From: nair@quintus.com (Anil Nair)
Subject: Re: Serving The Society
Organization: Quintus Corporation, Palo Alto, CA
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 17:07:27 GMT

In article <1992Jul22.001952.28371@athena.mit.edu>, tyadav@athena.mit.edu (Tapesh Yadav) writes:
> 
>  If the consequences of a philosophy are "morass of superficialities,"
>  then isn't there something inconsistent with the premises, the axioms of
>  that philosophy? 

The superficialities are not a consequence of Hinduism. You should realise
that any set of values which have been around for more than 2500 years
adapts, changes and evolves in various forms which makes it hard to study
the core of it. It is similar to trying to get at the ideas of the ancient
Greek philosophers (from which most (if not all) of western thought is derived)
by looking at Disneyworld, television and beauty pageants.

>  Even here, in what you prefer to differentiate as "western world," (for me
>  this is earth, we are all doing experiments) many philosophies of life have

The "eastern world"/"western world" distinction is just
terms I used for different philosophies. I was not making a "us" vs "them"
distinction. (In which case, I am neither "us" nor "them").

> ps: I don't believe in serving the society, I think each individual should
>     serve the best within himself/herself. And destine his or her own 
>     destiny

Fatalism is one of those often misconstrued ideas of Hinduism. There is
this notion that the idea of "Fate" (its your destiny, you have to live with it)
was something which made people quiscent and accepting of all the hardships in
life. But if you read the Gita, the idea of "Fate" is far from a call to
inaction. Its an absolute call to pro-action which says that what you do in this
life not only determines your quality of life in this life but also in the
next lives. (The reasons for coming up with a hypotheses like reincarnation
goes into other debates).

>     ; excel unto himself/herself. And enjoy the process. And not
>     forget to smell the roses. And take it easy if thorns pinch while all
>     you wanted was to smell the rose. I am different, I know.

No, you are not that different. I dont believe in social service either.
I wonder why you dont mention Randian thought and libertarian ideology.
There is a whole party based on these ideas. (I hope it is just because
it is not quite appropriate to this newsgroup and not because you havent
come across these ideas).
But how do you answer a philosophy which says that the whole universe is
just manifestations of one universal energy. Serving society just becomes
serving oneself.

Just in case I come across a rabid Hindu fundamentalist, I should admit
I am far from it. I dont have problems with icons of Hindu gods in piss
(ala Serrano's "Piss Christ") and I am completely against the Ram Janmabhumi
temple in Ayodhya. I just like a good debate of ideas. And I am just trying
to explain to y'all why your parents are the way they are :-)

Anil Nair
"a world-travelling, dravidian, coconut-eating, straight up nigger!"

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