Personality development through Gita –I

[Guest guest]

Dear Michael, Also search "Attacks on Hindus in India"

and you will get over 6 million hits, so don't think

Hindus are better off in India. Anyway, these numbers are bogus

 

because they also include substring matches

which may or may not be relevant to the string being

searched.

 

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Namaste Mahadevaadvaita,

Yes I did that. The news is not good. 25 of the first 60

hits were about Hindus attacking other folk. My point:

Hindus do not have the high moral ground by any means

so Rajyji needs to address that before launching into

a homily on tolerance.

 

Best Wishes,

Michael.

[Guest guest]

advaitin, ombhurbhuva <ombhurbhuva wrote:

>

>

> Dear Michael, Also search "Attacks on Hindus in India"

> and you will get over 6 million hits, so don't think

> Hindus are better off in India. Anyway, these numbers are bogus

>

> because they also include substring matches

> which may or may not be relevant to the string being

> searched.

>

> |||||||||||||||||||||||||||

>

> Namaste Mahadevaadvaita,

> Yes I did that. The news is not good. 25 of the first 60

> hits were about Hindus attacking other folk. My point:

> Hindus do not have the high moral ground by any means

> so Rajyji needs to address that before launching into

> a homily on tolerance.

>

> Best Wishes,

> Michael.

>

Namaste M,

 

Just butting in as I am in Dundalk right now visiting my mother and

sister and family.

 

Considering the experience in the recent past here and comparing

that violence to India there is something in common in the

iconclastic attitudes of fundamentalists. They don't seem to be

pliable enough to analyse their own thoughts. Hence attacks on

Christian missionaries in India and other various community

violence, Muslims etc. The only thing that bothers me is the drift

away from India's tolerance and secularism by some of these

fundamentalist groups.............ONS...Tony.

[Guest guest]

>

> advaitin, ombhurbhuva <ombhurbhuva wrote:

> >

> > Hindus do not have the high moral ground by any means

> > so Rajyji needs to address that before launching into

> > a homily on tolerance.

> >

> > Best Wishes,

> > Michael.

> >

>

 

Wow!! So Michael-ji can just type out a string on Google and denounce the

oldest, richest & most peaceful civilization on the earth as not having the

high moral ground.

 

> Namaste M,

>

> Just butting in as I am in Dundalk right now visiting my mother and

> sister and family.

>

> Considering the experience in the recent past here and comparing

> that violence to India there is something in common in the

> iconclastic attitudes of fundamentalists. They don't seem to be

> pliable enough to analyse their own thoughts. Hence attacks on

> Christian missionaries in India and other various community

> violence, Muslims etc. The only thing that bothers me is the drift

> away from India's tolerance and secularism by some of these

> fundamentalist groups.............ONS...Tony.

>

 

 

And of course, Tony-ji thinks that the Christian missionaries are the most

peaceful and tolerant people on earth!! The destruction by the missionaries

of civilizations the world over - the Romans, the Greeks, the Native

Americans, the Incas, the Africans, not to speak of the Portuguese

inquisition on the west coast of India - is proof of their boundless love!!

 

When this thread started out, I knew where it was heading. So I tried to

keep out of it. But these posts by Tony and Micheal are painful to the point

of being unbearable, and the silence of esteemed members of this list is

even more so.

 

I must sincerely ask both of you. What makes you qualified to make such

comments about a faraway country you evidently know nothing about? Have you

studied the social, political and demographic situation in India? Have we

Hindu-s ever tried to impose ourselves on anyone else? For the greater part

of the last 1000 years, we have been subjugated in our own land.

 

Should we not even defend what remains of our culture, our traditions, our

people, our land?

 

No we shouldn't. The Muslim, with Arab money and Pakistani logistical

support, has the right to terrorize and demand political concessions. The

Christian, with American money, the church's organizational muscle and an

unparalleled propaganda machinery with immense media influence, has the

right to use any means, however immoral, to save our souls.

 

And if the Hindu even raises a finger in protest, he is a fundamentalist,

extremist, warmonger, and what not.

 

Have you read what the Baptist church does in the Indian Northeast? Do you

know about the links between Christian groups and violent leftist extremists

in a huge swathe of land stretching from Andhra to Nepal? Did you read how

the churches tried to exploit the tsunami devastation to make converts? Do

you know how they disparage Shiva Bhagavaan, Krishna Bhagavaan, etc? Do you

even have any idea of the kind of money and land in the hands of evangelical

groups? Their real estate transactions are big enough to come into the

financial press!

 

I have seen rural families split apart and destroyed by proselytisation.

Very often this happens with entire villages, as the converts look down upon

and disparage the old traditions. Disputes over land and property naturally

arise, but the money and media power of the churches invariably succeeds in

giving out a one-sided story that only talks about "persecution of

Christians".

 

There have been any number of cases of young Christian converts

killing/blinding/skinning their parents/siblings for refusing to convert.

The mainstream media generally tries to suppress the details, titling the

story as "son kills mother", or some such.

 

Have you read about the problems the Sinhalese Buddhists of Sri Lanka are

facing due to the activities of the church?

 

100% of the problem between Hindus/Sikhs/Buddhists on the one hand and

Christians on the other has one cause. Proselytisation by the church.

Proselytisation is immoral and unimaginably violent.

 

In the Indian media, criticism of Hinduism is politically correct. Criticism

of anybody else is fundamentalism.

 

Michael mentioned Mahatma Gandhi. Have you read Gandhiji's views on

missionaries and their conversion tactics? Please do so once before

launching into homilies about who is tolerant and who is not.

 

I can go on and on with all this. But what really upset me was that even

Micheal and Tony, westerners who seem to have an interest in Hinduism, are

so superficial in their understanding of its social and political context.

And they are willing to make utterly irresponsible value judgements on the

basis of this "understanding".

 

I am pretty sure you dont call yourself Hindu (and remember, no Hindu ever

sat on your head telling you that you'll go to hell if you dont become one).

But if you are unwilling to make even a basic commitment to learn about the

Hindu tradition, what moral right do you have to use the Gayatri mantra or

the Panchaakshari mantra? These are the sacred traditions of my ancestors.

They are not meant for spiritual tourists.

 

dhanyosmi

Ramesh

 

PS: Yesterday, I was seeing a film on the Amazonian rain forest. It said

that there is more diversity (of species) within it than outside of it. And

yet all the species of the rain forest are bound by the identity of the rain

forest. Most rainforest species are unique to the rainforest.

 

When a part of the rainforest is cleared for farmland, diversity within the

rainforest zone might actually increase temporarily, for no farmland existed

in that area before (i.e. the farm crops are additional species in the

area). But on a global basis, diversity reduces, and quite substantially at

that, because the rainforest itself, with all its unique species, is being

destroyed.

 

Hinduism/India is like the rainforest. No prizes for guessing what the

farmland crops are. Apart from some pockets in Asia, the rest of the world

is already farmland where not even a weed can grow.

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

advaitin, "Ramesh Krishnamurthy"

<rkmurthy wrote:

>

> >>

>

> And of course, Tony-ji thinks that the Christian missionaries are

the most

> peaceful and tolerant people on earth!! The destruction by the

missionaries

> of civilizations the world over - the Romans, the Greeks, the

Native

> Americans, the Incas, the Africans, not to speak of the Portuguese

> inquisition on the west coast of India - is proof of their

boundless love!!

 

Pranams Ramesh ji,

 

Many thanks for this wonderful expression on the subject. I endorse

your views wholeheartedly. Your citing the Amazonian Rain forests as

a parallel is very telling.

 

Regards,

subbu