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Swaveda - Articles - “DHEE”: The Essence of Hinduness
By Shreekumar Vinekar | Nov 29, 2005
In this age of world domination by “Go to Hell” religions based on colossal myths and gigantic superstitions, the “population targeted to go to hell” has an obligation to examine the basic premises of their own spiritual heritage. These people who are condemned to “go to hell” by the currently dominating religions of the world are the so called “pagans,” and “heathens,” polytheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic or atheistic Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, and others practicing Wicca, Zen Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Native American, Baha’i, Zoroastrians, etc., collectively named “non-believers” or “infidels” (Quafars). Many of these are elders, like the Jewish, originating long before the beginning of this Common Era 2000 years ago. They have been bullied through inquisitions for the last two millennia by the aggressive proselytizing empire building religions that originated, developed, and were propagated only in the last two millennia. Although it may be claimed that conversions at sword point or gun point or under the threat of torture or murder or other coercions is not prevalent in the twenty first century, mass conversions under allurements, duress or deceit is an order of the day supported and financed by the so called civilized people of the world who feel it is their duty to their religion and God to harvest more and more souls for engulfment by their churches or mosques and to send them to their respective heavens in their afterlife. The supporters of such conversions feel gratified at the success of their missionary emissaries to different parts of the world taking their “message.” It is imperative that the truly peace loving and peace practicing non-proselytizing cultures of the world gain insight into how they themselves, while being condemned, have kept from condemning other members of the human race to eternal suffering. Although these truly peace loving and reconciling religions, true to their attainment of civilized spirituality, have demonstrated historically more tolerance and acceptance of other human beings by not “condemning them to permanent suffering in the hell” and have practiced peacefully their own religions without encroaching on followers of other faiths, they have been depicted in the Western and Islamic traditions, and in the world-view dominated by these cultures as morally inferior “non-believers” or “infidels.” Such wide spread pejorative depiction of “non-monotheistic” non-proselytizing religions of the world through various media is becoming the preoccupation of the departments of religious studies and cultural anthropology in the Western world, the Western (so-called) Indologists or Orientologists, and even the casual tourists and travelers visiting the non-Christian or non-Islamic dominated countries who want to present their “wisdom” to the world. Understandably the vested interests, namely Churches and various religious groups (e.g. Saudi Arabian financiers) in the so-called monotheistic religions finance such efforts and engage in it themselves. Intriguingly, the followers of condemning and “rescuing” Western and Middle Eastern religions indoctrinated in their Churches and Mosques for centuries with their proselytizing culture and aggressive empire building, dominating, drives and brainwashing modus operandi, feel sincerely honest to their faith and truly virtuous when they flaunt themselves as Monotheistic, and therefore, morally superior, devoted to “practice love of their neighbors and praying for peace on Earth,” “condoning the blatant duplicity of Islam as peace loving religion,” etc. In actuality, however, these very so-called peace-loving religions have inflicted untold misery on the large sections of the world population with centuries of violence and terrorism including the genocides of the Jewish people from whom they inherited their so-called monotheistic religions. “I am right, you are wrong: Go to Hell” mentality springing from paranoid grandiosity of the two currently dominant proselytizing religions of the world leading to conflict of civilizations as well as a major confrontation even between themselves is fundamentally unethical and immoral, no matter how it is rationalized as a superior morality in any “God’s view.” Promulgated hatred and conflicts, influenced by such culturally congruent and therefore undetected delusions, lead to wars that are either instigated or supported by these organized religions, between themselves throughout the past ten or more millennia, and also disguised as wars for the causes other than the propagation of their religions. These wars have sacrificed very young adults and even children as soldiers killed in action that could be counted only in millions not even counting the mass murders and massacres of several million innocent people, women, children and elderly of those that were and are not the affiliates of their own religions.
The modern worldview is afflicted by a historical blind spot for the destructive track record of these so-called “peace loving” violent and aggressive religions of the past two millennia. Their political domination and their influence on the political powers and royalties beginning with the Roman empire of Constantine and continued to this age with interference in monarchies, oligarchies, autocracies, and the democracies of the world have been the major themes of the political and cultural history of the world.
With this historical backdrop, it is the thesis of this article that the concept of “Dhee” in the Eastern religions, in stark contrast to its absence in the Western and Middle Eastern religions, has had a profound subliminal influence throughout the ages in creating a lofty and noble accepting attitude towards all Human beings. To the extent that the only desire expressed in the “distillate” of the Vedas, the Rig-Vedic “Gayatry Mantra”, is to protect the freedom and the autonomy of “our Dhees” (or precisely “dhiyo” meaning “dhees” as plural, and wish they, “dhiyo” - the dhees) be guided, and that only such sentiment is seen worthy of large scale handing down through oral transmission for millennia, it is indeed quite surprising that the concept of Dhee has not to this date received wider attention from the adherents of the Vedic traditions.
The concept of Dhee encompasses the concept of Intellect, Collective Unconscious, intuition, and many other cognitive faculties of human mind but most importantly it refers to a balance of sensibilities. This will be elaborated in the following article. It is asserted that sooner or later (sooner than later) the global civilization will perforce need to take note of the concept of Dhee and the Concept of Hinduness whether in the widely accepted world-view or in the official international cooperation oriented bodies such as the United Nations Organization (UNO). It is high time that the Secretary General of UNO is again from one of the cultures that recognize the concept of Dhee and one that has a global perspective of the root causes of war and peace and international terrorism.
The “Hinduness Deficiency Disease” (“HDD”) in the global population, including the population of India, has become endemic. Hinduness does not refer to Hindu religion but to the essence of the Vedic thoughts and Vedic culture, variously called as Sanatana Dharma, Perennial Philosophy (a la Aldous Huxley), Vedanta Philosophy, etc. which have provided the philosophical infrastructure for the so called Hindu culture and Hindu religion, if one accepts such exist, though not definable. “HDD” leads to legitimized and rationalized intolerance of other human beings by certain greedy and grandiose cultures expressing vicious large scale destructive violence, as well as the most dangerous tendency to engage in genocide towards large sections of world populations. This global disorder will present a potential threat to world peace and harmony, nay the very survival of the human race on this earth. This global disorder is more of an imminent threat to survival of all living beings on this planet than global warming, global water shortage, and pollution with nuclear waste, population increase or high magnitude natural disasters. It is also asserted that “Hinduness” as defined here as a global mind-set, (Vishwa-Dharma), and is not a monopoly of the so-called Hindus, but may be even more prominently found in its purity in a large number of non-Hindus and non-adherents of Sanatana Dharma. Those who have matured spiritually to that level through any religion will instantly grasp the meaning of DHEE.
Dhee and Hinduness are attributes that all individuals of the human race potentially or theoretically possess. There is no Hinduness without the recognition and acceptance of the concept of Dhee. Cultivating a keen awareness of these spiritual or mental phenomena in one’s self and one’s culture and civilization, under any generic names, will lead to a more civilized and peace loving human race. The author envisions the possibility that these concepts may become the necessary foundations for the civilizations of the future and will be more broadly elaborated as “a philosophy of religions,” though the word “religion” and “religions” as practiced today may become obsolete after the 21st century. The signs for an emerging scientific humanism and a global humanistic ethic are quite evident as one watches the unrest in the global younger generation that is beginning to question the age-old brain washing and manipulation, of minds and lives of people, by the “organized” religions under the name of “rewards in the afterlife.” Before the advent of the refined legislative techniques and judiciaries, and well-designed governmental systems, religions made it their business to write the laws to control the behaviors of their adherents and also engaged in ruling over the people. Religions are providing the social and educational infrastructure and support systems to the families, the children, the weak and the infirm today. Even this role may be usurped by other social structures in the future. That will leave no specific tasks for the religions than to play on the emotions of the ignorant people who are gullible enough to buy their gigantic superstitions or “cock and bull” stories as history and/or true events. These culturally congruent delusions are the “presence of after life”, “justice giving Father in Heaven,” and “guaranteed entry into heaven” if such one exists. Concrete minded helpless people lacking in support systems will need some kind of religion or faith but the majority of educated and enlightened people in the twenty second century will see no use for any religion and will see it as a hoax. (The reader is well advised to read my previous article on www.swaveda.com on “Hinduness for World Peace and Harmony” and “Demystifying Shri Ganesha” as a prerequisite to get introduced to some of the basic concepts related to Dhee as well as Hinduness, which will not be expounded again in this article.) The reader is encouraged to continue to read this article although disagreeing with some of the statements made so far and even if the meaning of some of the words is not clear at first glance. The author of this article is confident that every reader who completes the reading of this article and struggles through it to understand the meanings of the words can also begin to incorporate within himself/herself qualities characteristic of the generic Hinduness and fully grasp what Dhee stands for.
“Dhee” is the best-kept and best-guarded (open?) secret of the Vedic culture. The concept of “dhee” is the essence of the Eastern religions and Eastern civilizations. The word “Zen” is derived from “Dhyana” which is “dhee+yana,” and the word “Buddha” is derived from the word “buddhee” which is “bud + dhee.” The word Dhyana was distorted as it traveled East from India and was converted to Chyana in Chinese and Zen in Japanese. In the Vedic culture there is an extraordinary emphasis on “Samadhi” which is “sam + aa + dhee” or “samaa + dhee.” The process of well thought of psychological and cultural development of an individual into a mature, civilized, educated, well informed, broad-minded, kind and compassionate individual was viewed as “sankritization” brought about through a series of “sanskara” “vidhees.” The word vidhee is composed of “vi + dhee.” In the Sankhya darshana the entity or “tatva” that emerged from the Prakriti was “Mahad” or “Mahadhee” which is “maha + dhee”. The secret “gayatry mantra” is to be orally transmitted from generation to generation for keeping the awareness of “Brahman” active in the minds of those who wish to be “Susanskrit” and go through the “upanayana” “vidhee” by focusing daily on “dhee” at least twice, in the morning and evening. The contemplation is curiously not designed, in contrast to many other prayers to pray for better afterlife, or a better next life, nor is it a ritual designed as a begetting machine, or a ticket to the heaven if one such entity exists. Neither does the mantra “ask for anything” for individual gain or power, but only expresses a wish that the dhee that belongs to all of us (human race) be guided.
What was that concept of “Dhee” that the Eastern civilizations, mainly the Hindu and the Buddhist, focused on but seem not to have discussed very much as the very essence of their civilization?
Keep tuned to www.swaveda.com for continuation of this article.
(To be continued.)
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