Ancient World Artifacts: Pyramids

Ancient World Artifacts: The Mysterious and Bizarre

(YouTube Movies & TV) Free with ads TV-14. There are many mysteries in ancient India, with fascinating temples and legends. There are also 10 Lesser-Known Pyramids on Earth. Explore pyramids around the world that are even more mysterious than those in Egypt as well as bizarre "Alien" archaeological artifacts that defy comprehension. Ancient World Artifacts: The Mysterious and Bizarre

Led Zeppelin and the Occult

Led Zeppelin and the Occult: An Analysis

(The Eleusinian Society) Today we look into the strange style and imagery behind the British hard rock band Led Zeppelin and their ties to occultism, Aleister Crowley, Egypt, and maybe the devil. MTD Media LLC., 2023.

Spiritualism and the Occult

Om system in Thai Forest Tradition

While Buddhism does not encourage preoccupation with such matters, it does not deny the existence of various classes of "discarnate" beings (spirits).

They dwell in various realms and on various planes of existence, some higher and happier than this world, others, such as so-called "hungry ghosts" (petas), more miserable.

They are relatively real — tha is, no less "real" than we ourselves in this [illusory] world. They all, without exception, are in samsara or "birth-and-death." Therefore, their stay in any of the many realms within the 31 Planes of Existence they may inhabit is temporary, though in some cases it may be unbelievably long-lasting by human standards, feeling like an eternity.

There is in line with the idea of rebirth on earth, since what realm one is reborn in depends on one's karma (deeds), the human condition being only one of the various possibilities (though a specifically important one, since enlightenment and liberation from any other realm is held to be virtually impossible).

• [While this would seem to be true, devas in various realms seemed to have a greater success rate than humans in achieving knowledge-and-vision of what the Buddha was teaching humans. The Buddha was a "teacher of gods (devas) and men (humans)." The percentage of devas who took an interest is unknown, nor is it known how many devas there are (or how many "humans" there are existence since this world is not the only human world. Humans occupy a plane of existence not a singular planet. And there are countless such worlds. Every world-system or cakkavala has a human plane. (Human beings in Buddhism). Regardless of how many there are, more devas attained liberation through wisdom than humans. The Buddha devoted a portion of his daily schedule to teaching devas to ensure their success. Humans got the rest of his time. The full range and influence of the Buddha is imponderable.]

"Stairway to Heaven" is diabolically occult?

Therefore, a human rebirth is considered as desirable as it is rare — a precious opportunity that would be a folly to waste. It is also stated in the texts that humans have a "mind-made [subtle] body, complete in all its parts," which would seem to correspond to the "astral" or "etheric" body referred to by occultists.

Responsible occultists — of whom there are many — are, of course, aware of the dangers of incautious involvement with these matters, which they often stress. The inhabitants of the various realms are not enlightened beings. While some are undoubtedly much wiser and more advanced than the average human, others are not and can exert a malevolent power.

It is outside the province of Buddhist monastics to practice any of the occult arts. It is in fact forbidden that they do so, although it is not infrequently found being done in the East.

Western Buddhists should not concern themselves with such matters. If they nevertheless do so (as many will, whatever is said to the contrary), they should at least be extremely careful to consult only responsible and conscientious practitioners of a high moral standard.

Such people are not hard to find and are often very fine characters. But it should always be borne in mind that even genuine messages from the dead and departed can be misleading, since they are still, in varying degrees, ignorant. For this reason, the well-known triviality of many "spirit" messages proves nothing about their genuineness.

Beings in higher worlds are known in Buddhism as devas, and it seems certain that many of them are truly concerned to help humankind as far as is possible with their power. It might even be suggested that there is no essential difference between the higher devas and the bodhisattvas of Mahayana Buddhism.

Some people are naturally psychic, and some even develop psychic powers as a result, or byproduct, of (jhanic, samadhi) meditation. Such powers are real, but it is unwise to seek after or cling to them if attained. If they are gained with insufficient insight or moral purification, they can be disastrous.

It is another of the many illusions of the modern liberal humanist that such things as "witchcraft" do not exist. Righteous indignation at the cruel treatment of real or alleged witches in the past should not lead us to imagine that the whole thing was completely mythical. So we should be very wary of seeking contact with the psychic planes, not because they do not exist, but because they do. (If they did not exist, comparatively little harm would be done by seeking them out). Source

• The Eleusinian Society (video), Sept. 13, 2023; Maurice O'Connell Walshe, Buddhism and Death (2005); Seth Auberon, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Girl fight: AOC v Greene, Congress catfight

BREAKING NEWS: All hell breaks loose when Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene directly insults Black Jasmine Crockett

(Forbes Breaking News) May 16, 2024: At tonight's House Oversight Committee hearing, [white] Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-GA) insult of [Black] Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) plunged the hearing into chaos, particularly when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) jumped in and took sides against Greene. Then Crockett got in the best line of the night, openly mocking Greene in the form of a hypothetical question about badly bleached blond hair and a butch body. Ehem, Marjorie? Sadly, the old white men in charge did not understand the question.

MAGA Reps. Gaetz and Boebert get heckled at the Trump circus trial

Girls used to be so classy. Now it's all petty ego.

On Thursday, May 16, 2024, evening, a House Oversight Committee hearing intended to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt quickly devolved into a heated and disorderly exchange between Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The session was initially convened to address Garland's refusal to comply with a subpoena for an audio recording of Pres/ Biden's interview with a special counsel. However, tensions flared when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene made a derogatory comment about Rep. Jasmine Crockett's appearance, prompting an intense response from [AOC] Rep. Ocasio-Cortez [who got all Puerto Rican or Cuban and New Yorker with a kind of, Oh no you diddent, aw hell no you diddent kind of vibe, made worse by the addition of "baby girl."

During the hearing, Greene interrupted Crockett with a personal attack, stating, "I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you’re reading."

This remark led to audible groans in the chamber and a plea for order from Committee Chairman James Comer.

Ocasio-Cortez immediately called for Greene's words to be "taken down," a procedural move allowing the speaker to withdraw or amend the words if deemed inappropriate.

I'm from New York. I eat Greenes for lunch.

Greene's retort, "Are your feelings hurt?" was met with Ocasio-Cortez's sharp response, "Oh girl, baby girl! Don’t even play!"

Ocasio-Cortez insisted that Greene's comments were unacceptable and demanded a sincere apology to Rep. Crockett, rejecting any insincere or smarmy apologies.

Despite the heated back-and-forth, Greene eventually agreed to strike her words but refused to apologize, further insulting Ocasio-Cortez's intelligence.

You want some, B*tch? - Are you talkin to me?

The situation escalated when Rep. Jamie Raskin asked Greene again if she would apologize, to which she defiantly replied, "You will never get an apology out of me."

The contentious exchange highlighted deep divisions and personal animosities among committee members, drawing significant attention and criticism.

Rep. Crockett later expressed her frustration on social media, emphasizing the inappropriate and chaotic behavior displayed by some members of Congress.

• Forbes Breaking News; Crux (live), May 16, 2024; Seth Auberon, Crystal Quintero, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Lunar New Year Love Story (graphic novel)

CC Liu, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

My book club likes it. Lunar New Year Love Story has 4.6 out of 5 stars with 63 ratings. And it's an editors' pick for Best Young Adult. Graphic novel superstars author Gene Luen Yang and illustrator LeUyen Pham join forces in this heartwarming rom-com about fate, family, and falling in love. She was destined for heartbreak. Then fate handed her love. Val is ready to give up on love. It's led to nothing but secrets and heartbreak, and she's pretty sure she's cursed: No one in her family, for generations, has ever had any luck with love. But then a chance encounter with a pair of cute lion-dancers sparks something in Val. Is it real love? Could this be her chance to break the family curse? Or is she destined to live with a broken heart forever? Lunar New Year Love Story

• Here & Now | LAist
• LAist Radio Lunar New Year NPR for Southern California - 89.3 FM

West hates Jews, wants relocation to M.E.

Seth Auberon, Shauna Schwartz, Sheldon S., Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

I'm really a real estate agent.

It is true that the West hates Jews, as most of the world does. It has expelled them from many European (nearly all) countries. But where to put them? Nazis had an idea, but that didn't work. "Send them back where they came from," someone suggested. So the British used Jews as a wedge to colonize the geopolitical Middle East and insure the flow of petroleum. Jews don't seem to know they were being used or don't care so long as they get free prime real estate handed to them. Tel Aviv will do, but Jerusalem and rich farmlands are an added bonus. Heck, why not just take all of it and then some?

Thanks for this, Bibi. - You kidding? I love it!

There are many small Middle Eastern, mostly Arab, countries to be colonized and devoured in this Western settler colonial project: Mandatory Palestine, Transjordan, Lebanon, the Sinai, Saudi Arabia, Yemen...maybe even a post-apocalyptic Iran in a few years if they don't shut up. The West hates the Jews and has thrown them out, oppressed, and slaughtered them. Now it has a better solution, a final final solution: throw them on top of Muslim Middle Easterners and let them fight it out, with weapons we supply in these proxy wars, to expand Western influence, hegemony, and colonial rule. The Jews are onboard. Why in the h*ll won't the college kids back it? We're doing it for them! This is how imperialism works, dummies! The CIA didn't waste all that time and money grooming Bibi Netanyahu and his brother for nothing. Look it up.

How US evangelical Christians betray Christians in the Holy Land (Part 2)

(AJ+) For millions of American evangelical Christians, supporting Israel is a core part of their interpretation of the Jewish religion's order on how to practice their faith.

This is all yours, guys! - Gee, thanks, God!

[Early Jews, Romans, or Greeks had the foresight to insert a threat (Genesis 12:3) that all followers have to "bless" Jews, or any European group claiming to be Jews, or else the tribal god will "curse" them].

Christians believe Israel needs to exist right on top of the heads of Palestinians, many of them Muslims, so that the prophesized “end times” and the return of the Jewish messiah Jesus Christ ["Rabbi Yshua Ben Yusuf"? Jesus' name if he had not realized his and our divinity] are guaranteed. 

But what does that racist American Christian support mean for people who share their Christian religion but live under illegal [racist-nationalist Euro-Ashkenazi white supremacist] Israeli Zionist-Jewish occupation?

Dena talks to Palestinian Christians about the evangelical Christian Zionist movement.

• 0:50 What is Christian Zionism?
• 1:49 Why this American Christian has devoted her life to helping Israel [in its genocide]
• 2:40 Christian Palestinians react to Christian Zionists
• 4:06 What some evangelicals believe the Bible says about the “end times”
• 7:01 Who’s behind the most powerful Christian Zionist organization?
• 9:04 Why do Christian Zionists support Israel’s oppression?

#Palestine #Christianity #Zionism #Judaism #Jews #IllegalOccupation #Genocide #USBackedDictatorNetanyahu Al Jazeera is funded in whole or in part by the Qatari government.

Messed up Bible stories (cartoon)

DarkMatter2525, Nov. 19, 2019; Sheldon S., Seth Auberon, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The most bizarre Bible story

Most readers dwell on the talking donkey bit, but the context also has a lot of entertaining interesting ridiculousness. This presentation took over a month to create with the help of patrons and subscribestar supporters: patreon.com/DarkMatter2525.

The Bible Unearthed (Finkelstein & Silberman)

This video's music can be found in the YouTube music studio (Creative Commons license): "Meteor," "Where Am I," "T_Rexed," "Hot Coffee," "Hiatus," "Bent," "Cowboy Lullaby," "Lovers_Squared," "Ella_Vater," "From Russia With Love," "Waltz of the Flowers," "Don't Look."

THE END OF THE ROAD (DarkMatter2525) Hey, everyone, the future of this channel is uncertain due to the FTC cracking down on YouTube with COPPA. Unfortunately, even though these videos are obviously not for children, "animated characters and cartoons" are included in the language as "directed at children" which could mean the end of [this] channel depending on how strict the FTC is going to be about it. They're casting a VERY wide net, including: video games, "stories," vivid colors, toys, cereal, etc. So a lot of people may be going bye-bye. This starts Jan. 1st 2020. This video could be the last DarkMatter2525 animation, but I think I'd like to try to squeeze in one more for December 2019. Nothing is set in stone. I might be okay after all, and I may be able to keep animating, but if I'm not okay, and you still want to keep in touch with me, I'll at least still have my DarkAntics channel and my Twitter and Patreon accounts, and I will announce anything further on those accounts if my DarkMatter2525 channel is deleted (over 10 years of work down the go[shdar]n drain).

• I can learn to animate better than this (udemy.com)

The Christian devil as non-metaphor (video)

Seth Auberon, Pat Macpherson, Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; FED, 12/16

"The Last Judgement" as devas descend on asuras/yakshas (Jacob de Backer, circa 1580)

Buddhism's Sakka, King of the Devas, drubs the Asura rebel leader Vepacitti: Christianity's St. Michael defeats rebellious Lucifer/Satan on Earth after tossing him out of a lowly heavenly plane where he was making trouble (Luca Giordano's Archangel Michael and Fallen Angels, 1666).

 

Satan's secrets exposed by former Satanist, self-described agent of the devil

The Buddhist "Mara" (Defilements, Obstacle, Killer, Destroyer) may be more metaphorical than real, but it's hard to dismiss that many sutras also speak of real maras. The same seems to be the case in the Abrahamic faiths -- Evangelical Christianity and Roman Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism.

We're taking over heaven!

So let's hear what "the devil" doesn't want us to know.

• NOTE: It's easy to discount that there's a devil, and a great History Channel documentary (see below) shows the evolution of the characteristics and theory of Lucifer/Satan/Devil exists. But let us remember the words and testimony of American cultural anthropologist Dr. Michael J. Harner in The Sound of Rushing Water: An Amazonian Jivaro shaman never believed in the devil of Westerners, particularly the one spread worldwide by Europeans and Americans until, in an ayahuasca (DMT) haze, he saw him himself -- a powerful demon or spirit up to no good, frightening those otherwise rational skeptics, agnostics, and atheists in North America. See Wisdom Quarterly's set of recent articles exploring who in the hell world the "devil" (Mara) is.

The devil as peta or yakkha (Jacob de Backer)

You may be shocked to hear what this former agent of the devil Satan has to say: He reveals how he himself served Satan in New York City to cause the destruction of lives, carry our secret rituals, and even sat with Satan in human form conversing with him.

He goes on to detail how he saw many lives taken, consented to kill for the devil, and how he fought believers and was ignored by an agent/crusader of the Christian god. He also tells how he was eventually "arrested" by the Christ.

Mashu's drawing of the white man's devil

Watch to the end, FED suggests, to learn something new about an abused and neglected child's spiritual journey to the Christian god the whole society is forced to esteem and fear.

• Many times the Christian missionary had told [the Amazonian shaman and ayahuascero] Mashu of the devil feared by white men, But since he had never seen the spirit, Mashu remained skeptical. Some time later, after drinking natema [a form of ayahuasca], Mashu was confronted by this figure of the "white man's devil." Since that time, Mashu has remained convinced of this spirit's reality. - Dr. Harner, U.S. Ph.D. More
• VIDEO: Pres. George W. Bush's real dad, Satanist Aleister Crowley

Who was "Satan" in history?

 

Zoroaster invented me (Codex Gigas)

(History Channel) "The History of the Devil" is wickedly good, informative, and concise.

 

A no-frills Welsh film produced in association with SBS Australia and distributed by Siren Visual, it's less than an hour in length but packs an amazing amount of history into its slim running time.

The documentary is made up of mostly still images alternating sporadically with talking heads, Christian religious scholars, theologians, and reverends.

Directed by Greg Moodie and written and produced by Dave Flitton, it was researched by Eibhleann Ni Ghriofa, Deirdre Learmont, and Craig McGregor.

It's an impressive and very open-minded account that offers some fantastic insight into the evolution, the hows and whys, and the specter of the Devil as he has existed and morphed through the ages from the dawn of civilization through to the new millennium.

Despite its relatively low-fi approach, the richness and diversity of its imagery; the historical plaques, plates, engravings, illustrations, paintings, drawings, and the occasional staged re-enactment (some dude dressed up in rather bemusing demonic attire), keeps the documentary at a high level of beguilement.

Karma: 600 witches curse Stanford rapist

Dominique Sisley (dazeddigital.com, June 10, 2016); Ashley Wells (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

God will protect me, ha ha.

Hundreds of witches from around the world joined forces to hex [curse] Stanford University rapist Brock Allen Turner on Tuesday night, in a bid to make up for the swimmer’s paltry six-month jail sentence [now reduced to three months when the racist judge could have given him 14 years in state prison].
 

How I dress? Please don't rape me, guys.

Turner, who was convicted of raping [digitally penetrating] an unconscious woman behind a dumpster, is currently scheduled to serve just three months of his six month prison sentence, along with a three year probation period.

Unsuprisingly, his punishment has been widely criticized for its [white privilege, implicit bias-inspired] leniency: with many now actively campaigning to unseat the judge [Aaron Persky of Santa Clara County] who made the ruling.
 

How shall we recall the racist judge?

One of these campaigners is Melanie Hexen. The hereditary witch -- who also works as a bellydancer and midwife [but is not necessarily a lesbian] -- decided to take matters into her own hands this week, when she organized a mass hexing of the Stanford swimmer via a Facebook event page (now deleted).

Despite only being sent to 12 of her coven sisters, the ritual quickly went viral after picking up 600 confirmed attendees.

“Witches doing spells in times when they’re otherwise powerless goes back thousands of years” – Melanie Hexen

“I think it really struck a chord with a lot of women as a way to feel like they had some power in this situation,” she told U.S. News. 

“That there was something [karma] they could do, some way they could come together and focus their rage and their need for justice that wasn’t being met. Witches doing spells in times when they’re otherwise powerless goes back thousands of years.” More

Harming? Karma for witches

Editors, Wisdom Quarterly (COMMENTARY)

Karma (verb): What we DO to ourselves by doing it to others, our actions, intentions (WQ).

 

What we do = our karma = our later results.

Using spells when feeling socially powerless is a common practice ... in spite of the fact that real witches know that doing harm with curses and hexes comes back on the practitioner 10 or even 100 times worse. This is due to the law of karma: Do harm, get harm; do benefit, get benefit. But a familiar sense of powerlessness quickly turns to mad power trip when one suddenly feels empowered by magic, the potential for revenge, or when we get a leg up on someone who's down. Something has to be done to the judge and rapists, but it does not have to harm anyone, least of all those who press for change and justice and an end to our rape culture. Cooler heads/hearts prevail, and a better world is made.

Repaying hatred with hatred, the Buddha taught, only results in more hatred (Dhp. 5). Wisdom, knowing that impersonal karma, will work itself out to rapists' detriment, and compassion, knowing that what WE do comes back to us so that the wisest and most loving thing to do for ourselves is be wise and loving. Do we love ourselves? Probably not, so we harm others and inadvertently harm ourselves even more than the initial harm of being angry rather than seeking an antidote to anger and other poisons of the heart. It's understandable that angry people would attack a pariah like Turner. But would they attack if their karma came back on them right away? Probably not.

Misunderstanding the law of karma (lol)

The problem with karma is that it does not ripen fast enough to teach us the connection between what we do and what happens to us. Moreover, even if a hex or a curse does not work, it is bad karma. It begins as unskillful, unwholesome mental karma. Then we speak it and it becomes bad verbal karma, like encouraging others to do harm. Then if we enact it, it becomes bad physical karma. And Turner may be there none the worse for wear -- or he dies. Either way, we have accrued demerit, fed our anger, failed to find an antidote for the poison in our heart/mind, promoted anger, hatred, rage in an angry world...

"Be Brave" (film)

Elevate, Mikki Willis with Lisa Garr (The Aware Show); Wisdom Quarterly

A brother's dying wish. A sister's undying promise. This is the story of Daniel Northcott and his message of unity for the world." HELP MAKE THIS FILM: IndieGoGo.com/Be-Brave

Mikki Willis and Erin Northcott are behind an amazing film project called "Be Brave."  It is the incredible story of Northcott's brother's journey around the world and the consequences of stumbling across and taking an ancient Mayan artifact. The project is searching for additional funding in order to complete this enlightening film.

Mikki Willis (elevate.us)

As the founder and CEO of Elevate, Mikki Willis has produced over 200 independent productions, ranging from network television shows and theatrical features to music videos and viral media. 

 

Elevate’s initiatives include PlayItFWD, a revolutionary viral distribution platform for transformational movies and media, Elevate Films, a full-service films and viral media production company, Elevate Film Festival, the world’s first international socially-conscious filmmaking challenge, theXperience, a new genre of live entertainment designed to elevate consciousness, and Elevate Presents, a live event production/innovation initiative.

Beware the lottery "curse"

Beware the lottery "curse"
Everyone dreams of hitting the jackpot, but the windfall may turn into a nightmare. Shattered dreams

• Belated $10 million win
• Search: Lottery scams

• Beach photo priest quits Catholic Church, joins Episcopal
• "Great D-Day Hissy Fit": Queen Elizabeth snubbed by France?

Bad Words: the Karma of Talking

WARNING: "Psychetruth" is a professional, ad-based production company masquer-ading as a do-it-yourself endeavor. It uses paid spokesmodels, acting and reading scripts. Enjoy without being pressured to subscribe or comment.

[On the subject of karma and talking, the Buddha said:] I declare that [physical, verbal, or mental] actions willed, per-formed, and accumulated will not become extinct as long as their results have not been experienced, be it in this life, in the next life, or in subsequent future lives. And as long as these results of actions willed, performed, and accumulated have not been experienced, there will be no making an end to suffering, I declare.

...And how is tainted failure in living fourfold in verbal acts?

There is one who is a "liar." When one is in the council in one's community or in another assembly, or among one's relatives, one's guild, in the royal court, or when one has been summoned as a witness and is asked to tell what one knows, then,

• though one does not know, one will say, "I know";
• though one does know, one will say, "I do not know";
• though one has not seen, one will say, "I have seen"; and
• though one has seen, one will say, "I have not seen."

1. One utters deliberate lies in that way, be it for one's own sake, for the sake of others, or for some material advantage.

2. One utters divisive speech: what one hears here one reports elsewhere to foment conflict there; and what one hears elsewhere one reports here to foment conflict here.

Thus one creates discord among those united, and one incites still more those who are in discord. One is fond of dissension, one delights and rejoices in it, and one utters words that cause dissension.

3. One speaks harshly, using speech that is coarse, rough, bitter, and abusive, that makes others angry and causes distraction of mind. It is such speech that one utters.

4. One indulges in frivolous chit chat: one speaks what is untimely, unreasonable, and unbeneficial, having no connection with the Doctrine or the Discipline [the Dharma or the Vinaya]. One's talk is not worth treasuring; it is inopportune, inadvisable, unrestrained, and harmful.

In this way, tainted failure in living is fourfold in verbal acts.*

*NOTE: On the threefold ripening of karma, see Text 24 and Chapter III, Note 13. The Buddha's statement -- that there is no making an end to suffering without experiencing the results of all actions performed -- must be understood with the reservation (which [the commentary] makes explicit in connection with "karma ripening in future lives") that reference is to "karma that is actually capable of yielding a karmic result" (vipakaraha-kamma).

But under certain circumstances karma can be annulled by a counteractive or destructive karma, and the arhat, by terminating the conditions for rebirth, extinguishes the potential for ripening of all one's past karma. The statement in the present text must also be understood in the light of the following sutra passage:

"If one says that in whatever way a person performs a karmic action, in that very same way one will experience the result -- in that case there will be no (possibility for) the holy life [brahmacarya or a life leading to enlightenment], and no opportunity would appear for making a complete end to suffering.

"But if one says that a person who performs a karmic action (with a result) that is variably experienceable, will reap its result accordingly -- in that case there will be (a possibility for) the holy life, and an opportunity would appear for making a complete end to suffering" (AN III, 110).

• Excerpts from "The Extinction of Karma" discourse (AN X, 206) translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi, from the book The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha, Chapter of the Tens, Discourse 206.

Untouchability: Buddhism in India

The Buddha accepting a request for ordination from Sunita, an Untouchable (Image: Buddhism in Pictures, the Buddhist Information Center, Sri Lanka).

Lifting the Curse of Untouchability

Ken and Visakha Kawasaki

Poverty is not news in India. The crush of people, the crush of destitute people, is numbing. Nearly 260 million of India's more than 1 billion people live below the poverty line. India is the world's largest democracy, but more than half a century after independence from British colonial rule, its entrenched caste system aggravates persistent economic troubles and makes a travesty of the ideals of justice and equality.

"Discrimination suffered by women, the lower castes, and tribal groups is a crying denial of the democracy that is enshrined in our constitution," President K. R. Narayanan said recently.

What are the origins of the caste system? Nearly a thousand years before Buddha’s birth, nomads speaking an early form of Sanskrit entered the Indian subcontinent from the north-west, probably through what is now Afghanistan, slowly spreading down through the Punjab into north-central India. They settled into villages and merged with the local population

In this caste-bound society, there were some homeless dropouts called samanas [Sanskrit Shramanas, "wandering ascetics"] who played little or no part in the economy as either producers or consumers. They devoted themselves to the search for religious truth, but they did not follow the prevailing religious orthodoxy, the Brahminical religion based on the Vedas. They were highly individualistic and engaged in a variety of practices. Most samanas were celibate wanderers, without families or other social ties. They could travel freely even from kingdom to kingdom. Being respected by all levels of society, they were given food and hospitality.

Some were teachers -- arguing their philosophies of materialism, nihilism, determinism, and eternalism. Listening to such debates was actually a popular form of entertainment. Many samanas sought to develop psychic powers. Some were naked and unbathed, others wore loin clothes and bathed three times daily. Some followed bizarre rules and practices.

From these forest wanderers came new strains of mysticism as well as the organized religions of Buddhism and Jainism. The culture wars of the 1st millennium B.C.E. set the Brahminical tradition against the Samanic one. The Samanic faiths were almost as pluralistic as today, but what they had in common was their refusal to accept the authority of the Vedas and the brahmins. More>>

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Poster of the Buddha and Dr. Ambedkar, displayed in many homes of new Buddhists in India (brelief)