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A humble opinion

From the Bhakti List Archives

Ramakrishnan Kazhiyur-Mannar • July 8, 2001 


Dear Bhagavatas

I have been a member of this group for some months now. And I would like to 
humbly place before you the impression I have got from some postings. Please 
do correct me if I am wrong.

First, we all should keep in mind while posting anything (especially replies) 
that this mailing list has many types of people - those who are oceans of 
knowledge and wisdom, people who yearn to learn about the philosophy of 
Vaishnavism, people who seek the truth and cannot accept all that is being 
said without questioning etc. All that we say here should be said in a way 
that would not discourage anybody. 

Nothing can be accepted as truth unless it stands the test of rational 
questioning. Here, I do not mean cynical questioning. I mean a questioning 
done with a true intent of learning - a sincere search for answers. This, in 
my humble opinion, is one of the lessons that none less than the Lord himself 
teaches us, implicitly, when he answers the questions of Arjuna in the 
Geetha. I see in that episode, Arjuna taking that kind of an attitude and 
Krishna taking up as a duty (not even a favor) clearing his clouded mind. 

However, to my great dismay, I see that a few people, at least in my honest 
opinion, do not welcome such a questioning attitude in this list. What I see 
in their replies is an irritation and a feeling that all those who question 
anything being said here or that happens in practical life are upstarts. I 
hope they would understand that , unenlightened though we might be, we are 
not being cynical. And those who post such questions also deserve 
explanations, if not for anything, for their sincerity in asking the 
question. If you do not appreciate the question being asked, refraining from 
answering would be a good response. Stiffling opinions is not going to take 
us anywhere. 

When I posted some question a few months back, one reply I got (to my 
personal ID), called the question immature and uninformed. It was so bad a 
response that I stopped posting anything here for a long time. I was catching 
up with the Muralikrishna thread today and I noticed that the same kind of 
answer in one of the responses - this time from somebody else. If being 
uninformed is such a big mistake, I am sure a vast majority of members in 
this would be guilty of it. 

Having said all this, I would like to sincerely thank those elders who seek 
to answer these questions and enlighten us. 

My apologies if this mail sounds improper in tenor. I hope I got the message 
across without hurting anyone. And sorry 


Best Regards
Ramakrishnan
-- 
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"In three words I can sum up everything that I have learned about life. It 
goes on." 
   - Robert Frost
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Ramakrishnan Kazhiyur-Mannar

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