Weaknesses of Hindu religion #4
4) Beggar Gurus and No Charity
One of the greatest misconception of Hindus is that the gurus or spiritual leaders should live like beggars and not have any worldly belongings. I think this concept has originated from the ancient sadhus and rishis who gave up all their wealth, other belongings and attachments and went to live in the forests. They were either naked or wearing dead animal skins. Buddha also did this initially but he found that this path is not really useful or is even a hindrance for achieving enlightenment. He came up with the middle path where there is no extreme indulgence nor extreme austerity and poverty. His idea is "Not letting go of things but letting go of clinging to things". False idea that is indoctrinated in almost all Hindus is that only beggars can live enlightened lives. But the problem is they do not realize that the beggar could be attached to the small piece of cloth that he is wearing whereas a millionaire could be unattached to his/her millions. Buddhism would not have spread to East Asian countries without the help of kings and emperors who spent lot of money erecting monuments and sending missionaries.
Because of this concept, a hindu religious or spiritual organization has failed in charity and social work. So only non guru landlords did charity if any. But obviously they were doing it for their own fame and political power in society. In modern times there are many gurus around whom organizations have been built and they have become capable to participate in social work and charity. And organizations need not be doing charity directly. They can also help by waking up more and more people to follow a path which in turn will lead to more charity and social work. But if an organization is getting rich, the doubting hindu mind wakes up and tries to defame and demonize it. There is no need for any other religious groups to do it. Hindus are capable of doing the damage needed!
Charity has to come from an organization. Individuals can do charity on their own but it is not going to be very effective. In India, I think the only charities that will survive are those who will call themselves secular or those from well organized monotheistic religious groups.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Weaknesses of Hindu religion #3
Weaknesses of Hindu religion #3
3) Vegetarianism presented from a moral high ground
India is the country where the concept of vegetarianism has originated. I do not think the ancient Hindus were vegetarian. But it seems to have taken root only after Siddhartha Gautama or the Buddha. Vegetarianism might have sprung up as an offshoot of the concept of showing compassion to all living beings. Some of the buddhist monks in the far east are also vegetarian. Even after buddhism was driven out (due to various reasons which I will discuss in a different post later) from India, many of its ideas and concepts have been incorporated into the Hindu religion by various teachers like Adi Shankaracharya because they might have seemed very logical for them. One of them is vegetarianism and it has been adopted mostly by Brahmins and Vaishyas. May be it was logical for them to take it up because of the sedentary occupations they do. Vegetarian diet might have helped them to live more healthy lives. Whereas for a farmer working in the fields or a soldier defending the country, it was logical for them to get the extra protein by eating meat.
But the problem lies not in vegetarianism but in the way it has been presented from a moral high ground. This gave rise to the "touch me not" attitude among the brahmins especially and it has isolated them more and more from the other sections of the society. This is long gone now in the present day. The brahmins and vaishyas tried to isolate themselves socially where as the land lord classes committed real atrocities on the dalits by using their labour and sexually exploiting their women. But because of the "touch me not" attitude of the past, brahmins are the ones who are blamed even to the present day. Finally I feel if some one likes vegetarianism, it should have been presented in a more scientific manner instead of an isolating manner.
Now turning to some aspects of vegetarianism, you can try searching the internet for interesting facts and thoughts. These are some that I found.
1) You need 10 times more land and water to produce the same amount of nutrition/calories from meat compared to say soy bean or lentils. (obviously it is more green!)
2) If the west can stop eating meat for one day, malnutrition in the world can be eliminated.
3) Good for health of people with sedentary life styles ?
4) Do not need to raise poultry and animals in hellish conditions.
Also one thing you will notice if you are Indian is that people who eat meat also eat it like a specialty only one day of the week. Obvious with so much population and so little land (comparatively) Indians cannot afford to get their protein from meat sources. May be meat should be imported from places like Australia. Also lot of people in the west are also reducing their meat intakes for health and ethical purposes.
3) Vegetarianism presented from a moral high ground
India is the country where the concept of vegetarianism has originated. I do not think the ancient Hindus were vegetarian. But it seems to have taken root only after Siddhartha Gautama or the Buddha. Vegetarianism might have sprung up as an offshoot of the concept of showing compassion to all living beings. Some of the buddhist monks in the far east are also vegetarian. Even after buddhism was driven out (due to various reasons which I will discuss in a different post later) from India, many of its ideas and concepts have been incorporated into the Hindu religion by various teachers like Adi Shankaracharya because they might have seemed very logical for them. One of them is vegetarianism and it has been adopted mostly by Brahmins and Vaishyas. May be it was logical for them to take it up because of the sedentary occupations they do. Vegetarian diet might have helped them to live more healthy lives. Whereas for a farmer working in the fields or a soldier defending the country, it was logical for them to get the extra protein by eating meat.
But the problem lies not in vegetarianism but in the way it has been presented from a moral high ground. This gave rise to the "touch me not" attitude among the brahmins especially and it has isolated them more and more from the other sections of the society. This is long gone now in the present day. The brahmins and vaishyas tried to isolate themselves socially where as the land lord classes committed real atrocities on the dalits by using their labour and sexually exploiting their women. But because of the "touch me not" attitude of the past, brahmins are the ones who are blamed even to the present day. Finally I feel if some one likes vegetarianism, it should have been presented in a more scientific manner instead of an isolating manner.
Now turning to some aspects of vegetarianism, you can try searching the internet for interesting facts and thoughts. These are some that I found.
1) You need 10 times more land and water to produce the same amount of nutrition/calories from meat compared to say soy bean or lentils. (obviously it is more green!)
2) If the west can stop eating meat for one day, malnutrition in the world can be eliminated.
3) Good for health of people with sedentary life styles ?
4) Do not need to raise poultry and animals in hellish conditions.
Also one thing you will notice if you are Indian is that people who eat meat also eat it like a specialty only one day of the week. Obvious with so much population and so little land (comparatively) Indians cannot afford to get their protein from meat sources. May be meat should be imported from places like Australia. Also lot of people in the west are also reducing their meat intakes for health and ethical purposes.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Weaknesses of Hindu religion #2
Weaknesses of Hindu Religion #2
2) Division of Caste and Priests
Division of caste in Indian society has two different causes. First is the two different waves of human migration into India that I have discussed in Mixed race. This is a racial difference. Second is the division of society depending on the occupation. I say Indian society because caste system is not limited to Hindu religion alone.
The racial difference has dissolved over a long time. Now it is difficult for anyone to tell what caste a person belongs to just by looking at him or her except may be in some parts of the deep south.
The second one is division of occupation. The argument goes like this. Son of a farmer is a farmer, son of a priest is a priest, son of king is a king, son of a soldier is a soldier, son of a businessman is a businessman. Thank goodness, monarchies are gone and there are no kings or princes! The above argument is very illogical because the son of a priest may not be interested in priesthood. He might aspire to be a soldier instead. And the son of a soldier might want to be singer or an artist! No one can be forced to do something. One has to take up an occupation that interests him or her. Fortunately even this difference has dissolved in the modern society.
This dynastic succession is the main reason for Hinduism not being able to produce good religious leaders who can inspire 100% of the population. The son of a brahmin or a priest may not be interested in religious books but might want to be a businessman instead. If such a person is forced to be a priest, the quality will be lost.
And because the brahmin caste were caretakers of the religious books and teachings, others slowly lost interest in them and do not really care even if they are lost! It is like if you do not own something, even if it is destroyed you don't care.
Though brahmin caste is marginalized in modern society and are barely trying to survive and make a living, others still blame them. No one talks about the landlords who have really oppressed the common people because they still have lot of power. Other castes do not take ownership and think that brahmins are the custodians of Hindu religion and culture.
If we see either ancient history or modern history of India, most of the persons who inspired people were not brahmins. Rama, Krishna, Gautama were not. Gandhi, S.C.Bose, Vivekananda, Ambedkar were not! Lot of modern Gurus are not. If every section of Hindu society does not take collective ownership, Hinduism will soon be wiped out!
2) Division of Caste and Priests
Division of caste in Indian society has two different causes. First is the two different waves of human migration into India that I have discussed in Mixed race. This is a racial difference. Second is the division of society depending on the occupation. I say Indian society because caste system is not limited to Hindu religion alone.
The racial difference has dissolved over a long time. Now it is difficult for anyone to tell what caste a person belongs to just by looking at him or her except may be in some parts of the deep south.
The second one is division of occupation. The argument goes like this. Son of a farmer is a farmer, son of a priest is a priest, son of king is a king, son of a soldier is a soldier, son of a businessman is a businessman. Thank goodness, monarchies are gone and there are no kings or princes! The above argument is very illogical because the son of a priest may not be interested in priesthood. He might aspire to be a soldier instead. And the son of a soldier might want to be singer or an artist! No one can be forced to do something. One has to take up an occupation that interests him or her. Fortunately even this difference has dissolved in the modern society.
This dynastic succession is the main reason for Hinduism not being able to produce good religious leaders who can inspire 100% of the population. The son of a brahmin or a priest may not be interested in religious books but might want to be a businessman instead. If such a person is forced to be a priest, the quality will be lost.
And because the brahmin caste were caretakers of the religious books and teachings, others slowly lost interest in them and do not really care even if they are lost! It is like if you do not own something, even if it is destroyed you don't care.
Though brahmin caste is marginalized in modern society and are barely trying to survive and make a living, others still blame them. No one talks about the landlords who have really oppressed the common people because they still have lot of power. Other castes do not take ownership and think that brahmins are the custodians of Hindu religion and culture.
If we see either ancient history or modern history of India, most of the persons who inspired people were not brahmins. Rama, Krishna, Gautama were not. Gandhi, S.C.Bose, Vivekananda, Ambedkar were not! Lot of modern Gurus are not. If every section of Hindu society does not take collective ownership, Hinduism will soon be wiped out!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Weaknesses of Hindu Religion #1
Weaknesses of Hindu Religion #1
1) More Ritual, No teaching
Despite having its roots in the deep thoughts of enlightened beings (the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita), the Hindu religion that we see today is highly ritualized and lacks any basic moral teaching at temples other than the "do good" boards you see when you visit temples. Most of the moral teaching comes only by reading mythological books (puranas). Most children used to get their knowledge at home and the source was most likely their grandparents. Now children no longer live along with their grandparents and most Indian middle class parents are too busy trying to make a living. So far, I have only talked about educated families. But what about children with uneducated grandparents or parents? They are the most vulnerable to religious conversion because they must have not heard of any teaching in their lifetime except for a few lessons about inspiring persons at school. Unfortunately the priest has failed to do his primary job of imparting moral education from sutras and sastras to the common man. If generations are brought up like this, they do not even show any interest even if such a teaching is available to them. I have seen in ISKCON temples in the US where most Indians stay for the ritual and prasad but they walk away as soon as someone starts to give a talk or read from the Bhagavad Gita. This lack of teaching creates misunderstanding and varied and differing opinions about the great law of Karma.
But the biggest ray of hope today lies in the emerging Gurus who are imparting teachings to the great Indian middle class. They are creating a better understanding of the ancient teachings to the common man, giving techniques to make life happier for oneself and for the sangha as a whole. These are the real Buddhas and Krishnas of modern age and I offer my respects to all of them. The "age of priest is fading away and making way to the age of the guru". The guru can come from any class or caste! (no reservations here). I urge all the priests to start looking for something else to do. Even if you don't your governments will make sure you go ! I will talk about endowments departments later!
1) More Ritual, No teaching
Despite having its roots in the deep thoughts of enlightened beings (the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita), the Hindu religion that we see today is highly ritualized and lacks any basic moral teaching at temples other than the "do good" boards you see when you visit temples. Most of the moral teaching comes only by reading mythological books (puranas). Most children used to get their knowledge at home and the source was most likely their grandparents. Now children no longer live along with their grandparents and most Indian middle class parents are too busy trying to make a living. So far, I have only talked about educated families. But what about children with uneducated grandparents or parents? They are the most vulnerable to religious conversion because they must have not heard of any teaching in their lifetime except for a few lessons about inspiring persons at school. Unfortunately the priest has failed to do his primary job of imparting moral education from sutras and sastras to the common man. If generations are brought up like this, they do not even show any interest even if such a teaching is available to them. I have seen in ISKCON temples in the US where most Indians stay for the ritual and prasad but they walk away as soon as someone starts to give a talk or read from the Bhagavad Gita. This lack of teaching creates misunderstanding and varied and differing opinions about the great law of Karma.
But the biggest ray of hope today lies in the emerging Gurus who are imparting teachings to the great Indian middle class. They are creating a better understanding of the ancient teachings to the common man, giving techniques to make life happier for oneself and for the sangha as a whole. These are the real Buddhas and Krishnas of modern age and I offer my respects to all of them. The "age of priest is fading away and making way to the age of the guru". The guru can come from any class or caste! (no reservations here). I urge all the priests to start looking for something else to do. Even if you don't your governments will make sure you go ! I will talk about endowments departments later!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Status of Women
I was looking on the internet for a quote relating to society respecting women and prosperity dwelling thereupon. I have heard it before. I thought there would be a sanskrit quote. But looks like there is none. If anyone of you know let me know by posting a comment. But I found one by Sathya Sai Baba. Here it is.
"Wherever women are honored there is prosperity and happiness. Women should never be slighted or treated with disrespect. A home in which the housewife sheds tears will be bereft of all prosperity. This is the ancient conception of the role of women in the home”.
It looks like in ancient India, women enjoyed more respect and freedoms than what we see today. It is evident from the concept of female goddesses and the existence of many literate and great women in the puranas (mythological stories). This concept is not seen in the west. It looks like the status of women was reduced because of invasions from middle eastern countries. Some people say that the practice of child marriage that was prevalent even to the early 1900s started because the invading armies were kidnapping young unmarried girls but were not taking away those who were married. To avoid their girls being taken away, people started marrying girls before puberty! Anyway, history is of not much importance to me but I would like to stress the problems faced by women and the Indian society as a whole in the present day.
1) Dowry
No one knows who in history came up initially with the concept of dowry, but that person or persons are responsible for a lot of ugly karma that happens today because of dowry. This practice has created a great frustration and unease in the society. It is one of the traditional practices or parampara that needs to be dropped immediately. It is prevalent among almost all sections of the Indian society irrespective of religion, caste, language. The severity varies among different castes with the maximum amounts seen in landlord or feudal castes.
Dowry system is one of the major factor that is hindering the people in the society from living happily and without worries. It is the major reason for peoples preferring a male child over a female child and the cause of the most evil practice of female foeticide that seems to be happening in India. People are worried right from the birth of a female child. Because the female child is seen as a liability, it gets lower status in home and gets lower priority in getting nutrition, education etc. This practice is causing misery for lots of parents with girl children. Also because of the lower status, a girl child is expected to be very obedient and disciplined by restricting her wishes and dreams and carry on like this so that she will be easily accepted as a bride by an other family even though her parents cannot afford to pay a big sum in dowry. I have to clarify that not every section of society is involved in receiving dowry. But the percentage is big. The progressive percentage is lower.
2) Female Foeticide & Dharmic religion take on abortion
Though India has banned the determination of a baby's gender before it is born, the modern techniques can show this and some people are taking advantage of it and terminating pregnancies with female fetuses. Again please do not jump at me. This is a very small percentage but it is being reported in news. Here I have to talk about dharmic religions take on abortions. A soul or consciousness chooses its parents from the very many choices available to it according to its karmic baggage. The intention of the consciousness is to take up the body to work out its karma. Selective to gender or not, abortion is ugly ugly ugly karma. I think abortion can be justified only in the cases of rape (where the rapist accumulates the bad karma) or if there is a major flaw in fetus formation. But if a couple do not want kids, they should take the proper precautions available to them.
3) Eve Teasing
To some extent boys and girls teasing each other is natural and fun as long as it is consensual. But there is a term called eve teasing in India which is only one way and done by force. It takes up ugly proportions and go as far as rape and throwing acid! Yes, it is true throwing acid! The ugly practice has its roots in mans lust and it is magnified by the separation of genders culture (which has eased a lot now). Boys and girls do not get to interact much thanks to the middle eastern invasions again. Also we see in the news that most of the worst eve teasers are boys of politicians and police officers who abuse power.
4)The Monsters in Law
To end this in a comedic note again, mother-in-law and father-in-law are a big problem not only in Indian society but everywhere I guess. They are literally monsters. This problem has its roots in ego and this problem is the most difficult to solve! Father-in-law can be excused because he is not a woman but I have no sympathies with a bad mother-in-law. If she suffered due to her in-laws it is not good thinking on her part to carry that parampara. It is just accumulating bad karma. If you really had issues with your bad mother-in-law, give her a hard time when she is a old woman and about to die if you really really cannot forgive her. If you did not get a chance to settle scores, I pity you. (But remember forgiveness is always the best karma.) But don't take it on your daughter-in-law. You will be accumulating more bad karma. This women problem is very difficult to solve and I think the male chauvinist Manu guy recognized it well. Ditch the Manu and let Buddha or Krishna help you.
Because of the large percentage of stereotyped in-laws prejudices are built up and the new daughter-in-law also is very cautious from the beginning and could give a hard time to in-laws also.
I might be expanding this post more or add a follow up post after you send in your comments.
"Wherever women are honored there is prosperity and happiness. Women should never be slighted or treated with disrespect. A home in which the housewife sheds tears will be bereft of all prosperity. This is the ancient conception of the role of women in the home”.
It looks like in ancient India, women enjoyed more respect and freedoms than what we see today. It is evident from the concept of female goddesses and the existence of many literate and great women in the puranas (mythological stories). This concept is not seen in the west. It looks like the status of women was reduced because of invasions from middle eastern countries. Some people say that the practice of child marriage that was prevalent even to the early 1900s started because the invading armies were kidnapping young unmarried girls but were not taking away those who were married. To avoid their girls being taken away, people started marrying girls before puberty! Anyway, history is of not much importance to me but I would like to stress the problems faced by women and the Indian society as a whole in the present day.
1) Dowry
No one knows who in history came up initially with the concept of dowry, but that person or persons are responsible for a lot of ugly karma that happens today because of dowry. This practice has created a great frustration and unease in the society. It is one of the traditional practices or parampara that needs to be dropped immediately. It is prevalent among almost all sections of the Indian society irrespective of religion, caste, language. The severity varies among different castes with the maximum amounts seen in landlord or feudal castes.
Dowry system is one of the major factor that is hindering the people in the society from living happily and without worries. It is the major reason for peoples preferring a male child over a female child and the cause of the most evil practice of female foeticide that seems to be happening in India. People are worried right from the birth of a female child. Because the female child is seen as a liability, it gets lower status in home and gets lower priority in getting nutrition, education etc. This practice is causing misery for lots of parents with girl children. Also because of the lower status, a girl child is expected to be very obedient and disciplined by restricting her wishes and dreams and carry on like this so that she will be easily accepted as a bride by an other family even though her parents cannot afford to pay a big sum in dowry. I have to clarify that not every section of society is involved in receiving dowry. But the percentage is big. The progressive percentage is lower.
2) Female Foeticide & Dharmic religion take on abortion
Though India has banned the determination of a baby's gender before it is born, the modern techniques can show this and some people are taking advantage of it and terminating pregnancies with female fetuses. Again please do not jump at me. This is a very small percentage but it is being reported in news. Here I have to talk about dharmic religions take on abortions. A soul or consciousness chooses its parents from the very many choices available to it according to its karmic baggage. The intention of the consciousness is to take up the body to work out its karma. Selective to gender or not, abortion is ugly ugly ugly karma. I think abortion can be justified only in the cases of rape (where the rapist accumulates the bad karma) or if there is a major flaw in fetus formation. But if a couple do not want kids, they should take the proper precautions available to them.
3) Eve Teasing
To some extent boys and girls teasing each other is natural and fun as long as it is consensual. But there is a term called eve teasing in India which is only one way and done by force. It takes up ugly proportions and go as far as rape and throwing acid! Yes, it is true throwing acid! The ugly practice has its roots in mans lust and it is magnified by the separation of genders culture (which has eased a lot now). Boys and girls do not get to interact much thanks to the middle eastern invasions again. Also we see in the news that most of the worst eve teasers are boys of politicians and police officers who abuse power.
4)The Monsters in Law
To end this in a comedic note again, mother-in-law and father-in-law are a big problem not only in Indian society but everywhere I guess. They are literally monsters. This problem has its roots in ego and this problem is the most difficult to solve! Father-in-law can be excused because he is not a woman but I have no sympathies with a bad mother-in-law. If she suffered due to her in-laws it is not good thinking on her part to carry that parampara. It is just accumulating bad karma. If you really had issues with your bad mother-in-law, give her a hard time when she is a old woman and about to die if you really really cannot forgive her. If you did not get a chance to settle scores, I pity you. (But remember forgiveness is always the best karma.) But don't take it on your daughter-in-law. You will be accumulating more bad karma. This women problem is very difficult to solve and I think the male chauvinist Manu guy recognized it well. Ditch the Manu and let Buddha or Krishna help you.
Because of the large percentage of stereotyped in-laws prejudices are built up and the new daughter-in-law also is very cautious from the beginning and could give a hard time to in-laws also.
I might be expanding this post more or add a follow up post after you send in your comments.
Mixed Race
This post might not fall either in Cool Dharma or Ugly Karma category but I would like to post it.
Indians are definitely a mixed race. Some people refute this but just by looking at the different skin colors and nose shapes, we can easily tell about a mixed origin. Look at people from China or Africa or Europe and notice that there is not so much diversity.
I feel there were two waves of human migration into India. First one from Africa and the second one from somewhere in Caspian Sea area or Southern Russia. Those people would have brought the cows and horses along with them and this could be one of the reasons why cow is sacred!
We are what we are and we need to accept it and integrate much more.
Indians are definitely a mixed race. Some people refute this but just by looking at the different skin colors and nose shapes, we can easily tell about a mixed origin. Look at people from China or Africa or Europe and notice that there is not so much diversity.
I feel there were two waves of human migration into India. First one from Africa and the second one from somewhere in Caspian Sea area or Southern Russia. Those people would have brought the cows and horses along with them and this could be one of the reasons why cow is sacred!
We are what we are and we need to accept it and integrate much more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
