Despite all hostility, there are some who still act to save what since ages has formed our foundations, Strengthen the neglected ancient which still supports our civilization, Do what has been long left undone, For they know the time of Hindu Renaissance has come.
Their forefathers told fairy tales, and our ancestors built what they still thought is from fairy tales.
See those stars of the Milky way?
They have seen it all.
Our rise, our fall
The truth and false,
Our sacrifice, our wars
The betrayals and loss,
Our morals, our courage
The promises and hope,
Our ancestors, our honour
Our temples and our Gods.
Let them see Bharat's lost glory again.
So lord Take us back to the time when our Sanatan dharma was at its apex and we will return back with those great men from that era who shall make the lost glory of this land return one more time.
- Our past couldn't destroy us, deter us or defeat us. It has only strengthened us
We were repeatedly told that Europeans came to India for trade while toning down their marauders' missionary objective in fear of politics. Worse, they were praised by the communist designed education system. We will unwind the true story to start with, through Thiruchendur Murugan
A Quiz for you. Which is the world's first and oldest Multi-National Corporate?
Dutch East India Company or Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC)(1602), was the first publicly tradable corporation. Started as chartered company 2 trade with India and Indianized Southeast Asian countries and was listed in Stock exchange. They are a pioneer missionary mafia
Pure lie has been told to Indians that Dutch (VOC)/English East India Company focused only on trade & they didn’t destroy native culture. In reality, they are deceiving, cunning just like Portuguese. In their plunder, they co-operated opportunistically with other invaders.
Dutch Modus operandi: In the name of establishing trading posts, the whole battalion will get into a land, outnumber the locals and drive them out or starve them to death. Then they will build travel lodges and administrative blocks for them. Indonesia was severely affected
Something in Hindu temples, makes these invading Missionary Mafia mobs couldn’t resist. Is it architecture or philosophy? In Kerala, they have destroyed various temples including a sangam age Shiva Temple in Mathilagam (Home town of Ilango Adigal of Silapathikaram)
The Dutch virtually ruled Malabar for over 130 years and forced the rulers of Malabar to agree on monopolistic contracts with them for pepper and cinnamon. The Kingdom of Cochin was under the complete influence of the Dutch VOC and keep driving their enemy Portuguese away.
To make any land, Christian, Dutch called Christians as native people, but call non-Christians as foreigners.Humphrey Prideaux, UK, castigated the East India Company for bringing down God’s curse on it for neglecting to propagate Christianity. He praised VOC, for that!
lets come to the story of Thiruchendur. Those who don’t know about this place, its dedicated to Lord Skanda/ Muruga. Thirumurugatrupadai, Sangam Tamil eulogises this place. The entrance of this sea shore temple is near sea level, and caves inside to the Sanctum Sanctorum.
To the deity, the sea water level outside is higher. There is every likelihood that tidal waves & tsunamis can rush in and fill the cave temple with sea water. But it wont! Bcas of a promise by Sea to the Lord, as seen in 2004 Tsunami*.
Followed by Cholas and Padiyans till 15AD. Then Portuguese in alliance with Nayaks of Madurai, ruled this place as later had a weak navel presence. Same time Kayalpattinam was under Dutch. So, in their conquest zeal, Portuguese captured Kayalpatinam from Dutch.
The lost army under the direction of Dutch Gov of Ceylon, Joan Maetsuycker, with 436 soldiers went and drove the people out and made it into a formidable fort on 09/02/1649. The temple valuables were freely looted by soldiers. Locals made futile attempts to recover, but in vain.
They protected what belonged to them so that it could be passed down to us. This is the least we can do for our future generations. Can't we ?
Nayaks mediated with Dutch and asked them to vacate. While vacating, Dutch destroyed the structure by setting the fire and bombarding it. But the resilient temple withstood that. As recorded French Writer M. Rennel, in his book A description, Historical & Geographical, of India
They also looted all the panchaloga deities, mistaking for gold. This includes statues of Lord Muruga and Nataraja and few more. Having crossed few nautical miles , they encountered a storm so daunting that the sailors thought that it’s bcas of the wrath of Lord Murugan.
Petrified out of their minds, they decide to heave the idol into the ocean. The ominous demeanour of the ocean & skies mysteriously vanished the moment statues touched the waters. the idol sank & rested in the depths of the ocean. Locals complained this loss to the governor. The idol that could be anywhere in the ocean,the local governer, Vadamaliappa pillai was deeply worried. Always miraculous Lord Murugan explained to him in his dream that few miles from the coast, he would find a lemon floating in the waters and garuda will be encircling.
Vadamalaiappa Pillai, thanking the God’s grace, has erected a mantapam here these events have been described. Later, some more valuables were recovered from Galle, SL after negotiating with dutch by Madurai Nayaks. This temple is full of miracles…Remember Tsunami 2004?
Miracle still continues in the temple... :) Sinners will be punished right then and there. Vetrivel Muruganuku Arohara! This is the place where Goddess Parvathi gave Lord Skanda his famous spear...also called Vel in Tamil...:)
The precedent set by Britain is being replicated by the ISIS,
Which now peddles stolen heritage to fund terror attacks, including on Londoners.I wonder if the Archbishop has had the “thou shall not steal” conversation with Her Majesty.
In fact, we wonder if their predecessors had one with those that adorned the throne before her. We are guessing, at some point in the past 500 years, someone might have questioned the gory conquests and colonisation, and if they are compatible with the Ten Commandments. Perhaps, even disrespectful of them.The issue of colonial-era loot and Britain’s moral obligation to return heritage to communities they were taken from, is not new.
Greece has been asking for the Elgin marbles since 1925. Over 350 Ethiopian manuscripts, forcefully taken after the Battle of Maqdala, are still a matter of dispute. George clooney and his amal have campaigned for the Parthenon sculptures to be returned. Nigeria has been demanding that the Benin Plaques be returned since 1960.Ironically, Michael Walker, a private citizen that came to possess some of these plaques, has shown higher moral bearing than the British Government by returning them to Nigeria.
Deailing with denial
Indian parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor famously made the case for reparations at Oxford. The fact that almost five million people have watched the video online suggests that there’s an undercurrent of resentment.
Why shouldn’t there be?
Nations have institutionalised ways to deal with the excesses of their past, of ensuring moral imperatives aren’t ignored. Germany had the Nuremberg trials and the public acceptance of guilt. South Africa had the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Israel has the Jewish Holocaust Center.
What does Britain have?
When it comes to acknowledging its own colonial past, and finding ways to move ahead though, Britain sadly remains in denial.
The “past is in the past” narrative might seem very tempting to the Brits, but it just doesn’t cut ice any more. Sure, you are not responsible for the actions of your ancestors. Sure, you can’t undo colonial-era oppression. Sure, you can’t reverse the effects of cultural-cleansing, where Britain wiped out the collective memories and cultures of people it oppressed. Sure, there’s no way you could bring back millions of indigenous peoples that gave their lives for freedom.
What you could do, though, is reverse the colonial-era plunder, especially symbols of our culture – our heritage.
Two steps behind france
In fact, other nations are showing you the path. Five countries have returned stolen heritage to India since 2014 (USA, Canada, Germany, Singapore and Australia). Your special friend, the United States has also done this with Cambodia, Nepal, etc. So the template exists.
French President, Emmanuel Macaron has said that returning African artifacts is “top priority”, and has already identified experts to lead the effort (Felwine Sarr and Bénédicte Savoy).
France? Two steps behind France? Is that really where you want to be, Britain?
Blood buddhas and terror funding: the fad you started
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2199 finally acknowledged what heritage restitution advocates like me always knew – that ISIS was stealing heritage/antiquities and selling them away to fund their terror operations.
The FBI issued an advisory immediately to deal with this emerging national-security threat. Nations like USA, Pakistan and China have brought in new legislation to safeguard their heritage. Others like Mexico and Jordan have recently set up heritage-protection agencies.
A few centuries ago Brits usurped others’ resources and heritage, and funded wars and colonisation efforts through that.
The precedent set by Britain is being replicated by the ISIS, which now peddles stolen heritage to fund terror attacks, including, on Londoners.
Well… Karma!
it's a new new world
The world of culture and heritage is changing.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said, “UNESCO has become a theatre of absurd. Instead of preserving history, it distorts it.” Yup, precisely the sentiment we’ve had about museums in the UK. It sure is absurd when you show off what your grandfather stole from mine.
British museums wax eloquent on concepts like “cosmopolitanism”, “universal cultures”; even vainly suggest they could help with “capacity building” with communities whose heritage has been taken. While the platitudes and the “white”-washing make for great headlines, the most basic issues are never discussed – Consent and Restitution. No one seems to address the fact that our heritage was taken away without our consent and that it needs to be restituted. Period!
Since its founding in 1753, the British Museum is essentially a den for stashing away colonial loot. I have seen Indians cry in Room 33, where they find their Temple Deities locked away in glass cages. A couple of floors above in Room 66, you continue to showcase Egyptian and Ethiopian artifacts that were acquired under situations of very questionable morality.
As a double insult, the museum sells us replicas of the very heritage that was taken from us.
it's an identity thing
Britons chose to assert their identity by voting out of the European Union. Brexit was the assertion of identity, of civilization continuity, of sovereignty, and it is not an isolated phenomenon.
With recent debates around Donald Trump, Russia and the American elections, around the Congressional questioning of Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook’s ability to impact geo-politics, or the narrative around Brexit itself, the message is very clear – people don’t want another nation meddling in their affairs.
The movie Black Panther was a runaway hit because it struck a chord with the disenfranchised and the oppressed. As much as you might hate Killmonger, your sympathies were still with him in the museum scene, where he reclaims his civilisational identity, by asking the museum curator a simple question, “How do you think your ancestors got these?” before he forcefully reclaims the war hammer taken from Wakanda.
With recent global events reinforcing the idea of sovereignty, independence and pride in civilizational identity, I wonder if Britain might ever feel compelled to embrace the new normal?
Don't do this for us, do this for yourself
Let’s look at this from a very selfish point-of-view as well. Britain faces an aging population. Your factories’ productivity is at its worst point in history. Inflation is growing at a much higher rate than wages are since 2013. Britain’s national debt is over 80 per cent of GDP (common in third-world countries, but unheard of in your part of the world).
You’ve cut down defence spending to a quarter of its 1950 levels (relative to GDP terms). Your teachers get paid almost as much as their counterparts in Spain (and teachers in Luxembourg twice that). Issues of race, immigration and refugees are polarizing your society.
In short, everything that that made you “Britain”, healthcare, education, jobs, prosperity, defence, social-cohesion, is currently in a state of flux. Heck, if TRP numbers are to be believed, even football is losing its sheen.
Is this really the best time to take on a “Coalition of the Colonised”?
Perhaps it’s time the monarchy got with the times.
thoug shall not covet
The British empire is long gone. But cultural imperialism continues and will continue as long as Britain holds on to remnants of an era that is never coming back. Not just emotional remnants, but physical ones.
It’s high time Britain came to terms with the simple reality – history belongs to its geography.
The world is shrinking and we’re virtually neighbours now. Perhaps it’s time to remind yourselves of “thou shall not covet”, and more importantly, make up for the time you did
As you all know, UNESCO estimates that 50,000 objects were smuggled out of India till 1989. Experts disagree on the number, but even one is far too many
This Nandi was cast in a Chola foundry. Served at a Tamil Nadu temple for 800 years until smuggled out probably in 1960s. Bought from unnamed hands by American socialite Anne Tandy. Decorated her swimming pool in Texas till 1985. Now stares the halls of free gallery of art , Smithsonian Washington DC.
Many of these are proudly displayed in museums and collections abroad.
Historically, India has never bothered to Bring Our Gods Home. It is the ONLY remnant of colonial-oppression that we have allowed to exist.
2. Away from what can be seen by the ordinary, the ancient still protects the foundations of what forms the modern.
Despite all hostility, there are some who still act to save what since ages has formed our foundations, Strengthen the neglected ancient which still supports our civilization, Do what has been long left undone, For they know the time of Hindu Renaissance has come.
But leave apart this incident this great nation was not that lucky in preaerving its great culture, When it comes to antiquities of our civilization especially artistic heritage of our past I have often seen Indians lamenting about how great many of our treasures have made their ways to the international museums either during colonial rule or due to recent smuggling.
While it is very valid feeling some moderation is desired.
Smuggled artifacts should be brought back to country without any exception. & so are some rare antiquities of great importance such as Kohinoor, Amaravati Marbles, Sultanganj buddha & so on.
But since 2014, 6 nations have returned India’s stolen heritage. 4 of them personally received by PM Modi (a significant diplomatic gesture).
The biggest victory for India was in June 2016, when USA offered back 200 stolen artifacts to India.
However Modi ji’s personal enthusiasm hasn’t yet trickled down to his officers; who have brought back only 27 of these.
But what purpose will it serve if your only intention is to bring back each and every other Indian artifact & then shut them in some dark store room?
The Hindus' childlike reliance on a saviour who knows best, may lose you the war. Eskimo invaders often reported that Hindu armies who had lost their leader, but were still sufficiently numerous & equipped, did not have a plan B, did not regroup, they panicked & were defeated.
Wouldn't it have been better to let them act as brand ambassador of our country & its ancient culture in foreign lands?
Ofcourse even in this later case attempt should be made to gain nominal authority over those artifacts even if they are gonna stay in foreign museums. But they being in foreign museums on display will serve the purpose of country better than anything else.
That brings to my second and more important question. Even if we bring back all those antiquities are we prepared to restore them with their full honour? Are we really worthy recipient of our great and glorious past? Do we have great museums which can act as places of worthy of that of that much lamented artifacts of ours?Forget about stolen artifacts - how are we managing artifacts that are present in our own country/museums? Answer for all these questions is very disappointing. Let me give you the glimpses of some noted foreign museums to show how far behind we are for no other reasons except for our ignorance, incompetence and most importantly lack of any desire to showcase and celebrate our own culture!
This is Natural history museum of London. For me it was probably one of the first visit to any museum that is still etched in my mind. At that time it was skeleton of Dinosaur at entrance which is now replaced by giant whale skeleton.
It isn't that we don't have impressive skeletons of dinosaurs and big whales in our museums but how one presents it to tourists makes huge difference in their mind!
Perhaps I am exaggerating but that is my feeling!
No doubt Museum greatly impressed me. It was partially because of its great collection showcased in very tourist friendly manner but the building itself had that aura of grandeur that easily mesmerized me.
This is btw case with most major museums of any western country,
12) For rich civ as ours I can't think of any Indian museum that can compete in architectural excellence with those museums.
Baring museums created by colonial masters we have hardly built any grand museum which we can be true home of our precious heritage. 😏
Why can't we have a grand museum with painted ceiling like the natural museum of London?
Say some India museum inspired by the great Chaitya halls of Maurya-Gupta period or some other native architectural tradition...
Why can't we build such museum? i don't know the answer!
Now Lets move to Pergamon Museum Berlin.
This is the Ishtar Gate of Babylon. No this isn't some replica but original gate itself! Entire gate was transported brick by brick from Iraq to Berlin & reconstructed there inside the museum!
If we ignore the tragic story of plunder for a time being then it is Such a brilliant reconstruction that it takes you back directly into Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon!
Museum however got its name from Pergomon Altar - that originally stood on Acropolis in Athens. Like Ishtar gate it was also brought to the Berlin and reconstructed back to its life size form!
Every piece of marble in its exact place as it was there thousands of years ago with missing columns and slabs added to complete the entire altar...
Whether it is Ottoman era Mansion or Market gate of ancient roman city - once again one finds the same brilliant reconstruction in the same museum.
What about us? We - the inheritors of great architectural and artistic heritage of thousands of years...don't we have anything to showcase like that? Can't we build any such great museum?
Yup we do. >2000 yr old Bharhut stupa for eg...
its intricately carved railing was moved to the Museum of Kolkata where it still lies.
How about reconstructing it completely so that it would have looked just like some ancient stupa surrounded by railing ? 😍
It would have been even greater to see full reconstruction of >2000 years old Amaravati Stupa.
Unlike Bharhut stupa it had tragic fate. Its elaborately carved marble panels were removed from original site & sent to museums all over India and best ones to Britain. ☹️
Fortunately we know the original plan of Amaravati Stupa. So it can be easily reconstructed to full scale. Even if we can't get back some of the original slabs we can replace it with replica for a time being as in the case of Athens museum as I will show later on.
Imagine full size Amaravati Stupa covered with its elaborate panel in its full glory. It would have been site to behold with.
but well we are so unfortunate that most Indians don't even know about this great heritage partially lying in British museum!
And then we have those richly carved wooden mansions (Wadas of Maratha elites of 17th century for eg)-
many of which are lying in decadent condition throughout country.
May be one of them can be rescued from that misery by transferring it to some museum!
And most important of all - ruins of our once great temples lying neglected in some remote corners of country.
May be some of them can be rescued & reconstructed inside some museum and utilized to impart some knowledge of Vastushastra traditions to our people!
All this can be done. But what are we doing instead? whining about the stolen heritage while ignoring that heritage which is still in our own country! Typical Indian mentality of ours!
That brings me to third museum - Newly opened museum of Athens near Acropolis.
Greece - land of another great civilization. Just like Indians they are also yearning & trying aggressively for the return of their most precious artifacts from foreign lands.
So perhaps we can learn something from their example. And indeed new museum at Athens has many things to teach to us.
Portion of the museum has been built over the site of ancient archaeological site. Can't we build something like that over Mahabharat era archaeological site of Purana qila or some Harappan site?
Also Look how it is designed with big glass walls so that one can appreciate ancient statues in natural light with acropolis in background visible from the museum! Just like they would have looked like in public space 1000s of years ago.
The only Dharma I know is to regain what we have lost, rebuild what was laid to ruins, revive what is fading away, protect what we have inherited & reclaim what is ours. This is what my forefathers did & this is what I shall do.
Now Imagine just like Athens some Indian museum at Puri/Somnath/Madurai
where one can appreciate Indian Murtis with towering Shikhara in background view!
It will give entirely new appreciation & context to sculptural art when compared to their current random display at museum!
some of the greatest treasure of Athens are currently in Brit museum.
But instead of just lamenting only they have put the POP replicas in their museum along with remaining sculptures.
So that tourists can get the idea of their grievance and sympathize with their cause.
May be we can learn from it. Ofcourse it isn't about display though.
Entire museum culture needs to be developed in our country. Starting from school trips to organizing events in museum (recall recent Metgala at Met museum, New york?) much can be done to raise awareness.
High quality souvenir shops can be established in museum premises where one can sell mementos - such as imitated jewelry or clay toys from ancient India and such.
मृच्छकटिका - Little clay cart/chariot which belonged to some Indian kid some 2200 yrs ago...probably from Kausambi.
Some other beautiful clay toy chariots from 1)Ter, Maharashtra 2) Chandraketugarh, Bengal 3)&4) Kausambi. Such a rich craftsmanship! © VMIS , Perhaps it was similar clay cart/chariot of Charudatta's son Rohasena which Vasantsena filled with precious ornaments in "Mrichhakatika".
For few more glmpses into the life of ancient Indians some 2000 yrs ago also
Vase, c. 1st BCE, ShungaP. Chnadraketugarh, Bengal. © The Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
Another lovely 2000 year old vase from Shunga period, Bengal ©The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Ancient Indians enjoying show of Madaari (monkey trainer) some 2000 years ago. Terracotta plaque from Chandraketugarh. ©Asianart
~2000 yrs old vase from Shunga period depicting 3 women in turban riding on an elephant. Isn't there something potent abt this portrayal?
Again same Doli (Palanquin), same horse & elephant, same Dholi (drum player) & joyous people. Probably same "Baraat" scene ~2000 yrs ago!
~1800-2000 yrs old stone panel from Nagarjunakonda, Andhra depicting a kid playing with his horse toy ©VMIS
They aren't just stones, they remind us Hindus of obligations to our nation, culture, traditions & the sacrifices made by our ancestors to safeguard them. If doing what is moral makes enemies, then so be it. History is witness, we never gave up & will never.
A slave society like ours, can never produce scholars like the ancient Bharata's did. For the modern Hindu his ancestor's work is incomprehensible just like the chimp cannot be expected to understand rocket science.
3. Resolve that, Whatever the price is, Whatever the circumstances are, Whatever the consequences be, For the things which have represented us since ages, Our temples, our past & our Gods,
Come What may,We will never give up, never.
Ofcourse all this can be done and needs to be done. But what are we doing?Lamenting and whining about our artifacts in foreign museums (where they are treated much better then they would have been in India) and neglecting all the above mentioned things! If only we can simultaneously start working on developing and preserving our great culture"
Cultural revival doesn't need to wait for economic revival. It has to go hand in hand with other priorities. Ignoring cultural revival was precisely the disastrous outcome of east indian co. Republication policy which put it on back burner. Mistake for which we are still suffering greatly!
From stealing yoga and what else??
NEW AGE REPACKAGE
The popular ‘New Age’ movement of this era is a vast network of individuals, groups, organizations, cults, foundations, etc. who expound and preach a watered-down patchwork of borrowed spiritual beliefs and rituals which present a dazzling array of luring theories and practices, yet somehow fail to capture the depth and intended essence of the esoteric truths that were originally laid down by the ancient civilizations and wisdom traditions of antiquity
NEW AGE ART
Subsequently today’s new age culture seems to be a superficial masquerade of an erratic blend of these hybrid philosophies, disinformation campaigns, pop rituals and pseudo spiritualists that have stormed the world as the new and extremely successful business ventures of the millennium. Moreover much of the Aquarian beliefs, practices and religions parading the commercial field today can be said to be an ostentatious repackaging if not a distorted rip off and blatant plagiarism of Hinduism’s ancient philosophies.
From the concept of oneness to mind-body-spirit unity to Gaia (mother earth) philosophy to integral yoga and meditation to holistic health and spiritual healing to the concept of eternal reality, Karma, Nirvana and self-actualization to practices of spiritual ascension, pranayam and chakra (energy centre) opening, to the much advanced science of Consciousness, all can be traced back to the early Vedic and post Vedantic literature which forms the foundation of Hinduism’s culture and worldviews.
Modern Transpersonal Psychology, Consciousness Studies, the occult religion of Theosophy, Landmark Education’s The Forum and ‘est’ seminars with more than 700,000 graduates, Filmore’s Unity School of Christianity, occult religion of Eckankar, Scientology and many thousands of new-age schools and philosophies are in fact all crude derivatives and adulterated spin-offs of a mix of ancient Hindu concepts.
Madame Blavatsky
THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
More importantly, Madame Helena Blavatsky (founder of Theosophical Society) who has been considered one of the biggest pioneers and the ‘mother’ of new-age thinking has wielded a far reaching influence on occult thinkers and on Western mysticism as a whole. What is not commonly known however is that her magnum opus (book) ‘The Secret Doctrine’ that set the pulse for most of the new-age thinking was in fact inspired by Hindu theories on cosmic evolution and manifestation. She often quotes the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and Puranas in her works and is even said to have travelled in India and studied under Brahmin teachers. “The tree of Life and Being”, she says for instance in her book “… is said in the Bhagavad Gita to grow with its roots above and its branches below. The roots represent the Supreme Being… but one has to go beyond those roots to unite oneself with Krishna… its boughs are Hiranyagarbha (Brahma or Brahman in his highest manifestation), the highest Dhyani-Chohans or Devas. The Vedas are its leaves”.
The primary goal of this ever-growing new-age movement today, it is said, is to bring peace to the world and unite humanity under the banner of the ‘newly’ discovered one-world global consciousness or ‘oneness’ of everyone. Hinduism, which is in fact the source of all such concepts on unity and universalism has been on the contrary often isolated and portrayed as an ethnocentric religion with sectarian views that does not apply universally and thus upholding or expounding Hinduism has been considered by many so-called secular contemporaries to be a fundamentalist way of creating boundaries and limitations, which would supposedly lead to intolerance of other religions and worldviews. Many scholars who are in the lucrative business of selling the new-age beliefs have thus gone to the far extent of not only keeping the word Hindu out of their mainstream preaching and practices but completely divorcing Hinduism from its own philosophical progenies and practices such as yoga.
Deepak Chopra New Age Guru and Celebrity
DEEPAK CHOPRA AND COMPANY
The popular Deepak Chopra (mind-body medicine proponent/author) Eckhart Tolle (spiritual teacher/writer) and small-time Julian Walker (LA based yoga teacher) are classic examples of some of the contemporary new-age power brokers who are living off the Hindu culture, plagiarizing Hinduism, yet failing to give credit where it is due. Julian Walker for instance employs embellished Hindu concepts in his practice, even uses Sanskrit words such as chakra and kundalini but refrains from mentioning the term Hindu. He even goes to the infantile extent of abusing and demeaning India’s most revered Hindu guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba (on his facebook status) with slanderous, malicious and unfounded remarks, while at the same time preaching transformational yoga and writing articles on “mirrors of ‘compassion’”. Eckhart Tolle on the other hand, “is quite liberal in his references to Buddhism, and throughout his book [The New Earth] reinterprets select quotations from the Bible using Advaita logic.
Suhag Shukla lawyer for Hindu American Foundation
But the word Hinduism is cited only a few times” says lawyer for Hindu American Foundation, Suhag Shukla.
In promising magical solutions to the problems of life and mind-altering nirvana, most of these individual teachers and groups today set up fancy workshops and programmes which camouflages and even distorts the ancient Hindu teachings (in the name of secularism) by jazzing it up with fancy names, flashy terminologies and charming rhetoric (an age-old business strategy of clever marketing), paving the royal road to enlightenment as they say, which really is the royal road to exploitation, capitalizing on the spiritual needs of the undiscerning masses and deceiving the less informed people into believing that they have discovered something new, the holy grail if you may, that would heal their soul, providing radical transformation and spiritual expansion, however at exorbitant rates and available exclusively through them.
NEW AGE CHAKRA AND KUNDALINI ART
Apart from yoga, they also hijack and sensationalize Hinduism’s sublime teachings of Tantra, the Science of Chakras (energy centers), Kundalini Ascension, etc. by taking it out of the context of its depth philosophy and portraying it in commercially exaggerated forms and cheap, animated ways, which renders the sellers materially successful yet spiritually and morally bankrupt. Moreover most of these new-age teachers today consider themselves as certified experts solely based on equally beguiling qualifications and diplomas such as those in crystal healing, energy cleansing, colour therapy, integral mind-body transformation or other instant enlightenment rendering sessions.
A HINDU PERSPECTIVE
In emphasizing the importance of first being grounded in holistic Hindu philosophy in order to teach or sell Hindu concepts and
Dr David Frawley ( Pandit Vamadev Shastri, one of the very rare and authentic scholars on Vedic and Vedantic literature today, says that “some Westerners may want to create their own Yoga paths, mix Yoga with other teachings that may not be in harmony with it, or proclaim themselves as gurus without any traditional sanction. Others may want to physicalize or commercialize Yoga in order to make it more popular or profitable. A more traditional view of Yoga, and one that brings out its living religious basis, brings these efforts into question.”
Indian Government
INDIA MOVE TO PATENT
India has now however rightfully made a move to patent Yoga asanas and will probably patent more of the indigenous Hindu practices in the years to come. Madan Jaira reports through the Hindustan Times that “The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has prepared patent formats of nearly 900 yoga asanas (postures), to prevent European and American companies involved in fitness-related activities from claiming them as their own”.
Using Hinduism’s concepts and practices for personal gain without using the word Hindu forms a wide-spread class of spiritual businessmen. On the other end of the spectrum however, there are so-called experts like Wendy Doniger for instance, who acknowledges Hinduism but uses Judeo-Christian frames of reference and Freudian Psychoanalysis to interpret and denigrate Hinduism thus reducing Eastern Spirituality to Western Materialism, presenting a pornographic and intensely vulgarized perception of Hinduism that is further distorted by her religious conditioning, cultural bias and narrow modes of information processing, an attitude she displays in her own words when she says “the Bhagavad Gita is a dishonest book”. A third category of offenders includes Indian scholars such as Devdutt Pattanaik who support distortionists like Wendy Doniger and dignify her prejudices and overt abuse of Hinduism and its sacred scriptures, further reinforcing the reprehensible thoughts and acts of such miscreants.
Apart from a few genuine and honest teachers who study in-depth and align their practices and teachings with the authentic source that is Hinduism, most use (misuse) it for personal gain and fame. There is nothing really ‘new’ then about the new age culture other than its plastic shamans, narcissistic, pseudo-spiritual leaders and corporate sponsors with their shallow, celebrity mystique and shrewd yet denigrated ways of deception. A large part of the new age movement is in fact more of an unrefined, consumer-driven scam, a money-making market of quackery and an entertainment industry of philosophical/spiritual misguiding.
Dr Aseem Shukla of Hindu American Foundation (HAF) throwing light on Deepak Chopra’s famed yet borrowed spirituality says “Chopra is perhaps the most prominent exponent of the art of “How to Deconstruct, Repackage and Sell Hindu Philosophy Without Calling it Hindu!” To Larry King, he has described himself as an “Advaita Vedantin”–one of the major philosophical schools of Hinduism. Yet none of the plethora of his book titles, that include several devoted to Jesus and one entire book devoted to the Buddha, even skirt the word “Hindu.” His website is devoted to selling products and literature related to yoga, meditation and ayurveda, but Hinduism, of course, bears no mention.”
Also emphasizing on the selective bias of common secular agendas Ranbir Singh of Hindu Human Rights (HHR) UK asserts that “The new age movement appears to give an eclectic mix of anti-Hindu tastes. When it comes to yoga, meditation, vegetarianism, ecological awareness, religious tolerance and even the invention of decimal numbers then it’s not Hindu. But mention sati, dowry abuse, poverty, human trafficking, communal riots and corruption in India then Hinduism suddenly becomes the lowest common denominator of blame”.
The Secret DVD
THE SECRET AND ITS HINDU ORIGINS
Today’s multi-million selling book and DVD ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne is based on the concept of the ‘Law of Attraction’- that you can attract whatever you like into your life. The origin of this popular concept traces its roots back to the book “Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace Wattles who says in the preface of his book that “The monistic theory of the universe… the theory that ‘One is All, and that All is One and that one Substance manifests itself as the seeming many elements of the material world’ is of Hindu origin, and has been gradually winning its way into the thought of the western world for two hundred years. It is the foundation of all the Oriental philosophies, and of those of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibnitz, Schopenhauer, Hegel, and Emerson”.
What Wattles was essentially referring to was the fundamental Hindu concept of the ‘one indivisible supreme reality’ that organizes the universe and all its processes and manifestations in ways that are conducive to the ‘whole’. However this concept has now been filtered down to imply that since everything is connected, just by consistently desiring and positively thinking about acquiring 25 Ferraris for instance or pot loads of money will somehow make it manifest in our lives, regardless of whether it serves or acts against the balance of the whole. It also implies that if you have cancer then you “thought” it into existence and if you are a billionaire you manifested that reality with your thought power. Thus it further follows that all people who are raped or victims of terrorist attacks or natural calamities have brought it upon themselves. This is the typical case of cherry picking where Google-search yogis take a concept out of its holistic context and neatly twist it in pretty yet misleading ways that attract many consumers with unfulfilled needs.
Moreover the book and DVD ‘the secret’ uses a spiritual camouflage to encourage self-indulgence and self-centeredness which actually goes against and contradicts the original Hindu concept of the undivided reality and Hinduism’s emphasis on detachment from and transcendence of the mind and its wavering thought-currents.
CONCLUSION
Robert Clive after wining the Battle of Plassey and the beginning of looting India’s wealth
In the final analysis, it has been known that for over two hundred years India’s material wealth and resources were plundered and drained during the colonial British rule where the East India Company exploited and weakened India’s indigenous industries by buying her raw materials at cheap rates and selling her the manufactured end-products at inflated prices. What is not so obvious is that this trend of well-disguised fraudulency still continues even to this day as the modern-day Robert Clives have found their way back in the guise of self-appointed yogis and scholars who now exploit India’s spiritual wealth, only to dissect it, distort it, recycle/repackage it and sell it back to her people as well as the rest of the world for their self-serving gains, without ever acknowledging the real source.
Our ancestors: "O Glorious Surya! Bear witness as I lay low my enemies!"
Their descendants: "As long as secularism is safe, everything is fine."
