This is a piece from David Godman's interview by Maalok: " I should also make it clear that Sri Ramana himself readily admitted that enlightenment didn't turn people into paragons of virtue. Like most great Masters before him, he said that it was impossible to judge whether someone was enlightened by what he or she did or said. Saintliness does not necessarily go hand in hand with enlightenment, although most people like to think that it should. Sri Ramana was a rare conjunction of saintliness and enlightenment, but many other Masters and enlightened beings were not. They were not less enlightened because they didn't conform to the social and ethical mores of their times, they simply had different destinies to fulfil.
In Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Ramana narrates the story of Kaduveli Siddhar, an austere ascetic who attracted public ridicule by having an affair with a temple dancer. A local king offered a reward to anyone who could prove whether this man really was a saint or not. At the time the challenge was issued, Kaduveli Siddhar was subsisting on dry leaves that fell from trees. When the dancer eventually gave birth to Kaduveli Siddhar's baby, she thought that she had proved her point and went to the king to collect her reward. The king, who wanted some public confirmation of their intimate relationship, arranged a dance performance. When it was under way, the dancer stretched out her foot towards Kaduveli Siddhar because one of her anklets had become loose. When he retied it for her, the audience jeered at him. Kaduveli Siddhar was unmoved. He sang a Tamil verse, part of which said, 'If it is true that I sleep day and night quite aware of the Self, may this stone burst into two and become the wide expanse'. Immediately, a nearby stone idol split apart with a resounding crack, much to the astonishment of the audience. Sri Ramana's conclusion to this story was, 'He proved himself to be an unswerving jnani. One should not be deceived by the external appearance of a jnani.' I find it fascinating that Sri Ramana, a man of impeccable saintliness, could say that behaviour such as this could not be taken to indicate that Kaduveli Siddhar was unenlightened." The url for the page where you can find the above is: http://www.davidgodman.org/interviews/al3.shtml I guess the above says everything about Ramana's position on this issue of enlightened humans being involved in sexual (or any other) act. I guess the Jnani as such has no desires (because his or her mind is dead), but his body is completely used by the power we might call 'god'. So, in case of a Jnani, action takes place without any desires. In case of humans whose minds are not dead, desires arise. If we are aware enough and watch the desires, and any thought for that matter, we might stop taking those actions which are detrimental to our own or some other person's larger interests. Of course, sex is not a 'bad' thing, but it becomes detrimental when we cling to it and 'want' more of it and often. Even clinging to tasty food or any other 'thing' is detrimental (probably as detrimental as clinging to sex). I guess in the most worthy, 'enlightened' state, bliss is always there and there is no dependency even in the least on any external object. I guess only when one is in the enlightened state, the most appropriate, 'right' action arises all the time. __________________________________ Yahoo! Music Unlimited Access over 1 million songs. Try it free. http://music.yahoo.com/unlimited/ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
