Guest guest Posted August 28, 2002 Report Share Posted August 28, 2002 >"Raghunata \(John\) Anudasa" <raghu >"'Raj Mohanka'" ><rajmohanka,<raghu,<Anudasa,"Jagadhatri >Jean Prem DD" <JPREM >CC: "'Ananda Das'" <ananda,<bsingh >Cost per can of beer $27 >Thu, 22 Aug 2002 07:31:30 -1000 > >Ok, here's how the numbers play out for alchohol. > >$165 billion - total social cost of alchohol > >613 million - total gallons consumed > >$270 - social cost per gallon > >$27 - cost per 12 once can of beer > >100 million - total consumers of alchohol. (need to find the source >again.) > >$1,650 - total cost per consumer > >10 million - heavy drinkers who consume 51% of all alchohol > >$16,500 - total cost per heavy drinker > >$808 - total cost per average consumer with heavy drinkers subtracted > >$27 billion - total in business per year > >6 - it cost 6 times more in social cost then it generates in business. > >Smoking is 2 and halft times in social cost then its total business >volume. > >Alchohol is 6 times. > >How bout drugs. Can you find these same states on drugs? > > >Also, how many teens are there? This will give us a total of the cost >per teen alchohol consumer which is 25% of the total consumption. > >These are powerful numbers. Thank you. more later. > >raghu >www.roopa.org > > > > >Raj Mohanka [rajmohanka] >Wednesday, August 21, 2002 6:43 PM >raghu >Re: Vedic Culture > > > >Raghu, > >Very nice speaking and 'connecting' with you today. Below is the >contact information for Dr. Bal Ram Singh: > >http://www.umassd.edu/indic/waves/announcements.html > >Professor Bal Ram Singh: >Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry >Uni. Of Massachusetts >285 Oldport Rd >Dartmouth, MA 02747, USA > >Phone: 508-999-8588 >Fax: 508-999-8451 >Email: bsingh > >Comments on this article: > >1) In my book (which you must read), I state the reasons for reclaiming >our religion as 'Sanatana Dharma' and calling ourselves Dharmins >(Dharmika for female) and the global Dharmic community as the >'Dharmasya' because the word 'Hindu' is technically incorrect and >because it has negative baggage. Think about this: What are you? Can >you confidently say "I AM A HINDU?" Instead, if you prefer to say that >you follow "Vedic Culture", what do you say? "I AM A VEDIC"? What is >your religion? These questions need a simple answer. THE ANSWER IS: >You follow the timeless Truth of Sanatana Dharma which is a religion and >MUCH, MUCH MORE and you are proud to say "I AM A DHARMIN" and "I AM PART >OF THE GLOBAL DHARMASYA". I've recently been using these words as has >my family, and if we all start using them, they'll take on a life of >their own. Say it with confidence and encourage others to do so. Try >it out. > >2) Politics is critical, but must be approached carefully. I do not >think we should 'give it up', but rather manage our political efforts >more intelligently. After all, Rama and Krshna were Kshatriya and >deeply involved in politics. Every day, we need to ask ourselves the >questions: > >"What would Rama do in this situation?" > >"What would Krshna do in this situation?" > >3) Unity is a difficult challenge for Dharmins ("Hindus") because the >last 1000 years of repression have almost 'taught' them NOT to unite. >In other words, whenever Dharmins congregated in groups larger than 10 >during Islamic or British rule, they were punished, imprisoned or >murdered. > > >About your question, "How many gallons of alcoholic beverages are >consumed in the U.S. per year?" > >Answer: 613 million gallons per year (based on 2.19 gallons per capita >consumption and 280 million Americans) - these figures are actually >higher per capita since children are part of a 'per capita' measurement >although they don't consume. (see: >http://chemcases.com/alcohol/alc-01.htm) > >Teen drinking is 25% of alcohol consumption; it is a $27 Billion >business (see http://www.drgreene.com/21_926.html) > >Alcohol problems in the U.K. >(http://www.alcoholconcern.org.uk/Newsdesk/State%20of%20the%20Nation.htm >) > >Tobacco usage costs the world $800 Billion: >(http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/LungCancer/whatcost.htm) > >The World Economy is a Cybernetic System - with negative feedback: >(http://www.globalsolidarity.org/articles/Dietrich%20F/df_cyber.html) > > >My view on TIME: > >Time is not something we each need to "find", but rather something that >we are "given" in this short lifetime and within this 'gift', we must >"make" the time for those things which we value. If you want to write a >book about the Economics of Love, just do it. Write a little every day >and very soon you'll have your book. I'll help you with your research. > >Here are a few more websites you may want to visit: > >1) littleindias.com - the site I'm going to sell to indiahq.com and help >them develop. > >2) wwfia.org - another one of my ideas... > >3) ekalvidya.org - a developmental charity I'm involved with >(http://www.ekalvidya.org/home.shtml) > >4) NetOhm - a spin-off group from HSC (Hindu Students Council) that I'm >working on building up in Boston and eventually expanding throughout New >England - it is for young, professional Dharmins - >http://www.netohm.org/ > >5) ISW - the local Indian Community here in Central Massachusetts. I >wrote a script for the Ramayana Epic and my wife and I produced and ran >this play earlier this year. Here are those photos (I narrated the play >as Rshi Valmiki): > >http://www.iswonline.org/events/2002/ramnavami/ramnavami_pics.htm > >Next year, we'll do the Mahabharat Epic (including a brief Gita sermon) >- I'm writing that script now. > >6) Sarvadev Mandir - a local Temple I'm starting to get involved with >now. > >http://www.sarvadevmandir.org > > >7) mohankas.com - my personal website > >I'm not clarivoyant, but I predict that one year from now, your >financial situation will be substantially improved and your Roopa >Economics book will be done. As always, we need to focus on doing our >duty and not worrying about the fruits of our labor... > >Please visit here when you come over to Rhode Island. My home address >is: > >8 Deer Run Drive >Shrewsbury, MA 01545 > >Please keep in touch, > >- Raj > >----Original Message Follows---- >"Raghunata \(John\) Anudasa" >"'Raj Mohanka'" >Vedic Culture >Wed, 21 Aug 2002 15:02:28 -1000 >Vedic Culture- >Turn-key civilization to a spiritually based social paradigm vs. 'Hindu' > >connotations >Part II >By Raghunatha Anudasa >This presentation is for one of the world's largest political Hindu >organization. They were meeting to consider outreach programs to the >West. A friend was attending and asked if I would like to contribute >something. My suggestion: give up politics and the word Hindu. >Prabhupada would recommend as much. I missed the deadline for submitting > >this paper, but share it with you now. I'll present this paper at their >meeting next year. >The 4 goals of your organization are actually one: To unite. >Once united, the four mentioned goals will be achieved automatically. >There are 3 primary principles for effectively uniting people: >1) Finding the broadest common denominator. >2) Providing a forum >that: >a) gives clarity to their identity; >b) provides them a voice as one people; >c) indexes and rates their members; >d) rewards their progress; >e) creates a network for them and by them, and >f) effectively show cases them to the world. >3) Demonstrating your system's effectiveness over the model presently >used. >I am thrilled to see this venture because on every account, all the >tools for success are there. Few could access such talent and resources >as we see in the Indian community. Their outreach is global, much like >the Western appetite for Eastern thought and spiritual life. The >antiquity and spiritual depth of ancient India is precisely what the >world awaits against the degradation of the modern world. Your timing: >impeccable. Your product: perfect. The Lord gives us this task on a >platinum platter. >1) COMMON DENOMINATOR >There is no equality in the measure and qualities of our 'material' >designations. Equality, like love, is only constituted in the divinity >of man, the eternal soul. Few offer such insight to the 'science of the >soul' than is stowed away in the traditions of Vedic culture. Therefore, > >few offer the potential of Vedic culture for uniting mankind under the >greatest common denominator of their eternal spiritual identity. This is > >our mandate as bearers of Vedic culture and the task you have come to >sense through political deliberation. >This leads me to my first question: Is this program intended as a >political cause, or is it an extension of your hopes to supply India's >unique gifts to the world's growing market for 'the spiritual way of >life?' Americans have achieved the greatest political and financial >power in history. They can buy or destroy the world many times over. Now > >they want something more as a culture. India is uniquely equipped to >supply these specialty interests. Best of all, you have little >competition. >Do you feel this urgency to share the secrets of ancient India to >satisfy these spiritual yearnings, or do you intend to further some >political objective? Your intent will decide the prospects you chose. In > >one, you will be relegated as one of many ethno-political groups of the >world groping to be like 'the West.' In the other, you will be honored >as an unparalleled treasure trove of universal truths, held intact >through the ages for the world to share in their spiritual journey. >India has distinguished itself for its market potential, democratic >society, modern progress and military capabilities. But it appears that >India may have overlooked its most precious and farthest reaching export > >of all: its august spiritual traditions. Westerners are taking up these >tradition and its products much as they are coming to visit, invest and >live in India for them. India may have overlooked the global potential >of spiritual interests as a socio-economic factor. What is the market >potential of this spiritual interest? Overlooking these questions >epitomizes the opportunities to be missed if we become too narrowly >focused on geopolitical or economic concerns as measured by the West. >It is in pursuit of your spiritual heritage that you will find your most > >extraordinary opportunities as a political, economic force. It reminds >me of Gandhi. He successfully provided India's political unity in the >practice of religious holiday's and moral imperatives-thou shall not >kill; turn the other cheek, etc. Rarely has the world been this ready >for some Gandhi-esque, godly brand of politics as it is today. Never has > >a culture been so equipped to provide it as Vedic culture. >Creating the broadest common denominator requires that your cause become > >an extension of the universal truths you wish to highlight. America did >this by starting with the premise that all men are created equal. Their >political goals were an extension of these 'spiritual' initiatives, and >so in the process, have set the tone for the rest of the world. >The tone of your profile is now set by the term 'Hindu.' Does Hinduism >offer the most advantageous medium for interfacing the world with the >finest of India's heritage and people? >We know the caliber and accomplishment of those at the core of Hinduism. > >Is the full honor of their distinction effectively portrayed to the >world when you call them 'Hindu?' To the Western mind, Hindu conjures up > >the abuses of a rigid, birth-based caste system, widow burnings, >child-bride marriages, Muslim-Hindu conflict and every other distortion >taught since their childhoods in school. The Western media reinforces >these prejudices time and again, no matter how we may try to clarify >them. Even without these negative implications, there are other >problems. Your target audience tends to distance themselves from >classifications they consider sectarian like Christian, Muslim, Jew and, > >unfortunately, Hindu. It will be very hard to change the ethno-political > >connotations that 'Hinduism' has come to mean in the West. >The issue that ISKCON--the Hare Krsnas--have with the term Hinduism >personifies the point. They are a vivid example of how much Westerners >will resist being associated with Hinduism even as they commit their >lives to its tenets. This debate with ISKCON is only a sign of things to > >come rather than the exception. How you deal with this issue will decide > >the role you play in accommodating the growing number of Westerners >still to come. Resolving the issue with ISKCON is your first test, if >not your most important one. >On the other side of the issue, we have a great deal of success to >further demonstrate the point. Hinduism Today sells 100,000 copies. In >contrast, Deepak Chopra sells millions as the popular voice of Eastern >Mysticism. 'Hindu temples' attract dozens, or maybe hundreds of >Westerners. Paramahamsa Yogananda by comparison attracts thousands in >the guise of meditation. College courses in Hinduism attract a dozen or >so students. Georg Feuerstein attracts hundreds under the guise of yoga >and devotion. >Yoga offers the best example. Millions are taking to yoga, as much for >health as for their own spiritual practice. They do so as an extension >of ancient India-not Hinduism. The proof: The vast majority of >Westerners to practice some Vedic discipline like yoga generally have >little sense of identification with 'Hinduism,' Go to any yoga studio >around the world and tell those Westerners that they are actually >Hindu's because they practice yoga. See what they say. Do you hope to >unite this group under your social umbrella? Then you must find a term >that better represents the essence of the arts and sciences of Ancient >India. >The world is hungry for spiritual life more then they are for another >religious or ethnic divide. Fortunately for you, India's heritage >provides the spiritual staples, like yoga and meditation, required for >these pursuits. This is the difference they feel between yoga, >meditation and Ayurvedic medicine, versus Hinduism. For them, one gives >spirituality a social context and lifestyle fit for the modern world. >The other sounds too much like the same old politics of power and >religion. >The best logo is a refrain of principle. For America, it is 'FREEDOM' >and democracy. Therefore, groups throughout the world fighting for >FREEDOM and democracy identify America as their patron. What refrain do >you feel best represents the ancient secrets contained in the heritage >of India? Find this refrain and you become the patron of all Godly souls > >pursuing divinity through the spiritual technologies of 'the East.' >Such a status is rare. Christianity, for example, offered the hope of >cultural and spiritual unity to the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire then >set the political course and religious tone for much of the world over >the next 2,000 years. Christianity did it again for colonialism. The >cross of Christ became the meta-symbol of the Western paradigm to the >world. This is the role 'Vedic culture' presents to you as one of the >last remaining viable alternate world views. (The Om symbol would likely > >be the most recognizable meta-symbol of Vedic culture.) To miss this >opportunity would be to leave it to the West to capture, through the >works of people like Feuerstein or the Hare Krishna's. They will only >take the lead if you relinquish this mission through neglect or skewed >understanding of its true nature. >The success of your mission begins in the term you choose for your >organization. Terms like Om, yoga or my personal favorite, Sanatana >dharma, are excellent. 'Vedic culture,' however, more fully encapsulates > >the trappings and sciences of antiquity for the Western audience. The >term 'Vedic culture' suggests the concept of a ready-to-go, turnkey >civilization to a spiritually based social paradigm. It is as applicable > >in meeting the demands of the modern world as it is a true alternative >to it. Groups around the world already present different aspects of the >'Vedic' arts, thereby creating a built-in audience in the West for you >to tap. >Ironically, academia and parts of the Indian community use the term >'Vedic' to describe a sectarian part of Hinduism. The question then >becomes: do we try to re-educate hundreds of millions of Westerners >about Hinduism in the face of centuries of cultural, religious and media > >bias? Or would it be easier to reintroduce the phrase 'Vedic culture' >for academia and those Indians who have some reservations about it. >There is also some concern that the expression 'Vedic culture' may >polarize your delicate coalition with the Siks, Jains, Shaivites and >others. They worry these groups may feel marginalized by it and so >refrain from suggesting Vedic culture as the umbrella organization. I >simply point out that there maybe other options besides avoiding the >issue. Here is one: Highlighting the gifts Vedic culture can offer as a >social umbrella to their spiritual paths. Vedic culture is like >Sanskrit. Sanskrit is not one of many languages, but the one language >that provides a special insight to all others. >A growing body of evidence places Sanskrit as the mother tongue of >European languages. Fact or theory? What we do know is that Sanskrit >lends a special insight into linguistics unique over all other >languages. A good example: Sanskrit is a 'perfect' language for >computers because it is mathematically 'perfect.' The culture and >forefathers that gave us Sanskrit also gave us the most expansive and >detailed accounts about the multifaceted nature of the Absolute. This is > >a feat that still remains unmatched though millennia old. To give one >example, they feature a philosophical template inclusive of every level >of religious sentiment, practice and relationship with the Lord. >Some people refrain from introducing Vedic culture as a basis for >spiritual exploration because they do not want to offend adherents of >other ethnic religions. However, this betrays the genuine quest for the >world's spiritual common dominator. There may be another social, >religious system that surpasses what Vedic culture offers. If so, we >should focus on that system. This journey is not about promoting a >particular faith, but about finding the greatest interface between all >spiritual venues. Until we find this other system, Vedic culture >provides a rare and pivotal tool for these efforts. Our job as curators >of Vedic culture is to demonstrate this, not shy from it. >In short, as Sanskrit does for language, Vedic culture does for >theology. The construct of Vedic philosophy is built upon the same >principles as Sanskrit-clear, concise, all inclusive, detailed, >brilliant. Their contributions are an invaluable resource to their >respective disciplines. It is an affront to the discipline itself to >disregard these resources in the cause of political correctness. We >inadvertently do this every time we shy from introducing Vedic culture >in the name of religious-ethnic sensitivities. >Another sensitive issue are those 'Hindus' offended by being called >Hindu. Their feelings have been ignored in much of this discussion. I >have taken an inflammatory quote from one such Hindu. His quote >demonstrates how high the emotions can run over the issue. >"Now contrast this against Hinduism. Hinduism is the bastard of Vedic >culture. Hinduism was coined in both phrase and concept in the rape of >India by foreign occupation and propagated by colonial disdain. It >therefore perpetuates the prejudices and confinement for which the >colonial lords intended for India. Working under a 'Hindu' cause is to >do so with the historical (karmic) baggage of colonial and Muslim India. > >The title implies superstition, fanaticism and backwardness and has been > >cut from the same genre of terminology as pagan, heathen and myth. >Operating under a Hindu title is to find oneself inadvertently alluding >to these implications or at best, defending one's self against them. >India will break the final bondage of Mugal and British India the day >they break the mold of the colonial identity starting with the title of >Hindu." >This quote shows how high emotions can run on this issue. It also raises > >the question-how do we reach out to those who feel so strongly about >using the term Hindu? They too often make up some of the more dedicated >and orthodox of 'Hindus. Are such feelings and individuals to be >dismissed or can we find some middle ground for them as well. The term >Vedic culture does so. >Whatever heading you choose, know that the term denotes the cause. >Democracy denotes the cause by its very name, much as communism does. >The term Vedic culture offers this kind of clarity of purpose of ancient > >India otherwise missed by the word Hinduism. If not Vedic culture, then >find some similar term. Hinduism, however, does not work for the West. >Choose carefully. The name itself will decide your destiny as the mother > >of the most powerful spiritual practices known to man or leave you to >languish as another political, ethnic group of the world. The Lord has >clarified the choice for you in no uncertain term. >(PS. They have decided to call their program Friends of Vedic Culture. >More on that later.) >www.ROOPA.org (for other writings) > > _____ > >MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: Click ><http://g.msn.com/1HM1ENUS/c156??PI=44364> Here > > _______________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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