Are we more Tolerant ??
It is true that Hinduism that the tolerance of Hinduism is much abused and exploited by other religions. In the present times also there are greater threats from Islam and Christianity.
The Hindu society has been divided into two extremes regarding this:
1) One sections feels that Hindus should leave their tolerance. Being tolerant is making the Hindu society weak. Conversions are being carried out at sword and money, but we are simlpy sitting and seeing tamasha. Time is not away when Hindus will be wiped out just the way all the native american and african civilizations has been wiped out.
2) The other end is the 'secularists'. They even do not agree to accept that there is a challenge. They try to justify everything. So, even if somebody is converting, it is not bad. They are too eager to prove that a chritian can also attain Moksha. They deny to accept that Hindus have been brutally killed by Muslims and Christians, and they are more than willing to do it again if they have and oppurtunity. These ppl have hynotised themselves that he is right.
But they fail to understand that they do not give a damn about the Hindu philosophy or tolerance. That philosophy and tolarence with which they are trying justify the Missionaries' actions, will be first to be destroyed. These ppl aften quote all paths lead to same goal; but fail to understand that it will be first to be destroyed once Hinduism is not there.
They turn a blind eye to all the Hindus' troubles. They are not even to ready to accept that Hindus are being selectively killed by Muslims in Kashmir, Bangladesh; that Church is directly supporting terrorists in Northeast, and a Hindu cannot even celebrate his festivals there.
So, for ordinary Hindus like us, the question remains: "Should I become intolerant to preserve my religion with its tolarence; or should I be tolerant, and allow tolerance itself to be destroyed"
To understand this, first we have to understand what tolerance is. Tolerence should not be misunstood as timidity and Inaction. Tolerance is of a Master, not of a slave. What power does a slave have other than simply sit and see, and which he calls to himself as tolerance.
To compromise with falsehood is not tolerance or non-violence. It is self-destruction. To turn away in fear or hesitation, not to stand up for what one believes is true, is not modesty but self-betrayal.
Regeneration, the Hindu way:
A Hindu is always introspective. Whether it is for God or for problems, he always searches inside. Also, as it is a Hinduism forum, it will be apt to just say what Hindus can do. These I feel Hindus are lacking very much:
1. Pride: They have been thought from day one in the schools that their forefathers were bunch of tribals; that their religion does not contain anything except some out dated practices. Hindus do not take pride in calling themselves Hindus. They ar not even aware of the great pholosophical and literary works in Hinduism. They just blondly riducule everything in Hinduism. So, first and formost is pride.
2. Strength: Hindus badly lack this. Strength here means Physical, Intellectual and spiritual strength. Even if a bunch of Muslims are coming to convert Hindus, why are the Hindus so weak not to protect themselves.
We lack intellectual strength also. We simply feel that we have so many problems, but do not have the strength to tackle them ourselves. We just wait for some person to come and do all our work. One more Sankaracharya, one more Vivekananda. But what can even they do, if we do not have the strength enough to preserve what we have.
3. Character: I feel this is universally lacking. But it is no justification for us. It is because of lack of character that we are not able to move forward, and properly utilize our strengths. Also, most ppl judge a religion more by its followers than anything else.
4. Unity: The slavish mentality in us has not fully gone. If one person tries to climb up, all of us try our level best to bring him down. The History of India is full of many episode where Indians helped foriegners against our own Indians due to jealousy. This jealousy is a dangerous disease killing us from inside.
5. Redundant practices: There are some old redundant practices like: Caste, Child marriages. Every effort should be made to remove these discriminations. But one good aspect is that opposition for this decresing, and the direction is towards the progress only.
6. Awarenes: Many Hindus are not even aware of the threats against Hinduism. Simply if a missionary comes in a good dress and speaks in a nice language, they fall for him; some even donate some money for them thinking that they will be using it for service purposes. But hardly do they know that this very money is used to convert some of the Hindus, and then make them stand against Hindus. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.
I think these are what we lack, and if we Hindus can fill these defects, we can easily face any threats. Each individual can try to archieve them in his own way, which ever is possible for him
The challenge before the Hindu society then will be To differentiate evil from the evil doer
Being conservative does not mean that all the Hindus start having swords and kill everybody, and be intolerant. All it requires is to be aware of the external threat, and make other Hindus aware. So, the next time some missionary tries to convert you, you will simply laugh at his lies and hence his purpose is defeated. At the same time we have no grudges against him, and tolerant towards him.
I feel this way we can remain tolerant, and yet preserve our tolerance.
The Hindu society has been divided into two extremes regarding this:
1) One sections feels that Hindus should leave their tolerance. Being tolerant is making the Hindu society weak. Conversions are being carried out at sword and money, but we are simlpy sitting and seeing tamasha. Time is not away when Hindus will be wiped out just the way all the native american and african civilizations has been wiped out.
2) The other end is the 'secularists'. They even do not agree to accept that there is a challenge. They try to justify everything. So, even if somebody is converting, it is not bad. They are too eager to prove that a chritian can also attain Moksha. They deny to accept that Hindus have been brutally killed by Muslims and Christians, and they are more than willing to do it again if they have and oppurtunity. These ppl have hynotised themselves that he is right.
But they fail to understand that they do not give a damn about the Hindu philosophy or tolerance. That philosophy and tolarence with which they are trying justify the Missionaries' actions, will be first to be destroyed. These ppl aften quote all paths lead to same goal; but fail to understand that it will be first to be destroyed once Hinduism is not there.
They turn a blind eye to all the Hindus' troubles. They are not even to ready to accept that Hindus are being selectively killed by Muslims in Kashmir, Bangladesh; that Church is directly supporting terrorists in Northeast, and a Hindu cannot even celebrate his festivals there.
So, for ordinary Hindus like us, the question remains: "Should I become intolerant to preserve my religion with its tolarence; or should I be tolerant, and allow tolerance itself to be destroyed"
To understand this, first we have to understand what tolerance is. Tolerence should not be misunstood as timidity and Inaction. Tolerance is of a Master, not of a slave. What power does a slave have other than simply sit and see, and which he calls to himself as tolerance.
To compromise with falsehood is not tolerance or non-violence. It is self-destruction. To turn away in fear or hesitation, not to stand up for what one believes is true, is not modesty but self-betrayal.
Regeneration, the Hindu way:
A Hindu is always introspective. Whether it is for God or for problems, he always searches inside. Also, as it is a Hinduism forum, it will be apt to just say what Hindus can do. These I feel Hindus are lacking very much:
1. Pride: They have been thought from day one in the schools that their forefathers were bunch of tribals; that their religion does not contain anything except some out dated practices. Hindus do not take pride in calling themselves Hindus. They ar not even aware of the great pholosophical and literary works in Hinduism. They just blondly riducule everything in Hinduism. So, first and formost is pride.
2. Strength: Hindus badly lack this. Strength here means Physical, Intellectual and spiritual strength. Even if a bunch of Muslims are coming to convert Hindus, why are the Hindus so weak not to protect themselves.
We lack intellectual strength also. We simply feel that we have so many problems, but do not have the strength to tackle them ourselves. We just wait for some person to come and do all our work. One more Sankaracharya, one more Vivekananda. But what can even they do, if we do not have the strength enough to preserve what we have.
3. Character: I feel this is universally lacking. But it is no justification for us. It is because of lack of character that we are not able to move forward, and properly utilize our strengths. Also, most ppl judge a religion more by its followers than anything else.
4. Unity: The slavish mentality in us has not fully gone. If one person tries to climb up, all of us try our level best to bring him down. The History of India is full of many episode where Indians helped foriegners against our own Indians due to jealousy. This jealousy is a dangerous disease killing us from inside.
5. Redundant practices: There are some old redundant practices like: Caste, Child marriages. Every effort should be made to remove these discriminations. But one good aspect is that opposition for this decresing, and the direction is towards the progress only.
6. Awarenes: Many Hindus are not even aware of the threats against Hinduism. Simply if a missionary comes in a good dress and speaks in a nice language, they fall for him; some even donate some money for them thinking that they will be using it for service purposes. But hardly do they know that this very money is used to convert some of the Hindus, and then make them stand against Hindus. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.
I think these are what we lack, and if we Hindus can fill these defects, we can easily face any threats. Each individual can try to archieve them in his own way, which ever is possible for him
The challenge before the Hindu society then will be To differentiate evil from the evil doer
Being conservative does not mean that all the Hindus start having swords and kill everybody, and be intolerant. All it requires is to be aware of the external threat, and make other Hindus aware. So, the next time some missionary tries to convert you, you will simply laugh at his lies and hence his purpose is defeated. At the same time we have no grudges against him, and tolerant towards him.
I feel this way we can remain tolerant, and yet preserve our tolerance.
posted by S at 2:51 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home