I was reminded last night of why I suddenly detached myself from any
organised religion during my University Days. Back then, I was a
proponent of advancing the Hindu (nee Vedic) philosophy back onto the
general populace that currently subscribed to the notion of being Hindu.
This, I felt, would be encouraging the natural splintering that the
Vedic tree set up via various Vedas, Upavedas, Upanishads, Puranas etc.
You see, in Hinduism it is not clear to everyone who follows it just
what the whole thing is actually about. There is no one single book of
reference, nor one single thought of reference that will clearly define
the purpose of following that path. I felt that this was entirely a
mechanism of design by the ancients who realised that the human minds
that make up a community cannot always grasp the same single point the
same way - we are genetically created to be different and thus our minds
will hold different perceptions of the same thing. Thus the ancients,
understanding of this, sowed the seeds of core general concepts of the
Vedic thought into various different strands which they themselves began
to proliferate through the masses. Thus began the commonly seen and
talked about phenomenon of the Hindu Pantheon and the various different
classes of worship it supports (Vaishnav, Shivite, Matajis, Arya etc.)
One of these, is obviously the one associated with the Hare Krishnas -
Vaishnavism. Note that the name itself is close to defining itself as a
religion. Well there is a sub-splinter within that group, that of the
Hare Krishnas. All of this points to the fact that the structure has
been created to support the tribal nature of the human psyche, the need
for us to find a commonality with which to associate, feel safe, and to
participate within. We do it with Football Teams, with National Sports,
with University alumni, Work alumni (oh how I hear the 'we are the best'
chant at work every week!), and of course, with religion.
All of this is my own personal view, and I understand and appreciate its
requirement. What I cannot stand, however, and what I found others who
are active within certain tribal groups would voice when I began to
propagate the thought online back in the early 90s, is the denial that
there needs to be a holistic council that oversees the splinters and
brings them together to help promote a more understanding view of what
the Hindu faith entails. Though there are obvious parallels in
Christianity - the COE vs Catholic Rome - there is still a fairly single
view of the faith portrayed by the leading figures - they are however
helped by the fact that there is still only a single figurehead and book
which they both follow. This alas is not the case in Hinduism, as the
library grows daily - yes, daily - as views and teachings are added.
Last night I realised that I was within the confounds of a group of
people who were enraptured by their own faith, and though I thoroughly
support a lot of their goodness and acts (I actively provide funds for
the Food For All programme) I felt uncomfortable with some of the
comments being made. Its wonderful to see the great achievements they
underwrite, and I would be proud to support these, infact I do and will
support these entirely without fail. However, I realised I could not
back at University, and I cannot today, promote a single religious splinter above others as the only path a human should take to achieve goodness and greatness in this era. I feel that, knowing the way the human psyche works together with genetic and sociological theory, there is an absolute need for different tribes to allow us to attach to them and via these tribes (be they religious, geographical, social or otherwise) achieve the same goodness and greatness whilst wearing the colours proudly. And I still support (with reference to the Hindu faith) the thought that there needs to be a single holistic council that tries to encourage splinters, and also threads together these into a cohesive unit that stands as strong as the ancient tree from whence they came.
On a final note, bloomin Man Utd could only draw with Blackburn. I
foresee another season where both my teams (tribes?!?) AC Milan and Man
Utd fail miserably. Last year was salvaged by the amazing win of Serie A
by Milan that countered the abysmal displays by Man U. This year, I do
not hold hope for either, tis one of those things I guess. Tribes go up,
Tribes go down, but as long as they exist and are happy, all's well.
--
dp
Damo | 11:01 pm