"harvest of faith"
From the Bhakti List Archives
• November 9, 1999
Dear members, Although this subject adiyen is now posting on is not directly connected to SriVaishnavism still it has some indirect relation. So adiyen is making the following inquiry to all of you just to get your general and valuable opinions: This morning adiyen read the following headlines from the "HIndu": "With his very first public statement - an entry in the Visitor's Book kept at Rajghat - on Saturday morning, Pope John Paul II set the tone for what he was to say during his short visit to India which concluded this morning. In the Visitor's Book, the 79-year-old pontiff had penned down a line from Mahatma Gandhi:``A culture cannot survive if it attempts to be exclusive.'' What he went on to say in the three speeches he was to make subsequently was primarily an elaboration of this thought on the religious front. While the Pope has primarily reiterated the established position of the Church in all his speeches, his statement, ``May the Third Christian Millennium witness a great harvest of faith on this vast and vital continent'', at the Papal High Mass on Sunday, has become a matter of debate; particularly in view of the concerns expressed by some saffron outfits vis-a-vis conversions." ___________________________ adiyen does not fully understand what the above statements mean, especially what is meant by "harvest of faith" that is hoped to be reaped in the continent. Perhaps somebody can explain. adiyen is learning that lots of religious leaders in India are very upset and are afraid of "conversions" and want to prevent it. adiyen is wondering,"What is there to be afraid of "conversions"? After all we also did "conversion" in history, didn't we? Sri.RamanujAchArya converted lot of people in 10-11th century by giving "samAshrayanam" and "pancha-samskAram" to lot of people like tribals, outcastes and under-privileged people. The Christians are only trying to do the same thing in India now. So what is wrong in it? If our religious organizations want to do it, let them, like what Emberumanar did 1000 years ago, also do "conversions". Who is stopping them?Why are they all talking as if Christians are special kind of invaders? If our religious leaders also want to "evangelise" outside India let them also go out to other countries like the Pope. Who is stopping them? Some of them are already doing it in America and Gulf countries like ISKON etc.. Why are they making such big fuss about Pope's visit and "conversion"? adiyEn can't really understand. 1000 years ago RamanujachArya was successful in "converting" millions to SriVaishnavism. Today we do not have such a great one as Ramanuja to do that. The Christians are doing better than our religious leaders, evidently. But rather than crying foul at the Christians, shouldn't we really fault our own religious heads, leaders and organisations for not being able to meet global challenge of other religions? This shows that present day religious leaders are not able to meet challenge in same successful way that our dearest Ramanuja or Sankara AchArya challenged and overcame Buddhism or Islam. Sir, adiyen is feeling that, in the ultimate analysis, the human soul too is a jungle and it is only the fittest religious ideology that will survive in it. Sir, adiyen is wanting to know what are you all thinking about this matter? dAsan, Sampathkumaran ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com
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