01-12-2005, 11:54 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->There has been a lot of discussion whether Hinduism, Budhism etc should be called 'religions'. By terming these 'dharmas' religions, we unwittingly adopt a term which is unfairly loaded against the basics of the 'dharma'. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Ashok, very perceptive and something i have been drumming to seemingly deaf ears for some time. Like many english and european words religion does not translate easily into our world and our thought process, because a dogmatic belief in a set ideology is alien to the way we think. Dharma is not religion just as varna is not caste. I dont want to get on a soap box now but by accepting such reductionist and sometimes misleading definitions of our way of llife we are left defending something that is not native to our worldview.
Ashok, very perceptive and something i have been drumming to seemingly deaf ears for some time. Like many english and european words religion does not translate easily into our world and our thought process, because a dogmatic belief in a set ideology is alien to the way we think. Dharma is not religion just as varna is not caste. I dont want to get on a soap box now but by accepting such reductionist and sometimes misleading definitions of our way of llife we are left defending something that is not native to our worldview.