This time tomorrow, my husband and I will be on a train to Goa, in particular Arambol. It’s the first time we’ve taken a holiday together for almost a year, so I’m really looking forward it.
However, it’s more than just a holiday. I’m hoping it will be a spiritual experience. We’re going to be spending a week with our beloved Reiki teacher from Manali, who’s also in Goa for six months of the year.
Her gift is isn’t just restricted to Reiki. She’s a talented intuitive healer and also does powerful past life regressions, crystal healing, and tarot readings. This time it’s the past life regression and tarot readings I’m interested in.
One of the reasons why I like being in India is because my spiritual beliefs aren’t out of place here, like they are at home. People don’t mock me when I talk of things like prana (life energy), chakras (energy centres in the body), past lives, and other metaphysical things that I’ve come to believe in.
My beliefs have developed and concreted over the years to the point that I want answers. I want to know about my past lives. I want to uncover the past and put together the pieces of the present. Did I really live in India, like so many Indians that I meet seem to think? Have I already known my husband in a previous life time, like how it feels? I want to know about events in my past lives that are affecting me today. I want to know more about my purpose here, and my life’s mission.
I really feel ready for these discoveries. My husband is also keen to find out. Let’s see what happens!
Photo: courtesy of www.flickr.com user uriba
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A more worthy spirit than the gods that the religious worship.
@ Sharrell’s Celebrity Doppleganger – “…they are just not considered any “caste” or “jati”, that’s all…”
That’s the point. Traditionally since last 800 years or so, Hinduism became more segregated and structured in terms of castes. So, what kind of Hindu are you if you don’t belong to any jati? Even untouchables are considered a ‘jati’. So if you don’t belong to any ‘jati’, you are nobody, according to traditional Hindus.
Again, you can still follow many of the traditional Hindu ideas without following Hinduism, this is where Hindu ideologies as whole are more complex and disputed.
@ SM, “…Many comments here are the epitome of ‘A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing’. I wish they took some time out to explore the vastness, depths and riches of the Eternal Dharma…”
There is nothing more to explore other than finding more archeological evidences. And, we are discussing traditional Hinduism, not Eternal Dharma or Sanatan Dharma. Of course, Hinduism inherits so many things from eternal Dharma , but it’s not exactly same as eternal Dharma.
Besides, keep your lectures about vastness and riches of Dharma for these “whites” who escape to east in search of alternative or peace of mind, just as many Indians escape to west in search of prosperity or education.
I’m curious in this discussion of conversion, how you would see my situation. I am the child of Westerners who started following Indian religion in the 70s. I’m white, I’m American, my ancestors are from Northern Europe, but I was born into a household practicing Indian philosophy and I identify as a Hindu.
I think globalization is making the world much more complex. We can no longer just stick to the definitions and understandings we have had in the past.
I am not someone who thinks Indian religion is so exotic and cool and I’m looking to fill a void. I was born to it.
Amit is a bad boy again:)
@Amit Desai “There is nothing more to explore other than finding more archeological evidences. ”
Since you have quoted me directly, I am addressing this to you. I did not quite understand what you meant by the above. Could you elaborate?
“And, we are discussing traditional Hinduism”
And who decides what is “traditional Hinduism”? Is it Amit Desai who equates Hinduism with casteism and refuses to see anything beyond that? As far as I have studied and experienced traditional Hinduism is based on ideologies, not social structures and I choose to see it that way. There are ample traditional Hindu texts which speak of various philosophies; in fact, many that very few individuals can complete the study of those in one lifetime (By study I mean contemplation and understanding – chintan-manan-dhyan). And here you are saying that there is nothing more left for you to explore? Interesting!
“…keep your lectures…to ‘whites’ who escape to east in search of alternative or peace of mind…”
First of all, this is a public forum and everybody has a right to express their views. You can choose not to read up my comments and/or react to them, but I have a right to express them. Secondly, if you believe that only “whites” seek peace of mind and turn to alternate religions, you are wrong. In these times, lots of people are choosing to turn inwards and to spirituality to seek answers.
@ julya, “..Amit is a bad boy again:)…”
Thank you, my lady. Below is one more example of my ‘bad-boy-ness’.
@ SM, “…I did not quite understand what you meant by the above…”
Whatever you assumed by my statement would fill the bill. In other words, all the richness, vastness, or depths in Hinduism have been explored, confused, and interpreted (also misinterpreted) so many times. What more does your Hinduism offer to Hindus? chintan-manan-manthan-dhyan would not give you food or shelter. Yes, it may help you become a computer scientist or a Swami who are both out there to make money. Moreover, if you think that such things will give you Moksha or Nirvana or ultimate answers of life, then I wish you Good Luck.
@ SM, “…Is it Amit Desai who equates Hinduism with casteism and refuses to see anything beyond that?…”
Many of the Hindu-texts or philosophies you are talking about cannot be considered Hindu-texts or philosophies at all, let alone traditional or otherwise. I do not see Vedic ideologies as Hindu ideologies. But I do see caste system as Hindu ideology as it is still practiced by Hindus and was inherited by Hindus from the people who invented it. Is this fact erroneous to your knowledge? Oh, this is because, “A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing”.
@ SM, “…You can choose not to read up my comments and/or react to them, but I have a right to express them…”
The same idea applies to everyone, you could have chosen not to read or react at all to others who seemed to have “little knowledge about Etnernal Dharma”. Of course, you still commented on their knowledge because you are the only Avatar of great Brahma and others are merely illiterate ‘Shudras”, right?
@ SM, “…turn inwards and to spirituality to seek answers…”
It could just be illusion of knowledge of those ‘soma-drinkers’ and ‘pot-heads’. There may never be any answer for animal lives other than one, “when I drown, I die for the world, at the same time, the world also drowns with me”. Good luck in your exploration though, I am sure I will need your discoveries to design my main-frame computers.
As a side note, slavery was also choice made by your own ancestors, is there any self-realization about that? Did you guys discover the SLAVE inside you, by any chance?
@Amit Desai
“chintan-manan-manthan-dhyan would not give you food or shelter. Yes, it may help you become a computer scientist or a Swami who are both out
there to make money. Moreover, if you think that such things will give you Moksha or Nirvana or ultimate answers of life, then I wish you
Good Luck.”
Chintan-manan along with action will given you the solutions to any problem- be it material or spiritual. You yourself said it- it can make you a computer scientist as well as a swami depending on what you focus on. Earning money is not a crime and is certainly not anti-Hindu if it’s done with a right purpose and right means. Also, not all Swamis are out to make money- some do adhere to “selfless service to humanity=service to God” principle.
@AD “What more does your Hinduism offer to Hindus?”
Hinduism and its core philosophies/practices offer a lot not just to Hindus but to anyone who tries to inculcate those in their lives with an OPEN MIND. Since from the tone of your comments, it is clear that you neither care nor are interested in learning about Hinduism in any measure, I am not writing any more on this topic.
@AD: “Many of the Hindu-texts or philosophies you are talking about cannot be considered Hindu-texts or philosophies at all…But I do see caste system as Hindu ideology as it is still practiced by Hindus and was inherited by Hindus from the people who invented it.”
The 4 Vedas, all the Upanishads, Ramayan-Mahabharat, Geeta, Bhagavat are all Hindu texts that contain Hindu philosophies. If some people from the modern Hindu generation have forgotten them, that does not mean that these cease to be Hindu philosophies. On the other hand, casteism is not a core Hindu philosophy; even how it got ingrained in its present form in Hindu society is disputed.
@AD: “The same idea applies to everyone, you could have chosen not to read or react at all to others who seemed to have “little knowledge about
Etnernal Dharma”. Of course, you still commented on their knowledge because you are the only Avatar of great Brahma and others are merely
illiterate ‘Shudras’, right?”
I do not believe in casteism; What makes you make assumptions about my beliefs? Sarcasm, nothing else, Right?
And of course, it is evident from your comments that you do not believe in Hinduism and do not even believe in having more knowledge about
its philosophies. That’s ok. But at the same time you do not refrain from ridiculing/demeaning others who are out there to seek answers in
Hinduism. Why can’t you keep your beliefs to yourself and try not to impose them on Hindus?
@AD: “There may never be any answer for animal lives other than one, “when I drown, I die for the world, at the same time, the world also drowns with me”.”
It could have been very well be as you said -”one life and everything ends with this”. But I’m sorry to inform you that all the evidences point
to and support Hindu philosophy of past lives, rebirths, Karma etc.
@AD: “It’s Good luck in your exploration though, I am sure I will need your discoveries to design my main-frame computers.”
Though you said the above sarcastically, I can not help but reply thus: Purusharthas(Dharma-Artha-Kaam-Moksha) and Ashrams(Brahmacharya-Grihastha-Vanaprastha-Sannyasa) are again Hindu concepts, which profess balance of spiritual and material interests. So you may make money by designing computers and sing Bhajans and can still be a Hindu.
@AD: “As a side note, slavery was also choice made by your own ancestors, is there any self-realization about that? Did you guys discover the SLAVE inside you, by any chance?”
What!? Are you going to hold me accountable for the good or bad choices of my ancestors? Haven’t heard anything more ridiculous than this.
And if you are suggesting that one becomes SLAVE by believing in God, you are totally away from the truth. Otherwise, we Hindus won’t call
God-realization as “Self-realization”.
One thing that surprises me is – You seem to profess to hate casteism or slavery or whatever, but you always bring those in every comment
whereas casteism is not even a ‘core’ Hindu philisophy.At the same time, you do not mention any of the actual Hindu philosophies.
I’m not sure whether you live in India or somewhere else, the society is changing a lot: there are reservations for Scheduled castes/tribes/OBCs in both education and jobs. Also, people are more open to love marriages/ divorces. I myself have done inter-caste marriage. The century-old problem of casteism can not be erased in a jiffy; but at least Hindus are open to change. But as I said before, if you choose to equate Hinduism with only casteism, you are missing out on everything else that it offers. One can see the glass half-empty or half-full, it’s one’s choice.
All the Vedas and the Upanishads, the Ramayan-Mahabharat, the Geeta, and the Bhagavat are not really Hindu texts that contain Hindu philosophies. These texts never made any reference to the term Hindu or Hinduism. The term Hindu is a Persian/Islamic invention and has no meaning or place in the so called “Hindu culture or philosophy”. Mughals used to use this term ‘Hindu’ for the people they enslaved. British enslaved the same people, borrowed the same term and made it ‘Hinduism’ in English. Even these greatest intellectuals (slaves) accepted the term with out using any muscle in their heads. And now, they rattle about their great past and philosophies to feel good about themselves. The fact is, even today everything in India, by and large, is based on caste.
Facts are not subject to ridicule or degradation. Discussing caste-system does not mean degrading Hindus. Similarly, stating the fact that people migrate for change or an alternative does not mean ridiculing anyone. A major demeaning thing is to call others ignorant when they don’t conform to your beliefs. Regarding my beliefs and imposing those beliefs on Hindus, even I have no idea what beliefs I have or follow. I am sure you can enlighten me here.
Yes, for sure, you Hindus call ‘God-realization’ as ‘self-realization’. But that didn’t prevent those Hindus from becoming slaves of other people. Show me one wide-spread problem which has been solved by the God-realization, yesterday or today.
Regarding greatest theories of Dharma, I will mention one useful theory that amazes me the most and yet is not realized by many of the spiritual people today. It’s about the philosophy of “Shunyata”, the realization of the absolute nothingness, the invention of zero and arithmetic, and the possible invention of a virtual world that would, in many ways, resemble the spiritual world. The real answer to life lies in making the material world resemble the spiritual world, not by looking inward only, but by looking outward and forward as well.
You are such a wannabe vindictive looser amit
Abdullah, you are not Hindu nor a member of any Hindu sect, therefore you are not privy to those Hindu sects that do indeed accept converts as “bonafide”…. in India.
Re: “This is different from Christianity or Judaism for example, where converts are bonafide members”
Christianity, yes.
Judaism? Maybe some “renewal” or “reform” sects. It’s controversial, and rare.
Even Hindu sects are more open than Judaism.
I live in India and have dated, lived with and live around Hindus. I have also observed many who converted into or out of Hinduism. That is more real than sitting 12000 kilometers away and pretending to be an expert on India after picking things off internet blogs.
So then where is your authority on “Judaism”????
I am a Hindu and so is 90% of my family.
NRI/Sharrells Celebrity doppleganger/gori princess or whatever, pardon me but I don’t think anyone here respects or takes into account your views on Hinduism. I personally hold Abdullahs comments in a much higher regards then yours.
I have to ask though, why can you not keep one name? Are you so afraid that people will find you out? Find out that you are a bitter, hateful being?
Where does all this anger come from? I don’t think anyone here has the authority to say what Hinduism is or isn’t. I don’t think anyone anywhere has that authority. People process and understand everything in the world differently. Why is that such a huge problem?
No, not an authority. I just have a fair bit of idea of the major world religions.
Conversion to Judaism is documented by the Talmud and has been in practice for thousands for years. It is only the Semitic Jews who have issues with conversion.
CM and SM, thank you both so much for your encouragement! I really appreciate it. I had an interesting experience and will write more about it soon (I just got home tonight)!
CM, I really share your view about Hinduism providing “a structure of belief that allows me to process and understand the world and to stay focused on my spiritual goals”. That pretty much sums up how I feel about the matter. Fortunately, you’ve been able to put it into words better than me.
Hi Nidhi, thanks so much, I’m glad you liked it.
As for my writing, I guess you could say I always enjoyed it and enjoyed writing about travel and destinations (I even wrote a travel guide to Melbourne for a school assignment). When I thought about travel writing though — well it always seemed to me that it would be something unobtainable and impossible for me to do (a dream job! 
). I was so inspired by my India travels that I started writing about India freelance for an article library website (Suite101.com http://www.suite101.com/freelance_writing_jobs). Another writer read my articles, and told me there was a position vacant at About.com to manage and write their India travel website. I applied and got the job. My other travel writing work and involvement with various companies such as Mahinda has come from that. I’ve just been very, very fortunate with how it’s turned out for me.
@Amit Desai
I agree with you that the term Hindu is not indigenous. It was used to denote the people living on the other side of the Sindhu river by the Greeks/Persians/Arabs (traders and later invaders) and later came to denote the religious philosophies of these people. You might have noticed that in my very first post, I referred to Hinduism as Sanatan Dharma. Anyway, the main point of discussion was to focus on the essence of our Dharma. It’s like someone saying Indian culture is not Indian because ‘India’ is a term given by Greeks and the West, the original being Bharatvarsha and so on.
@AD, “A major demeaning thing is to call others ignorant when they don’t conform to your beliefs.”
I did not call anyone ignorant; just that the comments seemed ignorant (about Sanatan Dharma) to me. I have absolutely no issues with anyone not conforming to Hindu beliefs, but I do have issues with half-baked comments made without even trying to understand the ways of Hinduism and made solely in order to ridicule it.
@AD, “Show me one wide-spread problem which has been solved by the God-realization..”
It seems your main problem is with religion per se, not just Hinduism. Religion not solving any of the major problems in the world is a different issue and will probably merit a separate discussion.
@Sharrell’s Celebrity Doppleganger
Someone in this forum has mentioned that converts to Hinduism are not treated in an equal way. I have seen many monks in various Orders to be holding the highest posts and performing Puja and other rituals in the same manner as ethnic Hindus. So I would go by what I see in practice rather than by what somebody else says.
@@ SM – “…but I do have issues with half-baked comments made without even trying to understand the ways of Hinduism and made solely in order to ridicule it…”
I don’t speak for others and their knowledge, but how did you know or assume that I have little knowledge about Hinduism from my comments. I don’t claim many things that I could technically claim much more than most Hindus. For instance, I was born into a strict vegetarian, Gujarati brahmin family and I had followed the Dharma or Hinduism till the age 15 just like I followed and trusted my grandparents’ beliefs. However, knowingly or unknowingly, they provided me with an encouragement to challenge everything with rationality (what the hell is that?) which I followed more. So, even though, I had not known the essence of Dharma, I was still better off than so many others as a brahmin by birth, I inherited that Brahmanism in my blood – the “Gyan”. Although, I did study the Vedas, Upanishads, and so on. In fact, I started eating beef after studying Vedas that has plenty of references on cow-sacrifice.
@@ SM – “…It’s like someone saying Indian culture is not Indian because ‘India’ is a term given by Greeks and the West, the original being Bharatvarsha and so on…”
The was not my point either. I brought this in order to explain my other points clearly. That is, the Hinduism can easily be separated from many ancient principles which most Hindus don’t follow anymore. Only what majority of Hindus follow today can be considered “Hinduism” in true sense. So, caste system is one major ideology which is followed widely by Hindus much more than Kamasutra or Vedas-Upanishads although the roots of such ideologies are in Dharma. Similarly, cow-killing is not part of Hinduism any more. Yet, it was part of Vedic or pre-Vedic culture nevertheless.
@@ SM – “…It seems your main problem is with religion per se, not just Hinduism…”
At least this time you got me right. Again, I would not mind some follow a pseudo-science (religious ideas) as it’s still hard to disprove the pseudo-scientific principles. But, according to definitions, I may still call such belief a pseudo-science, especially when I see these “great whites” follow it. My religious grandparents used to say, “black is only black because you believe or perceive it to be black”. Otherwise, black is something incomprehensible.
Realizing God would not help understand God. You just learn to accept His rule which may only make you feel happy or content just like most women who make their life solely based on “feelings” rather than “logic”.
@@ CM – “…I’m white, I’m American, my ancestors are from Northern Europe, but I was born into a household practicing Indian philosophy and I identify as a Hindu…”
Uhm, Hindu, eh? Well, you can certainly identify your self as an “Aryan” – the Nordic people who were behind every good thing ever happened to India. You may still be considered a Hindu by many open-minded-white-skin-loving-Hindus, don’t you worry, my friend!
@@ CM – “…I don’t think anyone here has the authority to say what Hinduism is or isn’t. I don’t think anyone anywhere has that authority…”
Religious authority were often a strong authority itself in the past, everywhere. So, it’s just a “Karmic” period for religion as well. People are just giving the things back to religion what it gave to people in the past.
We have a life-span of not more than 100 something years. So whatever we know about past (or future) is, by and large, assumptions and hearsay. But then, where are we going to derive the “law and order” from in order to run or stop things? Or as a “white-Hindu”, you would like a world with out authority, eh? “Om-Shanti-Om”, “love-peace-no-authority”, eh?
Anyway, many of your “white-American brothers and cousins” don’t quite hear you. They have been making weapons to strengthen their authority more and more. Uhm, when is the WW3 scheduled? Who is sponsoring it CNN or BBC, ehyee?
Interesting. Hinduism indeed is quite a flexible religion, contrary to what the ‘moralists’ try to portray. One of my friends who excels in the Vedas tells me that according to Vedic principles, I could be a Hindu as well, given my atheism which apparently is a part of vedic philosophies. (I however, choose not to identify myself with a religion.)
White skinned Hindu converts do have a better ‘status’ in the Hindu hierarchy than, say, a Semitic or Black convert. A white person adopting Hinduism is considered a ‘seal of approval’ of Hinduism by many Indians. If a non-Hindu woman marries a Hindu husband and converts, she is also given the status of a bonafide, since a woman is supposed to inbibe the identity of her husband.
@@ Abdullah K. – “…One of my friends who excels in the Vedas tells me that according to Vedic principles, I could be a Hindu as well, given my atheism which apparently is a part of vedic philosophies…”
No Vedic scholar can be more right on this than your friend. Hinduism as whole, has the greatest ability to incorporate ALL the beliefs in the world, in a subtly stricter way though. There’s no HOLY book in Hinduism and there are no strict rules that is identified as one set of Hindu belief. A Christian can be considered as Hindu as an agnostic or nihilist simply because Hinduism has to offer many things to all of them. A more complex philosophy of ‘Shunyata’ (zero-ness) is in fact a prime example of ‘nihilism’ (also found in Greek and Buddhism). Similarly, ‘atheism’ is considered part of Hinduism as it is quite acceptable in Hinduism not to practice anything. There is no affiliation or obligation as it is in the case of Christianity or Islam. Many Hindu philosophies also point to ‘agnosticism’ with little or no emphasis on God. A Shloka from Vedanta (Lokayata): “When my self dies and my material self is reduced to ashes which is the only thing that conceives the ‘knowledge’ about my birth-rebirth, So, why not live merrily as long as I live, with out worrying to know the knowledge?”
(Sharell should also know this part of Hinduism which is not explored too much).
Hinduism can never be defined as one set. I am a Hindu as long as I cease to be. I can be a Hindu now, Muslim tomorrow, and back again without even changing my status as Hindu, there are no hassles or guilt, simply because all the beliefs in world are mine. After all, I’d remain a Hindu by birth, and can be anything by practice and still don’t breach my basic religious beliefs totally. If you analyze all the small sects with in Hinduism, you would find them following a small set of beliefs taken from a larger pool of Hinduism. These sects have no ORIGINAL ideas nevertheless.
This is why I try to be more specific instead of using the term ‘Hindu’ or ‘Indian’ which is so general and makes everything complicated unnecessarily.
@@ Abdullah K. -”…If a non-Hindu woman marries a Hindu husband and converts, she is also given the status of a bonafide,…”
This is due to the patriarchal system in Hinduism, especially in higher castes. So when a Brahmin man takes a lower caste wife, her status is elevated as her children would still be brahmins by blood. When a brahmin women takes a lower caste man, she is considered an equivalent of outcast or her status as Brahmin is lost.
However, there is some complexity here as well, as many brahmins also follow or worship their own ‘mother of the clan’, and such ‘mothers’ also have a hierarchical status with in that caste. I am not exactly sure why, but one logical reason is, when the Brahmin man took a lower caste wife, and her children are still Brahmins, yet they are considered inferior to the other Brahmins who had higher caste mothers.
One of the fascinating and unique things about Hinduism is that it does not have a central authority. No pope, no Mohamed, etc. It is what people believe it to be. And it means very different things to different people. I don’t see that as a problem.
@AD, “Show me one wide-spread problem which has been solved by the God-realization..”
It will not solve the world’s problems. No religion will do that. People who care about their neighbors and solve what problems they can that are right in front of them are the only hope to solve the world’s problems. No big, great revelation, just having one’s eyes open every day for the opportunity to make small improvements.
There are whole lot of Hindu texts that deal with atheism, agnosticism, rationality. Questioning is/was encouraged; many upanishads are in form of questioning and answering between disciples and teachers; there is lot of literature surrounding dialogs(e.g. Janak-ashtavakra samvad, maitreyi-yajnavalkya samvad etc.). This mainly stems from the inherent flexibility in Hinduism which essentially believes that we all are spirits that have different nature and are at different stages of learning. So based on a person’s temperament, one can choose any path. But at the same time, humility and civility are very important. A questioning intellect without civility or a feeling heart is arrogant and is not something to be emulated.
@CM, You expressed exactly my thoughts on the topic of religion solving world’s problems. The ultimate outcome of self-realization would be Love for all. So while this kind of universal love might prevent a lot of problems, I do not think it will solve all of world’s problems. We should not expect that to happen.
@@ CM – “…One of the fascinating and unique things about Hinduism is that it does not have a central authority…”
That was exactly what took Hindus away from the reality and made them slaves for almost 1000 years. India will always be behind and produce slaves unless there is one authority as no authority often results in chaos and dysfunction. Besides, no authority does not mean true freedom or equality or any other ideal, but rather a mockery of all great ideals you can think of. In fact, Hindus are still not free, all they have is an illusion of freedom and a desire to get inspiration, which they receive from Americans or west as an ‘approval of their progress’.
@@ CM – “…It is what people believe it to be. And it means very different things to different people. I don’t see that as a problem…”
Why would you see this as problem? you didn’t grow up on streets of India (same thing is true for me and most people here). Did you have to compromise your basic needs due to “no authority”? Were you mostly treated badly because people do see things differently and always misunderstood the democracy and freedom? Probably, your comments would be appreciated by so many of the Hindus who also believe in no authority, after all, Americans like no authority, yeeaah!!
“Oh, yah, we are certainly making huge progress because Time magazine says so, who else knows better, um?”
@@ CM – “…It will not solve the world’s problems…”
But, it will surely create many more problems. Besides, religion is not required to achieve any of the task you do, except ‘the task of being religious’. As far as India is concerned, just abolish two things and India would become ‘great country or nation’ (of course, that does not necessarily mean ‘fully-developed’ like west). These two things are : marriage and religion.
Sharell… where are youuuu??? I’m tired of coming to your blog and just seeing updates of foolish arguments going on back and forth. I wanna hear about Goa and what you’ve brought back with you
I believe in political authority. I don’t see how religious authority would fix any of these things. Religious authority has no business in defining democracy or freedom, that is for political authority. But I’m young and inexperienced, so I don’t really know anything.
America does not have a religious authority and that has been a great blessing to me. Not to be forced to be Christian just because the majority of the country is…
So sorry B, I aimed to get a post written today but got called out to a game of go-karting, which I couldn’t resist!
I’ve also been really busy catching up on stuff after being away. I’ll start writing tomorrow!
@ B. Kaur – “…I’m tired of coming to your blog and just seeing updates of foolish arguments going on back and forth…”
How many other (foolish or ugly) things have you seen going (on) back and forth, umm?
@ CM – “…I believe in political authority…”
Sounds like an American, perfectly. And let me guess, your political authority starts in Vietnam, becomes stronger in Iraq, and ends in Afghanistan.
@ CM – “…I don’t see how religious authority would fix any of these things…”
Religious authority usually screw many of these things. This is why you don’t see it.
@ CM – “…Religious authority has no business in defining democracy or freedom, that is for political authority…”
True. America doesn’t have any religious authority, just like Afghanistan doesn’t have Taliban authority. Vast majority of Americans are self-reported ‘atheists’. And these atheists are the ones who are more prevalent in politics and who were also part of all the wars America had against “the evil-religious forces”.
@ CM – “…But I’m young and inexperienced, so I don’t really know anything…”
George Bush is another person who had the same problem, at the age of 55. Is it a common problem through out U.S to be young and inexperienced all life?
@ CM – “…America does not have a religious authority and that has been a great blessing to me…”
Of course, others do have religious authority and therefore are punished by your American “Highness”.
”But, it will surely create many more problems. Besides, religion is not required to achieve any of the task you do, except ‘the task of being religious’. As far as India is concerned, just abolish two things and India would become ‘great country or nation’ (of course, that does not necessarily mean ‘fully-developed’ like west). These two things are : marriage and religion.”
If India abolished marriage and religion, it would become just as miserable, slutty and depressed as the United States.
Yes, I said it: SLUTTY!
I know that is one of THE MOST politically incorrect terms ever, right up there with “nigger”, but it’s true. And it applies to BOTH men and women.
Why do you think half the population of the US is on anti-depressants???
Lack of family cohesiveness and spiritual direction, that’s why.
By “spiritual direction” I don’t mean formal membership in any organized religion, but some sort of foundational grounding of spiritual philosophy.
And yes, atheists can be directed, ethical and happy too, of course. In fact it may be that many atheists are more balanced, ethical and happy than some “religionists”… so I’m not even arguing for or against the existence of “God”, but some sort of inner code of ethics that one lives by in their life.
India has many problems, but I would never want to see it turn into an exact replica of the United States. Some POSITIVE stuff can be adopted from Western cultures, of course that is beneficial, just as some POSITIVE aspects of more traditional Eastern cultures would be beneficial for the West to adopt as well.
All cultures have negative and positive aspects – but the lack of family values and spiritual grounding amongst North Americans is NOT something for India to adopt. You will NOT be happy.
Of course, at the same time there are still many people in the US who have family values and spiritual grounding, but they usually don’t come in one package. The spiritually grounded people are often not family oriented and the family oriented folk are often not spiritually grounded.
Even amongst people for whom family is important, they still divorce and remarry. Forget “remarry” …. they divorce and “date” or “live together”.
Sometimes this can be a not so positive influence on the kids, to say the least, especially if you grow up seeing your Dad or Mom go through a series of boyfriends or girlfriends.
Kids need stability.
@ Sharrell’s Celebrity Doppleganger – “…If India abolished marriage and religion, it would become just as miserable, slutty and depressed as the United States…”
U.S has not become miserable, slutty, and depressed because it banned marriage or religion. Both marriage and region are prevalent in U.S and U.S has also maintained a reasonable population growth compared to other countries like Canada which are dying with aging population. In India, no-marriage would control the population, and no-religion would make people/system more productive and rational.
@ Sharrell’s Celebrity Doppleganger – “…India has many problems, but I would never want to see it turn into an exact replica of the United States…”
Replica of U.S, um, that’s what most Indians dream about anyway, both inside and outside of India. There is not much westernization in India, it’s more of an Americanization.
@ Sharrell’s Celebrity Doppleganger – “…Kids need stability…”
True, kids need stability, but kids are also adaptable and would get used to situations easily. The main point behind banning marriage is not to have kids at all. So, stability of kids would be out of question. In India, kids face all kinds of problems. Banning marriage would prevent millions of kids to be born in the first place. It will take the pressure off the system, save those kids from misery, and make more room for the kids who are already there and need assistance of all kinds. Another option is the Chinese one child policy, but that will not help India that much.
Uh huh? The vast majority of Americans report themselves as Protestant Christians (>50%). Atheists form less than 1.6% of the population, which is not even a significant minority. Most politicians in the US are Protestants and Jews, with Jews being the most influental in the American lifestyle.
And Amit Desai, banning marriage and religion would leave India much worse than it is now. The majority of humans are not rational beings, but emotional ones. For them, religion and family is essential to their mental well being, without which they’d emotionally disintegrate.
Euh, I have hard time grasping mathematics and statistics. When I see number one, I take it literally as integer literal 1. I often wonder how number-1 often becomes a tiny fraction. Isn’t that, after all, No-1? My brain hurts now.
India would be worse in many ways. But it would bring the benefits that are not easily conceived by most Indians. If these benefits would outweigh the loss, then there is nothing wrong in going ahead. We all know that banning of drugs, prostitution, or alcohol would completely not prevent people from consuming these stuffs. Even though, vast majority of regions in world have banned one or more of these bad things. And the reason behind the prohibition is, control, direction and security.
Religion and marriage is essential for most people because they were raised or trained that way and hence they often look for that control or direction in religion or marriage. As long as these people are given more security or direction, they would adapt, at least to a good extent.
The first thing India needs is control, and the last thing India needs is, control. Otherwise, India would never be anywhere close to a superpower, unless and until some radical changes are brought.
Amit Desai – You just listed another one by counter-arguing to a very simple/casual statement that I made. Why are you so quick in arguing or getting your defense gear on? Chill out man…
I too asked you a simple question out of my curiosity with respect to the statement you made. I am wise enough to know that there is no point arguing with women when it’s confirmed that women are always right, right?
Thats a pity. I’d have thought you’d be smarter than that.
I guess you’re smarter than I thought
Well to answer your question, I many times see a simple post by Sharell being turned into a court case where there’s rebuttal after rebuttal. I mean, why? Poor Sharell must get tired of approving all these posts…
Hi B, I agree with you. These ongoing arguments are becoming really tiring for a lot of people. In fact, a couple of people have even written to me saying they don’t bother to read the comments any more because of it. I think it’s about time I stopped approving unnecessarily argumentative posts. Amit Desai, I hope you read this! I’m putting everyone on notice about the matter.
Ehem-uhum, withdrawal leads one to nullification, which is the ultimate (spiritual) goal. Especially, the moment women start giving disapproval or frowning upon, it’s time to disappear or vanish!
@@ The preacher, “…You are such a wannabe vindictive looser amit…”
Please pardon my lack of proficiency in the divine language of English, but I always get confused between “looser” and “loser”. Which of these two terms best describes me? (I really hope for both). You have really opened my eyes and I promise you to be your devout devotee (until you get killed).
Sharell have you visited Vivekananda Rock Memorial, built on the legendary Vivekanad Rock in Kanyakumari? A part of it called Vivekananda Mandapam, and it is thronged by tourists from across the world, who come for meditation.
Hi DD, I’ve been to Kanyakumari but unfortunately didn’t go out to the memorial. I only admired it from a distance.
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