Guest guest Posted June 13, 2003 Report Share Posted June 13, 2003 Dear ListWe have had a very busy week. We were fielding 170 candidates who sat for Hinduism examinations. Some at GCSE level others at Advanced Subsidiary level. Most of our candidates seem to have done well. Candidates from London, Birmingham, Wellingborough, Woolwich and many other parts of the country sat for the examinations.In the process, we won a battle with the London Examination Board. We have been telling the board that the Hinduism syllabus should focus on the idea of the 'Divinity of man' as the central tenet of this religion replacing the idea that the 'hereditary caste system' is somehow central to Hinduism. Even at short notice the board has agreed that our candidates do not have to answer questions on caste and that they will not be disadvantaged for ignoring all 'caste questions'.In the process of tackling this caste issue, we had requested some Hindu bodies in the UK to support our stand. Most rose to the occasion and immediately issued letters of support. Every Swaminarayan temple we contacted gave immediate and full backing to us. But then there are always some Hindu temples and bodies who buck the trend! One or two even went out of their way to tell the educational bodies that they continue to support the idea of caste (which strictly means Hereditary caste as far as the syllabus is concerned) in the syllabus! At one religious conference when we got fed up with someone harping on about Hinduism being Hereditary Caste system that we said: "Look, Hinduism prides itself in being a 'living religion' - continually evolving. One of the features of all living things is that they excrete. 'Hereditary caste system' is an excretion of Hinduism. We have moved on from it, but it continues to attract some blue-bottles". Then, today we hear that the Hindu bodies are outraged as a peer in the House of Lords has passed demeaning comments about Hinduism. Do you think we should be surprised? No! These peers have been brought up thinking that Hinduism is that perverse religion which promotes things like hereditary caste system. Hinduism is that wicked religion that tells a youngster at birth that he is upper or lower class! A religious education expert confided to us that the most popular topic for English schools studying Hinduism is the 'Hereditary Caste system.' Is it then surprising that these people think Hinduism is despicable? Whose fault is it? Ours. The first thing we Hindus should do is to learn our own religion in a comprehensive and structured manner. Most of these Hindu bodies are run by people who have not seen a Hinduism exam paper let alone have the capacity to pass any such exam, yet they insist that the caste system should be in it! Most of these people do not have a clue about the difference between the shruti teachings (that talks of divinity of man) and the smriti texts like the Manu which promotes a hereditary caste system. They do not have the capacity to distinguish the 'essential' elements of the Bhagavad Gita (again focusing on the Divinity of man) from its purely 'contextual' aspects that mention caste. A sense of perspective, 'Vivek', is required to distinguish the "essential" from the "contextual" - but surely this is far too taxing for some. First we must learn about the treasures we possess, only then can we hope to portray them correctly to the West. The very poor image the West has of Hinduism is to a great extent our own fault. dilip lakhani Vivekananda Centre London Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 17, 2003 Report Share Posted June 17, 2003 Following came from Princess ratna We had to edit the whole of the previous message out otherwise it is repeated to the whole list. Thanks. jay - Princess ratna Ramakrishna Tuesday, June 17, 2003 08:00 Re: [sri Ramakrishna] Teaching Hinduism in the UK Very interesting, and I totally agree with you. It is my observation that Hinduism is not taken seriously due to the different viewpoints that we Hindus have that we erroneously explain to others. Thank you for your hard work.Vivekananda Centre <vivekananda wrote: Dear ListWe have had a very busy week. We were fielding 170 candidates who sat for Hinduism examinations. Some at GCSE level others at Advanced Subsidiary level. Most of our candidates seem to have done well. <snip> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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