reviews and comments (Freud, Vishnu, Kali, Indus Samskrut)

[Venkatraman Iyer]

In RISA-L, John Grimes wrote:
http://www.acusd.edu/theo/risa-l/archive/msg04165.html

John Grimes told an Indian story:
>"The turtle told the fish that he had just returned to the lake from
>a walk on the land.  The fish said, you mean swimming in water.  No
>replied the turtle, walking on dry land.  But when the turtle tried
>to explain that one can't swim on land, that it is solid and one
>walks on it, the fish said, there is nothing like that."

Was it used by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa too?

About 1400 years ago, a Tamil saint told a similar parable:

      kuuval aamai kuraika.tal aamaiyaik
      kuuvaloo.tu okkumoo ka.tal e_n_ral pool
      paavakaarika.l paarppu aritu e_nparaal
      teevateeva_n civa_n perunta_nmaiyee

Vivekananda used the tamil story just changing aamai to fish:

--------------------------

Why We Disagree - Swami Vivekanada 15th September 1893.

I will tell you a little story. You have heard the eloquent speaker
who has just finished say, 'Let us cease from abusing each other,'
and he was very sorry that there should be always so much variance.

But I think I should tell you a story which would illustrate the
cause of this variance. A frog lived in a well. It had lived there
for a long time. It was born there and brought up there, and yet was
a little, small frog. Of course, the evolutionists were not there
then to tell us whether the frog lost its eyes or not, but, for our
story's sake, we must take it for granted that it had its eyes, and
that it every day cleansed the water of all the worms and bacilli
that lived in it with an energy that would do credit to our modern
bacteriologists. In this way it went on and became a little sleek
and fat. Well, one day another frog that lived in the sea came and
fell into the well.

'Where are you from?' 'I am from the sea.' 'The sea! How big is that?
Is it as big as my well?' and he took a leap from one side of the
well to the other. 'My friend,' said the frog of the sea, 'how do you
compare the sea with your little well?' Then the frog took another
leap and asked, 'Is your sea so big?' 'What nonsense you speak, to
compare the sea with your well!' 'Well then,' said the frog of the
well, 'nothing can be bigger than my well; there can be nothing
bigger than this; this fellow is a liar, so turn him out.'

That has been the difficulty all the while.

I am a Hindu, I am sitting in my own little well and thinking that
the whole world is my little well. The Christian sits in his little
well and thinks the whole world is his well. The Mohammedan sits in
his little well and thinks that is the whole world. I have to thank
you of America for this great attempt you are making to break down
the barriers of this little world of ours, and hope that, in the
future, the Lord will help you to accomplish your purpose.





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