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An Open Letter to the British Home Secretary
The home secretary has braved a critical audience to call on Muslim parents to do more in the battle against terrorism. He asked to look for the “tell-tale signs” in their children and intervene if they suspect they are being influenced by extremists. Islam was being perverted by “fanatics” exploiting young people. These fanatics are looking to groom and brainwash children for suicide bombing. When he was the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, he never urged parents to monitor their children. Muslim parents shall be treated differently if their children show extreme tendencies compared to others of different faiths who may also harbour extreme tendencies.

Muslim parents have been worried about their children indulging in anti-social behavior, binge drinking, drug addiction, sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancies and other social evils. Muslim children suffer bullying and racism in schools and outside the schools. Majority of Muslim children leave schools with low grades. Muslim parents would like their children to learn Standard English to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity. Majority of Muslim youths are unemployed and even 25% of Muslim graduates are without full-time employment. Those who are lucky to be employed find bullying, discrimination and few prospects for promotion to higher positions. The number of Muslim youths in prison and mental hospitals is on the increase. The number of drug addicts is on the increase. Hundreds of overseas Muslim doctors are unemployed. Terrorism is not the issue for the Muslims. It is the creation of the West.

Muslim children are human beings with social, emotional and spiritual needs and demands. They are not just economics for the economic prosperity of the British society. They are cut off from their cultural roots and are unable to enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry. British schooling dislocates Muslim pupils from their cultural heritage. By the age of 16 “they are not ours, neither are they theirs”. Majority of Muslim parents wanted access to an” environment where their children can grow up with an understanding of Islam, Arabic, Urdu and other community languages. The sound knowledge of ones language would appear to help – and not hinder the acquisition of a second language and bilingual children may even have slight cognitive advantages. In British schooling, priority is given to suppress the other languages in favour of English. In fact, other languages should be fostered in addition to English.

Mastery of English language is not enough for the Muslim children. If they find that they are not welcome in a country, it is difficult to find motivation for integration and education. In the past Muslims were victim of Paki-bashing in all walks of life. The British Establishment did nothing to tackle that problem and issue. Now the young Muslim generation, well versed in English is victim of terrorism by the British Establishment and thousands of Muslim youths have been searched and arrested and are behind the bar without any charges and that make them more alienated from the British society.
Iftikhar Ahmad

Those who say Non-vegetarianism is growing - Wake Up!

<!--emo&:cool--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/specool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='specool.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<span style='color:red'>Americans are - slowly - turning vegetarian: Forbes</span>

Vegetarian food sales doubled since 1998, hitting $1.6 billion in 2003. The market is forecast to grow another 61 percent by 2008, according to Mintel, a global market research firm. That growth is giving an extra kick to the expanding business of organic produce and natural foods companies, and forcing mainstream food producers to scramble for a way to love veggies.

What's in the way of faster change? Meat. A recent poll found 81 percent of the consumers surveyed said "a healthy diet should include meat."

Chalk it up to U.S. consumers being a nutritional nightmare when it comes to diet and lifestyle. Studies show more than one-third of the U.S. population is trying to reduce the amount of meat in their diet. They are occasionally consuming vegetarian foods or drinks, citing health concerns like increased risk of stroke, high blood pressure and cancer as the reason for the shift. Nearly 65 percent of adults and 15 percent of children ages six to 19 are deemed overweight.

A 2001 study by the soy industry-supported United Soybean Board found that 72 percent of consumers reported having changed their eating habits because of health concerns. But many find making diet changes challenging, and they remain lukewarm about vegetarianism, with only a small percentage regularly eating vegetarian foods.

Part of the problem: myths about the dangers of a vegetarian diet. Some 66 percent said they agreed with the inaccurate statement, "vegetarian diets require added supplements," Mintel reported.

Still, market research shows that the number of consumers who lean toward some sort of <span style='color:red'>vegetarianism is increasing across all age groups. The Vegetarian Resource Group estimates that 2.8 percent of adult Americans consider themselves vegetarian</span>, up from 2.3 percent in a 2000 survey. Another 6 percent to 10 percent of the population said it was "almost vegetarian" and another 20 percent to 25 percent are "vegetarian inclined," or intentionally reducing meat in their diet, according to VRG. Predictably, women have a higher interest than men in consuming vegetarian foods and drinks, according to the Mintel survey.

The exhaustive Mintel report defined vegetarian foods as those items that directly replace animal or meat-related products, such as soy milk and textured vegetable protein.

Major companies like Kraft Foods, Kellogg, General Mills, ConAgra Foods and Dean Foods, which once resisted the trend toward meat substitutes, are now taking the shift in American diets seriously. Most have either bought natural and vegetarian food companies, or have begun offering their own lines of meat substitutes.

Kellogg purchased Worthington Foods in 1999, adding the fast-growing Morningstar Farms brand. Kraft owns Boca Foods of Madison, Wis., and Dean Foods acquired popular soy milk producer White Wave in 2002.

New product flavors, packaging and wider distribution moved vegetarian foods out of the traditional health-food specialty store and into the mass-market channel. This shift, along with a steady barrage of medical studies and changes in U.S. government labeling requirements, has led to greater consumption, lower prices and further acceptance of vegetarian foods.

Soy protein, for example, has been shown to lower cholesterol, and food companies have latched on to this fact, claiming soy reduces the risk of coronary heart disease. Not surprisingly, soy and dairy milk alternatives showed the strongest growth of vegetarian foods from 2001 to 2003, increasing 68 percent to an estimated $301 million in 2003, according to Mintel. By far the largest segment is frozen meat substitutes accounting for 73 percent of vegetarian foods sales.

<span style='color:red'>Interest in vegetarianism is highest among the youngest age groups (ages 25 to 34)</span>, according to Mintel. But their enthusiasm tends to decline over time for a number of reasons, including life-stage changes such as marriage, birth of children and new careers. As vegetarians age, they tend to regain interest in low-meat diets as a move toward healthier living.

The number of baby boomers ages 45 to 64 should increase nearly 30 percent between 2003 and 2008, helping fuel sales of meat and dairy substitutes. The baby boomer segment is showing an unprecedented interest in "food as medicine" products, including those that provide them with short- and long-term health benefits, according to research published in the 2001 HealthFocus Trend Report. The group also has tremendous spending power — $1.6 trillion — and owns 50 percent of all discretionary income.

© 2006 Forbes.com
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6008949/

Group,

Can people shed light on the subject?

-Digvijay

We all aware that Local Body Elections are due in Tamil Nadu. I have seen in my experiences that Local Bodies formed ( Ward Members and Municipal Chairmans) are mostly the people who are all from economically challenged society but who wanted to do something for the society. 100 out of 80 people who sworn as a Ward Member or Chairman are coming from families who doesn't even have enough things for their survival. Most of these people are self-depenendent and non-party winners.

But, I am wondering if I could do something for these people by educating them about what they really can achieve in the polictical environment. They should be knowing about their roles and responsibilities in the constitution.

Is anybody out here can help me in providing following informations :-

1. Any websites or books that describes about their roles and responsibilty.
2. Any websites or books that describes about how a normal people can use these government servents in proper way.
3. Any new ammendments related to this issue
and many more ..

Thanks,
Vadivel Kumar

I am eagerly looking for this information.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2006/sep/27ark.htm

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In India, the first sentinel surveillance of hijras at Mumbai's Sion Hospital in 2005 gave a horrendous 49.5 per cent prevalence, which means one out of every two hijras will be dying if we don't get them medication soon.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><span style='font-family:Geneva'>Kaun Banega Next Prez
With Prez Kalam having decided very logically that he is not in the race for election for next Prez, the field is open to guess for probable candidates.

First of all, looking at the history of past Prez, Dr. Radha Krishnan and Prez stand out as they come from different backgrounds. With coalition politics having made almost permanent abode in New Delhi, the post of Prez has become all the more important.

At this time, Dr. Karan Singh seems to be eyeing for the post. He is a versatile person apart from being career politician.

Though I don't know Amitabh Bachchan is interested or not, I will suggest his name too. He stands tall among Indians to be 1st citizen of India.

My 3rd guess is that even Manmohan Singh may be candidate.

It's high time that public starts taking interest in this important post much ahead of time otherwise you may have to accept the candidate thrown up by these politicians.</span></span>

How cute can this get ? Congies, NC, PDP and assorted jihadis all want to save the terrorist.

http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/sep/29parl.htm


<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Post-Friday prayer protests turned violent in Srinagar as angry protestors demanding Afzal Guru's release, who has been given the death sentence in the Parliament attack case, resorted to heavy stone pelting.

A Delhi court had on September 26 ordered Afzal to be hanged till death in Tihar jail on October 20 for his role in the December 13, 2001, terror attack on Indian Parliament.

Hundreds of youths gathered outside mosques in various localities of downtown Srinagar after the Friday prayers and held protests.

As police intervened to disperse the slogan-shouting crowds, they resorted to heavy stone pelting following which police had to use teargas and baton charges to disperse them.

Widespread protests forced the authorities to increase deployments around sensitive installations.

The police had a busy time trying to restore order and ensure that the crowds did not indulge in largescale violence.

Teargas and baton charges were extensively used on Friday.

Around 6,000 locals marched in Anantnag town carrying banners in favour of Afzal Guru.

"Hang all Kashmiris or release Afzal," said the banners carried by protestors in Anantnag town where the procession was led by south Kashmir chief priest Mirwaiz Qazi Yasir.

Protest reports also poured in from Afzal's native town Sopore and the adjoining district headquarters of Baramulla where hundreds of locals shouted slogans demanding reversal of Afzal's hanging order.

In the central Kashmir town of Budgam hundreds of protestors marched peacefully through the town demanding Guru's release.

Meanwhile, Congress on Friday sought to distance itself from Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's plea for mercy to Afzal.

"I am neither endorsing, nor rejecting what the chief minister has said... It will be one of the inputs in the decision-making process... Congress has noted the proposal," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.

Singhvi, who faced a volley of questions, declined to make any value judgment, when asked whether Azad had "erred" in approaching Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue.

"As far as we are concerned, you have to allow established procedures to take care... these are matters which are in the exclusive domain of the President... and it is not for anyone else to opine or decide", was Singhvi's refrain to a volley of questions.

Singhvi dismissed Bharatiya Janata Party's charge that the Congress approach showed that it was "soft" towards terror. He said the cap fits BJP well as its rule had witnessed the attack on Parliament, Akshardham and the Raghunath temple.

Asked whether the Congress party favoured in general capital punishment, he said that the party has not changed its stand on the law of the land.

To a query that Nalini, one of the convicts in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi got a pardon after Congress president Sonia Gandhi intervened, he suggested that no two individual cases are similar.

Several mainstream and separatist parties in Jammu and Kashmir, sinking their differences, have joined hands to seek review of Afzal's death penalty.

National Conference President and former Union Minister Omar Abdullah pleaded for review of the death verdict. He said thousands of people have been killed so far and several others sent to gallows, but the Kashmir issue still remained unresolved and after every killing the scene worsens.

"Our efforts are at present focussed on making the dialogue process a success and restoring the atmosphere of peace and security in the state. Steps such as execution of Guru have potential to squander all these efforts and make the matters worse. We cannot afford to ignore the sentiments and aspirations of the people," Abdullah said.

People's Democratic Party Chief Mehbooba Mufti held the same view as well. The execution will have an adverse impact on the ongoing peace process between India and Pakistan, and the situation in strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir, she said.

Hurriyat Conference (moderate faction) Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, in a statement from New York, expressed deep 'shock and anguish' over the court verdict.

"Death sentence in 21st century is an inhuman, immoral and barbarous step," he said.

The Kashmir Bar Association and several other separatist leaders such as Hurriyat Conference (breakaway) Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Democratic Freedom Party President Shabir Ahmed Shah, National Front Chairman Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Democratic Liberation Party Chairman Hashim Qureshi, People's Conference Chairman Sajjad Ghani Lone and rival JKLF leader Javed Mir besides militant organisations have also 'denounced' and protested the court order.


Government offices, educational institutions, banks and traffic were adversely affected even as markets remained shut in all the major and minor towns of the Valley in response to a shut down call by hardliner separatist leader and chairman of the breakaway All Parties Hurriyat Conference group Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

The frontline militant group Hizbul Mujaheedin, Kashmir Bar Association, Women's separatist group Dukhtaran-e-Millat and other separatist groups supported the shut down call. Srinagar witnessed total closure of markets, educational institutions and banks while attendance in government offices was badly affected because of non-availability of public transport in the city.

Geelani and democratic freedom party chief Shabir Shah were placed under house arrest.

With PTI Inputs<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<b>Paul wrote:</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->A stick to beat the Jholwalas with...it was the Islamist invasion and not Sankara that led to Buddhism's decline.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/7752_16...04100180006.htm

<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Anagarika Dharmapala, the famous Sri Lankan Buddhist leader who spearheaded a successful movement to revive Buddhism and Buddhist culture in his island country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, had also urged the Hindus of India to return to Buddhism.

He fought hard, against great odds, to secure for the Buddhists, spread across Asia, control over the main Buddhist shrines in India like Bodh Gaya.

He helped restore these shrines to their past glory, and founded the Maha Bodhi Society to sustain his mission.

While this was a great achievement, he would have been immeasurably happier if Buddhism was restored in India, its birth place.

That would not only be in the interest of Buddhism, but in the interest of India itself, for its social, intellectual, political and economic progress, he argued.

Dharmapala deeply lamented that Buddhism had vanished from its land of birth, where it was a principal religion for many centuries, spawning a great civilisation.

He wondered how powerful Buddhism would be in the world, and how wonderful relations between India and Sri Lanka would be, if only India, with its teeming millions, were to go back to Buddhism.

Dharmapala was by no means an enemy of Hinduism. He did not desire the annihilation of Hinduism.

He recognised the basic differences between the two systems of beliefs and practices, and yet he saw a basic commonality, which made co-existence possible and desirable.

To him, Hinduism and Buddhism were part of a continuum, with Buddhism being a higher stage of development in a long series.

Dharmapala set out his thoughts on this very lucidly, in a lecture he delivered at the Albert Hall in Calcutta on October 25, 1891.

Giving his view of Buddhism in contrast to all other religions, Dharmapala said that the Buddha had preached to Indians, "a realistic doctrine" and not an abstract principle.

He promulgated a religion "free from all super human agencies and devoid of all anthropomorphic conceptions."

Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human form or human attributes to God or the Gods.

The Buddha had acquired the stored wisdom of ages. After studying them and the limits of asceticism for six long years, he "discovered the law of Truth for the attainment of beatitude by liberating the human being from his own acts."

The Truth was revealed to five ascetic Brahmins at the Deer Park in Rishipatana near Benaras (Varanasi) more than 2,500 years ago.

"The day on which this grand discovery was made, opened a new era in the history of men and thought," Dharmapala noted.

"The doctrine of supreme purification and intelligence, the panacea which was revealed to the world has given relief to hundreds of millions of human beings, converted many of them into sages and saints, and has given a thorough moral tone to the religions of the world," Dharmapala asserted.

Buddhist rule was India's golden age

Arguing for a return to Buddhism, he recalled that Buddhism had moulded the destiny of the Indian nation in its "brightest, palmiest and most glorious days."

"The best historians and the most impartial writers of India have admitted that at no time was India more in her glory than when the Buddhist system was prevailing."

Quoting Hunter he said that it was to Buddhist impulses that Indian architecture owed its development.

It was in Buddhist institutions that the science of medicine flourished. Public hospitals came up for the first time during Buddhist rule.

In his History of the Civilisation of Ancient India RC Dutt said: "It was in the Buddhist age that the most brilliant results were achieved in astronomy. <b>For six centuries after 1200 AD the history of the Hindus is blank."</b>

<b>Dharmapala attributed the decline of Buddhism and Buddhist rule to Muslim invasions from the North West.

"The darkest days of India were during the Mohomedan period, and the religion of enlightenment (Buddhism) was nowhere to be found," he said.

And describing the decline, he said that with the loss of Buddhism, "a reign of inanition (emptiness) set in."

"Bigotry, intolerance, persecution, worked heavily during this period," he said.</b>

But British rule, which supplanted Muslim rule, brought about a tangible difference, he noted.

"The past one hundred years had been a kind of filing off the rust which had accumulated during the dark period. We see now a spirit of tolerance setting in."

"Education is spreading and with it, expansion of intellect. With the progress of thought, man aspires to independence to grapple with the mighty problems to which theology gives no consistent and satisfactory answer," Dharmapala observed.

This augured well for the wide acceptance of an advanced and progressive philosophy like Buddhism, he proposed.

Evolution of thought

Dharmapala said that Buddhism represented the high point of thought in an evolutionary process.

"Looking back, we find that in the unprogressive and undeveloped state of mind of man, he always looks for extraneous help."

"The powers of nature are so grand and awe inspiring that in his poverty of intellect to solve them, he apotheosises and commences adoring them."

"Hence we find polytheism (worship of many Gods) in the early days."

Rituals, sacrifices, the development of a priesthood and hierarchies appeared during the effort to appease the Gods as seen as in the forces of nature. Worship also began to be directed towards worldly gains.

When the intellect grew, new ideas came into existence, as seen in the celebrated Upanishads, Dharmapala pointed out.

On the Upanishads, he could do no better than quote the well-known German Indologist, Max Muller.

In his Hibbert Memorial Lectures on the Upanishads, Max Muller had said: "The object of the Upanishads was to show the utter uselessness, nay the mischievousness of all ritual performances; to condemn every sacrificial act which has for its motive a desire or hope of reward; to deny, if not the existence, at least the exceptional and exalted character of the Devas; and to teach that there is no hope of salvation and deliverance except by the individual self recognising the true and universal self."

Dharmapala said that the Bhagawat Gita was but a development of the Upanishads. Further, he saw links between the ideas expressed in the Gita and Buddhism.

"It is almost generally admitted that the Bhagawat Gita contains a Philosophy more comprehensive and compact than the Philosophy of the Upanishads."

"Now it will appear strange to those who take Buddhism as a system of materialism to be pointed out the remarkable identity of doctrines in the Buddhist Books and the Gita," he said.

Dharmapala went a step further and said that Buddhism went deeper into the mysteries of life than either the Gita or the Upanishads.

To underscore this point, Dharmapala quoted a well-known contemporary authority on comparative religions, Justice Telang of the Bombay High Court, to say that Buddhism had concepts, which had appeared in "less thorough-going manifestations" in the Upanishads and the Gita.

"The Upanishads, with the Gita and the Precepts of the Buddha, appear to be the successive embodiments of the spiritual thought of the age," Telang had said.

Buddhism is not nastika

Dharmapala corrected the widespread impression that Buddhism had no God and that it was materialistic.

It was Prof HH Wilson who first propagated the notion that Buddhism was materialistic.

And he might have done this because his Sanskrit teachers had confused the Charvakas, the sensual materialists in the Gita, with the Buddhists.

Dharmapala pointed out that the Charavakas were not Buddhists.

"If there ever was a teacher who systematically combated the views of materialists it was the Buddha," he asserted.

"Even today, Brahmin scholars have put down in the most careless way that Buddhism is a nastika system. They may as well condemn the Upanishads and the Gita, wherein the uselessness of ritual performances is demonstrated," Dharmapala quipped.

"Buddhism is the highest -- expression of philosophical thought. The highest spirituals conceptions have been found therein," he asserted.

And in support, he quoted Max Muller again, who said that the moral code of Buddhism was "one of the most perfect the world has ever known."

According to Prof Kunte, "The Buddhist Yoga Philosophy is more transcendental than the yoga system of Patanjali. In its comprehensiveness in ethics, transcendental metaphysics and yoga, no system can compare with the Buddhistic one, because it is the highest aspect or rather the climax of Aryan philosophy."

Prof Rhys Davids had called the Buddha an agnostic. Others had said that his was a pessimistic doctrine, only because he had said that existence was a misery.

But Dharmapala argued that the Buddha was never an agnostic. As far as pessimism went, he said that there was no place for pessimism in the Buddhist system, which rested on "realistic idealism".

Nirvana too had been wrongly interpreted as "annihilation". But Dharmapala, following Max Muller, asked: "Where is the pessimism of the Nirvanee swimming in the sea of calmness and delight exemplified in the life of the Buddha and the Arahants?"

The Buddha asked his followers, the Bhikkhus, to avoid the extremes and stick to the Middle Path, a very practical and yet noble way to live and be happy in this world, Dharmapala pointed out.

The Buddha had said that there are two extremes: (1) sensuality (2) asceticism. The former was low, ignoble, sensual, unworthy and unprofitable for the attainment of spiritual happiness; and the latter was painful, unworthy and unprofitable.

There was the Middle Path discovered by the Buddha, a path which would lead to peace of mind, higher wisdom and full enlightenment, "Nirvana".

Dharmapala said that these ideas would be acceptable as the society progressed in terms of education and intellect.

"With the progress of education and development of intellect, the barriers raised by priestcraft and selfishness, between man and man, will be removed; and man breathing pure air of love, will see that it is far better that a spirit of brotherhood should be fostered for the elevation of humanity.

Then and then alone Buddhism will be appreciated," he said.

Challenges theory that Sankara drove Buddhism out of India

Dharmapala challenged the popular theory that Adi Sankara (8th century AD) drove Buddhism out of India with his Advaita philosophy and relentless India-wide debating campaign.

Quoting Prof HH Wilson, Dharmapala said that Adi Sankara did not engage in any particular controversy with Buddhists. He had no quarrel with the Buddhists.

Wilson had said: " The most prominent objects of his opposition are the Mimansakas, as represented by Madana Misra, with whom he holds a long and acrimonious discussion, and the Nyayakas and Sankhyas; and the vulgar sects of Vaishnavas and Saivas; he is especially hostile to the latter and particularly to the Kapalikas, a class of Saiva worshippers, who again are his most active enemies, and on occasion assail his existence."

Dharmapala also exploded the myth that Adi Sankara headed a movement to persecute the Buddhists.

Quoting from Orissa Antiquities by Dr RL Mitter he said: " The belief is pretty common that a general persecution headed by Sankaracharya was the main cause of its (Buddhism's) disappearance, and that a long and protracted war was carried on to effect that object.

<b>There is nothing, however, in the records of the Buddhists and Hindus to support it."

Dharmapala said that during the lifetime of Adi Sankara in the 8th and 9th centuries AD, and till the 11th.century, Buddhism was flourishing in North-West India, Kashmir, Magadha and other parts of India.</b>

Blamed Muslims

<b>Dharmapala pointed that if any force destroyed Buddhism in India, it was the Muslim invader from West Asia, who pillaged and plundered Buddhist and Hindu temples and persecuted Brahmins and massacred Buddhist monks.

"The last massacre took place in 1202 AC at Odentapuri where two thousand Buddhist monks were put to death by Bakhtiyar Khilji. After that event Buddhism disappeared from the land of its birth."

"Though efforts were made one or two centuries later to plant colonies of Buddhist Bhikshus at the central shrine of Buddha Gaya, all of them failed.You will, therefore, see that it was the iconoclastic Mohomedan that destroyed Buddhism in India," Dharmapala said.

In his view, "the civilisation that India enjoyed before Mohamedan conquest was suited to her nature."

Dharmapala also argued that India would be united into a "compact whole" only if the polity was based on Buddhism.</b>

The Sri Lankan revivalist concluded his oration with a quote from The Hindu of June 16, 1891: "If there is anything in the intellectual and moral legacies of our ancient forefathers, of which we can feel proud, it is that sublime, pure and simple conception of a religious and moral system which the world owes to Buddha."

"Educated Indians need not hesitate in helping Buddhism to find a commanding and permanent footing once more in their midst, and to live in invigorating and mutually purifying amity with Hinduism itself."

<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<b>Pullekeshi Wrote:</b>


<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->
<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->
"Educated Indians need not hesitate in helping Buddhism to find a commanding and permanent footing once more in their midst, and to live in invigorating and mutually purifying amity with Hinduism itself."
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

There is increased interest in the west now to find <b>Buddhist Economics</b> – see the works of Schumacher for example. Without going into deep theology, let me share an example:

My friend from Sri Lanka said, "t<i>o the Buddha idol the Buddhist there light candles or incense sticks, to the minor “Hindu” deities go all the coconuts, sweets and offerings.</i>"

That example shows why Buddhism, by itself, cannot support a vibrant, economic culture – irrespective of its great contributions to humanity in theology. Hindusim has far too many brands and value propositions to ignore. Further, Hinduism thrives on desire and greed - in a good way, similar to Capitalism. Buddhism’s market positioning on the other hand was simple – Hinduism is ritualistic - buy Buddhism we are pragmatic we will help you deal with this imperfect life. We will never ask you to sacrifice a buffalo, a goat, twenty bags of rice, feed 100 Brahmins, etc. We are cost effective and pragmatic. Philosophically, we are a stone throws away from what is in the Upanishads and we have effective methods to help end your suffering. It was simply a better product – all true. But, it neither did it take into account the structure that held Bharat together, nor did it address the political and economic nature of a nation-state. Simply put, it was great for the individual salvation, but one could question its effectiveness in sustaining society, if not a nation-state.

Power sharing between the various castes acted as a buffer to absorb the shocks dealt to society in Bharat since time immemorial. However, what started as a rift between the Kshatriyas and the Brahmins went much further. The Kshtriyas choose to use “theological” battles between the Brahmins and Buddhists to their own advantage. They got their freedom from the Brahmins, but were now left with a broken system. The Buddhists claimed desire to be the root cause of all evil, but without desire life and society does not work!

Watch Coppola’s movie “Legend of Suriyothai” for example – while the movie never says it out loud, if you pay attention to the characters, you can see the war is really between the Brahmins and the Buddhists in Thailand. The Kshatriyas chose one side or the other. Obviously, the Buddhists win – similarly in the North/North-West of Bharat. However, once the Caste system was damaged in this way – the equality (buffer) between the different stakeholders (castes) was broken. One can argue that this was on going process before Alexander’s invasion. In any case, society in Bharat was vulnerable to external threats. This happened because of the damage done to the system. We repeat it again now - Educated Indians denounce their religion and their caste. The day we made caste rigid and unchangeable we lost! However, the day we deny its existence, we cease to exist. Never in the history of Bharat, has her polity been so fragile and fragmented.

Islam walked into this fractured society with impunity – the North-West and the North fall with little or no effort. The rest as we say is history…<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


<b>Paul replied:</b>

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->However, what started as a rift between the Kshatriyas and the Brahmins went much further. The Kshtriyas choose to use “theological” battles between the Brahmins and Buddhists to their own advantage. They got their freedom from the Brahmins, but were now left with a broken system. The Buddhists claimed desire to be the root cause of all evil, but without desire life and society does not work!

<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

FWIW....NCERT books say that the Merchant class was miffed with the heavy expense and attention required of the ritualistic process and saw the Bouddhic way as the way out.

As per one of the older PK Balchandran writings in HT, Hindu deities are also worshipped avidly in Sri Lanka. According to him the Buddha only offers salvation and not much of enything else, wheras there is a Hindu deity to worship for pretty much everything under the sun.

The Hindu/Buddhist divide is a recent invention of the Udit Rajs and other politicos. It is a false calumny heaped on Sankara that he was responsible for eradicating Busddhism from India. <b> If the Shankaracharyas and Jeers of South India have any sense they should hold a grand congregation and initiate dialogue with the Hinayana(Sri Lanka) school of thought and cut the ground on which these enemies of India are stand.</b> This will heal one of the oldest fractures of ancient India and make India one of the strongest nations in the future.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


I would like to know the minimum positions of the three faiths and see how the differences can be reduced. I would like to then figure out how it can lead to a broader agreement outside India- Sri Lanka and further beyond.
The broad goal is forge a deep and wide Indic centered faith alliance.

Racism in Russia seems a great threat to Indian students,studying there.
There are regular news of Indian students being killed,the lastest one being in Russia's St Petersburg.Earlier in Armenia,a similar,incident of killing of an Indian student took place.The reason cited is RACISM.There are reports of people of Africa, others of alein ethnic background, and Russians of mixed blood,being killed.
There is no news,as to what the Indian government is doing yo stop this racist menace.
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Article in the Times by Terence Kealy:
Why a Hindu temple is like a Soho phone booth

The journalists employed by the mainstream media like the Times or the BBC, have an extremely poor grasp of Hinduism and continue to produce articles and programmes that do not portray Hinduism but their very limited and prejudiced understanding of this religion. To start with most of these chaps have been educated to think that religions are inventions of mankind that are past their sell-by-date. With all the terrorist activities occurring in the name of religion most of them are understandably quite hostile to all religions. To make matters worse, what little Hinduism they have picked up has been the version of Hinduism promoted by the early missionaries. No wonder they equate Hindu Temples with Soho telephone booths!

It is Hinduism alone with its very comprehensive pluralistic approach that holds the key of how hostility in the name of religions can be halted and it is Hinduism alone that holds the key on how religious and science oriented world-views can be reconciled. These so called well-informed journalists will perhaps be the last ones to be informed of these aspects of Hinduism. We are sorry to say but It is only after a few more planes fall off the skies will circumstances force these journalists to re-educate themselves about the relevance of Hinduism in a modern science-oriented multi-faith society, what a great pity!

jay
Vivekananda Centre London
http://www.vivekananda.co.uk