[Buddha-l] Modern Advaita sages

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

Richard P. Hayes schreef:

>On Tue, 2006-01-10 at 13:11 +0100, Erik Hoogcarspel wrote:
>
>  
>
>>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.
>>    
>>
>
>Are you speaking the the Swami Vivekananda who said:
>
>\begin{quote}
>Then, if you can, lower your intellect to let any allegory pass
>through your mind without questioning about the connexion. Develop
>love of imagery and beautiful poetry and then enjoy all mythologies as
>poetry. Come not to mythology with ideas of history and reasoning. Let
>it flow as a current through your mind; let it be whirled as a candle
>before your eyes, without asking who holds the candle, and you will
>get the circle; the residuum of truth will remain in your mind.
>
>The writers of all mythologies wrote in symbols what they saw and
>heard; they painted flowing pictures. Do not try to pick out the
>themes and so destroy the pictures; take them as they are and let
>them act on you. Judge them only by the effect and get the good out of
>them.
>
>Your own will is all that answers prayer; only it appears differently,
>under the guise of different religious conceptions, to each mind. We
>may call it Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, Jehovah, Allah---but it is only the
>Self, the ``I.''
>\end{quote}
>
>Or perhaps you're thinking of the Swami Vivekananda who said:
>
>\begin{quote}
>I accept all the religions that were in the past and worship with them
>all; I worship God with every one of them, in whatever form they worship
>him. I shall go to the mosque of
>the Mohammedan; I shall enter the Christian church and kneel down before
>the crucifix; I shall enter the Buddhist temple, where I shall take
>refuge in Buddha and his Law.  I shall go into the forest and sit down
>in meditation with the Hindu who is trying to see the Light which
>enlightens the heart of everyone. Not only shall I do this, but I shall
>keep my heart open for all the religions that may come in the future. Is
>God's book finished? Or is revelation still going on? It is a marvelous
>book---these spiritual revelations of the world. The Bible, the Vedas,
>the Koran, and all the other sacred books are but so many pages, and an
>infinite number of pages remain yet to be unfolded. I shall leave my
>heart open for all of them.
>\end{quote}
>  
>
This was partly his masters voice and a fine example of inclusive 
thinking. But from what I've read I recall that he never felt the 
passion for Kali that Ramakrishna felt. For him all was one because the 
gods were nothing but manifestations of sagu.na Brahman and therefore 
illusory. A kind of Hegelian view. This is of course not really in line 
with the other religions. I don't see why this quote necessarily would 
be a counterexample it's not impossible that there's rational argument 
behind the poetical retorics.

>-- 
>  
>

Erik


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