To Pam Ho,
First of, by definition and practice, cult is bad; let’s get that out of the way. Secondly, the Hare Krishna belief (ISKCON, Science of Identity or Gaudiya Vaishnava) is a cult; and lastly, the Krishna story is a myth; not just a myth, but a proven effective political tool, which aim is to sustain the superiority of Brahmin minority over the Dalit masses. How does that translate outside the caste system? Cloaked as a non-threatening “way of life”, “yoga”, or “healthy lifestyle”, it legitimizes the age-old cancer that India as a whole suffers from to whoever (group, culture or society) adopt it as a belief system.
The Dalits (untouchables), almost unarguably have the lowest status in all of the human societies. From birth, they are supposed to accept wholeheartedly the fate of a slave in order to have a chance of a better status in the next life; that the status is the cause of their karma. To quibble with the divine dogma is to be reborn as a Dalit again or lower.
About Krishna. Just as the modern society gets to unravel the mysteries of our past due to better methodology, tools and documentation, we begin to separate facts from fictions. Just as we know now the origin of and the politics behind the curation of the Bible, before it was declared “Holy”, the same is being unravelled in regards to the Bhagavad Gita. It was not spoken 5,000 years ago, was not written by the first man nor came from God; it is a late addition to the Mahabharatha, to reinvent Brahmanism in order to salvage it from Buddhism that exposed the evil and politics of the caste system. It has been extrapolated and interpolated numerous times to fit into the woven fabric of Hindu society and it’s many sects like the Gaudiya Vaishnava. The original text still exists, so are the earlier versions. The earlier Mahabharatha has got nothing to do with Arjuna, let alone Krishna. The original Gita has only 84 verses as against 700 for the new. The similarities between the Battle of Karukhsetra and the historical Kalinga War are so stark, so is the warrior Arjuna with the historical Buddhist warrior Ashoka.
The damage done to India by caste system is incalculable: There are millions of child slaves in India; stricken parents have no choice but to sell their loved children to bondage (worse for girls, as sex slaves); the violence and lack of opportunity in life the Dalits face everyday are all due to caste system; and this has been going on for over three thousand years, with no sign of it ever going.
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darkindia.wordpress.com]
Unlike religion, modern society does not claim to hold the Truth, but no doubt our collective eagerness to know unwittingly debunks superstition and mysteries believers hold so dearly, as Absolute Truth or as a moral compass. It can be argued that religion do help make moral an individual, a group, or even a society. But it is also a fact that when one embraces a certain belief, the tendency is to demonize other beliefs or those who simply disagree as enemies or evil.
Before you go for yoga meditation, arotik, kirtan and fancy retreats, step back and think what does your core belief really support and represent. If a believer could see clearly and acknowledges beyond doubt that his/her belief system helps sustain oppression to certain groups such as the Dalits, the women, the blacks and the gays, whatever sincerity and sacrifice invested are simply laid waste.
To conclude, what Tulsi represents as far as ex-followers are concerned which they (SFI) has been trying to bring into government, long before she was born is tyranny. Much like the Brahmins were to the Dalits and the ISKCONs to the gurukulis. We may not refer to the Dalits now, but if you read back from the copious documented pages in this forum, you’ll learn what kind of tyrant her gurudev really is. IMHO.
Sources:
The Gita As It Was: Rediscovering the Original Bhagavadgita
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www.amazon.ca]
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www.sakshitimes.net]
THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA
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secretbhagavadgita.wordpress.com]
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dharmakamata.blogspot.ca]
Aum Beep Beep
THE STORY OF HINDUISM
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www.aumbeepbeep.com]