#indian religion

[journeytothewestresearch]

So, what IS the Samadhi Fire/True Fire of Samadhi? It can't be an average flame if it can take out Sun Wukong himself in JttW and the name sounds like it means something, but I can't find any context when I look it up.

Journey to the West states that Samādhi fire is not like earthly or heavenly flame. It is something more. Part of a poem in chapter 41 reads:

(Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 225)

The general concept of Samādhi (Sk: "concentration"; Ch: sanmei, 三昧) refers to an advanced level of meditation where one can "establish and maintain one-pointedness of mind on a specific object of concentration" (Buswell & Lopez, 2014, p. 743). Some Hindu and Buddhist sources associate it with a spiritually cleansing flame. One example comes from the Gaṇḍavyūha section of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra (Ch: Dafang guangfo huayan jing, 大方廣佛華嚴經; compiled by the 3rd or 4th-century CE). 

Sudhana (Ch: Shancai tongzi, 善財童子; i.e. Red Boy), the holy work's protagonist, seeks out 53 teachers in the course of his spiritual cultivation. His ninth instructor, a learned Brahmin named Jayoṣmāyatana (Ch: Shengre poluomen, 勝熱婆羅門; lit: "Victorious Heat Brahmin") is said to have achieved "the light of the concentration [i.e. Samādhi] of adamantine flame" (jingang yan sanmei guangming, 金剛焰三昧光明) (Clearly, 1993, p. 1218). The fire that he produces is so powerful that it scares even the gods and demons. Though, the point of the flames appears to be incineration of the ego and desires and illumination of the mind. Sudhana follows his instructions by throwing himself into the fire, thus gaining a higher level of spiritual knowledge.

Here is a translation of that section of the sutra (warning: it is wordy):

(Clearly, 1993, pp. 1217-1222)

A Song or Ming-era Japanese painting of the fire brahmin and Sudhana.

Sources:

Buswell, R. E. , & Lopez, D. S. (2014). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press.

Cleary, T. (1993). The Flower Ornament Scripture: A Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra. Boston: Shambhala.

Wu, C., & Yu, A. C. (2012). The Journey to the West (Vols. 1-4) (Rev. ed.). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.

[jadwiga-abremovic]

I wish conversations about similarities between ancient Hellenism and modern Hindu beliefs weren't poisoned by ultranationalism and nazis.

So much of the myths and religious practices would make more sense if we could comfortably say "X minor deity is the reincarnation of Y major deity".

I honestly think some Greek version of the Dharma Wheel and Samsara is what the eleusian mysteries were hiding.

But then you get random fools attracted to this idea and saying shit like , " Yeah, that's why we should kill all muslims!"

[indianetzone336]

A UNIQUE CASTE HIERARCHY IN ANCIENT  INDIA

Caste System in Ancient India

Caste system in ancient India is defined as the hierarchical order of the social structure. The origin of caste system in ancient India and how it was conceived is not very clear. The earliest reference to it is found in the Rig Veda. It represents the hierarchy of castes - the Brahmins occupying the topmost position and the rest namely Kshatriya, Vaishya and Sudras coming in descending order. From this it has been concluded that the Sudra caste was born out of the union of Aryans and non-Aryans.   There were four classes in the caste system: Brahmins (priests and scholars), Kshatriyas (kings, governors, and warriors), Vaishyas (cattle herders, agriculturists, artisans, and merchants), and Shudras (laborers and service providers). 'Varna' defines the hereditary roots of a newborn, it indicates the colour, type, order or class of people.  It reinforced the idea that lifestyles, occupations, ritual statuses, and social statuses were inherited. http://tinyurl.com/mr2sntad, https://shorturl.at/rsLOZ

Caste System in Vedic Age

The Vedas were ancient scriptures, written in the Sanskrit language, which contained hymns, philosophies, and rituals handed down to the priests of the Vedic religion. The low position, accorded to people like blacksmiths, tanners, butchers in the Smriti literature, are not found in the Vedas. The term 'dasa' seems to be the designation of a section of powerful non-Aryans who used to cause trouble to the Aryans. Dasas are stated to have been wealthy and lived in cities. In Atharva Veda, various classes of people of the society pursuing different vocations can be found. Dasas appear to have been engaged in agriculture. As per the Vedas, it is the ideal duty of a human to seek freedom from subsequent birth and death and rid oneself of the transmigration of the soul, and this is possible when one follows the duties and principles of one's respective Varna.The low position, accorded to people like blacksmiths, tanners, butchers in the Smriti literature, are not found in the Vedas. For more info - http://tinyurl.com/mr2sntad, https://shorturl.at/rsLOZ

Caste System in Age of Brahmanas

The Brahmanas confirm the fact that Sudras were called dasas. Those among them who did not surrender to the Aryans were termed dasyus (robbers). In the Brahmanas it has been found that Sudras were servants by occupation and that he could be ejected from a place or even slain at will. The study of the Veda and the performance of Vedic sacrifices were denied to Sudras. Brahmins were revered as an incarnation of knowledge itself, endowed with the precepts and sermons to be discharged to all Varnas of society. Priests, gurus, rishis, teachers, and scholars constituted the Brahmin community. They would always live through the Brahmacharya (celibacy) vow ordained for them. Even married Brahmins were called Brahmachari (celibate) by virtue of having intercourse only for reproducing and remaining mentally detached from the act.

Kalpasutra states the disabilities of Sudras. According to these works they had no right to Vedic study. In their sacrifices, the recitation of Vedic mantras was forbidden. All Samskaras were prohibited for them. A particular section of Sudras had to live outside the village; because Vedic study was prohibited for a Brahmana living in the same village with them. However, in comparison with the earlier ages, the Kalpasutras appear to have allowed certain privileges to Sudras. Kshatriyas constituted the warrior clan, the kings, rulers of territories, administrators, etc. It was paramount for a Kshatriya to be learned in weaponry, warfare, penance, austerity, administration, moral conduct, justice, and ruling. For more info - http://tinyurl.com/mr2sntad, https://shorturl.at/rsLOZ

Caste System in Age of Epics

In the Ramayana, Sudras appear as labourers and domestic servants.  A number of subcastes have been mentioned in the Mahabharata. Ramayana clearly indicates the Aryan expansion into South India and also hints at the use of military force in this process. The epic also makes it clear that the Dravidian culture was also equally superior. The Mahabharata shows that by that time the whole of India was Aryanised. It also provides us information regarding the various states existing at that time. In the Mahabharata all the Indian princes are shown as taking part in the great struggle.

The life of the Epics tells us that the Aryans were no longer divided into small clans or tribes, and powerful states like Panchalas, Pandus, Kosalas, Kashih had come into existence. The rulers of these states assumed the title of Samarats and lived in big cities. The king stood at the head of the general administration and carried on the same with the assistance of Ministers and other officials.

Agriculture continued to be the main occupation of the people in the epic age and made further progress. The private ownership of the land was recognised and the state claimed one sixth to one-tenth of the produce as its share. Both internal and external trade flourished during the epic period. Most of the businessmen lived in cities. The merchantmen were organised in guilds which were controlled by the Mahajanas. The growth of a large number of cities or ‘nagars’ as testified by the epics further shows that the commercial activities were on the increase.

Far reaching changes took place in the religion of the people during the Epic period. The Vedic god and goddesses receded to the background and new gods and goddesses began to worshipped. Important’ god and goddesses of the Epic age were Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, Ganesh, Lakshmi and Parvati. By this time the people had also given up the nature worship. However, they still continued to worship Surya.

The members of four castes were no doubt barred from inter-marriage, inter-dining and other intimate associations with these people. In Smriti sashtra too many references to Sudras and the various disabilities and derogatory treatment. For more info - http://tinyurl.com/mr2sntad, https://shorturl.at/rsLOZ

[piyalibhoir]

Indian Communities refer to a group of people, belonging to a certain religion and believing in one single united cause. The term Indian communities perhaps cannot be credited to any single individual.

Click below for more:-https://writeupcafe.com/indian-communities/

[allisongreenlee]

Mahabharata: One of the Longest Epic Stories of India

[sixteenseveredhands]

Emerald Spectacles from India, c. 1620-1660 CE: the lenses of these spectacles were cut from a single 300-carat emerald, and it was believed that they possessed mystical properties

These eyeglasses are also known by the name "Astaneh-e ferdaws," meaning "Gate of Paradise," based on the symbolic associations between the color green and the concept of spiritual salvation/Paradise. That symbolism (which is rooted in Islamic tradition) was especially popular in Mughal-era India, where the spectacles were made.

The lenses were crafted from two thin slices of the same emerald. Together, the lenses have a combined weight of about 27 carats, but given the precision, size, and shape of each lens, experts believe that the original emerald likely weighed in excess of 300 carats (more than sixty grams) before it was cleaved down in order to produce the lenses. The emerald was sourced from a mine in Muzo, Colombia, and it was then transported across the Atlantic by Spanish or Portuguese merchants.

Each lens is encircled by a series of rose-cut diamonds, which run along an ornate frame made of gold and silver. The diamond-studded frame was added in the 1890s, when the original prince-nez design was fitted with more modern frames.

The emerald eyeglasses have long been paired with a second set of spectacles, and they were almost certainly commissioned by the same patron. This second pair is known as "Halqeh-e nur," or the "Halo of Light."

The Halo of Light features lenses that were made from slices of diamond. The diamond lenses were cleaved from a single stone, just like the emerald lenses, with the diamond itself being sourced from a mine in Southern India. It's estimated that the original, uncut diamond would have weighed about 200-300 carats, which would make it one of the largest uncut diamonds ever found.

The lenses are so clear and so smoothly cut that it sometimes looks like they're not even there.

Both sets of spectacles date back to the mid-1600s, and it's generally believed that they were commissioned by a Mughal emperor or prince. The identity of that person is still a bit of a mystery, but it has been widely speculated that the patron was Shah Jahan -- the Mughal ruler who famously commissioned the Taj Mahal after the death of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Shah Jahan did rule as the Mughal emperor from about 1628 to 1658.

The emerald and diamond lenses may have been chosen for symbolic, sentimental, and/or cultural reasons, or they may have been chosen simply because they're pretty and extravagant; the original meaning and purpose behind the design is still unclear. Experts do believe that the eyeglasses were designed to be worn by someone, though.

At times, it was believed that the spectacles had spiritual properties, like the ability to promote healing, to ward off evil, to impart wisdom, and to bring the wearer closer to enlightenment. Those beliefs are largely based on the spiritual significance that emeralds and diamonds can have within certain Indic and Islamic traditions -- emeralds may be viewed as an emblem of Paradise, salvation, healing, cleansing, and eternal life, while diamonds are similarly associated with enlightenment, wisdom, celestial light, and mysticism.

The Gate of Paradise and the Halo of Light were both kept in the collections of a wealthy Indian family until 1980, when they were sold to private collectors, and they were then put up for auction once again in 2021. They were most recently valued at about $2 million to $3.4 million per pair.

Sources & More Info:

Sotheby's: Mughal Spectacles

Architectural Digest of India: At Sotheby's auction, Mughal-era eyeglasses made of diamond and emerald create a stir

Only Natural Diamonds: Auspicious Sight & the Halqeh-e Nur Spectacles

The Royal Society Publishing: Cleaving the Halqeh-Ye Nur Diamonds

Gemological Institution of America: Two Antique Mughal Spectacles with Gemstone Lenses

Manuscript: From Satan's Crown to the Holy Grail: emeralds in myth, magic, and history

CNN: The $3.5 million Spectacles Said to Ward off Evil

BBC: Rare Mughal Era Spectacles to be Auctioned by Sotheby's

[mahoutoons]

i'm feeling controversial today so here's another hot take. and before you type away at your keyboards, know that this is all coming from a south asian.

white leftists have got to stop acting like christianity is the only religion that deserves to be criticized and you cannot touch any other religion because that'd be racist and bigoted. because as an indian who's watching my country progress towards hindu nationalism, this attitude doesn't help at all.

white people see hinduism as this exotic brown religion that's so much more progressive but don't know the violence of the caste system, how it others a large portion of the population on the basis of caste, literally branding them as "untouchables". they teach us in school that this problem is a thing of the past but the caste system is still alive and shows itself in violent ways. and that's not even covering how non hindus are treated in the country. muslims especially are being killed, have their houses bulldozed, businesses destroyed, and are being denied housing, our fucking prime minister called them infiltrators and there's this fear among hindu extremists that they'll outnumber the hindus in the country. portraying hinduism as this exotic religion does a disservice to all those oppressed by the hindutva ideology

similarly, white people see buddhism as this hippie religion that's all about peace but have no idea how extremist buddhists in myanmar have been persecuting the rohingya muslims for years and drive them out of the country.

if anything portraying these religions as exotic hippie brown religions is a type of orientalism itself.

and also y'all have got to realize that just because christianity has institutional power in america doesn't mean there aren't parts of the world where they are persecuted on the basis of religion. yes karen from florida who cries christophobia because she sees rainbow sprinkles on a cake is stupid but christian oppression DOES exist in non western countries where they're a minority. pakistani christians get lynched almost on a daily basis over blasphemy accusations. just look up the case of asia bibi, a pakistani christian woman who was sentenced to death on blasphemy charges because of something she said when she was being denied water because it was "forbidden" for a christian and a muslim to drink from the same utensil and she'd made it unclean just by touching it (which is ALSO rooted in casteism and part of pakistani christians' oppression also comes from the fact that a lot of them are dalit but that's a whole other discussion). and that's just one christian group, this isn't even going into what copts, assyrians, armenians etc have faced and continue to face. saying that christians everywhere are privileged because of american christianity actually harms christian minorites in non western countries.

and one last thing because this post is getting too long: someone being anti america doesn't automatically mean they're the good guys. too many times i've been seeing westerners on twitter dot com praise the fucking taliban just because they hate america. yes, the same taliban who banned education for women, thinks women should be imprisomed at home, and consistently oppresses religious and ethnic minorities in afghanistan. yes, america's war on afghanistan was bad and they SHOULD be called out for their war crimes there. no, the taliban are still not the good guys. BOTH of them are bad. you cannot pretend to care about muslims and brown people if you praise the taliban. because guess what? most of their victims are BROWN MUSLIM WOMEN. but of course white libs who praise them don't rub their two braincells together to make that conclusion.

this post has gotten too long and i've just been rambling so the point of this post is: white "leftists" whose politics are primarily america centric should stop acting like criticism of ideologies like hindutva, buddhist extremism, and islamic extremism BY people affected by these ideologies is the same as racism or religious intolerance because that helps literally no one except the extremist bigots. also america is not the centre of the world, just because something isn't happening in america doesn't mean it isn't happening elsewhere

[365filmsbyauroranocte]

La prima notte di quiete (Valerio Zurlini, 1972)

[ergo-im]

🌸 रघुकुल रीत सदा चली आई, प्राण जाए पर वचन ना जाई 🌸

22 January 2024

[thebisexualwreckoning]

PSA!!!!!

This is for the people who didn't know they were gay or bi or pan or ace or aro in their childhood.

This is for the people who had crushes which could be deemed straight and then came out as gay later in their lives.

This is for the trans or genderqueer or fluid or nonbinary people who did not experience dysphoria in their agab.

This one is for the people who don't want to take T or E or have gender-affirming surgery but are still trans.

This one is for the sex-positive or sex-neutral aces who are told that they aren't ace because they aren't disgusted by sex.

This one is for anyone who has been told, "You just need to find the right girl/guy!"

This one is for all the queer people who have been told that they cannot be queer because of their religion, race, ethnicity, etc.

This one is for all the queer people who were told that they weren't queer just because they didn't fit into somebody else's idea of what being queer is like.

Nobody can tell you how to be queer. The only one who gets to decide that is YOU. Queer people do not need to bend themselves over backwards to make others comfortable.

We have always been here and we will continue to be here, and everyone else will just have to learn to accept that.

[kuch-toh-garbad-hai-daya]

"caste politics won in ayodhya"

stfu and fuck you.

Do not throw around words, not when people can throw it back at you, that most of the urban city seats won by BJP are from the votes of upper caste Hindus.

but I won't go around saying that, because you don't get to decide who votes for who.

Do you believe that a temple is enough to fulfill people's livelihood?

Do not claim to know the condition and needs of Ayodhya better than the people of Ayodhya.

[nando161mando]

[scltbvrns]

right winged indians are so (i don't want to utter that word) when it comes to media literacy but all of them literally grew up in godi media so i cannot blame them either. like no one is saying INDI alliance is good. it's just the lesser evil out of the two.

[indianetzone336]

Jainism divides mankind into a caste system which is further divided into numerous sub-castes (Jatis). All sorts of beings belong to Jainism, but it does not mean that they are equal in their status. All Jivas are divided into four levels of existence; Gods, human beings, animals and beings in hell. 

[lupuslikethewolf]

i've seen iceman's complicated relationship to religion. i've seen ridden with southern bible bumping trauma hangman seresin. what about bradley bradshaw’s guilt- and grief-ridden catholicism? hm?

some of his only memories of his father are at midnight mass and singing carols on christmas, and not the fun ones, but the ones that shined a light on the lord and filled his words with devotion. even back then, when baby bradley had no idea what 'worship' was, his daddy did it and it made him feel so happy and so warm inside.

then im sorry and it was a training accident and an american flag folded into a pristine triangle. after that his momma couldn't stand going into church. they stood outside and listened to the sermons from the road and visited daddy's grave with flowers and prayers and i-miss-yous but bradley eventually forgot where their regular pew was and what the colour their pastor's hair was and what the wine (grape juice) tasted like. but he wore the cross. he always wore the cross.

and after momma died he stopped going all together. maverick wasn't religious. bradley told himself the reason he missed it was that he missed visiting the house of the lord, but really it was because maverick had other connections to nick and carole bradshaw, but bradley only had the church and now he doesn't even have that. sure, he's fine, but his dad’s cross hangs low on his chest like a brand because ever since dad died he's never felt the same devotion. now, his prayers aren't for god or christ, they’re for his momma and his daddy and he lies to himself that they aren't. and blasphemy is a cardinal sin.

then he looses maverick too. he floats around for years and forgets how to say his hail marys.

he re-applies for the academy and thanks the lord for the first time since he was a child that he got in. he follows in his father's footsteps and find a new church. he goes every sunday. he says grace. he does everything a proper christian should. honour thy father is written into every action he takes.

because his god is still his father. his holy spirit is still his mother. his christ is still maverick. he’s still sure that his prayers never reach their lord and saviour. and blasphemy is a cardinal sin.

[ignatiusteto]

i think sacred music in the kryn dynasty would be very cyclical and repetitive in form to symbolize the idea that life is a continuous thing (at least those who are consecuted right right) and is a cycle across lifetimes and yeah