(NOTE: this entry was started two weeks ago, but I never came around finishing it.)
Lately, some discussion about following rules has been going on. In the Western world, we tend to have a dislike for rules. Even though, we follow many of them daily consciously or subconsciously. Birth alone in culture brings a vast array of rules and customs. We normally never think about them. Unless we apply different rules to our lives. This unconformity sheds light on our otherwise “normal” lives. Our new rules will be questioned by the hegemony, who seek to explore our difference. And only then will we talk about rules. We think along the lines that other cultures have rules. We just have manners or something along those lines.
Vaisnavism may seem like a rule centered religion to some people but when we dive deeper we’ll see that these regulations only serve to become without rules. If we love someone, we will do our best to adhere to his or her standards. Vaisnavas don’t smoke, drink or eat meat/fish not just for the sake of following a rule, but because they interfere with the love for Krishna and human kind. And love is ultimately not about rules.
So what’s the point of following rules when they don’t serve a higher cause? Why follow a rule just for its own sake?
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May 21st, 2007 at 11:41 am
hallo tim/ alvast happy birthday and have NICE DAY we zijn met je vader en trienkenaar bouwdewijn de gr0oot gewest prachtige avond gehad nog vanwege dat we65 jaar zijn geworden.hier is alles oke.het is hier de laatste tijd prachtig weer. wordt je verjaardag wel gevierd. je hebt hetwel naar de zin als ik je web lees. je moeder is hier nog op visite geweest.tot weerziens in wolvega.
May 21st, 2007 at 11:48 am
hoe is het metde spierpijn,verlang jeniet naar huis. l juni is het al gauw. we hopen dat je een goede vlucht hebt en gezond weer in nederland land. groeten van je oom en tante uit friesland.
May 24th, 2007 at 6:57 am
Hallo Tante Alie,
dank voor je reactie. ja 1 juni is het snel maar ik blijf tot 1 juli. ik zal in een volgende post je vragen wat meer beantwoorden.
groetjes
May 24th, 2007 at 6:58 am
Reply by Hidde (He couldn’t post it..)
Interesting point you are making here Tim. There are of course different sorts of rules. You have the rules that are been held up by the law and the government. But i don’t think they are relevant in this discussion.
What I do believe is that rules that are held up by an organisation or a religion as you can call them, are not necessary rules but more a choice. So I think you do have a point that rules are of no use if they don’t serve a higher cause. But perhaps the so called higher cause can also be self consciousness. I for example choose not to eat meat or fish. You could say that this is a rule that I apply to myself. It’s not to serve a higher cause. It’s my individual protest to the way that animals are been treated by human beings. I do not protest in public. I do not wear shirts with sketchy prints and I am not a member of a organisation. So i don’t think that is serving a higher cause…do you?
Rules there for can be applied without really serving a higher cause… As long as they contribute to you own consciousness.
Hmmm, as I am reading this again I am not sure if I am making any sense.
Perhaps self consciousness IS in fact some sort of a higher cause. In that case…you’re right…man, I hate that!