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by Dr. K N Bastola
PART I
Civilizations have generally been molded by religions. Before, people
were not in touch with one another as today, because of lack of
communication, and lack of means of transport, creating, what can be
called pocket civilizations. When a civilization becomes refined to a
certain extent, added with lack of communication, as well as lack of
interest in trying to understand other civilization, it makes people
believe that their civilization is the best in the world. During the
British Raj, since it was the winner, British Empire along with its
appendage Christianity had a major impact in the world. The ruling class
at that time believed that their civilization was the best and let the
world believe so as well.
Modern civilization
There have been tremendous changes since the British Empire
collapsed. The
modern civilization has created its own identity, following the
principle of change in every sphere of human life. Concepts have been
modified or totally changed. Say for example, the concept of
multicultural society in the west. This is a recent development; compare
this with the previous concept of, one had to be white to be accepted as
British, and it is well known fact that blacks in the USA were not
thought to be of much use, except menial jobs. Almost every culture has
changed or is in the process of change, giving way to an entity called
modern culture. Since the inherent nature of this modern culture is
change, the culture present today may not be there at the end of this
century. The change is brought about especially by the tremendous amount
of development in science and technology as well as the education of
women. Cultures are always protected, and resist change at all cost, but
because of its obvious advantages over the traditional ways, modern
technology, has been accepted by all cultures, causing them to change.
Dogmatic religions are having a tough time with the education of women.
Thus, science and technology as well as education of women, has had and
will have, unbelievable influence in our lives, giving us a new culture,
new words like surfing the Net, browsing, search engine etc.; and there
are more, new words, to come.
Internet has made almost every branch of knowledge available. Not
only that, it has made it easier for people to find what they are
looking for. It is said that because of the Internet, some patients know
better than their doctors, about some diseases. In the previous days
people used to read about a subject (either pro or against something)
and make up their idea, according to one side of the subject, because
they would not be able to get the view of the other side. Now Internet
has made things so easy that you can see both the positive and negative
side in the same page. If one wants to know the rights of woman in
Islam, one can put it on search and you will get both positive and
negative articles in the same web page. This is the beauty of the
Internet. On top of that, one can go to various discussion forums. This
will have a tremendous effect on the query of the people, making them
aware of what something really is. Because of the modern culture,
religious philosophies are also changing, especially in the west. Some
intellectuals in the west maintain that the present civilization is the
continuation of the Judaeo-Christian culture. I believe that the modern
civilization is anti Christian civilization as maintained by the church,
because of the following reasons-
1. Freedom of speech is the backbone of the present civilization. One
is allowed to express himself/herself. We all know the persecution of
Galleleo and host of other heretics in the hands of Christianity.
2. In Christianity, the slaves are asked to obey their masters making
slavery a normal practice. The modern civilization is totally against
slavery.
3. Christianity says women should obey their husbands and does not
allow them to take prominent post in the church. They are regarded as
sinful and less intelligent and therefore unable to do certain things.
The modern civilization says that woman and men should be treated
equally and should have equal opportunity. There is a place for women
even in the army. With their intelligence they are outsmarting the boys
in education. While Christianity confines the sex of God, despite it
being omnipotent, to male (with huge social implications), modern women
are openly asking, why can't God be female?
4. Christianity says apart from Christians no heathens can go to
heaven. This essentially means that, out of 6 billion people in the
world, only less than 2 billion people have that facility. Rest of the
people i.e. a staggering number of more than 4 billion people, do not
have that right, despite many of them being genuinely devoted to God and
are good for the world at large. Modern people obviously have difficulty
in believing in this concept. This is because, firstly, they cannot
understand why people like Gandhi, the Dalai Lama etc. who have done so
many good things for the humanity at large, should go to hell, and
secondly this concept creates huge imbalance in the creation with
disproportionately overcrowding of hell. Creation, they argue, works in
a balanced way. This sentiment of 'my God is right and only we will go
to heaven', has created many Christian sects, including various suicidal
cults, who believe that only they will go to heaven and the rest of the
world, including other Christian sects, will go to hell. This has
created problems for the modern society. It does not believe in
exclusive privileges of any group of people.
5. Modern civilization believes in tolerance towards other
religions/opinions. It teaches us to respect other religions.
Christianity, by its essential belief cannot do that. It on the other
creates antagonism with other religions/cultures by calling their
follower’s heathen. This by itself is not conducive of a peaceful
society or world at large. The modern society is looking for peace in
the world. Some people call for banning of the use of the word like
heathen, as they have done to the word Niger.
6. Christianity believes that man is the master, and the rest of the
creation is there to serve him for his food and pleasure. This has lead
to destruction of forest and killing animals for pleasure. Modern
civilization believes in conservation of both vegetation and animals,
specially the rear species. Modern civilization believes in balance in
ecology. Scientists have shown that animals can be trained to learn like
us. Monkeys and parrots have already shown that capability. Modern
civilization talks about rights for animals as well, and not only for
human beings. The varieties of pets are increasing. All these factors
give dignity to animals- they are not mere beasts.
7. Modern civilization believes in temporary punishment and believes
that they will refine after that, whereas Christianity is comfortable
with permanent punishment in everlasting hell.
8. Modern civilization believes in the power of people- democracy. It
believes in a powerless king. Christianity on the other hand believes in
an all-powerful king. This concept of powerful king has lead to the
concept of kingdom of heaven ruled by God, as well as the absolute power
and the infallibility of the Pope.
9. Modern civilization believes that this universe came to existence
billions of years ago Christianity believes that it started less than
8000 years ago. This, later belief has had a huge implication in writing
history.
Let us look at the impact of Christianity at the
present time.
Largest number of countries in the world is under Christianity. In
Europe, the effect of Christianity is however very much less marked with
an average of only 50 % of the people believing in (Christian) God. In
the UK less than 3 percent go to church regularly. People think
religion, as represented by Christianity (Northern Ireland), is the
cause of war. The rich churches have become empty houses, which are
taken over by other religious groups. People are trying to find peaceful
alternatives, like paganism. In intellectual discussions, secular minds
are given prominence to religious ones. In the USA however, things are
quite different. 95% of the people living there believe in God. This has
baffled the scientific community. In the early part of this century,
perhaps following Darwin's theory, the number of people believing in God
was less. I think one of the reason is, USA, the land of opportunity,
knows the importance of combining religion, with media and money. The
commercial media about God everyday constantly hammers people. The
philosophy is, religion sells and does earn money, and it is a big
business. This has not caught up in Europe as yet. At the moment in the
USA the people are hammered by the Christian faith so people believe in
the God of that faith. If this faith changes another God could take its
place- the commercialisation remaining the same.
Situation in the developing world
In the developing world people have less money and they are bombarded
with
modern amenities which cost money. These amenities are believed to be
coming from the west, and the west is regarded as the gold standard.
During the British Raj, the Raj and their religion was the gold
standard, as visualized by some people. To attain the standard, perhaps,
almost all of the Anglo-Indians became Christians. People want to be
associated with the gold standard. Christianity is taken as part and
parcel of the west. While European churches are lacking in funds and are
closing, some American churches are flourishing. Since religion is
combined with business, there is abundance of money with the American
Christians. Part of this money is being siphoned to the poor countries
for conversion. Important thing to note and ask here is, why this money
is not channeled to Europe to convert the non-believers? The simple
answer to this question is, the people of Europe are educated and ask
intelligent questions. Perhaps Christianity does not have the ability to
give them satisfactory answers. Despite Europe being the homeland of the
Pope, why isn't there advertisement of this religion? The black church
infused song, hence spirit, into the American church proceedings by the
influence of African spirituality. Since music is glamorous this has had
a positive effect on American Christianity. Since religion there is a
big business, I am not quite sure if some of the propagators of
Christianity in the USA themselves believe in God. It looks like
financial gain plays an important part in the propagation process.
The future of mankind
As mentioned above, the world is constantly changing. Because of
freedom, People do not like any sort of rules. What they do is change
the rules, create new rules. Rules are restrictive, which is contrary to
the notion of freedom. The freedom part of things gives them the
freedom, to create new rules. They like to be different and create a
different trend. They will need philosophical guidance (as given by
religion like Hinduism) but not rigid laws (as given by Semitic
religions). Concept of family is gradually diminishing. In some ways we
are gradually becoming animals. The only philosophy/religion we will be
governed by will be "don't hurt". This could be applied to
humans, animals and vegetation. This will perhaps be the religious
philosophy in the coming century, apart from yoga and meditation, which
are techniques to attain something- one has to master those skills like
a surgeon masters the art of operation. Since the surgical skill will
always be there, similarly, yoga and meditation will also be there.
There could also be further hybridization of religions e.g. taking yoga
and meditation from Hinduism and taking the God from the other religions
(depending upon which religion's God is glamorous and which God people
know). Sufism, though not excepted by mainstream Islam, is a clear
example of hybridization of religions. It has to be mentioned here that
religion is not important for a modern person with its rigid laws, they
will however except guidance as given in Hinduism. People of modern
society will however always need God: for they want somebody to help
them in this severely competitive world where there are failures as much
as successes. Loneliness amongst a crowd, will not be an exception.
What is in Hinduism that fits the modern world?
1. The highest authority book, the Vedas, say that Truth (God) is one
but it is only people who call it by different names. This is a very
inclusive statement. It gives respect to other religions and opinions.
Hinduism does not believe that all religions are the same but what it
believes is that all religions are attempting to reach God, the
incomprehensible one, in different ways. This philosophy fits into the
modern philosophy of respect for other religions. The concept of
development of interfaith relations in the modern world arises from
this.
2. Hinduism is the only religion whose numbers of years since
creation is similar to what the scientist have found in terms of
billions.
3. Hinduism teaches about respect of quality and ecological balance.
Hinduism does this by respecting not only humans, but also animals like
cows and various plants, which are beneficial to human beings and who
have qualities, as well. Hinduism knows their importance. Hinduism has
always taught about the balance of the universe and the importance of
every living and non-living thing, which helps to maintain that balance
(ecology). It does not teach us that every thing is created for man and
he should not bother, about other inhabitants of the world. Modern
society also has a similar attitude, like Hindus that we need to
preserve our world. Modern society has found out that animals also have
intelligence and have the ability to learn like us. They have trained
monkeys and parrots who have shown the ability to correspond with us
about their feelings. We have just begun to understand the animal world.
The concept of monkeys should have rights, like human, is coming. Forest
conservation is a very well known fact in Hinduism. In other words
Hinduism understands ecology like the modern society.
4. Hinduism gives importance to knowledge- It says that according to
action (training) and circumstances people are divided into four groups
or varnas. The goal of which is to elevate every varna to the Brahmin
(One who is learned and a teacher). It is important to note here that a
Brahman's (teacher's) son or daughter, does not automatically become
Brahmin. The concept of Brahmans offspring becoming a Brahman, by birth
alone, was a result of distortion of Hindu culture, because of various
factors, which is against the Hindu teachings and therefore cannot be
called part of Hindu religion. They are born as Sudras and have to make
their way up, according to training, they opt for and receive. Similarly
a Sudra's children can also become Brahmins after training e.g. Narad
and other rishis. If a Brahmin does not show proper conduct, he looses
respect and becomes a Sudra. The modern world recognizes the fallacy of
the communist propaganda, of people being equal. Like Hindus, the modern
society gives importance to making people learned and also recognises
training of people, giving them respect, as per their training.
5. Equality of sexes-
While Hinduism did not give enough direct encouragement, for woman to
educate, it did not hinder woman, who were determined to succeed. This
is evidenced by the fact that Hinduism is the only society, which can
boast of woman intellectuals (as discussed later), who were writers of
scriptures and others, who have even acted as judges in great
intellectual discussion, let alone being just member of audience. In
fact in the Vedic period there were equal. Modern society gives equal
opportunity to men and women.
6. The technique of Yoga and meditation, which are very useful for
the modern individual, in relieving stress and improving health, can
also give human being super human qualities. Many yogis have shown such
qualities. The present scientific community looks for such powers.
Hinduism is the only religion, which gives us yoga and meditation, which
in turn gives us the opportunity to observe the paranormal (otherwise we
would not have anything to go beyond the normal). In fact scientists are
doing special scans on the brains when people are in deep meditation.
They have in fact found that in deep meditation a part of brain becomes
very inactive. Hinduism gives them a chance to observe the mysteries of
nature and study it. Though it must be stated here clearly that, yoga
and meditation are for attaining God and not to show power. Similarly
research is going on to see, if people do have incarnation. All these
concepts give the people of modern society, the opportunity to solve the
mystery of creation and to further understand the cosmos.
7. Basudhaiba Kutumbakam-
This philosophy of Hinduism says that all the people of the world
should be treated as a family. This is an action oriented, great
philosophy. This is to say that we have a divine tie together and not a
worldly tie. This peaceful slogan does not limit to any creed, race or
color. It recognizes the diversity at the same time. This is distinctly
different from the Adam and Eve family, because the propagation of
family after Adam and Eve was, logically, out of incest relationship,
amongst their siblings. The brotherhood of mankind of Hinduism does not
rely on incest. The modern world also says, we all are not very
different; it goes further and says that close relative marriage causes
health problems, which Hinduism advises not to as well.
8. Karma and reincarnation-
This theory says that the present situation of a person is the result
of past performances, in previous lives. It also says that better
performance in this life, will lead to better life, after this. This
concept blames the person involved for a bad life (yes we human do make
mistakes, we need to learn from our mistakes and progress), but at the
same time gives him/her the opportunity to do good, in this life, for a
better next life. It does not blame God, because God is beyond blame. In
Semitic religions, logically the blame has to go to God, if it is
nobody's fault. Modern philosophy is also individualistic.
9. Peace-
Some religions talk about their religion supporting peace in the
world. The very mantra of Hinduism calls, not only for peace in the
world but peace in space, vegetation and the spiritual world, as well.
This is a very catholic philosophy. Support of peace by modern
civilization is well known. One can easily see that Hinduism goes even
further than the modern civilization.
10. Vegetarianism-
This is increasing in the west. Many people are understanding the
rationale of it. Taking life out of a living being is a sin. The fact is
that one cannot live without eating. For our selfish existence, one has
to commit the sin of taking others life, in order to live. Hinduism
teaches us that killing plants for our food, is definitely an evil act
because we are taking life away, for our selfish needs, but since we
cannot do without eating, killing plants is regarded as lesser evil than
killing animals. I am sure everybody would agree that plants are a lower
forms of life than animals- hence the lesser evil. Yes this makes us
sensitive and hence civilized.
Here I would like to mention ahimsa. Some writers have suggested that
ahimsa or non-violence, is totally foreign to Hindu dharma, which I
think is not true. Others like Gandhi have suggested, it teaches ahimsa.
The truth is Hindu dharma teaches, both himsa and ahimsa- important
thing is the cause of himsa or ahimsa. It all depends upon the situation
at the time of the incident. It is difficult to make a strict rule of
himsa or ahimsa because circumstances change. People give example of
Krishna's advice to Arjuna to fight, in Gita and say that Hinduism
teaches violence. Yes it is true Krishna teaches violence in Gita. One
has to remember that the conversation in Gita is taking place, just at
the beginning of a war. Conversation at the place of war cannot be of
peace, when people are ready to kill one another. It can only be of
defense and action. If an army man refuses to fight in war, he is called
a coward and is shot.
If one wants to judge Krishna's teaching, then one has to see the
things done by Krishna, to avoid both the Mahabharat war, through his
peace proposals, and the exodus to Dwaraka, to avoid war. We must not
forget that this is very much part of ahimsa he is teaching. Yes
Hinduism teaches both himsa and ahimsa, but it wants a full
justification, for the necessity of himsa. Yes himsa can be justified,
but it should be the last, and the only option available under the
circumstance. One action in one situation is good, while in another it
is not. The act may not be important but the cause of the act is
important. For the act is done and done with, but the cause remains part
of the history for others to follow.
11. Belief-
Hinduism does not encourage people just to believe in scriptures, it
teaches people to rationally analyze the knowledge they are provided
instead of believing in it just because they are part of the religion.
One is allowed to decipher the truth by themselves, with the help of
Yoga and Meditation and rational arguments. There is no place for dogma
in Hinduism and no human being has the authority/right to give a decree.
Suggested Further Reading
Contd...Go
to Part 2
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