Ode to a Louse : to see ourselves as others see us (Burns)

[Guest guest]

Namasté dear Friends,

 

Please permit me to suggest some thoughts as an introduction to my recent

joining of this vibrant list. I humbly offer this in the spirit of

kshama-prarthana and ask your forgiveness for the shortcomings and mistakes

it may contain.

 

If all religions were the same, there would, of course, be only one

religion.

But, many religions are based on beliefs, rather than knowing, and this,

coupled to the visible results in everyday life in what are mainly

humanocentric

religious beliefs, gives various religions opportunities to proselytise

their own beliefs

in the spiritual deserts imposed by humans on each other.

 

It is no good saying " I am you, and you are me, and we are It " if we don't

see each other as we see ourselves and as they see us. Hence we have in

India

for example, 300 million people who have experienced thousands of years

of despair and bondage with no hope of escape. They are the Dalits or

so-called " untouchables " , trapped in a caste system ( aka " apartheid " )

that determines their fate in life, a fate that prescribes a life with no

education,

no safe drinking water, no paying job, forced labour, no rights to own

land or homes, no access to worship at the local temple, no right to walk

on certain roads and segregated living to keep them far away from more

privileged " upper-caste " people. 67% are illiterate, 70% are denied the

right to worship at their local temples, most are not allowed to drink the

same water

as the so-called " upper classes " of Indian society, 60% of their children

are underfed, and 60 million of them are used as forced labourers.

 

In a desperate attempt to escape their bondage, Dalits are turning to

" converting " to sects of Hinduism called Buddhism, or to any of the

many Christian missions operating in India. In a recent TV newscast,

Dalits in Calcutta demanded to be treated as any other Indian as they

had " become Christians " and had therefore freed themselves of the

stigma imposed by indigenous beliefs. Their motive for " conversion "

is obvious : yet, this kind of activity has been going on for centuries,

but generation after generation of whatever religion, has somehow failed

to be the driving force in human existence in general, and the human

integration with " nature " in particular.

 

The practical implementation and outcome of a particular religion is

demonstrably a regional/cultural/racial phenomenon, and this is seen

everywhere in the devastated remains of our ecologies and global

deprivation.

 

I greet you with Love

 

Aum Sai Ram

 

Raga

South Africa