Misogyny: literally "hatred of females," figuratively promoting separation of the sexes or normative sex role stereotyping [or saying there are only two genders]
Dalit B. R. Ambedkar, an Indian social reformer and politician who came from a social group that was considered "untouchable," theorized that untouchability originated because of the deliberate policy of the elitist Brahmins (brahmanas).
According to him, the Brahmins despised the people who gave up Brahmanism (the Brahminical religion) in favor of Buddhism or Jainism (shramana, "wandering ascetic" shamanic traditions).
Later scholars such as Vivekanand Jha have refuted this theory [10]. Professor of History Nripendra Kumar Dutt theorized that the concept of untouchability originated from the "pariah"-like treatment accorded to the indigenous people of India by the early Dravidians, and that the concept was borrowed by the Indo-Aryans from the Dravidians.
Scholars such as R. S. Sharma have rejected this theory, arguing that there is no evidence that Dravidians practiced untouchability before coming into contact with the Indo-Aryans [10]. Austrian ethnologist Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf theorized that untouchability originated as class stratification in urban areas of the Indus Valley Civilization. According to this theory, the poorer workers involved in "unclean" occupations such as sweeping or leather work were historically segregated and banished outside the city limits. Over time, personal cleanliness came to be identified with "purity," and the concept of untouchability eventually spread to rural areas as well. After the decline of the Indus Valley towns, these "untouchables" probably spread to other parts of India [11].
Scholars such as Suvira Jaiswal reject this theory, arguing that it lacks evidence and does not explain why the concept of untouchability is more pronounced in rural areas [12].
American scholar George L. Hart, based on his interpretation of Old Tamil texts such as Purananuru, traced the origin of untouchability to ancient Tamil society. According to him, in this society, certain occupational groups were thought to be involved in controlling the malevolent supernatural forces; as an example, Hart mentions the Paraiyars, who played the drums during battles and solemn events such as births and deaths. People from these occupational groups came to be avoided by others, who believed that they were "dangerous and had the power to pollute the others" [13].
Jaiswal dismisses the evidence produced by Hart as "extremely weak" and contradictory. Jaiswal points out that the authors of the ancient Tamil texts included several Brahmanas (a fact accepted by Hart); thus, the society described in these texts was already under Brahmanical influence and could have borrowed the concept of untouchability from Brahmins [14]. More
(Neo Dharmism) Colonialism rewrote Hinduism [all of the traditions found along the Indus balled up and turned into a "religion" by the British, having also been systematized and more or less unified byAdi Shankara-acharya]: Here's what European scholars erased
"Hinduism" (which calls itself the Sanātana Dharma or "Eternal Truth") traces its roots back thousands of years to Brahmanism (the tradition of the educated Brahmin priestly caste) and the Old Vedic Religion derived from the Vedas.
Kuladevata (Sanskrit कुलदेवता, Romanized Kuladevatā, lit. "clan deity," a minor god or goddess) [1], also known as a kuladaivaṃ (Malayalam കുലദൈവം, Telugu కులదైవం) [2], an ancestral "tutelary deity" in Hinduism and Jainism [3].
Such a deity (devi, deva, devata) is often the object of one's spiritual devotion (bhakti) and is coaxed to watch over one's clan (kula), lineage (gotra), family, and children to protect them from misfortune.
This is distinct from an ishta-devata ("personal tutelar") and a grāma-devatā ("village deities") [4].
A male deity is called a kula-deva and female deity kula-devi (sometimes spelled kuldev or kuldevi respectively, particularly since Hindi drops many of the a's overly used in Sanskrit) [5].
ETYMOLOGY: The word kuladevata is derived from two words, kula, meaning "clan," and devata, meaning "deity," referring to the ancestral deities that are worshipped by particular clans [6]. More
Four female enlightened masters who went completely “insane”
Taoist Master Sun Bu'er
(Asangoham) May 28, 2026: #egodeath #consciousness #nonduality Four women throughout history were called "insane," possessed, and heretical. But each one had broken through to a level of awakening most people never touch.
This is the story of mystics who looked mad on the outside but were actually living proof of the deepest spiritual truths ever discovered.
1. Sun Bu'er destroyed her own beauty to escape the prison of the ego and became the only woman among the Seven Immortals of Taoism.
ANSWER (by Gurudev @SriSriRaviShankar ji): "I am not this," that is what Asangoham means. For example, I am wearing the cloth, but I am not the cloth...I am not the body. I am not the thoughts, I am not the mind. Like this you go on to negate one by one all the layers of identity. And finally when you ask, "Who am I?" You will find nothing. "I am nothing..." That is what Asangoham is. Sangoham means "being one with it." If I think I am my clothes, then that is a problem. I am beyond all these layers of existence. If I think that I am my thoughts, my emotions, my sensations then I lose track of my vast nature. Therefore, to reach the realization of our vastness we say, "I am not this and I am not th[at]," repeatedly.
Gurudev sings: Mano Budhyahankaar Chittani Naaham, Na Cha Shrotra Jihve Na Cha Ghraana netre Na Cha Vyoma Bhumir Na Tejo Na Vayuh, Chidananda Rupah Shivoham Shivoham (from the Atma-shatkam by Adi Shankara-Acharya): "I am not the mind, intellect, memory, or ego. I am not this, not this, not this. This is the way of negating and going into that hollow and empty space. This shiva tattva is what I really am. This realization is what meditation is, that is samadhi.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Buddhism goes further to the realization that ANY identification is in error, and because there is no-self (no-atman, anatta, no soul, no self, no ego to cling to, in the ultimate sense, one lets go, ceases to cling, as is liberated to Truth, to enlightenment, to nirvana). But because the Old Vedic Religion and later Hinduism are not aware of this, they call Atma-shatkamNirvana-shatkam as this level of "self realization" is the highest attainable for them. Were they to practice in line with what "Lord Buddha" taught, they might well make an end of all further rebirth and suffering, but ordinary worldlings, even the spiritual kind, are not interested in that. They long for rebirth in the heaven they deem supreme, the World of Brahma, and fail to grasp what Brahman is. No one should ever mistakenly think Vedic Hinduism and Buddhism teach the same thing. They are worlds apart for all their shared language and history.]
2. Anandamayi Ma surrendered her freewill so completely that she became a living puppet of the divine.
4. Bernadette Roberts [CarmeliteCatholicnun] lost God, lost her self, and walked straight into the void to discover the raw truth of pure consciousness.
“Only God is love, and for this love to be fully realized self must step aside. And not only do we not need a self to love God, but for the same reason we do not need a mind to know [God], for that in us which knows God, is God.”
This deep dive explores non-duality, ego death, enlightenment, and the terrifying spiritual awakenings that the world mistook for insanity.
Drawn to Advaita Vedanta (nondualism), Taoist internal alchemy, Christian mysticism, consciousness, and the [true] nature of the self? This journey into the minds of history's (herstory's) most misunderstood mystics will stay with you.
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