[Buddha-l] Modern Advaita sages

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

curt schreef:

> What an odd description of Vivekananda Erik's is. One would never 
> suspect that this was the same guy who traveled around asking people 
> if they had seen God - until he finally found someone who had. Or the 
> same guy who was known for the beautiful voice with which he sang 
> traditional devotional hymns to the Hindu Gods. Or the same man who 
> asserted that when his teacher touched him he felt his own identity 
> dissolve - and that when he panicked his teacher withdrew the touch 
> and the the feeling went away. At that point his teacher (the country 
> bumpkin Ramakrishna) reassured him "It need not be done all at once. 
> It will come to pass in the course of time."
>
> It is only natural for people with differing points of view to want to 
> claim Vivekananda as "their own". Fortunately there is plenty of 
> Vivekananda to go around. To the rationalists he is a rationalist. To 
> the mystics he is a mystic. To the Hindus he's a Hindu. To wine 
> drinkers he's a wine drinker. But once you have found your own 
> reflection in him don't make the mistake of thinking that's all there is.
>
> - Curt
>
> Erik Hoogcarspel wrote:
>
>>  
>> I think you're right here, Ramakrishnan was an old style yogi. He 
>> came from a small village not far from Calcutta and he taught himself 
>> yoga. His village was a pelgrimsresort and there were always yogi's 
>> passing by and Ramakrishnan watched them carefully and imitated what 
>> he saw. He had visions of most Indian gods and even Jesus and 
>> Mohammed, but being a rural Bengali Kali, mother Nature, has always 
>> been closest to his heart. Vivekananda was like Rammohan Roy and 
>> others a rationalist because of his English education. He liked 
>> science and he never had any feelings for the trational Indian gods. 
>> Later on when he was famous, some Germand vaidantins who offered him 
>> a place to stay, were shocked to discover that he liked wine very 
>> much and used to smoke a pipe as well.
>
You're a very romantic person, Curt. To me Vivekananda is just a human being who has been the subject of much devotional litterature. I like to keep my feet on the ground.

Erik


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