Before I say anything, I have to make sure I understand

[Maya3]

Not sure if I understand this person correctly?

But is he saying that we Non Indian Hindus are mocking Hinduism?

Deepak Sarma: White Hindu Converts: Mimicry Or Mockery?

Maya

 

[Maya3]

Here is a response to the article

Mimicry, Mockery, or Mumukshutva? Jeffery Long's Response to Deepak Sarma

Maya

 

[Ekanta]

In order to understand the article you first have to accept Deepak Sarma's racist worldview...
All hindus are good, all whites are bad.
All hindus are colonized, all whites are colonizers.
All hindus are sincere, all whites are unsincere.

 

[Jainarayan]

The minority views are always the loudest... shock value that the media jump on.

 

[Maya3]

In order to understand the article you first have to accept Deepak Sarma's racist worldview...
All hindus are good, all whites are bad.
All hindus are colonized, all whites are colonizers.
All hindus are sincere, all whites are unsincere.

Yup, I really didn't want it to mean that, but in fact it did.

Really terrible.

Maya

 

[Shuddhasattva]

Ordinarily I would be of the opinion that shedding a little (justified) outrage here regarding this fool's foolishness would serve no purpose, but this to me is such a serious breach of his responsibility (he's professor of South Asian religions at a prominent American university!) so as to justify a letter written to the dean of the school regarding the unsuitability of his appointment to the post.

I would encourage everyone else here to do the same. Someone who has nothing but contempt for "white wannabe Hindus" is in no way qualified to teach people (I would assume in large part 'whities') sincerely interested in divine union thru the Hindu tradition.

Enough pressure and he will be dismissed - which is really what this sort of commentary deserves, not impotent yet cherished opinions.

 

[Jainarayan]

Letter-writing campaign... outstandng idea. I'm in.

 

[Maya3]

There are a lot of offended white Hindus and Indian Hindus who are equally offended by Shamas article.
Several people have made comments in response and it is heartening to see.

But I have to vent something that is really, really bothering me.
And it is the assumption that all non Indian Hindus were Christian (possibly Jewish) before we found Hinduism. This is really a pet peeve of mine.
First of all, if people just did their homework, they would see that most people in Northern Europe have been secularized for generations, and also to a lesser extent in the rest of Europe and in the US as well.
Not one person on both sides of my family tree have been churchgoers for 2-3 generations at least.

That is my first pet peeve, the second is this: If I do pick a religion after never being part of one what makes them assume that I would pick Christianity?
Really? I'm sincerely asking this? If they know what Hinduism is about, and if they know how far we have come in the study of Astronomy and Science, wouldn't it be kind of a given that I would pick Hinduism over Christianity, if in fact I should pick one at all? And do they feel so poorly about their own religion that they should be surprised if other people like it too?

This "Oh you are white, when did you leave Christianity makes me go bonkers!" (I know, very enligthened isn't it )

Maya

 

[Maya3]

Ordinarily I would be of the opinion that shedding a little (justified) outrage here regarding this fool's foolishness would serve no purpose, but this to me is such a serious breach of his responsibility (he's professor of South Asian religions at a prominent American university!) so as to justify a letter written to the dean of the school regarding the unsuitability of his appointment to the post.

I would encourage everyone else here to do the same. Someone who has nothing but contempt for "white wannabe Hindus" is in no way qualified to teach people (I would assume in large part 'whities') sincerely interested in divine union thru the Hindu tradition.

Enough pressure and he will be dismissed - which is really what this sort of commentary deserves, not impotent yet cherished opinions.

Ordinarily I would be of the opinion that shedding a little (justified) outrage here regarding this fool's foolishness would serve no purpose, but this to me is such a serious breach of his responsibility (he's professor of South Asian religions at a prominent American university!) so as to justify a letter written to the dean of the school regarding the unsuitability of his appointment to the post.

I would encourage everyone else here to do the same. Someone who has nothing but contempt for "white wannabe Hindus" is in no way qualified to teach people (I would assume in large part 'whities') sincerely interested in divine union thru the Hindu tradition.

Enough pressure and he will be dismissed - which is really what this sort of commentary deserves, not impotent yet cherished opinions.

I'm in too, and I will let people at my temple know as well.

Do you by chance have the correct e-mail address?

Maya

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

Someone who has nothing but contempt for "white wannabe Hindus" is in no way qualified to teach people (I would assume in large part 'whities') sincerely interested in divine union thru the Hindu tradition.

Thanks for jumping to my defense.

 

[Nyingjé Tso]

Vanakkam,

I understand your concern Maya, it's the same here. Those people say they know everything, but they ignore what's real. Especially in european countries, all secularized, where religion is not dead but each his own buisness. Well, in my country it is that. You can put a muslim, a christian and a atheist in the same room for a week and not even one time they will talk about or fight about their religion views. Why ? Because that's their own, their buisness, and they actually don't care at all what's the belief of the neighbour. It's even considered not polite to force a conversation about someone's religious opinion. Every religion is respected, and devotee mind their own buisness in their path. That's all.

First I tried to explain those kind of "I know everything you filthy white jew" that their views of us is far from reality, then , seeing that's changing nothing, I was angry, finally now I just pity them.

Why are you on the path ? I am on this path not because I want to be labelled and socially accepted. I don't want to claim everywhere that I'm hindu. I don't even know if I am. What I know is that I was put on this path by Mahadev, I will follow this path for Mahadev, not for those people. So why caring about them ? Of course it's awful. But what can you do ? Will that stop you ?

Don't listen too much of these, don't try to talk to much with these. I tried, they nearly sucked every motivation and will from me.

There are plenty of people that are helpful and knowledgable...Stick with them


Aum Namah Shivaya

 

[Shântoham]

Namaskāram

Interestingly enough Mr. Sarma is a product of Western Academia… The same Academia that claims that Westerners understand Sanātanadharma better than the natives – and considers the natives as outsiders (of the academic process). Even more interestingly he is one of Wendy Doniger’s hyenas. Sadly his behavior is not surprising at all.

Pranāms

 

[Maya3]

Namaskāram

Interestingly enough Mr. Sarma is a product of Western Academia… The same Academia that claims that Westerners understand Sanātanadharma better than the natives – and considers the natives as outsiders (of the academic process). Even more interestingly he is one of Wendy Doniger’s hyenas. Sadly his behavior is not surprising at all.

Pranāms

Who is Wendy Doniger?

That truly is weird. I don't even know what to say.

Maya
Just wrote a letter to him, you can easily find his e-mail address on the Case Western Reverse University.

 

[Shuddhasattva]

I'm in too, and I will let people at my temple know as well.

Do you by chance have the correct e-mail address?



Maya

Emails in the spoiler box:

Spoiler: Emails

Dr. Cyrus Taylor (Dean)
[email protected]

Cynthia Stilwell (Dean’s executive aide)
[email protected]

Dr. Deepak Sarma:
[email protected]

Dr. Laura Hengehold (Chair of Philosophy Dept.)
[email protected]

 

[Vinayaka]

Who is Wendy Doniger?

In academia there is a group of Hindu hating Hinduism scholars and she's in the midst of that.

 

[Maya3]

In academia there is a group of Hindu hating Hinduism scholars and she's in the midst of that.

Hindu hating Hinduism scholars?! Wow, can you elaborate a little.

Maya

 

[Shântoham]

Namaskāram

It is a vast and controvertial issue that has poisoned for a number of years the relationship between western Indology and the Hindu diaspora. In a nutshell – 1) Hinduism is badly represented in western schoolbooks; 2) a certain number of Indologists constantly represent Hinduism in a negative and false light. Wendy Doniger is an American Indologist from the University of Chicago – considered by some as the foremost living Indologist – she reaches millions through her many books – and as such she has quite some clout within Academia. Unfortunately she rarely speaks nicely about Hinduism.
She does have quite a posse – former students who got their Phd from her – and Mr. Sarma is one of them. They all follow her lead and trash Hinduism in various ways.
The best and most comprehensive book on the subject is “Invading the Sacred” – the site www.InvadingTheSacred.com contains quite some info, media, etc., on the topic.

Pranāms

 

[Maya3]

Namaskāram

It is a vast and controvertial issue that has poisoned for a number of years the relationship between western Indology and the Hindu diaspora. In a nutshell – 1) Hinduism is badly represented in western schoolbooks; 2) a certain number of Indologists constantly represent Hinduism in a negative and false light. Wendy Doniger is an American Indologist from the University of Chicago – considered by some as the foremost living Indologist – she reaches millions through her many books – and as such she has quite some clout within Academia. Unfortunately she rarely speaks nicely about Hinduism.
She does have quite a posse – former students who got their Phd from her – and Mr. Sarma is one of them. They all follow her lead and trash Hinduism in various ways.
The best and most comprehensive book on the subject is “Invading the Sacred” – the site www.InvadingTheSacred.com contains quite some info, media, etc., on the topic.

Pranāms

Thank you for the explanation. I have heard that some western scholars have not been well informed about Hinduism, but I thought it was mostly through outdated academic books.

That is really a shame. Isn't this one of the things that the American Hindu Association is trying to combat? I think it says something like that on their website.

Maya

 

[Andal]

I am sorry but this writing is spewing the same type of post modern drivel most academics in anthropology and cultural studies cling to, the same none sense that has made me an outcaste in my doctoral program. The writer relies on hot words and tag lines like "colonial histories", "subaltern", and " orientalism". Do these ideas have a place in discourse, of course. However what many who use these terms fail to see (including this author) is that in claiming "post traumatic, post colonial servile disorder" he has completely taken any agency out of the hands of diasporic Hindus. They become weak and not responsible for what happens to them. He neglects to recognize the fact that when Hindus decided to move out of India they also chose to take part in an inter religious/ inter cultural narrative where people move among belief systems.

This author is using an idea of identity not his own but thrust upon Hindus first by Muslim conquerors then exploited by British colonialists. He is arguing against the results of a colonial history and yet he is to blind to see that the very corner stone of his argument was invented by non Hindus.

Works like this massage the egos of an intellectual elite situated in the ivory tower of academia. I guarantee that the majority of his readers will not be Indians but white upper middle class 30 somethings who have taken the idea of reflexivity to such an extreme that to show interest in a non western system is orientalist longings sprinkled with a colonial sentiment. To take pride in one's native culture is just as bad as for these people it becomes jingoistic racism.

Aum Hari Aum!

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

Who is Wendy Doniger?

I don't know if I would define Wendy Doniger as a Hindu Hater. I just find her use of Psychoanalysis as a method to interpret Hindu scripture as absurd. I see Dr Doniger as more of an old hippy.