"Everyone wants to be Cary Grant, even I want to be Cary Grant" - Cary Grant
The religious festival was still going strong a week later on my return for a night to Vashisht, perhaps even more noisy and with better drum rhythms.
I have been reading some Sam Harris articles, while he is an ardent intellectualist and rationalist, I wonder has he ever been to small villages where the glue of the society is religion. Yet perhaps the price of admission into a world of peace might be agnostic and contemplative as he later argues. Suspicion and idolatry is i agree a deep chasm for humanity to cross before we can further evolve.
excerpt from THE PROBLEM OF RELIGION -Sam Harris
Incompatible religious doctrines have balkanized our world into separate moral communities, and these divisions have become a continuous source of bloodshed. Indeed, religion is as much a living spring of violence today as it has been at any time in the past. The recent conflicts in Palestine (Jews vs. Muslims), the Balkans (Orthodox Serbians vs. Catholic Croatians; Orthodox Serbians vs. Bosnian and Albanian Muslims), Northern Ireland (Protestants vs. Catholics), Kashmir (Muslims vs. Hindus), Sudan (Muslims vs. Christians and animists), Nigeria (Muslims vs. Christians), Ethiopia and Eritrea (Muslims vs. Christians), Sri Lanka (Sinhalese Buddhists vs. Tamil Hindus), Indonesia (Muslims vs. Timorese Christians), Iran and Iraq (Shiite vs. Sunni Muslims), and the Caucasus (Orthodox Russians vs. Chechen Muslims; Muslim Azerbaijanis vs. Catholic and Orthodox Armenians) are merely a few cases in point. These are places where religion has been the explicit cause of literally millions of deaths in recent decades. Why is religion such a potent source of violence? There is no other sphere of discourse in which human beings so fully articulate their differences from one another, or cast these differences in terms of everlasting rewards and punishments. Religion is the one endeavor in which us–them thinking achieves a transcendent significance. If you really believe that calling God by the right name can spell the difference between eternal happiness and eternal suffering, then it becomes quite reasonable to treat heretics and unbelievers rather badly. The stakes of our religious differences are immeasurably higher than those born of mere tribalism, racism, or politics. Religion is also the only area of our discourse in which people are systematically protected from the demand to give evidence in defense of their strongly held beliefs. A cult of death is forming in the Muslim world — for reasons that are perfectly explicable in terms of the Islamic doctrines of martyrdom and jihad. The truth is that we are not fighting a “war on terror.” We are fighting a pestilential theology and a longing for paradise.
It is as yet undetermined what it means to be human, because every facet of our culture—and even our biology itself—remains open to innovation and insight. We do not know what we will be a thousand years from now—or indeed that we will be, given the lethal absurdity of many of our beliefs—but whatever changes await us, one thing seems unlikely to change: as long as experience endures, the difference between happiness and suffering will remain our paramount concern. We will therefore want to understand those processes—biochemical, behavioral, ethical, political, economic, and spiritual—that account for this difference. We do not yet have anything like a final understanding of such processes, but we know enough to rule out many false understandings. Indeed, we know enough at this moment to say that the God of Abraham is not only unworthy of the immensity of creation; he is unworthy even of man.
There is much more to be discovered about the nature of the human mind. In particular, there is much more for us to understand about how the mind can trans- form itself from a mere reservoir of greed, hatred, and delusion into an instrument of wisdom and compassion.
Pema Chodron essentially argues much the same thing: "Everybody is guilty of it. It's what is called fundamental theism. You want something to hold onto, you want to say 'Finally I have found it. This is it, and now I feel confirmed and secure and righteous'. A polarisation is occurring in belief systems this century, an ever more desperate attempt to hold onto interpretations of reality, for which some will kill and maim, or pursue divisive politics to maintain these beliefs"
I bumped into NZ film maker and photographer Gareth who had been on the Icebreaker shoot, very talented boy. Check out www.nektar.co.nz Vashisht had a few more delights in store, like the best tibetan food i had ever tasted, in a small homely kitchen, i could watch the chef making the noodles and momo's by hand, and the veg soup oh wow tumeric is really a food of the god's. Or the best honeynut cake from the little german bakery, or the divine snow line fresh apple juice i just couldnt get enough of...maybe it was in part my sense of gratitude to this great place but everything sure tasted good today...
Vashisht is slowly filling up with travellers, but i'm glad i didnt see it when it becomes like Pushkar. In a cool chill travellers cafe I plan my next India trips: October for Himachal for high altitude trekking, then to Ladakh: Leh, Tikse, Zanska, then Mandrah Pradesh: Agra (Taj), Sanchi, Orchha, Parhmarhi, Khajuraho...via Nagpur to Aurangabad to Mahashatra: Ajanta and Ellora caves...to Goa: Patnem and Gokarna..to Kerala: Mysore, Ashrams....Backwaters..to Tamil Nadu: Madurai, Chennai...to Andaman Islands: diving paradise....to Calcutta, Sikkim: Darjeeling..mm mouthwatering. I dont think i have much fear of India left now, I can manage the trains and the local buses, the foods and the stares...there is so much freedom possible here, perhaps illusion perhaps real i am never sure but in a shrinking world it still holds many possibilities. Other places I am inspired to goto after meeting other travellers are: Turkey, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sri Lanka, West Coast USA and Alaska, Nepal, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico!
Back in Delhi, after a reasonable overnight sleeper bus, its still the same but hotter, Parhar Ganj is just as fun and crazy. I buy several top quality herbal and medical textbooks for alot less than Aussie prices and post them home. In total thats 15kg all up of parcels home, I hope they make it.
What will i miss? The street chai wallah's, the vibrant surprises of color and noise, the snow capped mountains, the lassi's, the smiles from the poorest of people, the connection with travellers from a world away, the inspiration to keep travelling, and the opportunity for self reflection that one never gets when faced by the mundanity of daily home life....
The religious festival was still going strong a week later on my return for a night to Vashisht, perhaps even more noisy and with better drum rhythms.
I have been reading some Sam Harris articles, while he is an ardent intellectualist and rationalist, I wonder has he ever been to small villages where the glue of the society is religion. Yet perhaps the price of admission into a world of peace might be agnostic and contemplative as he later argues. Suspicion and idolatry is i agree a deep chasm for humanity to cross before we can further evolve.
excerpt from THE PROBLEM OF RELIGION -Sam Harris
Incompatible religious doctrines have balkanized our world into separate moral communities, and these divisions have become a continuous source of bloodshed. Indeed, religion is as much a living spring of violence today as it has been at any time in the past. The recent conflicts in Palestine (Jews vs. Muslims), the Balkans (Orthodox Serbians vs. Catholic Croatians; Orthodox Serbians vs. Bosnian and Albanian Muslims), Northern Ireland (Protestants vs. Catholics), Kashmir (Muslims vs. Hindus), Sudan (Muslims vs. Christians and animists), Nigeria (Muslims vs. Christians), Ethiopia and Eritrea (Muslims vs. Christians), Sri Lanka (Sinhalese Buddhists vs. Tamil Hindus), Indonesia (Muslims vs. Timorese Christians), Iran and Iraq (Shiite vs. Sunni Muslims), and the Caucasus (Orthodox Russians vs. Chechen Muslims; Muslim Azerbaijanis vs. Catholic and Orthodox Armenians) are merely a few cases in point. These are places where religion has been the explicit cause of literally millions of deaths in recent decades. Why is religion such a potent source of violence? There is no other sphere of discourse in which human beings so fully articulate their differences from one another, or cast these differences in terms of everlasting rewards and punishments. Religion is the one endeavor in which us–them thinking achieves a transcendent significance. If you really believe that calling God by the right name can spell the difference between eternal happiness and eternal suffering, then it becomes quite reasonable to treat heretics and unbelievers rather badly. The stakes of our religious differences are immeasurably higher than those born of mere tribalism, racism, or politics. Religion is also the only area of our discourse in which people are systematically protected from the demand to give evidence in defense of their strongly held beliefs. A cult of death is forming in the Muslim world — for reasons that are perfectly explicable in terms of the Islamic doctrines of martyrdom and jihad. The truth is that we are not fighting a “war on terror.” We are fighting a pestilential theology and a longing for paradise.
It is as yet undetermined what it means to be human, because every facet of our culture—and even our biology itself—remains open to innovation and insight. We do not know what we will be a thousand years from now—or indeed that we will be, given the lethal absurdity of many of our beliefs—but whatever changes await us, one thing seems unlikely to change: as long as experience endures, the difference between happiness and suffering will remain our paramount concern. We will therefore want to understand those processes—biochemical, behavioral, ethical, political, economic, and spiritual—that account for this difference. We do not yet have anything like a final understanding of such processes, but we know enough to rule out many false understandings. Indeed, we know enough at this moment to say that the God of Abraham is not only unworthy of the immensity of creation; he is unworthy even of man.
There is much more to be discovered about the nature of the human mind. In particular, there is much more for us to understand about how the mind can trans- form itself from a mere reservoir of greed, hatred, and delusion into an instrument of wisdom and compassion.
Pema Chodron essentially argues much the same thing: "Everybody is guilty of it. It's what is called fundamental theism. You want something to hold onto, you want to say 'Finally I have found it. This is it, and now I feel confirmed and secure and righteous'. A polarisation is occurring in belief systems this century, an ever more desperate attempt to hold onto interpretations of reality, for which some will kill and maim, or pursue divisive politics to maintain these beliefs"
I bumped into NZ film maker and photographer Gareth who had been on the Icebreaker shoot, very talented boy. Check out www.nektar.co.nz Vashisht had a few more delights in store, like the best tibetan food i had ever tasted, in a small homely kitchen, i could watch the chef making the noodles and momo's by hand, and the veg soup oh wow tumeric is really a food of the god's. Or the best honeynut cake from the little german bakery, or the divine snow line fresh apple juice i just couldnt get enough of...maybe it was in part my sense of gratitude to this great place but everything sure tasted good today...
Vashisht is slowly filling up with travellers, but i'm glad i didnt see it when it becomes like Pushkar. In a cool chill travellers cafe I plan my next India trips: October for Himachal for high altitude trekking, then to Ladakh: Leh, Tikse, Zanska, then Mandrah Pradesh: Agra (Taj), Sanchi, Orchha, Parhmarhi, Khajuraho...via Nagpur to Aurangabad to Mahashatra: Ajanta and Ellora caves...to Goa: Patnem and Gokarna..to Kerala: Mysore, Ashrams....Backwaters..to Tamil Nadu: Madurai, Chennai...to Andaman Islands: diving paradise....to Calcutta, Sikkim: Darjeeling..mm mouthwatering. I dont think i have much fear of India left now, I can manage the trains and the local buses, the foods and the stares...there is so much freedom possible here, perhaps illusion perhaps real i am never sure but in a shrinking world it still holds many possibilities. Other places I am inspired to goto after meeting other travellers are: Turkey, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sri Lanka, West Coast USA and Alaska, Nepal, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico!
Back in Delhi, after a reasonable overnight sleeper bus, its still the same but hotter, Parhar Ganj is just as fun and crazy. I buy several top quality herbal and medical textbooks for alot less than Aussie prices and post them home. In total thats 15kg all up of parcels home, I hope they make it.
What will i miss? The street chai wallah's, the vibrant surprises of color and noise, the snow capped mountains, the lassi's, the smiles from the poorest of people, the connection with travellers from a world away, the inspiration to keep travelling, and the opportunity for self reflection that one never gets when faced by the mundanity of daily home life....
1 comment:
It's interesting post and also image. I liked it.
http://www.hindublog.co.in/
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