Thanks again for the quick response. My comments follow: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Ron" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
<snip> > G Now if you want to go on what is being promoted about Guru Dev > saying that only Brahmins may be sannyas then STILL Mahesh Yogi > can have no claim to being a Guru. Actually he doesn't claim to be a guru, nor does he claim to be the successor of Guru Dev AFAIK. What he does say is that he gives the blessing of this tradition and of his Guru to the common people. You yourself said that many Swamis are not really practising and smoking Ganja, this I observed myself. Here is someone who but thousands if not millions to meditation, to regularly practise. > here is the quote from the site > i am sure you are getting your stance from : I don't get my stance from that particular site, but from common available knowledge about Dasanami traditions. > ccording to tradition only a brahmana (brahmin) can become a sannyasi > (swami), and only a sannyasi can be a guru and take disciples. In a > scarce Hindi book entitled 'Shri Shankaracharya UpadeshAmrita', Guru > Dev is quoted upholding this view:- > > ' , parantu guru saba nahiiM bana sakate . gurutva kevala braahmaNa > hii ko hai .' > '.. But not everyone can be a guru. Actually, only brahmanas are in > the position to be a guru.' > > On account of his varna (caste), Brahmachari Mahesh could never have > hoped to succeed his master nor could he ever become a guru himself. Well I'm sure he knew this. and he also knew that if he would have run off to the next best non-Dandi-Swami Dasanami Guru he could have been and he knew this, yet he was faithful to his Guru, organizing everything for him. I have already given my opinion on this particular point to Judy in another post you may want to read and comment upon. Actually in this quote you are giving Brahmananda Saraswati is just giving the opinion of tradition, as he says. And as Alex righly pointed out, in his opinion you couldn't be eiher a guru then. When you point your finger on someone, three fingers are pointing back to yourself. > > G NOR COULD BE BECOME A GURU HIMSELF - so no matter how you want to > cut it > Mahesh Yogi is not authorised to be a guru. As he has said ONLY A > SANNYASI CAN BE > A GURU AND TAKE DISCIPLES. so what is he doing going against his Guru ? Thats not for me to answer neither is it any of your business I suppose - you wouldn't be entitled to be a guru in his opinion either - if this was really his final word and not taken out of context, but this is the tradition of the Saraswati order he comes from. > > i don't care how you want to slice it ---- clearly he has gone Against > the tradition while > he holds up his Guru as his authority and backing. You yourself said just in the other post, that you feel the tradition has to be adapted to the situation in the modern world - I agreed on that. Here we have an example of one particular branch of the Dasanami being more conservative than others, as a medivial concession to orthodoxy, and while yourself are a western woman enjoying the reformatory work of previous generations in other subgroups of the same sect, you saying this sounds really hypocritical, if I may say so. > G as far as Brahmacharis being privy to the deeper parts of the > tradition you may > wish to read this written by a Saraswati - Now this Saraswati in fact > does initiate > others into Sannyas . Who is the Saraswati being referred to ? Obviously he felt that some ortodox rules have to be adapted to modern times. If you endorse him, why accuse Maharishi for doing the same? > > Swami Sivananda Saraswati > http://www.atmajyoti.org/mo_sannyasa_dharma.asp > > You can read what he says about brahmachari and sannyas . > > Maha Shanti OM > Thanks, but I have read him already at large. He used to distribute Bija mantras on handouts. Not really orthodox. Thank you again and no offense from my site.
