Converts and hate

[Sudas Paijavana]

Namaste,

Honestly, the only place I have had the misfortune to experience hate or bullying from members of the Hindu community has been HDF--specifically, when I first joined the forum after being informed by a colleague that an essay I had written was being discussed here.

Yes, I feel you, brah. My Shrutism isn't well received in Hindu circles either. It is quite unfortunate, in fact.

Since then, except for one person, all of those who were involved in that initial discussion have either apologized to me or have engaged me in what I would call normal, mutually respectful discussion in a way that suggests that I have managed to pass my initiatory ragging/hazing/trial by fire.

Burn it! Burn it with fire!

I think this experience has less to do with Hindu Dharma or with being a convert than it does with the dynamics of internet communication, especially in a place where most members have the security of pseudonyms and can say whatever they like. At first glance, this can be great for freedom of speech and the exchange of ideas, but not so good for civility.

Good civility is good dharma.

In the long run, though, healthy discussion depends as much upon mutual respect as upon unbridled freedom. When we are hated, we usually just shut up and go away (at least that is my inclination). But if everyone is respected, the conversation can continue. And if we are truly respectful and not simply being restrained by rules of political correctness, we can disagree, sometimes quite sharply, without driving others away or being driven away ourselves. At least that is the ideal, as I understand it.

Trust me, brah. The Indian mind is so messed up due to British Colonialism, that full out acceptance of Western converts is a rarity. They don't understand that after all the wrongs that the West has conducted (no where near the amount of wrongs the Muslims and Genghis the Tengrist conducted), karma has come around to the Westerners. They don't understand that this karma has come in a beautiful way: many Westerners are now becoming Hindu. Don't worry, my dude...you are good in my book! Jai Shri Ram!

Paijavana

[Jeffery D. Long]

Trust me, brah. The Indian mind is so messed up due to British Colonialism, that full out acceptance of Western converts is a rarity. They don't understand that after all the wrongs that the West has conducted (no where near the amount of wrongs the Muslims and Genghis the Tengrist conducted), karma has come around to the Westerners. They don't understand that this karma has come in a beautiful way: many Westerners are now becoming Hindu. Don't worry, my dude...you are good in my book! Jai Shri Ram!

Much appreciated!

I completely get the reaction of some Indian Hindus to Western converts. A lot of Westerners, in their enthusiasm, are inattentive to cultural nuances that they really need to learn (like not putting their feet where they don't belong). And there is still a ton of white supremacist, Eurocentric garbage embedded in our consciousness, due to acculturation, that needs to be unlearned.

At the same time, if Vedanta is true, which I am absolutely convinced it is, we are not these bodies or the cultural affiliations that these bodies have due to where they were born and raised. It could be that some of today's Indians were British colonizers in another lifetime, and that some of today's Western converts were Indian Hindu practitioners, carrying the saṃskāras from those lives into the present. As I've mentioned elsewhere, like it or not, Swami Vivekananda and the gurus who came after him have answered a deep spiritual need in many of us, and aroused a desire for more than the dominant threads of Western thought have been able to fulfill. I cannot not believe in karma and rebirth, and I cannot unhave the experiences I have had in my sādhana. Nor would I wish to. Does that make me Hindu? I suppose that is up to Hindus to decide.

[Sahasranama]

Yes, I feel you, brah. My Shrutism isn't well received in Hindu circles either. It is quite unfortunate, in fact.

Shrutism, u wot m8?

[Sudas Paijavana]

Shrutism, u wot m8?

Namaste,

My Śakala approach to Hinduism. My hardcore polytheism, brah.

Paijavana

[Sudas Paijavana]

Namaste,

I completely get the reaction of some Indian Hindus to Western converts. A lot of Westerners, in their enthusiasm, are inattentive to cultural nuances that they really need to learn (like not putting their feet where they don't belong). And there is still a ton of white supremacist, Eurocentric garbage embedded in our consciousness, due to acculturation, that needs to be unlearned.

Yeah, that Eurocentric approach is a turnoff. A major turnoff, in fact. Also, not heeding to the culture is also a major turnoff. But, what can people do when they contain themselves on the material planes instead of traversing upon the calls of an evolved consciousness?

I cannot not believe in karma and rebirth, and I cannot unhave the experiences I have had in my sādhana. Nor would I wish to. Does that make me Hindu? I suppose that is up to Hindus to decide.

What do you mean, Doc?

Paijavana

[Sahasranama]

Namaste,

My Śakala approach to Hinduism. My hardcore polytheism, brah.

Paijavana

Śakala, pfff.

I don't talk to anyone less than a Bāṣkala.

[Jeffery D. Long]

What do you mean, Doc?

Only that I don't want to impose myself on others. I may regard myself as Hindu, and others may regard me as Hindu (including many Hindus), but some others still may be deeply offended by this because of India's experiences with the West. My ultimate interest is not in a label, but in truth and liberation.

[Sudas Paijavana]

Śakala, pfff.

I don't talk to anyone less than a Bāṣkala.

Namaste,

Yeah, you keep your newer mandalas to yourself, brah. I'll stick with the older ones.

Only that I don't want to impose myself on others. I may regard myself as Hindu, and others may regard me as Hindu (including many Hindus), but some others still may be deeply offended by this because of India's experiences with the West. My ultimate interest is not in a label, but in truth and liberation.

Namaste,

Come sip on some Soma with me; you will reach liberation! "apAma somam amRtA abhUmA..." That is how our homeboys did it in the old days...before people went hippy like and got all softy soft ...

Paijavana

[Sahasranama]

Namaste,

Yeah, you keep your newer mandalas to yourself, brah. I'll stick with the older ones.

Yeah, maybe in your village, brah. Real adepts only work with the Jurassic Veda.

[Jeffery D. Long]

Namaste,

Come sip on some Soma with me; you will reach liberation! "apAma somam amRtA abhUmA..." That is how our homeboys did it in the old days...before people went hippy like and got all softy soft ...

Paijavana

And I was just discussing Soma with someone else earlier today. Methinks the All-Gods are trying to tell me something!