Turq, Nice writing, but that was definitely not an Edg-style piece -- ain't no one can do my thang -- watch my red silk baggy pants as I shuttle sideways -- can't touch this. http://youtube.com/watch?v=EMzoBkaFxh4
And I think the caste system is a wonderful concept for social structure!!!!!! If only it worked! It's like communism -- works only on paper, and in real life, humans tweak any system self-servingly. Same deal on capitalism or TM-ism. The Tang of life is mixed with swamp water. Got a system? -- just add humans and see if you can drink the fizz. The dogma goes like this: The caste concept is that God has one incarnate into a "field" of life wherein one is given a precisely tuned "educational plan" -- an evolutionary karmic process to maximize one's growth. The wisdom of God is assumed to know one's exact next lesson and to not involve the soul with "advanced lessons" that are scheduled for later. The "higher" castes should see the lower castes as children who need nurturing and need and deserve respect for their manifesting destines -- after all, God is authoring all of us, and whatever person He creates is a bombastic complexity of cosmic depth -- you know, that old infinite correlation thingy. Ain't no such thing as a lesser being -- just beings with lessons to learn. That's the dogma. Despite how it really turns out when used by egos, there's no proscriptive religious call for hating anyone -- especially since in the namaste greeting is universal in India. I started out as an elementary special education teacher 40 years ago, and I'll tell you this: the least endowed kid had as much emotional investment in life, had as many hopes and dreams and plans, had as big a passion to meet destiny -- as EVERYONE I'VE EVER MET. Yet, they needed a special educational structure to thrive and grow. There's a bravery to have taken on the karma of mental limitations -- it should be respected as a mythic journey that will culture a heart to have deep compassion for the blinders-on, locked-in, perspectives that such a fate entails. These kids were noble to me for the battles they fought; one is completely humbled in their presence. You there, reading these words, yeah you, would YOU volunteer to be eight years old, Latino, with a 45 IQ and then go out on the playground where all the other kids know you're in the short-bus class? Talk about an ego challenge!!!!!! Look at Simon Cowell's and Ryan Seacrest's slumped, broken spirits on American Idol the other day when they were in a refugee camp in Africa -- they could not gainsay the travail, could not bear to see these incredible feats of bravery -- bravery seen in as simple a format as an orphaned 12 year old child taking care of his little sister in a cardboard box hut located in a swamp of excrement and awash with thousands of stressed-out, next-door deviants of every sort. When a higher caste person looks upon any lesser caste and does not recognize this heroism, then that person, in fact, is failing to rise up to the responsibilities of his caste and is sinning -- sinning egregiously. It's not the caste system. It's a mother hugging with total love her children as she sweetly intones the litanies of hate for that child to accept and espouse. It's a father shouting wildly in glee when his kid fights a bully on the playground instead of trying to understand the bully and encouraging his kid to try to see his own participation in creating the drama. It's having a rebel flag on the roof top of The General. Hey, ask any Red-stater if they love Democracy. Then ask them what they think of the fact that the democratic process in the Palestinian Gulag voted in the terrorists! Same deal with the caste system. It's about the people. I'm reminded of Maharishi's supposed comment about the Arabs: "First time on two feet." That was a racist statement, right? But, it was also a correlative noting that, despite the Bill of Rights, all men are born unequal, and society must deal with the vagaries of each person's abilities. The caste system is just one answer to this challenge, and the use of it, like the use of communism by the Russian Mafia, like the use of democracy by Hamas, is fraught with cognitive frictions as the actions of individuals fail to uphold the righteousness of the system. Don't blame the caste system. Blame Maharishi for teaching us all that Rajas are worth their weight in gold, but if anyone's been touched by Amma then they are "unclean" and "unacceptable" for the TM society. That's liquid racism injected straight into our cerebral cortex. It's about imperialism not im-pure-ism. Any system can ruined by those seeking power over others. Edg --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Ok, because I have some free time this afternoon, > I'm going to take advantage of that fact and riff, > Curtis-style or Edg-style, on my feelings about > those of the Indian persuasion and why I feel that > there is a *great deal* of racism in their culture. > > First, a necessary definition. When I use the word > 'racism' in past posts or this one, I am *including* > in that definition *any* support of or justification > of the Hindu caste system. I *define* the caste sys- > tem as a form of racism, which I further define as > the systematic suppression of one social or racial > or religious class by those who consider themselves > "better" or "more highly evolved" or "more privileged" > or "more worthy" than they are. The caste system > just manages this racism without the luxury of being > able to recognize those they wish to suppress visually, > by their physical or racial characteristics. > > Second, unlike many of you here, I have never been > to India, or wanted to go. The place just doesn't > appeal to me. So my experience with Indians is > limited to daily interactions with *expatriate* > Indians -- in the United States and in Europe. > That said, in those environments I have interacted > on a pretty much daily basis with *hundreds* of > Indian nationals of various religions and, if Hindu, > of various castes. About the only thing these folks > had in common was having come from India and being > computer programmers. So that's the subset of Indians > I am familiar with. > > My longest experience working with Indian programmers > was on a nightmare three-year project for Pepsico. > The company had been sold a bill of goods by a big, > famous consulting company, which had convinced Pepsi > that it had to move away from mainframe technology into > the modern world of client-server by converting all of > their existing systems at once. Really. So Pepsi hired > something like 500 consultants to do all this for them. > > As it turned out, given the politics of contract pro- > gramming in the New York/Westchester County area, about > 350 of these contractors were Indian. They had been > "imported from India" very much in the same way as the > pundits have been imported to Fairfield, by a few power- > ful Indian families, who hired their own cousins and > relatives of cousins from India, put them up at the > local YMCA, and paid them $10.00 an hour for their work. > These families then billed Pepsico $100 an hour for the > same rent-a-programmers. > > So I got to sit in "boiler rooms" full of primarily > Indian programmers, primarily of either the Brahmin or > Kshatriya caste, and listen to the things they talked > about on a daily basis. For three years. And then the > experience repeated itself in other programming envir- > onments such as Citibank and Salomon Brothers and > Ciby-Geigy and ING. > > What they talked about shocked the shit out of me, and > forever disabused me of the notion that Indians were > *in any way* more "evolved" than anyone else on this > planet. The first thing that shocked me was the almost > *instantaneous* way that the Indians I worked with > "bagged" another Indian upon meeting him or her for > the first time. All it took was hearing the name. From > that everyone *instantly* knew what religion the person > was, and if Hindu, what caste. And their attitude towards > the person shifted equally instantly, based on that > religion or caste. A "newbie" would join the group, and > everyone would be friendly and outgoing, and then they'd > hear his name. > > At that point about half of the room would move away from > the newbie and go back to their seats, and never speak to > the newbie again except in the necessary course of business. > > I got to sit in those rooms and hear how these guys, be > they Muslim, Brahmin, Kshatriya or whatever talked about > women, and the very *different* ways they talked about > Western women (hos, the lot of them) and Indian women > (either saints or hos, depending upon their religion > or caste). Lemme tell you, *that* was a real education. > > I got to sit there and listen to the Brahmins brag about > how a group of 10-15 of them had gotten together the night > before and kicked the shit out of a Kshatriya guy who had > dared to ask out the sister of one of the Brahmins. They > joked about how long he'd spend in the hospital. This > happened more than once. > > I got to sit there and listen to some of these guys talk > about how they were being taken to the cleaners *by their > own relatives*, and their sense of powerlessness about > being able to do anything about it, because of these > relatives' power and influence back in India. > > So when I say that (*besides* the things I've read about > this Richard Gere thing in articles from India posted > elsewhere) I suspect that racism/the caste system has a > lot to do with it, it's based on the above experience with > *Indians in the world*, NOT the Indians that people who > are really into spiritual trips think of as Indians. OF > COURSE racism/the caste system had something to do with > it. The very group that started all the ruckus is a well- > known Hindu supremicist group; the judge they got to order > the arrest of Richard Gere is a well-known "mouthpiece" > for this group who shares their agenda. > > It *also* had to do with the incredible hypocrisy with > which India addresses -- or rather, from my perspective, > *fails* to address -- the issues of sex and gender. Only > in India (or a similarly religion-damaged Islamic society) > would you have laws that classed kissing as obscenity. > And the very judges who passed these laws are sometimes > the owners of brothels, and treat the women in them in > the same ethical manner as the rich Indian families > treated their relatives at Pepsico and the other > companies I've worked at. > > Does this all sound biased *against* Indians? Well yes, > except that I've found pretty much the same to be true > about *any* religious or ethnic group I've ever worked > with. The same attitudes and talk takes place in "boiler > rooms" full of Born Again Christians in the Midwest and > in primarily Jewish companies in New York. People are > people, that's all. I do not for a moment think that > Indians are *more* corrupt and unethical than any other > group of people I've interacted with in the world of > business, just *as* corrupt and unethical. But when it > comes to racism, well...yes, my experience with Indians > is that they really *can* be more racist than some of > the other religious or ethnic groups I've worked with. > So shoot me. That has been my experience. > > I don't really know much (or care much) about Richard > Gere. I think he's done some fine work onscreen as an > actor, but besides that I have no feelings for him one > way or another. I *certainly* don't see him as any kind > of "fellow Buddhist" or representative of Buddhism. He's > just a handsome guy who can, on occasion, pull off a > very difficult role in a film. He might be a total asshole > in real life as far as I know, and it wouldn't bother me > a bit to find that he was. > > But I think that his "excesses" in this silly affair have > been blown out of proportion by a bunch of people who > have a very, very, very established agenda -- that of > Hindu supremacy in India and the social and economic > suppression of other religions and the lower castes > within their own religion. *They* are the ones who > feigned outrage over this horrible public kiss. *They* > are the ones who are benefiting from all the publicity, > not the public and not India. I think they suck. Richard > Gere might suck, too, but in my book these fundamentalist > nazis suck more. So shoot me. > > Unc >
