Renunciation and my beloved DVD collection
Rudra Chatterjee
Though born a Hindu, I didn’t really start learning about my religion until I was in my university years. And whenever one wants to learn about Hinduism, the natural first stop tends to be listening to what the swamis and gurus have to say; and they always seems to stress that one ought to practice renunciation; that desire is wrong and that one should be unattached to their work in order to be one with Brahman (as in the Universal Consciousness). Now for a novice in Hindu thought, learning all this is good and all, but unless it’s all placed in the wider perspective of Hindu teachings, it can actually lead to some really strange results. They certainly did for me.
May 4th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Awesome article! I think it is very much true that many swamis, gurus, and purohits stress the “higher” ideals of renunciation. Not everyone is ready for it and not everyone needs to dive headfirst, especially at such a “young” age - life experience can help a lot in understanding Dharma.
Think about this - Rama, Krishna, Parashurama, Hanuman and the Pandavas were not renunciates or ascetics.
More than just a personal revelation, it accentuates the problem with any Hindu education - that is, it is usually myopic. Even if one attends a Hindu school, you will only learn their version of religion and the student is completely not cognizant of the other traditions that are out there.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:07 am
An excellent article here by Rudra ji - many thanks for this.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
I remember growing up and hearing my mother and nana talk about gurus in it for things other than the truth. Indeed my family was/is very secular and that gave me a desire to attempt objectivity. But all ideas that begin in childhood must evolve to a deeper connection with life and reality. I suppose experiences like yours allow one to pass the simplified framework of our ego-mind that wants to encapsulate Tat Sat into a finite collection of ideas or teachers - it is our own ego that wants to believe easy answers.
Thanks for sharing.
hariaum
May 8th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
I think that to be truly fit to be a religious teacher, one needs to be able to feel what it is like to be in other situations in life, and therefore be able to assess the impact that a teaching is likely to have. There’s a saying that to be a brahmin, a man needs to first know what its like to be each of the other three varnas. (i judge varna by temperament and station in life btw). because only then will the religious teacher deliver teachings that will be properly received by others. but today, the religious teachers often (not always - there are exceptions) don’t seem to have really got into the mindset of others in society. The teachings are hence only for people of the same temperament as the teacher.