'Ancient India' Articles
The Gods operated as agents of the dharma, and arose from one spirit that in its essence was not dual. From India Buddhism spread, fostering such other countries as Tibet. If you were to look into ancient Indian belief, it would seem sort of amorphous. They didn’t have the idea that they could use no other way of viewing things.
“If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions, I should point to India.” Max Muller (German Scholar, 1823-1900)
“If there is one place on the face of this Earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest day when man began the dream of existence, it is India.” Romain Rolland (French Philosopher, 1886-1994)
“In India, I found a race of mortals living upon the Earth, but not adhering to it, inhabiting cities, but not being fixed to them, possessing everything, but possessed by nothing.” Apollonius Tyanaeus (Greek Traveller, 1st Century CE)
Evolution of Indian Belief
I would like to start by first saying Semitic and Indian beliefs are actually closely connected. The Aryan mountain people had their own sort of diaspora and encountered other cultures, but they were not of one mind as a people. Those who migrated to Iran were more militant, while those who migrated to the Indus river valley were more pacifistic, and this difference in views made a big difference in their cultures. In a sense, ancient Indian faith, and by that I mean the faith of India, was the first Catholicism. Rather than encountering the snake worshippers, and seeing demon worship, the Aryans… Seek More
Karmic Place
Veneration of cows is not what people actually think it is. In India, they are resistant to consuming cattle for the same reason Christians are resistant to scrapping their crosses to be used for other purposes. The cow is seen as a living embodiment of one of their almost universal principles, ahimsa, or harmlessness. To kill that symbol seems psycho in their culture. Also, traditional brahminical diet was somewhat like that of the Celtic druid, they sought to create minimal disturbance in the world. So they would not eat chicken, but would eat eggs. They would not eat cattle, but… Seek More
Diversity in India
There are some parallel practices that resemble yoga in ways, but the yoga traditions are from India, and transcend specific religious creed. Sikhism arose in India. Sikhism arose as an inspiration from the moral creed of Islam, but did not espouse the cultural and militant views, nor did they adhere strictly to pacifism either. They don’t see Mohamed as the last prophet. They follow the teachings of a man they believe to be inspired after Mohamed, and feel that Mohamed did not see perfectly clear. I knew someone in university who took off his turban, and cut his hair for the… Seek More
