The other day my daughter came home from school upset. Her classmates, and even the teacher, were all saying negative things about India. The students were given an article to read about India and instead of talking about the beauty, the spiritual wisdom that Bharat (India) holds, it was something negative and putting down the festival of Diwali. Will save the details of the article for another blog, but this type of bias and slander is no exception. Every time a Western newspaper writes about India, it is filled with bias, ignorance, and often is some sort of attack on India and Hinduism.
The
argument that was also brought up in class was that India has a caste system
and that is very unequal. A much-heard argument. Have learnt when looking at
something to always start from the top and understand the back-story. Was also
brought up with this notion of India has a caste system, but once I came to
understand Sanatana Dharma better and did some research into history, a
completely different picture emerged.
The
truth about caste system
Sanatana Dharma
describes something called Varna Ashram Dharma, the gist of which is explained
in below image by a Sanatani from India that I found very enlightening. The
Varna system is diametrically opposed to caste. Caste is the Portuguese word
for class and is not in any of the Hindu Shastras (Scriptures).
This is not
something that many people know, but the caste concept was created by the
British colonialists to control and destroy Indian culture. In this interview Pandit Satish Sharma and author of
the book “Caste, Conversion, A Colonial Conspiracy”, explains how the
missionaries decided that the fabric of Hindu society had to be broken apart if
they wanted to convert people. That is when they decided to deploy this divide
and rule strategy of the caste system.
The Varna
system is fluid and flexible, and non-hierarchical. Pandit Satish Sharma also gives a simple and beautiful
explanation of the Varna Ashram system from 11:35 min to 15:15 mins (or
even 24 mins if you have the time). It is a system where everyone has a place
and a role to play which creates homeostasis in the community which is
different from societies in western countries that are often based on
hierarchical structures and competitiveness.
It is an internationally spread lie that Hindus are casteist, a lie that has
created a lot of hatred against Hindus. It is a hate trope proliferated by the
colonialists and churches. First the Britishers created the word Hinduism (real
word is Sanatana Dharma), just so they could demonize and attack this group of
people. Then they created a concept of castes because that is what gave them a
leverage to bring Hindus down. Once the white people found out that Hindus are
the most scientific, whites had to bring them down. An agenda that has been
going on against Hindus for over 4 centuries.
“The word
caste is prepackaged Hinduphobia in one word. It is a hate trope.” – Satish Sharma
Brahmins are often most vilified and accused of discrimination against other castes. It is worth looking a little bit deeper into Sanatan Dharma, Brahmins and why Brahmins were targeted especially so we can revisit what we have assumed to be truth. To put it in the words of Satish Sharma “It is important to undo this colonialist hate trope that has been placed around the neck of every Hindu.”
The reason behind the witch hunt against Hindus and Brahmins
The more I learn about Sanatana Dharma, the more I am in awe and can see that
the stories that have been created around Hindus being silly idol worshippers, being
backwards and casteist are part of an agenda and far from the truth.
Sanatana
Dharma - Sanatana means eternal, Dharma can be loosely translated into
righteous way of living. This in very simple terms means living in sync with
Nature and the Cosmos, in tune with Cosmic Principles. In our incarnated
expressions we are energy beings. Sanatanis know this more than anyone and know
how to keep their energy field elevated.
Pretty much
everyone in the world knows about the greeting of Namaste, it is widely
appropriated also. What this means is the Brahman (True Self) within me is
witnessing the Brahman in you. It is an understanding that on this plane we
both are just energy interacting. One energy being identifying the other energy
being and interacting. Sanatanis understand that every tattva (element) inside,
every bit and piece inside is nothing but moving energy. We are pure energy
beings.
Everything
that you can read in the Vedas, the science is that you are an energy being.
That’s why you wear a certain kind of outfit, therefore you follow a certain
kind of daily routine. The clothes that ancient Indians wore were only one
cloth wrapped around the body so that nothing cuts their energy. Nothing would
be sitting on the navel, which is the seat of the jivatma. Then they would have
elements like gold, silver, copper etc. Everything that they wore was organic,
something upping their energy field. In Sanatana Dharma our common identity is
understood to be Atma (true spark) and any other identity is a temporary cover.
Imagine the depth of knowledge and understanding that is held in Sanatana
Dharma.
Sanatana
Dharma used to be around the world. There are many temples found in places
other than current day India, including Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Mekka etc. Brahmins were once there too. As soon as Brahmins were
destroyed there, everyone forgot who they were, their essence as Atma, their
True Self and highest potential as Brahmroop, because there was no teacher to
remind them.
A Brahmin
was a learned person, a scholar, dedicating many hours of his life to studying
the Shastras, realizing Brahman and learning the mantras and methods of doing
rituals. He gave his time and energy and then received a donation. Generation
of Brahmins have selflessly served others by offering their time and knowledge
to them.
If you look
at Dharma (righteous conduct), the Dharma of a Shudra is different from a
Brahmin. For a Brahmin, without a shower he can’t eat. But for a Shudra this is
okay. Brahmins wanted to hold on to their energy template to the highest
possible level, never deplete and always replenish it and increase their
vibration by doing the Gayatri Mantra. The Dharma of a Brahmin was very
disciplined so that he could maintain this energetic elevation.
Just on a
side note, what Brahmins were doing, aren’t we doing that right now? Wearing a
mask, washing hands and social distancing to not pick up some disease from
someone. We do understand that we can pick up something from someone else. We believe
our fear is real, but if the Brahmins understood the metaphysical vibrations
and how something can be passed on, then why are they being called out for that?
I believe these are things we need to reflect on to be able to come out of our
biases.
When you
put the pieces of the puzzle together, the picture that emerges is clear. The colonialist
Britisher hated Brahmins as they resisted conversion to Christianity. To the
Britishers, Brahmins posed the highest level of threat to their agenda. To
destroy the fabric of Hindu society and the upholders of knowledge so they
could establish their rule and conversion agenda, the Britishers created the
caste system, which has been used as a weapon against Indians till date.
It is
interesting to note that this Christian conversion agenda, with India as a
prime target, is still going on today as is explained in detail with ample
proof by Karolina Goswami in this Youtube
video and this one . The sad reality is that people
who are trying to convert Indians want to get rid of Brahmins so that people
forget their true identity and can be converted. That is why this witch hunt
against Hindus and that is why the allegation of caste system is still being proliferated
by the church, media and academia around the world today.
White people’s pseudo equality and equity
White people are always talking about equality and equity but seem to be
selectively applying it. The Netherlands prides itself on equal rights and
Dutch people are the first to stand up for LGBTQs but have never seen us stand
up for the Brahmins or Hindus. Why is that? Instead, we hold our biases and hold
all sorts of judgements against Hinduism. We actually are so misguided and
deluded that we are criticizing Hindus for the caste system, a system that was
created by white people in the first place. I have been thinking about this for
a long time and done my research. This has given me an opportunity to come out
of my personal bias and out of the narratives spun against Hindus and Hinduism.
It has also opened my eyes to the irony and hypocrisy that we as white people
are pointing fingers at Hindus in the name of equality and equity. Our own
people tried to colonize them and tried to sell them Christianity, convert Hindus
out of some white man’s burden nonsense. Today we claim to believe in freedom
and democracy, what happened to democracy then? By the way, an excellent,
impactful response to white man’s burden can
be read here.
What right did we have in the first place to colonize other nations? My
epigenetics is made of my ancestors. My ancestors colonized numerous other
nations including India and traded over 1.5 million people as slaves. Talk
about a horrible history. I would like to deeply apologize on their behalf, on
behalf of all Dutch people. I know we have wronged certain nations and so many
people, and I don’t agree what is going on in the name of equity today.
Am very
happy at least the mayor of Amsterdam has given an official apology for the
colonial crimes and slave trade and believe the prime minister of the
Netherlands should do the same. I find it astounding that after all that the
Britishers did to the Indians, there is not even one apology from them. The
British colonialists looted India’s wealth and brought so much destruction. A
whopping 45 trillion dollars’ worth of wealth the Britishers took out of India.
The kind of destruction of life the Church has done is tremendous, but we have
yet to hear an apology from the pope to the Hindus. What are we talking about
equity? As long as this has not been set straight, we cannot talk about big
subjects like equity and do a witch hunt of people in India. Really wonder sometimes,
what is wrong with our conscience that we are still behaving like our ancestors
in the name of pseudo democracy and pseudo equality?
What
real equity looks like
Real equity
is rooted in a deeper understanding of life and truth. Rather than pointing
fingers at Hindus, I believe we should open our hearts and minds and learn from
Hindus. So many Hindu temples let white people come in. If they want to take on
to Sanatana Dharma and become a follower of ISKON or another Sampraday, white
people are allowed to enter. You will never see any injustice being done to a
white person. A person’s skin colour doesn’t come in the way. The first thing
that Sanatanis see is that you are Atma (the true spark), you have the right to
access Bhagwan, Ishwar and Gnan just like any other Atma has. I can vouch for
this personally. Have always been accepted with open arms. If we don’t see Hindus
holding white people to account for what their ancestors did, then we as white
people should learn something from them. Hindus have always practiced equity. It
is us as white people who need to learn how to practice real equity and not
point fingers at Hindus.
We need to
take responsibility for our colonial past and stop proliferating this false
notion of caste system, which was created by white people in the first place
with a destructive agenda. We as white people need to do our inner corrections,
come out of our biases and white superiority complex, stop pushing our flawed
concepts and way of thinking onto others and appreciate the pluralism of
humanity.
