Spiritual Enlightenment
By Gia Kerensky
The popular ‘New Age’ movement of this era is a vast network of individuals, groups, organizations, cults, foundations, etc. who expound and preach a watered-down patchwork of borrowed spiritual beliefs and rituals which present a dazzling array of luring theories and practices, yet somehow fail to capture the depth and intended essence of the esoteric truths that were originally laid down by the ancient civilizations and wisdom traditions of antiquity.
Subsequently today’s new age culture seems to be a superficial masquerade of an erratic blend of these hybrid philosophies, disinformation campaigns, pop rituals and pseudo spiritualists that have stormed the world as the new and extremely successful business ventures of the millennium. Moreover much of the Aquarian beliefs, practices and religions parading the commercial field today can be said to be an ostentatious repackaging if not a distorted rip off and blatant plagiarism of Hinduism’s ancient philosophies. From the concept of oneness to mind-body-spirit unity to Gaia (mother earth) philosophy to integral yoga and meditation to holistic health and spiritual healing to the concept of eternal reality, Karma, Nirvana and self-actualization to practices of spiritual ascension and chakra (energy centre) opening, to the much advanced science of Consciousness, all can be traced back to the early Vedic and post Vedantic literature which forms the foundation of Hinduism’s culture and worldviews.
Modern Transpersonal Psychology, Consciousness Studies, the occult religion of Theosophy, Landmark Education’s The Forum and ‘est’ seminars with more than 700,000 graduates, Filmore’s Unity School of Christianity, occult religion of Eckankar, Scientology and many thousands of new-age schools and philosophies are in fact all crude derivatives and adulterated spin-offs of a mix of ancient Hindu concepts.
More importantly, Madame Helena Blavatsky (founder of Theosophical Society) who has been considered one of the biggest pioneers and the ‘mother’ of new-age thinking has wielded a far reaching influence on occult thinkers and on Western mysticism as a whole. What is not commonly known however is that her magnum opus (book) ‘The Secret Doctrine’ that set the pulse for most of the new-age thinking was in fact inspired by Hindu theories on cosmic evolution and manifestation. She often quotes the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and Puranas in her works and is even said to have travelled in India and studied under Brahmin teachers. “The tree of Life and Being”, she says for instance in her book “… is said in the Bhagavad Gita to grow with its roots above and its branches below. The roots represent the Supreme Being… but one has to go beyond those roots to unite oneself with Krishna… its boughs are Hiranyagarbha (Brahma or Brahman in his highest manifestation), the highest Dhyani-Chohans or Devas. The Vedas are its leaves”.
The primary goal of this ever-growing new-age movement today, it is said, is to bring peace to the world and unite humanity under the banner of the ‘newly’ discovered one-world global consciousness or ‘oneness’ of everyone. Hinduism, which is in fact the source of all such concepts on unity and universalism has been on the contrary often isolated and portrayed as an ethnocentric religion with sectarian views that does not apply universally and thus upholding or expounding Hinduism has been considered by many so-called secular contemporaries to be a fundamentalist way of creating boundaries and limitations, which would supposedly lead to intolerance of other religions and worldviews. Many scholars who are in the lucrative business of selling the new-age beliefs have thus gone to the far extent of not only keeping the word Hindu out of their mainstream preaching and practices but completely divorcing Hinduism from its own philosophical progenies and practices such as yoga.
The popular Deepak Chopra (mind-body medicine proponent/author) Eckhart Tolle (spiritual teacher/writer) and small-time Julian Walker (LA based yoga teacher) are classic examples of some of the contemporary new-age power brokers who are living off the Hindu culture, plagiarizing Hinduism, yet failing to give credit where it is due. Julian Walker for instance employs embellished Hindu concepts in his practice, even uses Sanskrit words such as chakra and kundalini but refrains from mentioning the term Hindu. He even goes to the infantile extent of abusing and demeaning India’s most revered Hindu guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba (on his facebook status) with slanderous, malicious and unfounded remarks, while at the same time preaching transformational yoga and writing articles on “mirrors of ‘compassion'”. Eckhart Tolle on the other hand, “is quite liberal in his references to Buddhism, and throughout his book [The New Earth] reinterprets select quotations from the Bible using Advaita logic. But the word Hinduism is cited only a few times” says lawyer for Hindu American Foundation, Suhag Shukla.
In promising magical solutions to the problems of life and mind-altering nirvana, most of these individual teachers and groups today set up fancy workshops and programmes which camouflages and even distorts the ancient Hindu teachings (in the name of secularism) by jazzing it up with fancy names, flashy terminologies and charming rhetoric (an age-old business strategy of clever marketing), paving the royal road to enlightenment as they say, which really is the royal road to exploitation, capitalizing on the spiritual needs of the undiscerning masses and deceiving the less informed people into believing that they have discovered something new, the holy grail if you may, that would heal their soul, providing radical transformation and spiritual expansion, however at exorbitant rates and available exclusively through them.
Apart from yoga, they also hijack and sensationalize Hinduism’s sublime teachings of Tantra, the Science of Chakras (energy centers), Kundalini Ascension, etc. by taking it out of the context of its depth philosophy and portraying it in commercially exaggerated forms and cheap, animated ways, which renders the sellers materially successful yet spiritually and morally bankrupt. Moreover most of these new-age teachers today consider themselves as certified experts solely based on equally beguiling qualifications and diplomas such as those in crystal healing, energy cleansing, colour therapy, integral mind-body transformation or other instant enlightenment rendering sessions.
In emphasizing the importance of first being grounded in holistic Hindu philosophy in order to teach or sell Hindu concepts and practices, David Frawley, one of the very rare and authentic scholars on Vedic and Vedantic literature today, says that “some Westerners may want to create their own Yoga paths, mix Yoga with other teachings that may not be in harmony with it, or proclaim themselves as gurus without any traditional sanction. Others may want to physicalize or commercialize Yoga in order to make it more popular or profitable. A more traditional view of Yoga, and one that brings out its living religious basis, brings these efforts into question.”
India has now however rightfully made a move to patent Yoga asanas and will probably patent more of the indigenous Hindu practices in the years to come. Madan Jaira reports through the Hindustan Times that “The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has prepared patent formats of nearly 900 yoga asanas (postures), to prevent European and American companies involved in fitness-related activities from claiming them as their own”.
Using Hinduism’s concepts and practices for personal gain without using the word Hindu forms a wide-spread class of spiritual businessmen. On the other end of the spectrum however, there are so-called experts like Wendy Doniger for instance, who acknowledges Hinduism but uses Judeo-Christian frames of reference and Freudian Psychoanalysis to interpret and denigrate Hinduism thus reducing Eastern Spirituality to Western Materialism, presenting a pornographic and intensely vulgarized perception of Hinduism that is further distorted by her religious conditioning, cultural bias and narrow modes of information processing, an attitude she displays in her own words when she says “the Bhagavad Gita is a dishonest book”. A third category of offenders includes Indian scholars such as Devdutt Pattanaik who support distortionists like Wendy Doniger and dignify her prejudices and overt abuse of Hinduism and its sacred scriptures, further reinforcing the reprehensible thoughts and acts of such miscreants.
Apart from a few genuine and honest teachers who study in-depth and align their practices and teachings with the authentic source that is Hinduism, most use (misuse) it for personal gain and fame. There is nothing really ‘new’ then about the new age culture other than its plastic shamans, narcissistic, pseudo-spiritual leaders and corporate sponsors with their shallow, celebrity mystique and shrewd yet denigrated ways of deception. A large part of the new age movement is in fact more of an unrefined, consumer-driven scam, a money-making market of quackery and an entertainment industry of philosophical/spiritual misguiding.
Dr Aseem Shukla of Hindu American Foundation (HAF) throwing light on Deepak Chopra’s famed yet borrowed spirituality says “Chopra is perhaps the most prominent exponent of the art of “How to Deconstruct, Repackage and Sell Hindu Philosophy Without Calling it Hindu!” To Larry King, he has described himself as an “Advaita Vedantin”–one of the major philosophical schools of Hinduism. Yet none of the plethora of his book titles, that include several devoted to Jesus and one entire book devoted to the Buddha, even skirt the word “Hindu.” His website is devoted to selling products and literature related to yoga, meditation and ayurveda, but Hinduism, of course, bears no mention.”
Also emphasizing on the selective bias of common secular agendas Ranbir Singh of Hindu Human Rights (HHR) UK asserts that “The new age movement appears to give an eclectic mix of anti-Hindu tastes. When it comes to yoga, meditation, vegetarianism, ecological awareness, religious tolerance and even the invention of decimal numbers then it’s not Hindu. But mention sati, dowry abuse, poverty, human trafficking, communal riots and corruption in India then Hinduism suddenly becomes the lowest common denominator of blame”.
Today’s multi-million selling book and DVD ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne is based on the concept of the ‘Law of Attraction’- that you can attract whatever you like into your life. The origin of this popular concept traces its roots back to the book “Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace Wattles who says in the preface of his book that “The monistic theory of the universe… the theory that ‘One is All, and that All is One and that one Substance manifests itself as the seeming many elements of the material world’ is of Hindu origin, and has been gradually winning its way into the thought of the western world for two hundred years. It is the foundation of all the Oriental philosophies, and of those of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibnitz, Schopenhauer, Hegel, and Emerson”.
What Wattles was essentially referring to was the fundamental Hindu concept of the ‘one indivisible supreme reality’ that organizes the universe and all its processes and manifestations in ways that are conducive to the ‘whole’. However this concept has now been filtered down to imply that since everything is connected, just by consistently desiring and positively thinking about acquiring 25 Ferraris for instance or pot loads of money will somehow make it manifest in our lives, regardless of whether it serves or acts against the balance of the whole. It also implies that if you have cancer then you “thought” it into existence and if you are a billionaire you manifested that reality with your thought power. Thus it further follows that all people who are raped or victims of terrorist attacks or natural calamities have brought it upon themselves. This is the typical case of cherry picking where Google-search yogis take a concept out of its holistic context and neatly twist it in pretty yet misleading ways that attract many consumers with unfulfilled needs.
Moreover the book and DVD ‘the secret’ uses a spiritual camouflage to encourage self-indulgence and self-centeredness which actually goes against and contradicts the original Hindu concept of the undivided reality and Hinduism’s emphasis on detachment from and transcendence of the mind and its wavering thought-currents.
In the final analysis, it has been known that for over two hundred years India’s material wealth and resources were plundered and drained during the colonial British rule where the East India Company exploited and weakened India’s indigenous industries by buying her raw materials at cheap rates and selling her the manufactured end-products at inflated prices. What is not so obvious is that this trend of well-disguised fraudulency still continues even to this day as the modern-day Robert Clives have found their way back in the guise of self-appointed yogis and scholars who now exploit India’s spiritual wealth, only to dissect it, distort it, recycle/repackage it and sell it back to her people as well as the rest of the world for their self-serving gains, without ever acknowledging the real source.
This is a Rather than be pleased that ancient wisdom is being applied in this modern age and people are being helped, Gia Kerensky resents that Indian spiritual culture is not being given credit. This kind of attitude makes Hinduism look small and petty.
If this makes Hinduism looks small David, then i suggest you obliterate your name “David” and your identity from all records on earth. Why would you want an individual identity? After all we are all “one” and connected and not separate from each other. Calling yourself David then really makes you look small and petty. So go ahead, make your wisdom applicable in all situations otherwise you’re no differ from any hypocritical preacher who never practices what he preaches.
It is high time we Hindis stood up for our rights and dropped our “tolerance” attitude. People like David Phillips love to emotionally blackmail us and force us to put up with this nonsense lest we should appear “petty”. But poeple like him will no more fool us.
Brilliant article – well written and too the point. As for David Phillips assertion that this makes “Hinduism look small and petty” this is exactly the thinking that we Hindus are slowly fighting against. David I know a lot of these so called New Agers and the only thing on their mind is making money – they prey on the vulnerable and the weak and poor. They grab people when they are most in need of answers… give them a free taste of whatever new age solution they have… use Cult practices to draw them in (peer pressure, feigned kindness etc) and then when the Human feels a bit Better they present a “Nirvana on a Stick” concept that costs 100’s of Dollars, Pounds whatever.
So David why have you not addressed the fact that the underlying issue of this article is that Hindu concepts that have been tried and tested over thousands of years are being adapted and screwed up.
are you, by chance, on the new agers who make money from taking Hindu concepts?
Let me give you a adapted quote from the film Network
“We Hindu’s are mad as hell and we are not going to take it anymore!!!”
right I gotta go and cleanse my chakras and lies on my bed of crystals… there’s way to much heavy negativity man around…
David if u wanted heart surgery would you go to a quack down the road who just read a few books on heart surgery or would you go to a professional surgeon ? Its the same with these pseudo wannabe urban’ yogis like the Julian Walkers mentioned in this article who read a few books they get from Amazon online and then go around pretending they are Yoga Gurus with a few certificates displayed on the wall ..When people start to recognize these practices of tantra/chakra or yoga ect. are Hindu then they can go to the original sources and come across authentic teachers to benefit themselves spiritually without becoming credit card junkies.for some fake.
Being accused of being “small and petty” by those that want to claim that in re-inventing the wheel also gives them the rights also to rewrite the history of the wheel is a bit rich don’t you think David? Whether you like it or not, modern practices like the types of fitness yoga that are now so popular many no longer be coterminous with Sanatana Dharma, because of the determination of the wellness, well-being and media sectors but they all certainly owe a huge debt of gratitude to those traditions that have not tried to “unlink” themselves from it. The tail does NOT and should not wag the dog and no amount of saying otherwise will change that fact. Due credit where credit is due is not too much to ask and that I think is what authentic practitioners are demanding from contemporary developers like Chopra that persistently seem to skirt around awkward issues like this for reasons that might only ever be known by themselves.
Umm, Why dont we just thank David for his views and stop attacking him personally.
@David : Your statement resembles the attitude of those christian missionaries who don’t have a life or spirituality, but take orders from the vatican to spread lies to demean hinduism.
New Age culture or vulture; is a new propaganda machinery. I have said it earlier, the current “Religion” is being used to promote their brand of “God Market” like a fashion, which after using for a couple of years or so gets boring and needs changing. But how much can you change? Hence the old styles get recycled. This God market is even worst. Example is “monotheism V polytheism” – a needless boring story cooked up on “no knowledge or nescience”. If one study the Vedas deeply, we can appreciate the meaning in what I am meaning. India is full of Deepak Chopras – politics, TV/Print media, scholastic elites who pretend hard to project themselves as (pseudoseculars) and so on. We are coping with them everyday through the scams after scams, from materialism to spiritualism – just a fraction of game.
Apart from human baby, have you any knowledge of another species whose new born infant cries? I have not been able to find one! Meaning that as we always say and accept that the worst species is “Homo Sapiens” who can not be trusted, howsoever you serve him/her. This species is worst than a snake. It can never be tamed or trusted.
Deepak Chopra’s psychology may be to enroll himself in the big list of western pseudo-seculars to make money by creating his clout by wrong means. He may call himself Advaita vedantin but he is demeaning himself. This only lends discredit to his writtings as valid and authentic. But there is a lot of junk sold in the literary market, hence let him prefer himself to enlist in that junk group. It certainly has helped him enlist in a powerful list recently. He has been rewarded for his work in the west.
In fact it amuses me when and wherever I find “Hinduism” being defiled. Since it signifies its high stature. As Abraham Lincoln had said, “Dogs bark at the Moon till it shines”. This same problem applied to the groups who have been propped up to defame Satya Sai Baba. Baba has grown so tall recently that it had become a worry to some cults who feared Baba superseding them. It resulted in an obvious loss of footfalls as well as fall in their donations. Amazingly Baba’s funeral had a far wider TV coverage than any even royal functions and He was given an unusual state honour which the western media enviously wrote their columns without fail adding, “he has been involved in sexual abuses, molestations and blah blah”. At the same time, they cautiously add, “Charges that are not proven” adulterating His main theme. What a felonious journalism? There was not a single medium which did not use this dirty trick.
Indians are morons. Consider their mad race for the english royal wedding. Yet CSM wrote an article that may be perused alongwith my comment on this following site with an opening para to arouse your interest:
“Consider this statement from Mark Oppenheimer in Slate:
“Of all the annoying things about the royal wedding – the crass materialism, the outrageous invasion of a young couple’s privacy, the bad TV – none is more troubling than the occasion this event gives for the non-English to transform themselves into besotted Anglophilic wusses.”
Harsh words, but they raise an interesting question. Why are we, the republican colonialists who rejected monarchy, now riveted by this wedding?” The link is:
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0428/Royal-wedding-American-Anglophilia-finds-a-new-generation?cmpid=ema:nws:Daily%20Auto%2004282011&cmpid=ema:nws:NTI5OTY2OTk3MgS2
However I finish with a cautionery note that Hinduism also needs some intense reformation in the practices because it has become obsolete on several counts and attempts are on as the realisation is donning on. Having said so, I have some feeling that there is going to be a revolution that no one has contemplated so far and Hinduism or Vedism – whatever you may like to epitomise it, will emerge supreme. Some people may get alarmed but it is a time to introspect in stead to react.
God bless
I come back to add that it is an excellent, well researched article by Gia Kerensky who deserve all accolades. Keep it up. The problem with the Indians in olden days was that they never indulged in self-praise. This has resulted in paucity of historical records. Whatever was written, was the bare most important information or the religious texts. At the same time, we must not forget that those were days when the devices for writting were very scant and cumbersome. We tend to compare it with our present.
God bless
Hinduism as a system does not exist. The concept is foreign to Vedic Science.
The core of Vedic science is Sankhya imbedded in the Bhagavad gita. See my web site of 40 yeras of resaerck and the book part 1 Secret of Sankhya : Acme of scientific Unification.http://s2.webstarts.com/Sankhyakarika/index.html
http://sankhyakarika.freelancereporter.org/
Please contact me – no need for credit card its universal knowledge
Sankhya is only one jigsaw piece of the whole picture and not the whole.Your research for the last 40 years seems to be a waste of time because you have no idea what you are talking about .Its best you get back to dish washing instead of trying to disunite Hindus and dividing hinduism by promoting yourself
Srinivasan – Arjun is correct – your self-interested comment misses the point. If you want to get scientific – try looking into the mereology and you will see that your forty years of research count for nothing when you claim that Hinduism “does not exist”. Your denies the pluralism that is self-evident what is such a beautiful religious tradtion.
i visited the link provided by Mr Srinivasan and tried to peruse it. But I am not a physicist and also perusing at late night did not make it cognisible. At the same time, it did not appeal to me to spend much brain into it.
Secondly I did not understand his meaning of the first line too. What exactly does he mean, except to direct to his blog and shortcut it where he refers to some book he has written. I tried to open the link provided but it did not work. He simply directs one to contact him. I could not get his intent either. All are busy people and may not have enough time for all the myriads of stories on the net; most of them may/are misleading as well.
My personal recommendation to our learned gentleman will be to try his luck in relevant institutions and deliver visiting lectures either at home or abroad. The universities abroad will love a junk story meant to deride Hinduism or Vedas since the Abrahamic religions love it especially if it comes from the mouth of a Hindu or Indian. I am not sure of Mr Srivasan’s theological connections.
Even though I am not a sanskrit scholar but any interested person in the ancient Indian literature will find it that Vedas contain a wealth of useful informations for the benefit of humanity. Unfortunately the arrival of Abrahamic religions, once they got their foothold on the soil firmly embedded, they started their hate culture and suppressing the indigenous knowledge, language, culture, living style and all. This led to a great loss for the entire humanity. One important factor was that the skin of the indigenous population was dark that did not appeal them to love prima facie.
Carnal attraction is a first sight human weakness. This makes a huge business industry in the advertising sector and a pretty picture of a young lady is a common feature to exploit this very basic human weakness. Another place where a young female beautiful model is exploited is the spying network. Thirdly a woman can be instrumental in a relationship that otherwise can not be attained. Think over it seriously and this was the core concept behind the Freudian Psychology. This weakness is entrenched in all the species. West has used this human weakness successfully that is an important ingredient in their development strategy.
God bless
Dr. O. P. Sudrania
I am indeed glad that my comments have elicited such a positive response from Arjun, Yogi Mat and Sundrania. I am sure all you learned gentlemen, have heard off, read about and perhaps perused the works of Lokamanya Tilak , (author Arctic home in the Vedas), Late Acharya Barthi Thirtha Krishna of Puri Mutt (author Vedic Mathematics)
These two among many more have spearheaded the raising the level of understanding of Vedic Science in the area of their own expertise. Maharishi Kapilla’s Sankhyasutras covers the entire gamut of Universal manifestation through just 68 sutras containing mathematical formulas based on numerical axioms that indeed form the foundation even for current physics. In order to emphasize just one point, the first sloka in the Rig Veda contains 25 letters ( whose numerical values were deciphered as Vedic system by the Late acharya Krishna) and the value presents the proof of Vedic eminence for it is the cubic volume of an electromagnetic wave (light wave) occupying space in one second. This number has been recorded as you learned gentlemen know at least 8 to 10000 years back. So you woolly headed friends wake up and read and understand our ancient Vedic holistic science, which the barbaric invaders of past centuries had named our exotic scientific way of living as Hinduism, as derogatory term, meaning “those pagan people beyond the Hindukhush range of mountains”. If you love and worship that phrase please go and join those barbarians for in your replies you have shown a total ignorance of our great countrie’s magnificent heritage. Go through my website , using whatever intellectual remnants you have, to understand our extra-ordinary past. I am always ready to expose our Vedic excellence to all those who seek it.
G Srinivasan u need to get out of your joker syndrome and ego mentality because now Hindu and Hinduism are something to be proud of thanks to our sages and warriors of the past.The following is great Historian Sita Ram Goel
Thus by the middle of the fourteenth century, the word “Hindu” had dropped the derogatory associations imposed on it by the ancient Iranians and the Islamic invaders, and acquired a lot of lustre in the eyes of our own countrymen. Native heroes such as MahãrãNã Kumbhã, and Krishnadevarãya, who defeated the Islamic onslaught, were hailed as Hindu heroes in subsequent centuries. Padmanãbha uses the word “Hindu” for glorification of the Chauhãn harm of Jalor in his epic poem, KãnhaDade Prabandha, which he composed in AD 1455.
It will not be long before MahãrãNã Pratãpa SiMha of Mewar becomes renowned as hindu-kula-kamala-divãkara, the Sun which brings bloom to the lotus that is the Hindu nation. Chhatrapati Shivãji, who turned back the tide of Islamic invasion and inaugurated the war of liberation from Islamic imperialism, will be hailed all over Bhãratavaršã as the saviour of Hindu Dharma and protector of its significant symbols – gaubrãhmaNa, šikhã-sûtra, devamûrti-devãlaya, and so on. So also Guru Gobind Singh, and Mahãrãjã Chhatrasãl.
And the word “Hindu” stood sanctified when Sanãtan Dharma became known as Hindu Dharma. Numerous saint-poets arose in all parts of Bhãratavarša, sang hymns in praise of Hindu Dharma, and reminded their co-religionists that they were inheritors of a great and vast spiritual vision. The “law” of Islam threatened death to those who said that a religion other than Islam could also be true. But that did not deter Sant Kabir and Guru Nanak from proclaiming that Hindu Dharma was as good as any other. Guru Teg Bahadur defied the “law” of Islam at the very seat of its might, and offered his head in defence of his tilaka (religious mark on the forehead) and janêû (sacred thread).
Dear Mr Srinivasan, first of all, let me request you that as far as I am concerned, as I already said, “I am neither a physicist nor a Sanskrit scholar”. An average human being can not be as knowledgable as you to understand your complicated high degree intellectual material. This is for the elites in your field. That is why, I suggested you to kindly keep up your efforts in those corridors where you will be understood. We or at least I am a person with a residual intellectual remnant as far as your field. There can be no two opinions that you are a learned person and we shall like you to excel in your field. I fully respect you.
But your remark about “those pagan people beyond the Hindukhush range of mountains”. is a little naive and premature because the pagan beliefs which the Abrahamics plundered over the last two millennia stretched far beyond Hindukush mountains. Greece and adjacent Europe were all pagan worshippers. Some even claim that the black stone in Kabba, Mecca existed long before Islamic periodand name of Prophet Mohammad was “Abdullah”. “Historical research claims that the Black Stone marked the Kaaba as a place of worship during pre-Islamic pagan times.[1]”, peruse this for more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Stone
Scholars have even said that this “Hajr-e Aswad” in Arabic was a “Shiv Linga”. You may be well aware of the name of “Hussaini Brahmins” who existed in the then “Cannan” state and were instrumental in saving the head of Ali and carried it to present day Iraq where it is still safely preserved in a mosque. Our late Sunil Dutt belonged to them.
The word “Hinduism” is a debatable issue, people of eminence are researching on it. But we should keep out of it. In Saudi Arabia, they call all people, irrespective of their cast, colour or religion in this subcontinent as “HINDI”, not “HINDU”. History has undergone a tremendous overtures over the period. But the “Vedic” philosophy that is the backbone of our society in this land has been a powerful force that has saved this nation from the brute invading forces and they could not exterminate us; unlike the Red Indians in US or the other Australian tribes.
Word “Indian” is certainly a pejorative word that the white races has used against us as a “coloured race”. This includes all those people including the Mexicans, Maoris whom they indignantly call “West or East Indians” but our leaders do not seem to have time to look into these “trivial matters”.
Unfortunate. We are still being governed by the same “white skin” race and you may be aware of that Nehru did not consider himself Indian. In his own words to John Galbraith, “I am the last English Prime Minister” of this country”.
I respect your work and knowledge in your field and wish you success. We all will pray for it.
God bless
Dr. O. P. Sudrania
It can be but myself I crucify.
Please peruse the links:
(1) http://www.ceveni.com/2008/01/was-kabba-hindu-templemakkeshwar.html
Was Kaba a Hindu Temple? (Makkeshwar)
(2) http://www.introducingislam.org/info/tombs/chapter3.php
Arguments of those who consider it permissible to construct tombs over the graves of Prophets
We are not talking of “A Religion” or “The Religion” but “A God-market” or “The God-market”. That is where the confusion is. Come out of the shackles and then think.
Enjoy and God bless
Dr. O. P. Sudrania
David Philips knowledge and understanding is as small and limited as that of Patrizia Norelli and Robert Wilkinson. He doesn’t understand the Indian history or the Hinduism.
People just want to borrow out of Hinduism, coin some new terms for it without giving Hinduism the credit it deserves.
Sameer, Robert Wilkinson is the pseudo vedic scripture manipulator and spokesperson of the notorious ‘Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet’ cult hiding with their small group of followers in the Palani Hills in Tamil Nadu where they all worship Norelli as the 3rd part of the Aurobindo avatar solar descent onto planet earth..I heard the Indian police is about to hunt them down soon to put them into the local mental asylum where they can worship and meet the other cultists with their wannabe avatars on a mission to save planet earth..
With the demise of Sri Satya Sai Baba, the strong anti Sai Baba industry has become highly active after a long dormant state. This has given them an unique opportunity to yet again defile, defame Sri Satya Sai Baba on one hand; and now target those who believe or expound his philosophy in whatever slighest way to scare and forcibly silence them on the other hand. Will this suppress the “Truth”?
The tactics are old style means of first picking up a quarrel by deviating the actual debate, then labeling some vague charges of sexual assaults via a female face, then using their best English vocabulary of anger, hate, and other passionate words to arouse public sentiments to defame one and then killl the dog of Zia-ul Haq after the bad name has sufficiently impacted. They even masquerade as Hindus/Indians.
Subsequently some male faces clutch the further argument and use threats of various kinds which they themselves hardly seem to understand. This is something of a kind of jihadi industry and is covertly backed by some hidden powerful sources with international ramifications. These sources provide them all the requisite necessities like Islamist militants e.g. intel, training, funding, media coverages, transportatons and relentless rant of incessant false stories cooked up by a pseudo-scientific modern gadgetry and institutions propped up like rationalists, skeptics, atheists and so on.
This anti Sai Industry is no different from the Islamists jihadi industry. Their manners and use of language is abominable. No civil society will endorse it. It is unfortunate that the internatiionally acclaimed and respected institutions are giving them tacit shelter and backing by lending an unverified ear. This is a matter of deep concern and regret. It requires an urgent investigation into this underground inhhuman network in the best interests of the humanity before these anti-human organisations defame these international institutions and make them irrelevant.
The issuance of warnings by US, UK governments at the instance of these jihadists for visiting against the Satya Sai Baba ashram at Puttaparty alongwith the UNICEF deleting the Human values from the school texts was a stark reminder of the deep ramifications of this unsocial sectarian industry imbued with a religious hate. It makes it even far more dangerous than the Islamists and alo points a finger at other major religion.
It might be worth perusing a very significant scientific study in last century in seventies by Prof Erlendur Haraldsson published as “Modern Miracles: an investigative report on psychic phenomena associated with Satya Sai Baba. He has given solid evidence on Baba’s entire phenomena but it is an antithesis to the jihadi industry interests. It goes against the vested interests of the religious businessmen.
God bless
Well said and right to the point Dr. Sudrania !
Jason,
Thanx for ur kindness. Did u visit my article, “Sri Satya Sai Baba and His Robert Priddy”?
God bless
I like to check out your site a couple times a week for new readings. I was wondering if you have any other topics you write about?
Very well written Gia. When will Hindus ever learn and begin standing up for their Dharma? There is no virtue in letting someone walk all over you.
Swami Param
Dharma Yoga Ashram
http://www.classicalyoga.org