So, Vamadevananda, could it be said that the Vedas are more for the general population, while the Upanishads provide a deeper, mystical sort of knowledge? Do you know whether, in the history of India, was there a time when the Vedas provided the basis for the laws and the government? Or, to your knowledge, was there always a secular government while the Vedas were the core teaching of the religion only?
Pardon me for heaping on questions, but I know very little about any of this. All I have ever encountered of the Hindu Faith has been the Bagavad Gita, and I did not read all of that. On Feb 9, 12:38 am, Vamadevananda <[email protected]> wrote: > The Upanishads are the spiritual gist, the culmination, of Vedanta, > which again are the core of the Hindu spiritual thought. > > You have rightly discerned that attempt to unify people, through > tempering or moderating their emotional or animal urges, their selfish > mental inclinations and their sense of power natural to their > respective strengths or position. > > The Upanishads offer the pure, extremely rarefied knowledge for the > spirit in quest of its own moorings or ' true home,' away from its > sense of exile or banishment, a recurring thought among Western > authors and philosophers. > > On Feb 9, 9:17 am, 1CellOfMany <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I have begun listening to a course from "The Teaching Company" called > > "Religions of the Axial Age: An Approach to the World’s Religions". > > The course begins with "the early Indo-European peoples, who migrated > > [from Central Asia] to West and South Asia and decisively shaped the > > religious outlook and practices of those regions." In the second > > lecture, Dr. Muesse says that, based on what evidence we have about > > these people, they started out with two classes in the society: The > > priests, and the rest of the people, whom you could call the > > producers. He goes on to describe the roll of the priesthood in that > > society, the various gods that they worshiped, etc. > > > What appears from his description is a society that is governed by the > > leaders of religion. These leaders helped to regulate the society > > morally, helped keep track of the seasons and, through rituals in > > which the whole community participated, they helped to unify the > > people. In other words, in that primitive culture, religion was the > > civilizing influence, the social force that brought people together > > and influenced them to work in harmony. > > > To proceed from this point, I think that it is important that we make > > some distinctions (not that we all need reminding, but for added > > clarity): rather than always speaking of "religion" in a general way, > > we should specify when we are specifically referring to a *religious > > institution* (like a church or a denomination), what I call the > > "source books" of the religion, specific leaders or interpreters of a > > religion, and communities that practice the religion. > > > On Feb 7, 10:10 pm, Vamadevananda <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > How many here have read the Upanishads ? ! > > > > The two most positive aspects of religion are concepts of fraternity > > > and brotherhood, in times when most of the world were barbarian, on > > > one hand, and the practice of introspection or self - examination, on > > > the other. > > > > On Feb 8, 2:50 am, 1CellOfMany <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > There have been many discussions here where the negative results of > > > > religion have been brought up as a side issue to another discussion. > > > > I would like to start two parallel threads here, one about the good > > > > that religions and religious people have done in and for the world, > > > > and the other about the bad things that have come from, and been done > > > > because of religion. > > > > > In this thread, lets concentrate on discussing the positive > > > > contributions of religion. The good acts, the positive results of > > > > religious teaching, and the positive things that can be learned from > > > > reading the "source books" of religion, such as the Bible, the > > > > Upanishads, the Koran, and other writings that are considered "Holy" > > > > by any religion. > > > > > A historical time-line might also be useful, correlating the beginning > > > > and growth of each religion to historical events and trends in the > > > > places where the religion was spread. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en.
