TatTvamAsi
13 March 2009, 08:02 PM
Namaste Devotee,
I certainly agree with your assessment of the whole situation; especially the fact that people tend to differentiate due to Ahamkaara (ego).
However, what I find disturbing, as I've personally experienced several times, is that whenever there is news/discussions/debates about Hindu philosophy or India in general, anything good that has arisen is always deemed to have occurred by happenstance and all the rotten things about India are there because of Hinduism! This grossly erroneous assumption is devastating not only to Hindus, but to Indians in general. The constant denigration and degradation of Hindu culture is simply sickening. Of course, according to our own scriptures, these times are torrid for Hindus and Hinduism worldwide.
The slow and insidious vitriol that is poured on Hindu society day in and day out by the media, both Indian and foreign and even the pseudo-sickular Indians, is disgusting. For example, there was a FRONT PAGE article in the New York Times today about the 'massive child-malnutrition rates in India despite the apparent growth'! Of course, this is not an affront to Hinduism per se, but attacks Hindu/Indian society. Instead of looking at the bright things India has given to the world like the numeral system, decimal system, Yoga, Buddhism, Sikhism, mathematics (concepts of zero & infinity), we constantly see 'news' about the squalor, illtreatment of women and minorities (musLAME/christian filth), caste system, etc. etc. 99% of the time! BILLIONS of people read this putrid filth as sacrosanct and I get questions very often from my American neighbors and friends alike asking whether India is a (pardon my French) "shithole"! I am sick and tired of defending it and saying that one should find out for onself by traveling there and appreciating the good aspects of Indian/Hindu society instead of imbibing the bilge that is spewed out by the scheming 'free' press around the world. Questions like, "Do you guys really worship rats" and "do you kill muslims and women often"? is all too common by the illiterate masses of the world; even in this so-called '1st-world' country. What is the appreciation India gets? A pathetic statue called an 'oscar' for a movie that obviously denigrates Hindus and India! :rolleyes: The only thing great about the Slumdog oscar was Resul Pookutty's speech when he stated that he is from the country that gave the world AUM and his dedication of his award to his motherland!
It is unfair to blame only the west as Indian pseudo-secular people are demolishing the backbone of India on a daily basis!
Buddhists, especially East-Asian Buddhists and these western converts to Buddhism also add to this already burning flame with venomous language and completely erroneous attitudes towards Hinduism/Hindus and India!
The time has come, for all Hindus, to ACT! If you have some time, you should read Arun Shourie's article on action comparing the oxymoron "Hindutva" and Islamic fundamentalism! He clearly explains his points, which are in resonance with mine, that the same Bhagavad Gita that taught me to be compassionate to ALL things in nature also teaches me to OBLITERATE my enemies that pose a threat to the well-being of me, my family, and my society at large! Remember, inaction is absolute cowardice and there is NO scapegoat like Hindus in today's world. However, I am not one to be sitting by idly as our culture is torn apart from the inside out as well as attacked from abroad continually. It is time to follow the path of ParaSu-rAmA!
The day when India returns to her glorious days of Aryavarta and when her children chant HAR HAR MAHADEV in symphony will be the day my soul finds peace! As the great historian Arnold Toynbee once said, "India the conquered will become India the conquerer!"
JAI HIND!
Namaskar.
Namaste TTA,
It is unfortunate that those who call themselves "teachers" carry so much bias !
I am not an expert but yet I can claim to have studied Buddha & Buddhism to a good extent. I wonder, "Did Buddha, who was a Hindu by birth, ever claim that he was not a Hindu ?". I don't remember any instance when Lord Buddha proclaimed himself to be a Non-Hindu. Please correct me if I am wrong. There are many rituals in Sanatan Dharma which are different from many rituals in Buddhism. But Sanatan Dharma is not like other religions. If other religions are rivers, I would say that Sanatan Dharma is a Sea. Different sects of Sanatan Dharma follow different rituals but still they are part of the great Sanatan Dharma. A current coming out of the Ganges may be known by another name & may have a separate identity as a river but is it completely different from what the Ganges is ?
If a Buddhist or a Hindu says that Buddhism is entirely different from Sanatan Dharma, it only show his ignorance. That shows their lack of understanding of what spirituality is. One who understands the spirituality doesn't go after literal meaning of words & is never after finding differences ... he sees one-ness everywhere.
Whether Vedanta philosophy affected Buddhism or Buddhism affected Vedanta philosophy ? But wait, I think we are missing one very important another philosophy here - Jainism. Why don't we say that Jainism affected both Vedanta & Buddhism or Buddhism affected both Vedanta & Jainism or Vedanta affeceted both Buddhism & Jainism ? Was Lord Mahaveer any less than Lord Buddha ? Those who have a fair knowledge of Jainism & Buddhism must agree that there is a lot of similarity between Jainism & Buddhism. They also have found similar lineage to Mahaveer & have declared that Mahaveer was only the thirteenth Tirthankar & Jainism is as ancient as Sanatan Dharma ! ( Now even Muslims have started asserting that Islam is the "oldest" religion !!)
The truth is not known what affected whom & it can never be known for certainty. In fact, a great Buddhism scholar admitted at one place that Buddhism, especially the Mahayan Buddhism" owe a great deal to Vedanta & not the other way round. I don't say whether he is right or wrong. I can only say here that as per history, all the "three" (if we choose them to be called "three") have same time period when these philosophies emerged. And mind it, they were not only Mahaveer & Buddha but many saints who found same Truth at that time. Others didn't form separate sects & contributed to Vedanta but followers of Mahaveer & Buddha decided to call themselves different.
The compulsion of maintaining a separate religious identity at all costs has its origin in Ahamkaar. If "I" is not "separate" from others ... "I" cannot survive ... the survival instict is so strong that "I" is ready to destroy anything which threatens its separate identity. That is Maya !... or shall we call it Samsaara ?
OM
I certainly agree with your assessment of the whole situation; especially the fact that people tend to differentiate due to Ahamkaara (ego).
However, what I find disturbing, as I've personally experienced several times, is that whenever there is news/discussions/debates about Hindu philosophy or India in general, anything good that has arisen is always deemed to have occurred by happenstance and all the rotten things about India are there because of Hinduism! This grossly erroneous assumption is devastating not only to Hindus, but to Indians in general. The constant denigration and degradation of Hindu culture is simply sickening. Of course, according to our own scriptures, these times are torrid for Hindus and Hinduism worldwide.
The slow and insidious vitriol that is poured on Hindu society day in and day out by the media, both Indian and foreign and even the pseudo-sickular Indians, is disgusting. For example, there was a FRONT PAGE article in the New York Times today about the 'massive child-malnutrition rates in India despite the apparent growth'! Of course, this is not an affront to Hinduism per se, but attacks Hindu/Indian society. Instead of looking at the bright things India has given to the world like the numeral system, decimal system, Yoga, Buddhism, Sikhism, mathematics (concepts of zero & infinity), we constantly see 'news' about the squalor, illtreatment of women and minorities (musLAME/christian filth), caste system, etc. etc. 99% of the time! BILLIONS of people read this putrid filth as sacrosanct and I get questions very often from my American neighbors and friends alike asking whether India is a (pardon my French) "shithole"! I am sick and tired of defending it and saying that one should find out for onself by traveling there and appreciating the good aspects of Indian/Hindu society instead of imbibing the bilge that is spewed out by the scheming 'free' press around the world. Questions like, "Do you guys really worship rats" and "do you kill muslims and women often"? is all too common by the illiterate masses of the world; even in this so-called '1st-world' country. What is the appreciation India gets? A pathetic statue called an 'oscar' for a movie that obviously denigrates Hindus and India! :rolleyes: The only thing great about the Slumdog oscar was Resul Pookutty's speech when he stated that he is from the country that gave the world AUM and his dedication of his award to his motherland!
It is unfair to blame only the west as Indian pseudo-secular people are demolishing the backbone of India on a daily basis!
Buddhists, especially East-Asian Buddhists and these western converts to Buddhism also add to this already burning flame with venomous language and completely erroneous attitudes towards Hinduism/Hindus and India!
The time has come, for all Hindus, to ACT! If you have some time, you should read Arun Shourie's article on action comparing the oxymoron "Hindutva" and Islamic fundamentalism! He clearly explains his points, which are in resonance with mine, that the same Bhagavad Gita that taught me to be compassionate to ALL things in nature also teaches me to OBLITERATE my enemies that pose a threat to the well-being of me, my family, and my society at large! Remember, inaction is absolute cowardice and there is NO scapegoat like Hindus in today's world. However, I am not one to be sitting by idly as our culture is torn apart from the inside out as well as attacked from abroad continually. It is time to follow the path of ParaSu-rAmA!
The day when India returns to her glorious days of Aryavarta and when her children chant HAR HAR MAHADEV in symphony will be the day my soul finds peace! As the great historian Arnold Toynbee once said, "India the conquered will become India the conquerer!"
JAI HIND!
Namaskar.
Namaste TTA,
It is unfortunate that those who call themselves "teachers" carry so much bias !
I am not an expert but yet I can claim to have studied Buddha & Buddhism to a good extent. I wonder, "Did Buddha, who was a Hindu by birth, ever claim that he was not a Hindu ?". I don't remember any instance when Lord Buddha proclaimed himself to be a Non-Hindu. Please correct me if I am wrong. There are many rituals in Sanatan Dharma which are different from many rituals in Buddhism. But Sanatan Dharma is not like other religions. If other religions are rivers, I would say that Sanatan Dharma is a Sea. Different sects of Sanatan Dharma follow different rituals but still they are part of the great Sanatan Dharma. A current coming out of the Ganges may be known by another name & may have a separate identity as a river but is it completely different from what the Ganges is ?
If a Buddhist or a Hindu says that Buddhism is entirely different from Sanatan Dharma, it only show his ignorance. That shows their lack of understanding of what spirituality is. One who understands the spirituality doesn't go after literal meaning of words & is never after finding differences ... he sees one-ness everywhere.
Whether Vedanta philosophy affected Buddhism or Buddhism affected Vedanta philosophy ? But wait, I think we are missing one very important another philosophy here - Jainism. Why don't we say that Jainism affected both Vedanta & Buddhism or Buddhism affected both Vedanta & Jainism or Vedanta affeceted both Buddhism & Jainism ? Was Lord Mahaveer any less than Lord Buddha ? Those who have a fair knowledge of Jainism & Buddhism must agree that there is a lot of similarity between Jainism & Buddhism. They also have found similar lineage to Mahaveer & have declared that Mahaveer was only the thirteenth Tirthankar & Jainism is as ancient as Sanatan Dharma ! ( Now even Muslims have started asserting that Islam is the "oldest" religion !!)
The truth is not known what affected whom & it can never be known for certainty. In fact, a great Buddhism scholar admitted at one place that Buddhism, especially the Mahayan Buddhism" owe a great deal to Vedanta & not the other way round. I don't say whether he is right or wrong. I can only say here that as per history, all the "three" (if we choose them to be called "three") have same time period when these philosophies emerged. And mind it, they were not only Mahaveer & Buddha but many saints who found same Truth at that time. Others didn't form separate sects & contributed to Vedanta but followers of Mahaveer & Buddha decided to call themselves different.
The compulsion of maintaining a separate religious identity at all costs has its origin in Ahamkaar. If "I" is not "separate" from others ... "I" cannot survive ... the survival instict is so strong that "I" is ready to destroy anything which threatens its separate identity. That is Maya !... or shall we call it Samsaara ?
OM