[world-vedic] Caste System

[Guest guest]

I am not an Indian by birth nor do I profess to be an expert on

contemporary Indian culture. I have, however, been a follower of

Sanatana Dharma since 1981, and I have done a great deal of reading,

study and spiritual practice over the course of the last 18 1/2 years.

This study and self-inquiry has shown me time and time again that most

human problems result from our collective forgetfulness. We forget that

we are all individual expressions of the single Divine Principal. We

forget that we are all connected to eachother and to the totality of

Creation. We forget that each and every action or thought automatically

creates waves that can either help bring us closer together or pull us

farther apart. And we have forgotten that the primary Cause of this

Universe, the reason it came into being, is so God, Atman, Allah,

Shiva, Jehova, the Great Spirit, or whatever each of us chooses to call

It, can know Itself.

 

As a result of this forgetfulness- and our arrogance- we begin to pass

judgement on what is good, evil, dharmic, adharmic, etc. We also

pervert and distort the teachings and principles that once led to a

harmonious and spiritually vibrant culture in order to serve our own

ends. This is what has happened to the Caste system.

 

The Caste system as it is today bears little resemblance to the

practices and precepts that existed at the time of Krishna or Rama (the

Vedic era). The Vedic Caste system- at least as I understand it- was

intended to help each individual achieve whatever human potential was

the goal of that particular incarnation.

 

If a soul needed to work out issues pertaining to control and

stewardship, then it would be born to the Kshatryia caste. If a soul

desired spiritual fulfillment, it would be born to a Brahmin family. If

a soul was interested in the acquisition of material things, it would

likely be born to the Vaisya caste. Caste was also connected to the

prevailing Guna connected with each soul as well. Predominately Tamasic

souls tended to be born to lower castes, Rajasic to the Warrior Caste

and Sattvic to the Brahmin caste.

 

The Caste system began to break down following the death of Krishna and

the disappearance of the Kshatryias. What remained of the Caste system

was as a means to control and oppress populations and enrich the

holders of power at any given point in the course of human events. To

me, that sounds a great deal like any system of governance or religion

dominated by one or more human egos. The US System of government, for

example, creates castes based on cultural/ethnic backgrounds and the

posession of wealth and property. The corporate system creates castes

based on position in the company and the desire for those in control to

hold on to power in whatever way they see fit.

 

It may very well be that the Caste system- even as it was practiced

during the Vedic era- has outlived its usefulness as the means to human

contentment and spiritual progress. But to suggest or argue that Indian

culture is the only place where the caste system is used to oppress and

control human beings is as unfair as it is unsound.

 

I further disagree that conversion to Christianity will benefit anyone

inside our outside the Christian faith exepting maybe those at the very

top of the Christian caste system (individuals and institutions who

hold power). The case for conversion made by most Christian

missionaries flies in the face of Christ's teachings of tolerance and

acceptance. Evangelical movements are often a mask for efforts to

assimilate and conform populations to a new cultural norm imposed from

outside the native or host culture.

 

The majority of missionaries are ignorant of practices and doctrines

outside their own limited theology, and they are engaged in the

practice of conversion to reinforce the shaky foundations and patch the

cracks in their own belief systems. If they are truly interested in

conversion, then that path to follow is that of letting their own

actions and deeds speak for themselves without condemning others for

what they practice and believe. This is what both Christ and Krishna

lived and taught.

 

Religous doctrines are not distilled from spiritual Truth. They are

rather selectively filtered and mixed through interaction with

disparate cultural traditions. That is why, for example, Hinduism as

practiced in Bali is so different from Hinduism practiced in India.

They are different because Balian culture is different from Indian

culture. The greatest and most essential Truths in all faiths remain

unchanged. It is up to practioners to recognize through discrimination

what is of God and what has been added by human egos. And there is our

greatest challenge! That is why we must remember- remember that we are

all deserving of the same respect and compassion because we are all

expressions of the single Cause of the universe.

 

Namaste,

 

Carlo Gambetta