about bliss in the > after life, but also > about minimizing misery in the current life (karmic > life.) The dharma > shastras inform us of the (unique) optimal path; > i.e., the single path > which results in misery minimization. We are all on > paths that are > sub-optimal; the degree of sub-optimality varies > according the degree of > delusion resulting from avidya karma. The degree > of delusion resulting > from avidaya karma is subject to change; it is > greatly influenced by the > place in which we reside. The place of residence > determines the people > we interact with and the culture to which we are > exposed, as such it > has a strong impact on the strengthening or weaking > of the grip of > avidya karma (karma > that causes delusion.) > > I am curious to find out the following : > > 1. are there any members of the net who actually > accept, at least in > principle, even if they feel it is an ideal that is > almost impossible to reach, > the path prescribed in the dharma shastras (for a > brahmana) as optimal? > > 2. are there any members of this net who think that > progress towards > the optimal path, no matter how slow, is a must? > > ramanuja dasan, > Venkat > Dear Sri.Venkat, Your questions are very thoughtful even though they may appear very abstruse. I hope adiyen has correctly understood you but I suppose you are asking if (1) our "karma" will rule us or (2) whether we can exercise some control over our destiny by consciously changing some of the circumstances of our existence, like place of residence, cultural moorings etc, as you have mentioned. adiyen is a novice in Vedanta so please don't take my word for it when I say that the answer to your question above is both YES and NO. "karma" is like our genetic code... we are both with it and to some extent it is pre-engineered or pre-prorammed into our very being, our existential constitution. Nevertheless, we do not have to be fatalistic about our "karma". If we do so become then it just as foolish as it is to resign ourselves to a disease like diabetes or cardiac malfunction on the grounds that we are "genetically" pre-disposed to it.... "so what can I do about it?". Just as there are ways to cope and deal with our genetic make-up... diet-regimen, proper life-style, regular exercise, medication and surgery etc..... so also there are plenty of ways that our Vedic/Vedantic religion prescribes in order to cope and deal with and eventually thwart and conquer our "karma". What are these coping mechanisms? They are "karma", "gnyANa" "bhakti" yoga-systems of Vedanta and "prapatti" yoga of ramanuja-darsanam. Now, you are the best judge to find out in which the environment you are best able to observe and put into practice the coping mechanisms of Vedanta. If you can do it in the middle of Hollywood or Las Vegas, fine! If you find you can't but probably need to move to SriRangam or Mylapore then you must make the decision and move out fast... real fast... because for everyone of us the "metre" of life is ticking away.... Trust adiyen is able to clarify things to you at least a bit! dAsan, Sampathkumaran __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com
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