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The Pagan, Buddhist, and Hindu Thread

Aupmanyav

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
sun rise said:
That abject poverty clearly was not as bad in my subsequent trips.
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That is right. Televisions, refrigerators, mobile phones, natural gas cooking is common in slums. Mumbai's 'Dharavi', one of the five biggest slums in the world is an example. Dharavi is under development, i.e., multi-storied buildings replacing the hutments, freeing space for leisure activities.
Slum - Misconceptions about Dharavi Slum
Valjean said:
The Kumbh mela has become problematic. Indian society, like all societies, has changed. Old traditions are no longer what they were.
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There is no problem about Kumbh, Valjean. Society is changing, but there are enough people who hold to traditions, bathing in rivers during the coldest months :D. Kumbh is travel, fun and business. Religion takes a back seat to that. With a bank of a billion believers, getting ten or twenty million on a special occasion is no problem.
 
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Samael_Khan

Samael_Khan

Qigong / Yang Style Taijiquan / 7 Star Mantis
Aupmanyav said:
Mythology is basically fables. Do not Aesop's fables, happenings in history teach us things? The idea that there is a judge, rewards and punishment, carrot and sword (even if imaginary), induces many people to engage in good deed and keep away from evil (however, there are side-effects in this scheme). :)
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This is true. Narrative can be a powerful teacher and shape us as well.
 
Jainarayan

Jainarayan

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Staff member
Premium Member
Israel Khan said:
This is true. Narrative can be a powerful teacher and shape us as well.
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Keep in mind that very, very few people could read and write. It was only Brahmins and Kshatriya, and I’m not even sure about Kshatriya, who could read and write. Moreover, being simple villagers and farmers people weren’t given to thinking of deep philosophy. But they understood colorful enthralling tales told by those who could read and write, and knew how to tell a story and teach.

Without going into the details of a long story, suffice to say that the story of Prahlada, Hiranyakashipu and Narasimha teaches, among other things, that there are few if any loopholes in life that can’t be closed. The story of the wedding of Shiva and Parvati, while hilarious IMO, teaches that you can’t judge by appearances. In every story I know of, there is no evil, insult or offense that God won’t forgive, even when it’s against him. So if God will forgive unconditionally, who are we to not do the same? That’s what I take away from those two stories. Others may see something else.
 
JustGeorge

JustGeorge

Imperfect
Staff member
Premium Member
Secret Chief said:
I think I missed this, it's dark under this rug. Soto Zen, somewhat secularised. Not sure about unique - more a matter of emphasis I think - on objectless meditation.
Nice to see the thread stickied.
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Someone oughta light a flashlight in here...

I've done different kinds of meditation, but I think objectless is probably my favorite. Though, I was really bad at it! I used to meditate with a Buddhist Path group that did a half hour meditation, and I'd end up getting a 'light show' behind my eyes, the patterns and colors varying on who was there. I'd always kinda get sucked into it... though it did tend to kill off the thought process, which was nice.

Good to know that about Soto Zen. :)
 
ajay0

ajay0

Well-Known Member
Valjean said:
The Kumbh mela has become problematic. Indian society, like all societies, has changed. Old traditions are no longer what they were.
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The advaitan philosophy is a very complex and hard philosophy to comphrend. The Upanishads and Shankacharya had documented case studies of pseudo-scholars and fraudsters who had an erroneous knowledge of the nondual philosophy and propagated it to others as well carelessly.

Taking this into account, Shankaracharya probaby instituted the kumbha mela as a learning platform wherein people can connect with various genuine scholars and saints, listen to their discourses and lectures as well, and learn and finetune their philosophical understanding.

This plays a major role in getting rid of pseudo-scholarship and fraud teachers and reducing them to the very minimum at least.

Virochana is a much cited ancient pseudo-scholar who is portrayed in Upanishadic teachings as a case study of erroneous understanding and comprehension. These sort of warning boards or lighthouses enables genuine seekers to navigate better and avoid the shoals and reefs of falsehood and fraud.
 
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Secret Chief

Secret Chief

Vetted Member
JustGeorge said:
Someone oughta light a flashlight in here...

I've done different kinds of meditation, but I think objectless is probably my favorite. Though, I was really bad at it!
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No. You were not. And neither can one be good at it. Zazen is without judgment. :)


"The only thing required in taking up zazen is a sense of curiosity and a human life — you can’t do it wrong!"
- What is Zazen? – Zen West – Empty Field
 
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JustGeorge

JustGeorge

Imperfect
Staff member
Premium Member
To any Pagans on the thread...

My sister has been watching a TV show on Norse Mythology for the last year or so. (I can't remember the name of it.) She has always thought religion in general was dumb, but today she expressed that she is now interested in learning more about Norse Pagan Religion in general, and perhaps practicing herself. She was quite excited about it, and I'm excited for her.

The question is, now that the mythologies of many ancient religions are being re-presented in more modern ways, do you find people suddenly becoming interested in them to be a boon or problematic?
 
Valjean

Valjean

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Learning is a good thing, in general, but I wonder whether a sudden interest in an ancient religions is an epistemic conviction, or a fashion statement.
 
VoidCat

VoidCat

Use any and all pronouns including neo and it/it's
I got a book on Norse mythology and got some runes. I'll take a picture sometime to show y'all
 
Aupmanyav

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
JustGeorge said:
The question is, now that the mythologies of many ancient religions are being re-presented in more modern ways, do you find people suddenly becoming interested in them to be a boon or problematic?
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Ancient religions are closer to earth. That is why people get interested in them. Western people had to re-invent them. Thankfully, ours is a living tradition.
 
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