February 22
Wikipedia
Akshay posts: "I edited some articles in Wikipedia.
sometime
ago I had replaced Dharma with religion in many articles. But this is
not enough, We have re-write, re-contextualize ( for this I'm waiting
for U-Turn Theory, Noted & Bibliography will help ) most of the
articles under Dharmic frameworks.
Today i added,
started criticism. People who are interested ..."
February 22 (continuing discussion from Feb 20)
Re: My recent event at Princeton University
JC Pant posts: " ....
A similar
transformation appears to have taken place in the case of good
practicing Hindus as a result of India adopting a an avowedly 'secular'
constitution (post the Constitutional amendment to this effect in 1976).
The only way Hindus could continue to remain good practicing Hindus was
by conducting themselves in the public domain in a manner as secular as
possible without compromising on their Hindu practices in private &
for a minority of them also to explore how the secular ethos could be
turned into an opportunity to promote the positive aspects of Hindu way
of life in society in general. This however, did provide this group an
opportunity to promote social reforms in Hinduism to rid it of all the
unhealthy practices which had crept in it over the last 1000 years or
so, about which one Eddie in the group keeps whining.
The opportunists among the Hindus were quick to jump on the secular bandwagon,..."
February 22 (continuing discussion from Feb 21)
Re: Coexistence with India - A Dawn Blog
Prashant adds: A more elaborate analysis along similar lines can be found in M J Akbar's book Tinderbook...
February 22
Christian Colonization and the Concomitant Decimation of the Native
Ravi posts: This article, from Smithsonian Magazine, tangentially hints at the Christian Colonization and the Concomitant Decimation of the Native Cultures of the Amazon.
The Lost Tribes of the Amazon
Often described as “uncontacted,” isolated groups living deep in the South American forest resist the ways of the modern world—at least for now..."
February 22 (continuing discussion from Feb 19)
Re: Evangelical Christian group helps sue California school over yoga
Raghu posts: "What you say about the way the Krishnamacharya-Desikachar heritage is
going is true. I was one of the early teachers in KYM. I taught there
for more than a decade. When Desikachar's young son Kausthubh took over,
he went back on many of the teachings. He was openly irreverent to the
heritage, and was keen on reversing his fathers investments in the
institution.... a very
far cry from the Yogacharya Krishnamacharya. He has gone far away from
the discipline, and we suspect his real learning too. He was recently
accused of...."
February 24
Re: : Recording of my MSNBC television panel discussion: On Bobby Ji
Menon posts: I felt pained when I heard the conversion story of Jindal. I wondered how such an intelligent person with pious hindu parents could get attracted to such dogmatic political outfit such as christianity. Even without looking deeper into what his own Dharmic and rich / scientific / universal and unbroken heritage since the time of creation has to offer to him, he got attracted to the glamour of power and riches, which he would come to experience as temporary and therefore, superfluous & unreal...
Rajiv responds:
While you dont understand why converted people keep Hindu names,
I dont understand why so-called Hindu activists have not learned such basic things despite the fact that:
1) The practice is very old and common.
2) Many of us have written and discussed this for so many years.
JP posts:
"More such Bobby Jindal's are manufactured in the church on a daily
basis with a strategy and plan. Please see the forwarded mail below. Not
only do they keep Hindu names but they also....They are now also using the sport cricket as a means to
convert people. The boldness of the mail was shocking. Please go
through it.
"Dear Upward families at Eastview Christian Church,
As most of you know by now, Eastview recently decided to invest some money and effort into a new ministry effort. We built a brand new cricket field! Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world, and we are trusting that the sport will become a great platform for us to engage in ministry with our culture in McLean County. We now have a sub-culture of around 6,000 Asian Indians living in our community. Many of these individuals are extremely open to integrating into our culture.
The God we love and serve wants all people to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4)…including those that are not like us but that are living among us for a time...."
Pushpa adds:
"Most Hindus think that the abandoned Church buildings are a sign of decline of Christianity. That is obviously not the case. Christians have found other novel ways to push their agenda. Through sports as pointed here. Another one where some of our leaders, sadhus, mahatmas, etc are being lured is the "Environmental" movement. Craving for a spot on the international stage, these Swamis ... entertain Church funded environmental events. Disguised as innocuous sounding earth projects, usually the headed by Hindus or Hindu sounding puppets,...The Maha Kumbh is the latest example where Harvard University made headlines on a daily basis. This is by no means to say that Harvard project is Church funded. The point here is that a project that is headed by anti-Hindu woman like Diana Eck is not going to yield anything of value for the Hindu community. There is obviously another agenda. The shocking fact is that, in spite of being warned, people like Swami Chidananda gave a red carpet welcome to Diana Eck and company. Can one imagine such a thing happening in Mecca or Medina?
Rajiv comment: I am glad at least a few persons get it. Thanks. Most mahatmas I met are morons suffering from whiteness inferiority complex - very sad but we must deal with it honestly."
Manish comments:
".....I am personally yet to meet a Hindu priest / Guru who
can hold an informed conversation on anything outside the narrow
confines of the religious ceremonies he conducts. Almost all of them are
steeped in the sameness meme. Most are utterly other-worldly in their
mental outlook, out of touch with the practical realities of the 21st
century.
But then it
is the structure of our society that is largely to blame for this state
of affairs --- a Hindu priest or a sadhu has to depend on the dakshina
that a yajmaan pays him (in contrast to a xian priest who lords it over a
church and is paid a fixed salary).
This
dakshina-dependence may have worked well in the hoary past when the
priests enjoyed state patronage but by the 20th/21st centuries, in
Nehruvian India, dakshina-dependence has become such a
self-respect-shattering arrangement that Hindu priesthood would never
attract bright young persons. .."
Saket shares:
"this morning I came across this peace in Open Magazine titled : Foreign Funding of NGOs:Should FDI in India's think tank sector worry us? ...
I immediately recalled the thought experiment that Shri Rajiv Malhotra did during the launch of the book Invading The Sacred in 2007 i had heard on YouTube. There he had mentioned how idea of India is determined by bodies who
fund studies in India. The above article is perhaps the first expose in India media of that link and its ramification for Indian policy making and safe guarding its long term interests. I only wonder how correct he was then !!..."
