07-15-2006, 05:39 PM
Post 39,
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Nice one. Mind if I use that once in a while? If you want, I'll credit you for it.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yes you can use it, and no need to give credit.
I would say Sri Aurbindo had it right when he described the main problem of our civilization:
"I believe that the main cause of India's weakness is not subjection, nor poverty, nor a lack of spirituality or Dharma, but a diminution of thought-power, the spread of ignorance in the motherland of Knowledge. Everywhere I see an inability or unwillingness to thinkâincapacity of thought or âthought-phobiaâ. Whatever may have been in the mediaeval period, now this attitude is the sign of a great decline. The mediaeval period was a night, a time of victory for the man of ignorance; the modern world is a time of victory for the man of knowledge."
That more that anything else has made us ignorant of the threats facing us. What I pointed out in Post 33 is a symptom of that unwillingness to think. Because of this incapacity of thought Hindus have let the enemy define an artificial value system secularism/communalism and then they try and operate within that value system. Hindus have many disabilities in the Indian system, but the lack of clear thinking, the reluctance to evaluate others through Hindu values, and unwillingness to defend their views and interests are self imposed; truly a product of "thought-phobia".
As to the problem of defence, we are facing the same choice that Pandavas faced; whether to fight or let adharm prevail. In this case we need to use even harsher measures in order to prevent the dawn of a new totalitarian age, and fall of a significant part of humanity into abject mental slavery. Violence then is an acceptable form of action in such a situation. I quote Sri Aurbindo since he can say it much more eloquently than I can.
" War and destruction are not only a universal principle of our life here in its purely material aspects, but also of our mental and moral existence. It is self-evident that in the actual life of man intellectual, social, political, moral we can make no real step forward without a struggle, a battle between what exists and lives and what seeks to exist and live and between all that stands behind either. It is impossible, at least as men and things are, to advance, to grow, to fulfil and still to observe really and utterly that principle of harmlessness which is yet placed before us as the highest and best law of conduct.[19] We will use only soul-force and never destroy by war or any even defensive employment of physical violence? Good, though until soul-force is effective, the Asuric force in men and nations tramples down, breaks, slaughters, burns, pollutes, as we see it doing today, but then at its ease and unhindered, and you have perhaps caused as much destruction of life by your abstinence as others by resort to violence.... Evil cannot perish without the destruction of much that lives by the evil...."
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The damage that propaganda, communism and missionary education has done is to weaken the Hindu mind so that it is unwilling to think of defense.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The enemies have done a lot of propaganda to be sure, but that is not entirely the cause of lack of Hindu defense. The Hindus are inheritors of the greatest spiritual wealth out of any civilization, and it would be great if more people understand its true value, but it doesn't seem to be necessary in order to defend one's self and loved ones against a barbaric enemy. That is the most basic human instinct, and we have seen Hindus exhibit this natural instinct many times, only to be restrained by government. The indifference is because of ignorance of the ideologies of the enemies, and a product of regarding terrorism as an isolated event, as opposed to an act of war in a well planned strategy of conquest. Hence, what Hindus need is awareness of the threats (Islam, Christianity, and their history), end of some modern myths (Sarva Dharma Sambhav), and organization. We do have other problems that need to be addressed, and they should be, but the problem of security is the most important one, and we only have a few more decades to address it.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Nice one. Mind if I use that once in a while? If you want, I'll credit you for it.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yes you can use it, and no need to give credit.
I would say Sri Aurbindo had it right when he described the main problem of our civilization:
"I believe that the main cause of India's weakness is not subjection, nor poverty, nor a lack of spirituality or Dharma, but a diminution of thought-power, the spread of ignorance in the motherland of Knowledge. Everywhere I see an inability or unwillingness to thinkâincapacity of thought or âthought-phobiaâ. Whatever may have been in the mediaeval period, now this attitude is the sign of a great decline. The mediaeval period was a night, a time of victory for the man of ignorance; the modern world is a time of victory for the man of knowledge."
That more that anything else has made us ignorant of the threats facing us. What I pointed out in Post 33 is a symptom of that unwillingness to think. Because of this incapacity of thought Hindus have let the enemy define an artificial value system secularism/communalism and then they try and operate within that value system. Hindus have many disabilities in the Indian system, but the lack of clear thinking, the reluctance to evaluate others through Hindu values, and unwillingness to defend their views and interests are self imposed; truly a product of "thought-phobia".
As to the problem of defence, we are facing the same choice that Pandavas faced; whether to fight or let adharm prevail. In this case we need to use even harsher measures in order to prevent the dawn of a new totalitarian age, and fall of a significant part of humanity into abject mental slavery. Violence then is an acceptable form of action in such a situation. I quote Sri Aurbindo since he can say it much more eloquently than I can.
" War and destruction are not only a universal principle of our life here in its purely material aspects, but also of our mental and moral existence. It is self-evident that in the actual life of man intellectual, social, political, moral we can make no real step forward without a struggle, a battle between what exists and lives and what seeks to exist and live and between all that stands behind either. It is impossible, at least as men and things are, to advance, to grow, to fulfil and still to observe really and utterly that principle of harmlessness which is yet placed before us as the highest and best law of conduct.[19] We will use only soul-force and never destroy by war or any even defensive employment of physical violence? Good, though until soul-force is effective, the Asuric force in men and nations tramples down, breaks, slaughters, burns, pollutes, as we see it doing today, but then at its ease and unhindered, and you have perhaps caused as much destruction of life by your abstinence as others by resort to violence.... Evil cannot perish without the destruction of much that lives by the evil...."
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The damage that propaganda, communism and missionary education has done is to weaken the Hindu mind so that it is unwilling to think of defense.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The enemies have done a lot of propaganda to be sure, but that is not entirely the cause of lack of Hindu defense. The Hindus are inheritors of the greatest spiritual wealth out of any civilization, and it would be great if more people understand its true value, but it doesn't seem to be necessary in order to defend one's self and loved ones against a barbaric enemy. That is the most basic human instinct, and we have seen Hindus exhibit this natural instinct many times, only to be restrained by government. The indifference is because of ignorance of the ideologies of the enemies, and a product of regarding terrorism as an isolated event, as opposed to an act of war in a well planned strategy of conquest. Hence, what Hindus need is awareness of the threats (Islam, Christianity, and their history), end of some modern myths (Sarva Dharma Sambhav), and organization. We do have other problems that need to be addressed, and they should be, but the problem of security is the most important one, and we only have a few more decades to address it.