12-18-2004, 02:13 PM
I guess this about sums it up. Hindus are unmoved. As I indicated earlier, brahmins are not loved and respected among Hindus, except for the priesthood itself whom they rush to, and care for eagerly. This was my reading of the sentiments of the people in India, which I think everyone felt, except the brahmins themselves, who I think continue to live in a virtual reality thinking they are loved and respected by the people, their knowledge of the religion sought after, and reacting in such ways. Perhaps as an impartial outsider looking in, I could see a different perspective that they themselves, being inside the box, could not. Now the people, the media, other monasteries and renowned Hindu swamis confirms it.
<b>The Shankaracharya has insisted only a Brahmin cook should prepare his food in jail. Lower castes are traditionally considered to be polluting.</b>
(I want pork chops and sushi in jail! <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> )
By this alone, JS is further enraging the people and the brahmins are further alieanating themselves from the Hindu mass. They just dont realise it.
Twice rejected for bail, Hindus are slowly gathering that surely not all its judiciary is corrupt and incompetant, and perhaps this may not be a conspiracy after all. And realising that perhaps there was a virtual wall after all that kept them from listening and seeing. These events is not just about JS. The peoples' non reactions is a message to all the orthodox mutts and the brahmins.
Madhu Pandit Das confirms the rumours I too heard over time which I desisted from posting for fear of being labelled rumour mongering. Like I said, everyone heard the rumours except the brahmin community.
I hope this is not termed brahmin hating or bashing. I am mentioning this so that the community considers this point of view and get out of the cocoon they have built themselves in. Be a priest and be loved and respected, and your knowledge of the scriptures sought after, or drop the brahmin identity altogether.
This is about the most gentle way I can express it. No flames please.
Regards.
Pathma
PS: added later.
These things about JS, Kanchi, smarthas and brahmins is just because these issues arose at this time. It also applies, and I would have said the same to every other mutt, sampradaya and sect, and every caste group including the OBCs who are the most violent and equally casteist. Even the dalits are casteist, for god knows why!
<b>Arrest of 'Hindu Pope' sparks little outrage as anti-caste feeling grows</b>
By Edward Luce
Published: December 18 2004 02:00 | Last updated: December 18 2004
02:00
Followers of traditional Brahmin Hinduism have been in profound
despair since the Shankaracharya of Kanchi - leader of possibly
India's most august Hindu institution - was last month arrested by
police on suspicion of murder.
The Shankaracharya, a 70-year-old spiritual leader to millions of
Hindus, was yesterday denied his appeal to be freed on bail.
The case, which hinges on the pontiff's alleged hiring of contract
killers to murder Shakaraman, the former temple accountant, who was
allegedly blackmailing the Shankaracharya over corrupt practices,
looks likely to culminate in one of the most controversial murder
trials India has seen.
Yet the arrest - and the media's almost gleeful subsequent
humiliation of the Shankaracharya - has singularly failed to ignite
the mass outrage many were expecting.
Often described as the Hindu Pope, Jayendra Saraswati - the
Shankaracharya's actual name - was arrested last month on the eve of
Divali, one of the most important festivals in the Hindu calendar.
Prosecuting lawyers in Tamil Nadu, the southern state in which the
pontiff is based and where he is held in custody, have leaked tales
of corruption and sensual indulgence more redolent of Europe's
medieval papacy.
Leaders of the Hindu nationalist BJP, which was defeated in national
polls last May, have repeatedly attempted to galvanise popular
outrage over the police's apparent rough handling of the
Shankaracharya - but to little avail. Meanwhile, other Hindu leaders
have observed the case with disquiet.
"Hindus are a very gentle and non-violent people," Sri Sri Ravi
Shankar, head of the Art of Living Foundation, a spiritual movement
based in Bangalore, told the Financial Times. "We are not easily
provoked into outrage. But I feel we are losing our sense of
identity. We are no longer reacting as Hindus."
Mr Ravi Shankar, whose ashram on the outskirts of Bangalore is a
study in marbled opulence, is one of a growing band of modern
spiritual leaders with close connections to India's software
industry and with legions of western devotees. Unlike the
Shankaracharya, whose institution is deeply traditional, Mr Ravi
Shankar rejects caste - the birth-based system of social division
with which traditional Hinduism is associated.
Dressed in white robes and wearing a flowing biblical beard, Mr Ravi
Shankar gently suggests the Shankaracharya's resolutely Brahmin, or
upper caste, identity, may explain the lack of popular outrage among
ordinary Hindus. The Shankaracharya has insisted only a Brahmin cook
should prepare his food in jail. Lower castes are traditionally
considered to be polluting.
"There is a lot of anti-Brahmin feeling in India at the moment,"
says Mr Ravi Shankar. "Rigidity in the caste system has declined a
lot in the last 50 years. But also Hinduism ... is not organised and
is more institutionally diverse. This should also be seen as a
strength. It means less possibility for mass outrage."
Madhu Pandit Das, head of the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (Iskon), better known in the west as the "Hare
Krishna" movement, also based in Bangalore, says traditional
Hinduism has declining appeal. Iskon has been split into two warring
factions since its founder's death in 1977. The movement also faces
class action suits over alleged paedophilia at its ashrams in the US.
Mr Das, whose mission is to "clean up" the sect, believes the Hare
Krishna movement still has great advantages over the traditional
institutions of Hinduism, perhaps most aptly symbolised by the
incarcerated Shankaracharya. Iskon's vast Bangalore temple feeds
60,000 slum children every day, making sure that upper and lower
caste boys and girls dine together. It completely rejects caste
distinctions.
Like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Mr Das is surrounded by former software
engineers and management graduates who have trained to become gurus.
This is one reason why Bangalore, India's software capital, is so
popular with the new Hindu cults.
"We run our organisation like a modern corporate," he says. "We have
boardrooms, liquid crystal displays, transparent audits of our
finances and we keep the temple meticulously clean. Have you seen
how filthy the traditional temples are?"
Egged on by police and lawyers, who appear bent on showcasing the
country's system of equality before the law in their treatment of
the Shankaracharya, Indian media have publicised a litany of alleged
malpractices at the pontiff's temple, both financial and sexual.
Whether any of the allegations are true - and regardless of the
outcome of any trial that might ensue - most Indians appear
singularly unmoved.
"Most Indians are not Brahmins," explains Mr Das. "Also I think
there have been so many rumours for so long about this particular
institution that there is sufficient doubt there in the popular
mind."
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/437652a0-509b-11d...000e2511c8.html
<b>The Shankaracharya has insisted only a Brahmin cook should prepare his food in jail. Lower castes are traditionally considered to be polluting.</b>
(I want pork chops and sushi in jail! <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> ) By this alone, JS is further enraging the people and the brahmins are further alieanating themselves from the Hindu mass. They just dont realise it.
Twice rejected for bail, Hindus are slowly gathering that surely not all its judiciary is corrupt and incompetant, and perhaps this may not be a conspiracy after all. And realising that perhaps there was a virtual wall after all that kept them from listening and seeing. These events is not just about JS. The peoples' non reactions is a message to all the orthodox mutts and the brahmins.
Madhu Pandit Das confirms the rumours I too heard over time which I desisted from posting for fear of being labelled rumour mongering. Like I said, everyone heard the rumours except the brahmin community.
I hope this is not termed brahmin hating or bashing. I am mentioning this so that the community considers this point of view and get out of the cocoon they have built themselves in. Be a priest and be loved and respected, and your knowledge of the scriptures sought after, or drop the brahmin identity altogether.
This is about the most gentle way I can express it. No flames please.
Regards.
Pathma
PS: added later.
These things about JS, Kanchi, smarthas and brahmins is just because these issues arose at this time. It also applies, and I would have said the same to every other mutt, sampradaya and sect, and every caste group including the OBCs who are the most violent and equally casteist. Even the dalits are casteist, for god knows why!
<b>Arrest of 'Hindu Pope' sparks little outrage as anti-caste feeling grows</b>
By Edward Luce
Published: December 18 2004 02:00 | Last updated: December 18 2004
02:00
Followers of traditional Brahmin Hinduism have been in profound
despair since the Shankaracharya of Kanchi - leader of possibly
India's most august Hindu institution - was last month arrested by
police on suspicion of murder.
The Shankaracharya, a 70-year-old spiritual leader to millions of
Hindus, was yesterday denied his appeal to be freed on bail.
The case, which hinges on the pontiff's alleged hiring of contract
killers to murder Shakaraman, the former temple accountant, who was
allegedly blackmailing the Shankaracharya over corrupt practices,
looks likely to culminate in one of the most controversial murder
trials India has seen.
Yet the arrest - and the media's almost gleeful subsequent
humiliation of the Shankaracharya - has singularly failed to ignite
the mass outrage many were expecting.
Often described as the Hindu Pope, Jayendra Saraswati - the
Shankaracharya's actual name - was arrested last month on the eve of
Divali, one of the most important festivals in the Hindu calendar.
Prosecuting lawyers in Tamil Nadu, the southern state in which the
pontiff is based and where he is held in custody, have leaked tales
of corruption and sensual indulgence more redolent of Europe's
medieval papacy.
Leaders of the Hindu nationalist BJP, which was defeated in national
polls last May, have repeatedly attempted to galvanise popular
outrage over the police's apparent rough handling of the
Shankaracharya - but to little avail. Meanwhile, other Hindu leaders
have observed the case with disquiet.
"Hindus are a very gentle and non-violent people," Sri Sri Ravi
Shankar, head of the Art of Living Foundation, a spiritual movement
based in Bangalore, told the Financial Times. "We are not easily
provoked into outrage. But I feel we are losing our sense of
identity. We are no longer reacting as Hindus."
Mr Ravi Shankar, whose ashram on the outskirts of Bangalore is a
study in marbled opulence, is one of a growing band of modern
spiritual leaders with close connections to India's software
industry and with legions of western devotees. Unlike the
Shankaracharya, whose institution is deeply traditional, Mr Ravi
Shankar rejects caste - the birth-based system of social division
with which traditional Hinduism is associated.
Dressed in white robes and wearing a flowing biblical beard, Mr Ravi
Shankar gently suggests the Shankaracharya's resolutely Brahmin, or
upper caste, identity, may explain the lack of popular outrage among
ordinary Hindus. The Shankaracharya has insisted only a Brahmin cook
should prepare his food in jail. Lower castes are traditionally
considered to be polluting.
"There is a lot of anti-Brahmin feeling in India at the moment,"
says Mr Ravi Shankar. "Rigidity in the caste system has declined a
lot in the last 50 years. But also Hinduism ... is not organised and
is more institutionally diverse. This should also be seen as a
strength. It means less possibility for mass outrage."
Madhu Pandit Das, head of the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (Iskon), better known in the west as the "Hare
Krishna" movement, also based in Bangalore, says traditional
Hinduism has declining appeal. Iskon has been split into two warring
factions since its founder's death in 1977. The movement also faces
class action suits over alleged paedophilia at its ashrams in the US.
Mr Das, whose mission is to "clean up" the sect, believes the Hare
Krishna movement still has great advantages over the traditional
institutions of Hinduism, perhaps most aptly symbolised by the
incarcerated Shankaracharya. Iskon's vast Bangalore temple feeds
60,000 slum children every day, making sure that upper and lower
caste boys and girls dine together. It completely rejects caste
distinctions.
Like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Mr Das is surrounded by former software
engineers and management graduates who have trained to become gurus.
This is one reason why Bangalore, India's software capital, is so
popular with the new Hindu cults.
"We run our organisation like a modern corporate," he says. "We have
boardrooms, liquid crystal displays, transparent audits of our
finances and we keep the temple meticulously clean. Have you seen
how filthy the traditional temples are?"
Egged on by police and lawyers, who appear bent on showcasing the
country's system of equality before the law in their treatment of
the Shankaracharya, Indian media have publicised a litany of alleged
malpractices at the pontiff's temple, both financial and sexual.
Whether any of the allegations are true - and regardless of the
outcome of any trial that might ensue - most Indians appear
singularly unmoved.
"Most Indians are not Brahmins," explains Mr Das. "Also I think
there have been so many rumours for so long about this particular
institution that there is sufficient doubt there in the popular
mind."
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/437652a0-509b-11d...000e2511c8.html
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> 
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='rolleyes.gif' /><!--endemo-->