Monday, February 1, 2010
Philosophical,Religious,Traditional Discussions Feb 2010
you are free to post here your views, what ever good subject you have studied and matters of interest.Any thing not conforming to the decorum of this column will be removed by the blog administrator.Be a self editor.Do not hurt any ones feelings. Genuine and gentle matters are the ones I want.
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CASTE SYSTEM
ReplyDelete------
"The word caste is not a word that is indigenous to India. It originates in the Portuguese word casta which means race,breed, race or lineage. However, during the 19th century, the term caste increasingly took on the connotations of the word race. Thus, from the very beginning of western contact with the subcontinent European constructions have been imposed on Indian systems and institutions. To fully appreciate the caste system one must step away from the definitions imposed by Europeans and look at the system as a whole, including the religious beliefs that are an integral part of it. To the British, viewing the caste system from the outside and on a very superficial level, it appeared to be a static system of social ordering that allowed the ruling class or Brahmins, to maintain their power over the other classes. What the British failed to realize was that Hindus existed in a different cosmological frame than did the British. The concern of the true Hindu was not his ranking economically within society but rather his ability to regenerate on a higher plane of existence during each successive life. Perhaps the plainest verbalization of this attitude was stated by a 20th century Hindu of one of the lower castes who stated: "Everything lies in the hands of God. We hope to go to the top, but our Karma (Action) binds us to this level." If not for the concept of reincarnation, this would be a totally fatalistic attitude but if one takes into account the notion that one's present life is simply one of many, then this fatalistic component is limited if not eliminated. Therefore, for the Hindu, acceptance of present status and the taking of ritual actions to improve status in the next life is not terribly different in theory to the attitudes of the poor in western society. The aim of the poor in the west is to improve their lot in the space of a single life time. The aim of the lower castes in India is to improve their position over the space of many lifetimes. It should also be borne in mind that an entire caste could rise through the use of conquest or through service to rulers.Thus, it may be seen that within traditional Indian society the caste system was not static either within the material or metaphysical plane of existence. With the introduction of European and particulary British systems to India, the caste system began to modify. This was a natural reaction of Indians attempting to adjust to the new regime and to make the most of whatever opportunities may have been presented to them. ........
.... .......................What seems, however, to have confused the British, was the fact that when they asked Indians to identify the caste, tribe or race for census purposes, they received a bewildering variety of responses. Often the respondent gave the name of a religious sect, a sub-caste, an exogamous sept or section a hypergamous group, titular designation, occupation or the name of the region he came from. Obviously Indian self identifying concepts were quite different from those concepts that the British expected. It never seems to have occurred to any one involved with the census that the British may have been asking the type of question that had a variety of correct answers depending upon the circumstances in which the question was asked. It is interesting to note that when modern sociologists posed the same type of question to Indians in the 1960s, they too received a wide variety of responses. The simplest explanation for this is that on a day to day basis caste may not be the most important factor in the life of a Hindu. ...........
......The above are copy pasted from
http://www.britishempire.co.uk/article/castesystem.htm
Please read the full article and express yourself.
Once a boy went to a shop with his mother. The shop keeper looked at the small cute child and showed him a bottle with sweets
ReplyDeleteAnd said 'Dear Child..u can take the sweets...
But the child didn't take. The shop keeper was surprised.. Such a small child he is and why is he not taking the sweets from the bottle. Again he said take the sweets....
Now the mother also heard that and said.. Take the sweets dear.. Yet he didn't take... The shopkeeper seeing the child not taking the sweets... He himself took the sweets and gave to the child. The child was happy to get two hands full of sweets.
While returning home the Mother asked the child... Why didn't you take the sweets, when the shop keeper told you to take?..
Can you guess the response: Child replies... Mom! My hands are very small and if I take the sweets I can only take few.. But now you see when uncle gave with his big hands.... How many more sweets I got!
Moral: When we take we may get little but when God gives... HE gives us more beyond our expectations. .. More than what we can hold..!!
courtesy: Mr.Amar (saikripa member)
TO PRATHNA
ReplyDelete---------- NICE ONE. HOW CLEVER THE CHILD WAS!
One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane then suddenly a car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean he was really friendly.
ReplyDeleteSo I asked, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!" This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck." He explained that many people are like garbage trucks.
They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, Wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home or on the streets.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so......
"Love the people who treat you right...Pray for the ones who don't."
Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!!!
COURTESY: SHANKAR/ MYRELATIVE IN GENE.
To Mr.Krishnan: It is nice, comparing some human mentality with garbage truck.Very thought provoking.Thanks for sharing with us.
ReplyDeleteKNOW UR Value....!
ReplyDeleteA well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a Rupee 500 note.
In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this Rupee 500 note?"
Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this note to one of you
but first let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the note up.
He then asked, "Who still wants it?"
Still the hands were up in the air.
"Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and
started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now all
crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?"
Still the hands went into the air.
"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson.
No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not
decrease in value. It was still worth Rupee 500/-.
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt
by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as
though we are worthless.
But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose
your value.
You are special. Don't ever forget it! Never let yesterday's disappointments overshadow tomorrow's dreams.
"VALUE HAS A VALUE ONLY IF ITS VALUE IS VALUED
To Prathna
ReplyDelete----------It is veru good. How much I like others who read this to respond. Unless you make a comment,we may not know how many read this.
This is a very nice and meaningful article.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this.
COPIED FROM INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENTIFIC HERITAGE
ReplyDeleteTHURSDAY MESSAGES 11TH FEBRUARY, 2010, SERIES 196
ANCIENT INDIA; Upavedas are literature which are the subsidiary of the Vedas. In India we used to say that for each of the spiritual books there will be a scientific subsidiary book too. . thus for Rig-Veda , the subsidiary is Artha Saastra, for yajurveda the subsidiary is dhanurveda, for Saama Veda the subsidiary is Gaandharva veda and for Atharva Veda, the subsidiaries are Ayurveda and sthaapathya veda. Artha Saastra gives economics and the rules for the governance of the nation. Koutilya / Chanakya has given the best knowledge on all aspects of the ruling of the nation, role of the king, ministers, financial aspects of governance etc. Kamandaka Artha Saastra gives yet another set of documentation on the same subject, still older compilation can be seen. Sukra neetisaara is also an Artha Saastra book. The Koutilya Artha Saastra is being accepted world over and more than 1500 foreign delegates participated in an international conference held on Koutilya Artha Saastra, last year. This shows the interest on the contents of the book written 2300 yrs ago.
INDIAN MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES from Viduropadesa : Remember that the manager should not try to kill the peacock with wicked crows. Similarly he should not try to pacify the jackals in the place of lions. Manager should never irritate the dedicated servants and subordinates. These servants always protect the managers, even during the most complicated crisis . every manager should understand that the subordinates will not give up the manager, sometimes the manager may give up the subordinates, reverse is a rare phenomenon.
WHAT I SAW AND HEARD: Un-imaginary level of conversion is going on in Arunachal Pradesh and almost 60 % of the Hindus got converted in the last one year. Everywhere day light cheating is going on through which Kerala Christians are converting the poor innocent Arunachalites. Many medicines are given as though holy water of Jesus for curing, praying and healing the innocent is a daily affair , prayer after death in a family, installing cross in the graveyard of the family members, putting cross in the neck of children with the warning and threatening , if the cross is removed your mother/ parents will die, the leaders of this fraud and greatest cheat has been crowned as the bishop of Arunachal Pradesh. As per government of India Law, conversion is prohibited completely. Many Arunachalites have started retaliating against Malayalees for killing their culture and tradition. What happened after independence in Nagaland through Kerala Missionaries, is happening now in Arunachapradesh after (sad to say the name of a politician) the UPA chief has taken the charge.
ReplyDeleteYOUR QUESTION AND MY ANSWERS ON GREATNESS OF INDIA: (Contd)
Even after long long foreign attack from Muslims and Christians, India could not be destroyed. Many of our cultural and heritage knowledge were wiped-out including the books, still India did not die. Out of the 200 civilizations existed on earth 199 got destroyed only Indian culture survived. Within 62 yrs of invasion the African culture could be wiped out by the English but even 252 years of invasion by Portuguese, French, Dutch and then English this culture did not get wiped out. Still India did not revenge anyone. The Jews were given asylum only by the Hindus, even the Christians of Kerala tried to kill the Jews from Kodungallur and the Kochi Maharaja protected them and their Synagogue was built by the king, adjacent to the Kochi King’s family temple on just other side of the temple wall. Full protection was given for them. All those who came to this land like Muslims , Christians and even though they converted our own brethrens using swords and frauds were not treated in the same coin. The parsies came to India for saving themselves from the Muslims of Iran, the Christians came from Antyokhya of Iraq from protecting themselves from the atrocities of Muslim conversion they were never treated like enemies even though the day number one onwards they started converting Hindus. Full freedom was given to create new religion in side Hindu dharma like the Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and so on. India is the only nation which gave reservation and minority protection for those who borne and brought up in Hindu religion and got converted into other religion. Only in this nation full freedom for conversion was given as a constitutional right which is mis-utilised by everyone of the minority community in the name of religious freedom. ( think more and add more points)…..all the good of this national is getting for converting the poor innocent Hindus, which I could see in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, exclusively by the Kottayam and Thiruvally based Christian who are wording as missionaries and also in other fields including government sector. Each Christian has targeted to ‘give heaven to Hindus only not for the Muslims, through Jesus who could not save himself from the CROSS. And the god who could not protect his own son is going to protect the sinners!
FROM IISH NEWS LETTER DT 10TH FEB 2010
IF you have faith in God and are of a devotional temperament, let a sincere prayer continually well up from the bottom of your heart.
ReplyDeleteWhen a bad thought comes to your mind, pray intensely, whenever a bad sight or an exciting scene falls upon your eyes, pray intensely as follows...
" O Lord make me a chaste man, a man of spiritual radiance,may the vital fluid in my body be sublimated and transformed into spiritual powers."
Such prayers if sincere, will work miracles. Indeed, even the highest illumination can be achieved through prayer.
-Swami Vivekananda
Thanks to Mr.Krishnan and Ms.Sharada
ReplyDeleteMadras Monitorial System
ReplyDelete------------------------
The British poor people received their primary education only after 1800. Till then the nobles and aristocrats were only getting eduation.One Rev.Andrew bell studied and copied our "Thinnai Pallikkuutam"(-Native method of sitting on the verandha of the teacher's home managed by elder students called sattaampillai-) pattern and introduced in England here is an excerpt from net:" In 1789, the E.I.C. authorities had set up an institution in Madras called the Male Military Asylum. It was a boarding school for orphans and the illegitimate sons of native women and British soldiers. Bell was asked to take over the running of this - a task which he set about with great enthusiasm and commendable altruism, for he refused the salary of £240 per annum. He found the teaching methods abysmal and was at a loss to know what to put in their place when one day he came across an open-air native school where the pupils were being taught their letters by inscribing them in the dry sand. This he thought was the answer, but the ushers (teachers) in the Male Asylum were stubbornly unwilling to look at anything new. Not to be beaten, Bell chose one of the older pupils - a bright 11-year old called Johnnie Frisken - to teach the younger ones. Out of this, Bell developed what he called the monitorial or Madras system, where pupil monitors taught pupils younger than themselves in addition to receiving their own education from older pupils or teachers. The quality of education in the Male Asylum rose markedly. In addition to the three R's, the pupils received a sound moral education based on a mixture of admonition and praise, but without corporal punishment - a legacy from Bell's own childhood.
Bell, himself, in his Mutual Tuition (pt. I. ch. I, V). describes how in Madras he came into contact with a school conducted by a single master or superintendent through the medium of the scholars themselves. And, in fact, in England the monitorial system or the method of making every boy at once a master and a scholar is known as the
"Madras system."
Bell, a Christian missionary in Madras took the Indian system of education back to England, and introduced it there. Until then, only the children of the nobles were given education there and he started education for the masses in England. So, we gather that it is from India that the British adopted the system for educating the masses.
England's debt to India in pedagogies has been fitly acknowledged in the tablet in Warminister Abbey, which describes Andrew Bell as
"the eminent founder of the Madras System of Education, which has been adopted within the British empire, as the national system of education for the children of the poor."
"Don't rely on someone else for your happiness and self worth. Only you can be responsible for that. If you can't love and respect yourself - no one lese will be able to make that happen. Accept who your are - completely; the good and the bad - and make changes as YOU see fit - not because you think someone else wants you to be different."
ReplyDelete-Stacey Charter
Life is a jewel
ReplyDelete-Author Unknown
One afternoon Guru Nanak and his company were resting on the banks of the Ganges at Patna. Mardana was idly inspecting a stone he had picked up along the road, thinking of the vast throngs who had come to hear the Guru. "Master," said Mardana, "you teach a way for every person to find liberation. But many of those who listen still seem to spend much of their time in conflict, and in seeking out excitement and other idle pursuits. Why do they waste away their lives so?"
"Most people don't recognize its value," replied the Guru, "although human life is the dearest treasure on this earth."
"Surly everyone can see the value of life," said Mardana.
"No," said Nanak. "Each man places his own value on things according to what he thinks. A different man with different knowledge will place a different value. That stone you found in the dirt will make a good example. Take it to the marketplace and see what you can get for it."
Puzzled, Mardana took the stone to the marketplace and at a stall that sold sweets asked what the vendor would trade for it. The man laughed. "Go away, you're wasting my time."
He next tried a produce seller. "I have paying customers to wait on," said the grocer. "I'll give you an onion for it just to get you out of here."
Mardana tried several more shops with no better response. Finally he came to the shop of Salis Raj, the jeweler. Salis Raj's eyes opened wide when he saw the stone. "I'm sorry," he said, "I don't have enough money to buy your gem. But I will give you a hundred rupees if you will let me look at it a while longer."
Mardana hurried back to the Guru to tell him what had happened.
"See," said Guru Nanak, "how when we are ignorant we mistake a valuable gem for a worthless stone. If someone had told you its value before you knew what it was, you would have thought they were crazy. Such a jewel is human life, and whatever you've traded for it, that is what is yours."
TO PRATHNA
ReplyDelete-----------This may be found in Guru Granth Sahib.Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa has retold it in His Gospel.The donkey feels only the load. That animal does not know the value of the material kept on its back.If you load it with buffalo dung or sandalwood, the donkey never try to attach any value to its load on the back. "Kazuthaikkuth theriyumaa karpoora vasanai?"
given below is my question and answer by agniveer.com
ReplyDelete-----------------------------------------------
MY POSER
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The Mandir visits,car festivals like Jugannath rath yatra,Kumbmela,Pilgrimages etc.,some what keep the Hindu population united and give a look ,atleast to others, that we are a big social group.By doing away all these, what is the means of our socialising?.Religious congregations are also part of spiritual advancement. is it not? More over the simple folk do not get into the philosophy of a religion. They limit to some rituals and believe they are on the path to salvation.This is common to all religions of the world. A religion can not survive only by pholosophy.The ritual and beliefs drawn from mythologies also form part of a religion.If we discourage temple visit,will not all our temples become museum pieces?! The task of Muslims and Christians will be come easy for conversion with their attitude of,"have we not told you so?"
Feb. 12, 2010 by kmr.krishnan, Tamlnadu
ANSWER BY AGNIVEER.COM
-----------------------
"I agree that mere philosophy cannot appeal to all sections of society. But wastage of so much money and efforts on so many festivals and temples is also a sin, when the country is so deprived. further emphasis on microscopic cults prevent our unity. Why not instead turn temples to research centers and actually help produce gems of vedic science? There is no fund for these more important activities and crores are spends on wasteful ploys of satisfaction. There can be multiple formats for socialization. I would not debate on what was appropriate for past. But time of hour is to adapt to new ways of socialization that strengthen the roots of our Dharma.
Perhaps the ritual of Yajna would be more beneficial and economic and environment-friendly than billions spent on glitz. Its a personal opinion though and I am not in favor of sudden destruction of idols and social customs like a fanatic. It has to be a sensible compassionate transformation. To me it should start with some amount being allocated for research and noble activities in a unified manner. And with more and more awareness these formats would automatically change. I would always believe in organic change through eradication of Avidya and never on brute force measures. Brute Force approach should be reserved to tackle external attacks during emergency."
Don't ever give up
ReplyDeleteFailure and Success is in everyone's cup
Rain becomes more enjoyable if it follows a sunny day
Food become more relishing if for days Hungary you stay
So, don't ever give up
Failure and Success is in everyone's cup
Gold becomes beautiful ornament by molding and heating
Marble becomes beautiful status by carving and beating
So, don't ever give up
Failure and Success is in everyone's cup
Pebble becomes smooth by constant rolling
Pencil becomes usable by sharpening
So, don't ever give up
Failure and Success is in everyone's cup
Keep Smiling..... .....!
courtesy- saikripa member-sai ankita
To Prathana
ReplyDelete------------There are many Tamil qoutes for all the above.THAANS FOR POSTING
You are welcome sir!! I thank you too for giving oppartunity to post in your blog.
ReplyDeleteA Quick Mood Fix
ReplyDelete“Inspire yourself! Dress up your space.”
Most likely you have a place where you spend most of your day,
either your desk at work or a nook at home. If it’s dull, cluttered or messy, your mood tends to be the same.
Look around. It may just be time to make some changes. Any positive adjustment to your environment will affect the way you feel.
What can you do to spice up your space and make it more pleasing?
For starters you could dress up your office or home with a colorful plant,
some fragrant flowers or even a photograph of yourself in a special place.
Whatever you do, make sure it brings a smile, both on the outside and the inside.
courtesy:sai kripa member- sai ankita
Good Nice one.
ReplyDeleteTo Mr.Krishnan,
ReplyDeleteThk u sir!!
Wait For The Brick
ReplyDeleteA young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and drove the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown. The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car, shouting, "What was that all about and who are you?
Just what the heck are you doing?
That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money.
Why did you do it?"
The young boy was apologetic. "Please mister ... please, I'm sorry... I didn't know what else to do," he pleaded.
"I threw the brick because no one else would stop..."
With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car.
"It's my brother," he said.
"He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up."
Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."
Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out his fancy handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay.
"Thank you and may God bless you," the grateful child told the stranger.
Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the little boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message:
Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!
God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us.
It's our choice: Listen to the whisper ... or wait for the brick!
It was a Sports Stadium.
ReplyDeleteEight Children were standing on the track to participate in a running event.
* Ready! * Steady! * Bang !!!
With the sound of Toy pistol,
All eight girls started running.
Hardly had they covered ten to fifteen steps,
when one of the smaller girls slipped and fell down,
Due to bruises and pain she started crying.
When the other seven girls heard the little girl cry they stopped running, stood for a while and turned back.
Seeing the girl on the track they all ran to help.
One among them bent down, picked her up and kissed her gently
And enquired as to how she was..
They then lifted the fallen girl pacifying her.
Two of them held her firmly while all seven joined hands together and walked together towards the winning post........ .
There was pin drop silence at the spectator's stand.
Officials were shocked.
Slow claps multiplied to thousands as the spectators stood up in appreciation.
Many eyes were filled with tears
And perhaps even God's!
YES.!! This happened in Hyderabad [INDIA], recently!
The sport was conducted by
National Institute of Mental Health.
All these special girls had come to participate in this event
They were spastic children.
Yes, they were Mentally Challenged.
What did they teach the WORLD.?
Teamwork.?
Humanity.?
Equality among all.??
Successful people help others who are
slow in learning
So that they are not left far behind.
This is really a great message... Spread it.!
To Prathna and Sowmya
ReplyDelete---------------------Nice, Both!Thank you!
I was closely associated with a mentally retarded school for 2 years. I was closely watching the 11 inmates of their hostel for a behavioral study. One among the inmates is aged 40 physically ,mentally 8years old.
All others in the age group of 10to 16 years.
That 40 year old boy had the problem of saliva
pouring out from mouth uncontrollably. So his eating was a problem. The method adopted by him was to lie down facing up.Some one has to feed him while he was lying.The other inmates did that as a ritual. First that boy will be fed by the mentally challenged themselves. Only after he finishes only all others will partake their food.It was really a sight to see the service renderd by the so called mntally challeged.One will be ready with water, one will be feeding, one will put his head on her lap;a trained nurse will be ashamed of her own abilities of nursing if she sees the feeding ceremony.
To Sowmya and Mr.Krishnan,
ReplyDeleteVery nice postings.Deeply touched my heart.Defenitely i'll spread this message.Thanks for sharing.
What is effects (Good and Bad) if Saturn transit from Kanni Raasi to Thula Raasi for Kumba Raasi.
ReplyDelete