HOW DANGEROUS IS THE LITERARY EXPLANATIONS OF SPIRITUALITY ?

[OPVerma]

VERY DANGEROUS as one can interpret spirituality to serve ones own personal interest.

Ram Rahim, a self styled Guru,(having 60 million followers) claiming to be a messenger of God, castrated over 400 man for up keeping his harems at different centers. There are many such Gurus including Asharam who interpreted scriptures to serve their interest, are now behind bar.

Many Islamic Gurus, mis interpret their scripture and brainwash their followers to become suicide bombers. I have heard in some European country, Police has standing orders to shoot at sight to those yelling 'Allah hu Akbar' that literally means God is Great.

Like the chemical formula of water H2O that does not change nor could be mis interpreted, Spirituality too is a science and should be practiced in its scientific essence.

All those persons who hold their own literary views on spirituality are doing futile exercise and wasting their time. They should mend their ways and turn to scientific ways.

[sky]

Originally Posted by OPVerma

VERY DANGEROUS as one can interpret spirituality to serve ones own personal interest.

Ram Rahim, a self styled Guru,(having 60 million followers) claiming to be a messenger of God, castrated over 400 man for up keeping his harems at different centers. There are many such Gurus including Asharam who interpreted scriptures to serve their interest, are now behind bar.

Many Islamic Gurus, mis interpret their scripture and brainwash their followers to become suicide bombers. I have heard in some European country, Police has standing orders to shoot at sight to those yelling 'Allah hu Akbar' that literally means God is Great.

Like the chemical formula of water H2O that does not change nor could be mis interpreted, Spirituality too is a science and should be practiced in its scientific essence.

All those persons who hold their own literary views on spirituality are doing futile exercise and wasting their time. They should mend their ways and turn to scientific ways.

"HOW DANGEROUS IS THE LITERARY EXPLANATIONS OF SPIRITUALITY ?"

Not at all dangerous unless you believe them.

Originally Posted by OPVerma

VERY DANGEROUS as one can interpret spirituality to serve ones own personal interest.

I don't know about dangerous but spirituality is ultimately esoteric so there are no absolutes and we interpret what we face in every respect, to arrive at our view of reality which to me encompasses everything from the physical to the farthest reaches of the astral.

It seems the nature of the thing. Words are just signs for ideas and the meanings we individually get from an author's words are unique to us, as I see it.

The point about water being unchangeable (no matter how you define it chemically or physically) is that everyone with the right instruments can check and see that it's the case. Water exists independently of observers. That isn't so with most spiritual concepts which are noumenal (facts to us individually because we make them so but cannot be observed externally).

♥

[Pudgenik]

Spirituality itself can only be dangerous if misused. I know a lot of people who misuse it. And like playing with fire most get burnt.

Spirituality is a gift all can use. Let us at least hope people will have good sense not to be wreckless

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by OPVerma

VERY DANGEROUS as one can interpret spirituality to serve ones own personal interest.

Ram Rahim, a self styled Guru,(having 60 million followers) claiming to be a messenger of God, castrated over 400 man for up keeping his harems at different centers. There are many such Gurus including Asharam who interpreted scriptures to serve their interest, are now behind bar.

A false guru may interpret spiritual writings to suit his or her own agenda, but they still require followers who are willing to believe what they say. If 400 men allowed themselves to be castrated then they only have themselves to blame. There is a tendency in all cults for followers to hand over their power to a teacher and then claim that they were innocent victims. At some point people have to take responsibility for their own choices.

Like the chemical formula of water H2O that does not change nor could be mis interpreted, Spirituality too is a science and should be practiced in its scientific essence.

This is not quite so straightforward. There are variations of water - for example heavy water with a chemical formula of D2O, or deuterium oxide. Deuterium is a hydrogen isotope which is heavier and less stable than hydrogen.

And water has its own particular properties. Consider the research of Masaru Emoto who has shown that water is affected by consciousness, and that different emotional energies and vibrations will affect the structure of ice crystals produced when water is frozen.

All those persons who hold their own literary views on spirituality are doing futile exercise and wasting their time. They should mend their ways and turn to scientific ways.

It depends what you mean by scientific ways. Yes, spirituality can be considered a science, and if people do particular practices then they might expect particular results. Hence the emphasis in Yoga on finding a teacher who can teach such practices - in theory if the student does these practices as taught, then they will attain the same state of realisation as the teacher. But it is human nature to experiment with variations, and we are not all the same - what works for one person may not be suited to someone else.

Peace.

[Ghost_Rider_1970]

Originally Posted by sky123

"HOW DANGEROUS IS THE LITERARY EXPLANATIONS OF SPIRITUALITY ?"

Not at all dangerous unless you believe them.

Love this! Simply brilliant!

[Starman]

It is not only how monks, priests, gurus, spiritual teachers, and the like interpret scriptures
but also the scriptures themselves are interpretations of something that transcends words.

The more you interpret something the further away from it you get; you get to a point where
all you have is your interpretation of that thing and not that thing itself. The more we elaborate
on something the more we inject our own concepts and opinions.

This is true of the written word as well as the spoken word. In Taoism it is said that
"nothing in the universe is what we call it here on Earth."

[OPVerma]

Originally Posted by iamthat

A false guru may interpret spiritual writings to suit his or her own agenda, but they still require followers who are willing to believe what they say. If 400 men allowed themselves to be castrated then they only have themselves to blame. There is a tendency in all cults for followers to hand over their power to a teacher and then claim that they were innocent victims. At some point people have to take responsibility for their own choices.



This is not quite so straightforward. There are variations of water - for example heavy water with a chemical formula of D2O, or deuterium oxide. Deuterium is a hydrogen isotope which is heavier and less stable than hydrogen.

And water has its own particular properties. Consider the research of Masaru Emoto who has shown that water is affected by consciousness, and that different emotional energies and vibrations will affect the structure of ice crystals produced when water is frozen.



It depends what you mean by scientific ways. Yes, spirituality can be considered a science, and if people do particular practices then they might expect particular results. Hence the emphasis in Yoga on finding a teacher who can teach such practices - in theory if the student does these practices as taught, then they will attain the same state of realisation as the teacher. But it is human nature to experiment with variations, and we are not all the same - what works for one person may not be suited to someone else.

Peace.

Very sensible arguments. My answers :

1. People accept Guru as per their level of understanding and nature. It is easy for these quack Gurus to show rosy benefits of spirituality to poor fellows and promise them to end their misery by being his disciple. Nature protects virtuous whether rich or poor. Those who have some Karma Baggage and devoid of Nature's protection become victim and suffer. Nature's Bio-Laws crack down these Gurus too for cheating offence.

2. WE are talking about the formula of water and not its isotopes. In polymerization reactions the formula changes every second but we are not talking about that.

3. Spirituality is not just some art of Yoga but is a science too. By knowing Nature's Bio laws of action, that are like Newton's Laws of Motion, everyone gets the same result- protection by Nature and liberation from earthly existence.

Similarly by knowing the body constitution of God ( ref Bhaagavd Gita 7: 4-5 that extends upto 8: 30 ) " Even at the time of death if a person can come to understand Adhibhuta, Adhidaiva and Adhiyagya his consciousness would get united with Me (8:30). This is purely a subject matter of science. As I have understood it ( one can read it in 21st Century Bhgavad-Gita ISBN 9788190950244) one would never go wrong and would always be victorious.
I challenged $10 billion LHC experiment and God failed this experiment 5 times to establish my theories. No one can deny.

Actually for science educated persons Scientific Spirituality is easiest and best option.

[weareunity]

Hello OPVerma and all. I think many are looking for meaning, purpose, understanding, significance. With enough apparently authoritative utterings and promises of results which will follow endeavour I think anyone could set themselves up as some kind of expert and collect dependant followers. I don't think it is just the unscrupulous who do so. The unscrupulous will I think do so intentionally however.
It would be easy to convince someone of something completely unsubstantiated that the reason that they are not experiencing the "truth" of the matter is that are not yet ready and prepared to receive that "truth". Perhaps there is some validity in this reasoning, but whether there is or not it is certainly reasoning very much open to abuse--so it seems to me--for it seems to be a very convenient formula to trap people into a circle of dependency.

petex

[OPVerma]

Originally Posted by weareunity

Hello OPVerma and all. I think many are looking for meaning, purpose, understanding, significance. With enough apparently authoritative utterings and promises of results which will follow endeavour I think anyone could set themselves up as some kind of expert and collect dependant followers. I don't think it is just the unscrupulous who do so. The unscrupulous will I think do so intentionally however.
It would be easy to convince someone of something completely unsubstantiated that the reason that they are not experiencing the "truth" of the matter is that are not yet ready and prepared to receive that "truth". Perhaps there is some validity in this reasoning, but whether there is or not it is certainly reasoning very much open to abuse--so it seems to me--for it seems to be a very convenient formula to trap people into a circle of dependency.

petex

Your literary question is not clear. However I would tell you a story where Guru is OK but disciples are humbug.

ISKCON Guru Swami AC Bhaktivedanta was a great and pure devotee of Krishna. He ordered his disciples to build a planetarium as per the cosmology described in Indian Scriptures.

Though the disciples have built a grand temple in Mayapur India, but they have made a planetarium that shows a flat earth and oceans in a concentric circles. When asked, They justify it to be the spiritual view that cannot be seen with our material eyes. Devoid of scientific knowledge, they interpreted Indian Scriptures in a literary meaning of their own and made themselves a laughing stock .

I am also a devotee of Lord Krishna as they are. While Krishna illuminated me with scientific knowledge He blessed them with literary meaning jeopardizing their USD 100 million project.

Most of you on SF are cheating yourselves in roundabout literary talks like ISKCON fellows.

SO THE THEME IS -LITERARY INTERPRETATIONS ARE VERY DANGEROUS
.