Hi everyone . This is my first post here and I have some doubts or shall I say opinions which has been in my mind for a long time.
Firstly I'm confused with the notion of customs being imposed in the name of tradition. When you look at it logically customs were prescribed for the betterment of a society aka for the evolution of the society. In this sense it is strictly subjective. What is customs for one community is heresy for the other.But none of the customs were foolproof or static. Like everything in Hinduism customs evolved and this evolution happened because there fluidity in its practice and scope for improvement and transfer of knowledge from other communities.This being the case why is there a huge disapproval for heterodoxy in the present scenario? Isn't it part of the evolution process? By trying to freeze customs in time and opposing changes in the name of tradition aren't we forgetting about the objective of customs in the first place which is betterment of society as a whole.
Consider for eg, the practice of changing shoulders of our sacred thread when we are to attend nature's call. I remember reading it somewhere but certainly this is not being followed now. So how does it fall out of favor? Was it announced by any central authority on what to follow and what not to follow? certainly not and that's one of the uniqueness of Hinduism. This couldn't find place because the needs of today's society is different and was gradually phased out. There are also no central authority on what needs to be phased out and what shouldn't be discarded because the original law givers of our religion undestood the dynamic nature of the society and social order and so they didn't freeze it in time. That being so, why are we failing to understand the very essence of the interdependence between social needs and customs?
So my point is if we don't accommodate the social needs and encourage evolution (not revolution) the society will run away from customs and we would fail our ancestors in terms of the objective that they thought these customs would bring about for the society.
Would love to hear from fellow members.
Regards
Anand.
Firstly I'm confused with the notion of customs being imposed in the name of tradition. When you look at it logically customs were prescribed for the betterment of a society aka for the evolution of the society. In this sense it is strictly subjective. What is customs for one community is heresy for the other.But none of the customs were foolproof or static. Like everything in Hinduism customs evolved and this evolution happened because there fluidity in its practice and scope for improvement and transfer of knowledge from other communities.This being the case why is there a huge disapproval for heterodoxy in the present scenario? Isn't it part of the evolution process? By trying to freeze customs in time and opposing changes in the name of tradition aren't we forgetting about the objective of customs in the first place which is betterment of society as a whole.
Consider for eg, the practice of changing shoulders of our sacred thread when we are to attend nature's call. I remember reading it somewhere but certainly this is not being followed now. So how does it fall out of favor? Was it announced by any central authority on what to follow and what not to follow? certainly not and that's one of the uniqueness of Hinduism. This couldn't find place because the needs of today's society is different and was gradually phased out. There are also no central authority on what needs to be phased out and what shouldn't be discarded because the original law givers of our religion undestood the dynamic nature of the society and social order and so they didn't freeze it in time. That being so, why are we failing to understand the very essence of the interdependence between social needs and customs?
So my point is if we don't accommodate the social needs and encourage evolution (not revolution) the society will run away from customs and we would fail our ancestors in terms of the objective that they thought these customs would bring about for the society.
Would love to hear from fellow members.
Regards
Anand.
