Should have called this thread inculturation, appropriation and dabbling. Wish I could edit the title.
From bottom right of the following page - "Veda" section:
www.kalakendra.com
Oh look: the Vedas are turned into "the country's culture" - i.e. "Indian" "culture". Rather than *Hindu* religion. The same steps for appropriation are being followed as what they did for Bharatanatyam and Yoga. (Culture/Civilisation/Indian/Values were always a poor choice of words for Hindu religion, and more so when you're in a battle where your words *will* be used against you.)
The rest of what's said about the Vedas above is what the christo inculturationists, alien dabblers and new-ageists have been saying about Yoga too: that "it transcends Hinduism" and that it is "therefore universal" -
Reposting one of the comments to Aseem Shukla's ineffective attempts to retake Yoga in his article at washingtonpost:
[color="#0000FF"]INSERT:[/color] As can be seen in the appropriation argument given for "Yoga" above, the universalising side tends to argue that Hindus are withholding what is the right of "all". This Playing Victim makes onlookers to the pseudo-debate imagine the appropriating side to be the correct one: clearly it is the victim, "evil Hindus won't share". (Thieves - like Clay above - require the semblance of reason/victimhood to mask their crime, else how can their thievery be legitimised in the public eye?)
The same "Hindus are illegaly withholding Bharatnatyam from the world" reasoning is at play behind the inculturationists' question to Malhotra (implied in his answer): that he is "upset" that aliens are dabbling in Bharatanatyam - implying that it is their right to do so, but that he would withhold them from it if he could. Again, alien onlookers will feel Hindus are unreasonable/petty in denying aliens and terrorists the right to what should "surely" be a "universal" "art".
But Hindus should keep denying the aliens forever, and invoke L/D/Nakota's declaration of war as example.
I'm afraid what the English-language vocalists/representatives for the Hindu side will have to say when the Vedam one day comes up as "disputed territory".
Will the argument go the same way as Yoga and Bharatanatyam? Recapping Hindu vocalists' arguments on appropriation of:
1. Yoga: "Just acknowledge it is Hindu, and all are allowed to dabble"
2. Bharatanatyam: "Inculturation not allowed. But all - including even christoislamaniacs - are welcome to dabble."
If the inculturating, appropriating and dabbling kind assume that the same logic therefore applies to the Vedam, one can hardly blame them for their conclusion, considering all the encouragement they've been getting so far on all other matters Hindu.
I certainly think the same logic does apply, but that 1 and 2 are entirely wrong. I.e. 1 and 2 should be "(Yoga/Bharatanatyam/...) has nothing to do with aliens and other non-Hindus." So that the same applies to the Vedam. In fact, that should form the universal response to all attempts to encroach on any part of Hindu religion.
From bottom right of the following page - "Veda" section:
www.kalakendra.com
Quote:No study of India is complete without understanding the [color="#FF0000"]Vedas[/color], the bedrock of the country's [color="#0000FF"]cultur[/color]al life. 'Veda' in Sanskrit means knowledge which it provides to lead a wholesome life sans any conflict or confusion. Interestingly, the topics covered by the Vedas are not bound by narrow parameters like time, region or religion. They are eternal and their relevance transcends all such barriers.
Oh look: the Vedas are turned into "the country's culture" - i.e. "Indian" "culture". Rather than *Hindu* religion. The same steps for appropriation are being followed as what they did for Bharatanatyam and Yoga. (Culture/Civilisation/Indian/Values were always a poor choice of words for Hindu religion, and more so when you're in a battle where your words *will* be used against you.)
The rest of what's said about the Vedas above is what the christo inculturationists, alien dabblers and new-ageists have been saying about Yoga too: that "it transcends Hinduism" and that it is "therefore universal" -
Reposting one of the comments to Aseem Shukla's ineffective attempts to retake Yoga in his article at washingtonpost:
Quote:The true purpose of yoga, as espoused by Patanjali, is to transcend all distinctions, including those between individuals, which would seem to include especially religious distinctions (i.e. this one is better than that one).
That the author fails to recognize this suggests rather strongly that he is not worthy of claiming the 'theft of yoga', for the simple reason that he has not yet understood, let alone 'realized', the true meaning of 'yoga'.
Yoga is NOT about Hinduism - it's much bigger - once realized, everything is transcended, including one's religious attachments.
To honor Hindusim for the significance of it's historical contribution (to yoga) is proper.
[color="#0000FF"]To claim that yoga without Hinduism is somehow wrong (as in 'theft') is the worse sort of religious condescension, and more importantly, to do so defies the fundamental teachings of yoga itself![/color]
One does NOT need Hinduism to realize the highest teachings of yoga. Indeed, one must drop religious trappings to do so.
[color="#800080"](First insists dropping Hindu religion from Yoga, thereby making it secular. Then, after some time, pseudo-religion - christianism - is introduced into the empty space thus created, making Yoga christian. They know what they're doing. Hindus don't.)[/color]
namaste,
clay
Posted by: cfmsp | April 20, 2010 11:01 PM
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[color="#0000FF"]INSERT:[/color] As can be seen in the appropriation argument given for "Yoga" above, the universalising side tends to argue that Hindus are withholding what is the right of "all". This Playing Victim makes onlookers to the pseudo-debate imagine the appropriating side to be the correct one: clearly it is the victim, "evil Hindus won't share". (Thieves - like Clay above - require the semblance of reason/victimhood to mask their crime, else how can their thievery be legitimised in the public eye?)
The same "Hindus are illegaly withholding Bharatnatyam from the world" reasoning is at play behind the inculturationists' question to Malhotra (implied in his answer): that he is "upset" that aliens are dabbling in Bharatanatyam - implying that it is their right to do so, but that he would withhold them from it if he could. Again, alien onlookers will feel Hindus are unreasonable/petty in denying aliens and terrorists the right to what should "surely" be a "universal" "art".
But Hindus should keep denying the aliens forever, and invoke L/D/Nakota's declaration of war as example.
I'm afraid what the English-language vocalists/representatives for the Hindu side will have to say when the Vedam one day comes up as "disputed territory".
Will the argument go the same way as Yoga and Bharatanatyam? Recapping Hindu vocalists' arguments on appropriation of:
1. Yoga: "Just acknowledge it is Hindu, and all are allowed to dabble"
2. Bharatanatyam: "Inculturation not allowed. But all - including even christoislamaniacs - are welcome to dabble."
If the inculturating, appropriating and dabbling kind assume that the same logic therefore applies to the Vedam, one can hardly blame them for their conclusion, considering all the encouragement they've been getting so far on all other matters Hindu.
I certainly think the same logic does apply, but that 1 and 2 are entirely wrong. I.e. 1 and 2 should be "(Yoga/Bharatanatyam/...) has nothing to do with aliens and other non-Hindus." So that the same applies to the Vedam. In fact, that should form the universal response to all attempts to encroach on any part of Hindu religion.