Vol 1 Issue 10

You’ve probably heard this statement before or seen it written on T-shirts. A smart quip so boldly uttered that forced all who heard Ghandi speak to use their hair covered head for something other then a hat-rack. Whether he was unique or not, much of what Ghandi did was rooted in the continent of India’s own personal supernatural past-time – Hinduism. The concept of “passive resistance” or “civil-disobedience” permeates throughout India’s history. Not to mention that their ancestors accepted damn near every religious concept that came down the shoot. So sit back and relax, grab a beer, take a hit off the old bong and enjoy a romp through Hinduism’s long and imaginative past.

The word Hindu is derived form the sanskrit word ‘sindhu’ meaning the Indus river, were Persians first came across the Hindu’s in the 5th century B.C.E.(Before Common Era). Of course it’s the same old stranger naming game where complete morons land in a strange land and call the natives what ever they want. A perfect example of this is none other then Christopher Columbus’s “Indian” debacle where he was convinced that he landed in India. So of course everyone from then on continued the mistake until it took on a life of its own; even Native Americans call themselves by this bullshit word. And of course all self-respecting religions must have a holy book, and Hinduism aims to please with many, the Veda’s being the most important of all. The word “Veda” means Knowledge, which is a hell of a lot more creative then the word “Bible” which is Greek for Books. The Veda is mostly detached poetic hymns written down sometime in the 3rd century B.C.E., but are claimed to be older then that. And of course the older the book the more sacred it is, especially when dealing with ceremonial sacrifices (Yippie! time to kill stuff). And of course the latest writings of the Vedic period are the “Sutras,” which make up marriage and funeral rites, as well as religious and secular law. Oh, and I don’t want to forget the Atharva-Veda, which is a collection of magic spells – how’s that for a Harry Potter feel.

With over a Billion followers Hinduism has withstood a vast expanse of history, mostly by absorbing ideological and religious ideas. For the most part Hindu’s form a complex social structure with a Nationalistic over tone. Oh, don’t get me wrong, they maintain a fairly superstitious way of life but are more concern with what people do then what they think. There is far more uniformity of behavior than of belief among Hindus, although very few practices or beliefs are shared by all. There are a few usages observed by almost all Hindus: reverence for Brahmans and cows; abstention from meat (especially beef); and marriage within the caste (jati), in the hope of producing male heirs. Most Hindus chant the gayatri hymn to the sun at dawn, but little agreement exists as to what other prayers should be chanted. Most Hindus worship Shiva, Vishnu, or the Goddess (Devi), but they also worship hundreds of additional minor deities peculiar to a particular village or even to a particular family. No doctrinal or ecclesiastical hierarchy exists in Hinduism, and most followers do basically whatever they want within the bounds of the caste system.

Incorporated in this rich literature is a complex cosmology. Hindus believe that the universe is a great, enclosed sphere, a cosmic egg, within which are numerous concentric heavens, hells, oceans, and continents, with India at the center. And of course the universe works in cycles, and at the end of each golden age the universe is destroyed by fire and flood, and a new golden age begins. Human life, too, is cyclic: After death, the soul leaves the body and is reborn in the body of another person, animal, vegetable, or mineral. This condition of endless birth and rebirth is called Samsara – I simply call it crap. The ability of cells to become insubstantial then magically transform into another being is very telling of a simplistic ancient people. This is the same old pattern that most all religions follow – ancient people make up shit about the world then many years latter after a little evolution we find out the truth. And this brings in the concept of “Karma,” which is basically a human failing that allows us to believe that everyone will get there due just with a little less smoting then the christians. So by renouncing all worldly desires(sound familiar; Buddism) one can release himself from this mad silly notion of birth and rebirth. I hate to burst there bubble, but this is all the life your going to get and I’m not wasting mine worrying about shit I can’t see.

So in closing, I bring myself full circle back around to Ghandi and the prevalent concepts that made up his life – ahimsa. This is the most important tenet, the absence of a desire to injure, which is used to justify vegetarianism (although it does not preclude physical violence toward animals or humans, or blood sacrifices in temples). So, there it is folks, and if you take anything from this remember you can’t eat the cow because it might me Uncle Pete, but if that damn dog doesn’t stop barking, by all means, beat it with a stick!!