In the discussions in many of the threads in this forums I find a distinguishing attitude towards science and religion. This is indeed a contentious topic and even I am a victim of the skepticism it generates in our mind. As this could be one of the reasons, us Brahmins are straying from our principles, be it abrahmin practises or intercaste marriage or the general disregard for spiritual concepts on the basis of logic and rationality introduced by the 'scientific movement'. Some ideas are shared below.
After the establishment of the Church of England (and similar entities across Europe), it found itself growing in power and influence over the administrative matters of the kingdom. Mahatma Gandhi has said that there is no religion without politics, perhaps he got the idea from the history of CoE. As the foundation of this particular institution was, evidently, built on the bible, any opinion contradicting the literal interpretation of the bible was suppressed. This, IMO, was one the pioneering moments in the separation of religion from science. (Remember Copernicus & the Catholic Church?)
Later when America was founded, it did it's best to separate itself from the hegemony of religious supremacy and embraced a more liberal attitude towards science and technology. The contrast grew distinctive during the last two centuries when USA embraced a vocational approach to higher education which the Europeans despised and mocked upon. Any new scientific breakthrough found its way into the universities and higher educational institutions in America and contributed the accelerated process of innovation. This was also complemented by the non-interfering and co-existing religious institutions. However, the liberal attitude towards religion and god also had its fair share in widening the gap. As innovation was embraced while the religion was discarded, the humans had to create identities and ideas in which they can find solace. This, IMO, was the reason for birth or popularity of segregation in religious establishments and of course Atheism.
I was born in a small town to a orthodox middle class brahmin family. I was not particularly initiated to the strict ways of brahminism, but everything basic was there. And then I was a student of technology and then I travelled abroad and got introduced to research, a process which now survives significantly on validating your thought process and hypothesis on previous research which those researchers themselves had borrowed from somewhere else. I am not condemning the system which exists on such delicate order and structure.
But we aren't anywhere close to provide a convincing understanding of our life (beyond money, power, facebook and gadgets) or even a proper cordial agreement on the interpretation of our prehistoric literature. Many of our proven foundations of society be it democracy of communism, we got it from our ancient literature (here we go again). The widely accepted scientific theories and principles are being challenged every now and then. We call ourselves rational (well, at least the economists do, thank god), and then there was Bertrand Russell who ironically spent his life looking for proof.
Sri Aurobindo, in his effort to instill the divine inspiration among the humanity often implied that we continue our futile quest for truth or a panacea through our logical approach of questioning and skepticism. But then the path to enlightenment is right before us, simply accept the divine in complete faith. I am not preaching blind faith, nor am I attempting to turn people away from scientific quest. But what concerns me is the concept of separating science and logic from spirituality.
We can explain how a car breaking down or the premature death of a baby. But we still haven't attained the wisdom to explain why it had to happen. Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, one of the smartest political thinkers alive today, exlpains it clearly. Our brain is incapable of making more than a few calculations at a time, that is why we need the computers. Sometimes what his numerical model tells him is against his own logic or interpretation, but then he has to trust the computer code which is has a precision of 90%.
Now going back to our mundane problems of intercaste marriages and abrahmin practices. We are now too preoccupied with finding logical explanations and solutions to our financial, social and relationship problems. There is no time to sit down and take a moment to see if our actions whether past, present or future make any sense. We have skewed our interpretations of what is right and what is wrong. We are too distracted. We find that caste is evil, is discrimination, without realising that practising rituals doesn't put anyone, let alone yourself at a disadvantage. We are prompted to accept that, when we embrace liberalism and despise religion and superstition, we have somehow evolved out of the system, and that if it cannot be explained it should not be believed.
There is nothing wrong with a son or daughter choosing life partners from other communities. If they fail to see the purpose and significance of a lineage, whether brahmin or other, and have no interest in practicing it in their lifetime, there is little prominence is insisting on marrying from the same community. But then the solution is in the family, and the community, not necessarily on one particular individual. If the parents care enough to teach and guide their children in the proper way there is little reason for the son to disagree with them.
After the establishment of the Church of England (and similar entities across Europe), it found itself growing in power and influence over the administrative matters of the kingdom. Mahatma Gandhi has said that there is no religion without politics, perhaps he got the idea from the history of CoE. As the foundation of this particular institution was, evidently, built on the bible, any opinion contradicting the literal interpretation of the bible was suppressed. This, IMO, was one the pioneering moments in the separation of religion from science. (Remember Copernicus & the Catholic Church?)
Later when America was founded, it did it's best to separate itself from the hegemony of religious supremacy and embraced a more liberal attitude towards science and technology. The contrast grew distinctive during the last two centuries when USA embraced a vocational approach to higher education which the Europeans despised and mocked upon. Any new scientific breakthrough found its way into the universities and higher educational institutions in America and contributed the accelerated process of innovation. This was also complemented by the non-interfering and co-existing religious institutions. However, the liberal attitude towards religion and god also had its fair share in widening the gap. As innovation was embraced while the religion was discarded, the humans had to create identities and ideas in which they can find solace. This, IMO, was the reason for birth or popularity of segregation in religious establishments and of course Atheism.
I was born in a small town to a orthodox middle class brahmin family. I was not particularly initiated to the strict ways of brahminism, but everything basic was there. And then I was a student of technology and then I travelled abroad and got introduced to research, a process which now survives significantly on validating your thought process and hypothesis on previous research which those researchers themselves had borrowed from somewhere else. I am not condemning the system which exists on such delicate order and structure.
But we aren't anywhere close to provide a convincing understanding of our life (beyond money, power, facebook and gadgets) or even a proper cordial agreement on the interpretation of our prehistoric literature. Many of our proven foundations of society be it democracy of communism, we got it from our ancient literature (here we go again). The widely accepted scientific theories and principles are being challenged every now and then. We call ourselves rational (well, at least the economists do, thank god), and then there was Bertrand Russell who ironically spent his life looking for proof.
Sri Aurobindo, in his effort to instill the divine inspiration among the humanity often implied that we continue our futile quest for truth or a panacea through our logical approach of questioning and skepticism. But then the path to enlightenment is right before us, simply accept the divine in complete faith. I am not preaching blind faith, nor am I attempting to turn people away from scientific quest. But what concerns me is the concept of separating science and logic from spirituality.
We can explain how a car breaking down or the premature death of a baby. But we still haven't attained the wisdom to explain why it had to happen. Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, one of the smartest political thinkers alive today, exlpains it clearly. Our brain is incapable of making more than a few calculations at a time, that is why we need the computers. Sometimes what his numerical model tells him is against his own logic or interpretation, but then he has to trust the computer code which is has a precision of 90%.
Now going back to our mundane problems of intercaste marriages and abrahmin practices. We are now too preoccupied with finding logical explanations and solutions to our financial, social and relationship problems. There is no time to sit down and take a moment to see if our actions whether past, present or future make any sense. We have skewed our interpretations of what is right and what is wrong. We are too distracted. We find that caste is evil, is discrimination, without realising that practising rituals doesn't put anyone, let alone yourself at a disadvantage. We are prompted to accept that, when we embrace liberalism and despise religion and superstition, we have somehow evolved out of the system, and that if it cannot be explained it should not be believed.
There is nothing wrong with a son or daughter choosing life partners from other communities. If they fail to see the purpose and significance of a lineage, whether brahmin or other, and have no interest in practicing it in their lifetime, there is little prominence is insisting on marrying from the same community. But then the solution is in the family, and the community, not necessarily on one particular individual. If the parents care enough to teach and guide their children in the proper way there is little reason for the son to disagree with them.
