On 04/22/2013 11:14 AM, Richard J. Williams wrote: > >>>> Since MMY likely wasn't using those mantras in his >>>> meditation practice, I don't understand why you >>>> think this is relevant. >>>> >>> The mantras MMY wrote down were probably English >>> transliterations; I doubt if MMY could write in >>> Sanskrit script. >>> > Bhairitu: >> Devanagari script is used all over India for Hindi! >> It uses some additional characters for "f" and "z" >> which are sounds that are not in Sanskrit. For >> Maharishi not to read and write Devanagari would be >> like an American not knowing how to use toilet paper. >> There are signs in Devanagari all over India that >> spell out English words! I think you just stepped in >> bull dung and are spreading it around with your >> cowboy boots. >> > Well, I have seen zero evidence that MMY could read and > write Sanskrit bija mantras. If he could, why would he > need an English transliteration? Or, why would he have > Vernon Katz compose the Sanskrit portions of the BG?
It would have been superfluous for Maharishi to sit there and real time transliterate and translate from Sanskrit. With a western audience the transliterations are more efficient. And transliterations are tricky because which English dialect are you going to use? The puja pages were written for US English speakers not British. Many early transliterations are more for British English as a dialect. I even had my tantra guru write mantras in Devanagari because transliterations can be tricky. > > >From what I've read, there is not a single person on > in this list that could identify their bija mantra on > any tantric yantra or mandala, or from flash cards of > the Sanskrit alphabet, except maybe 'OM" or "Om Mani > Padme Hum". Go figure. Oh come on! Card is a lay Sanskrit enthusiast. He should be at least able to read Devanagari. I can read it. The American Sanskrit Institute has courses that teach you to read it in a weekend. Sanskrit appears to be an "engineered" language and logical. It's not a mongrel language like English which even has some Sanskrit roots. Korean is an "engineered" language called "the morning language" because you could learn the characters in a morning. The world at some point, if humanity survives, should hold a congress and authorize a group of linguists to create a new language for the Internet age that is logical and easy to learn. There will be resistance due to nationalism but there's nothing wrong with knowing at least two languages and eventually the new language would take over. Stop being such a hick! You're giving Texans a bad name (my uncle lived in Lubbock).
