the ignorance of the common man, page-48

Grahod, very good thread and discussion.

My perspective is illuminated by Ravi Ravindra, quoting from a comparative religion discourse.

"We must not forget that every tradition has its integrity; it is of a piece.The best insights of the saints and sages of a tradition have a discernible continuity with the worst misunderstandings and perversions of those insights by the mass of the people.This comes about through merciless workings of time,mechanicality,and quantity.The best and the worst of a culture are related to each other, almost as if one cannot exist without the other,except for short times or for small groups of people.The maintenance and continuation of any great truth or vision need such largeness of heart and soul and such sustained self-sacrifice that the general populace cannot live up to it except under strict guidance from the spiritual elite of a community.Common misunderstandings of the great spiritual principles in any religious tradition precisely because they are common, are unreliable.Mass understandings are only on the surface, they cannot bespeak the depths."

Whilst the above quote relates to the spiritual it possibly applies,bit,part or whole to other areas of life eg.social,political or economic.
This is not to advocate an elitist approach,rather to encourage some depth of thought and effort at understanding.


Boz