Eurocentric Attitudes
Eurocentric Attitudes
This article is directed towards Hindus of Indian origin. I am sure many Hindus growing up in the west have gone through some disastrous cases of trying to find their identity and an identity that can yield respect from their peers. But the question is how do people perceive Indians and India. Common misconceptions that arise are 1) India is a land of poverty 2)Land of population crisis and 3) Land of plague. India lacks infrastructure, is full of corruption and a third world country. While many of the above statements are true, I think we are missing the point that India after independence is only about fifty years old and is therefore a young country, i.e. Republic of India.
Unlike many people of different ethnic backgrounds, it is very rare to find Indians or Hindus who are proud of their ethnic background or are proud of their Hindu heritage. What is the reason for this? Most of the education that we receive in the west is by European Christian teachers that have a strong contempt for anything different. We are always taught that civilization started from Greece and that the Greeks were the original people to think ‘logically’. That seemed ridiculous, and I recently read a book by Linda Johnsen who also proposed a very simple question, “How did the Egyptians build those pyramids?”, "How did the Aztecs and Inca’s built those superb cities and buildings that surpassed those of the barbaric and primitive Spaniards"? Did they spring up by accident? No, one would have to think logically to be able to engineer such endeavors. The Shankhya School of thought is based on logic thinking and it is confirmed by academic scholars that Shankhya School of thought is older and existed before any of the greeks dsicovered farming. What about all those advanced weapons used by the Indian warriors in ancient times? Did they crop up by accident? Not to mention the superb architecture of the temples you can find by a stones throw when in India.
I am not denying the logic thinking of the Greeks, I don’t believe that the Greeks were the original thinkers or the only thinkers. What about the Indians? Why is it that although Indians have discovered and invented many things for the benefit of mankind, they do not get the recognition that is due to them? What about all those scientists, philosophers, inventors, martial artists, musicians, etc? Were they a figment of our imagination? Are they mere legends? I would think not. It is unfortunate that in this day and age we are left with the outdated legacy of British education in regards to the history and religion of India. Now let’s take a trip through mainstream history and examine the major powers that were involved in colonizing countries that don’t belong to them, those countries being Britain, Spain, Portugal, and Belgium. Spain and Portugal are the major European powers that were known for their almost annihilation of the native populations. The unfortunate victims being the Aztecs and the Incas.
Before the British had arrived in India, the Hindus by general were very proud and content with their faith, and found no reason to change religions. The British knew this very well. Unlike their Spanish and Portuguese counterparts, the British were not so violent in nature in taking over. But that does not excuse them from what I think is atrocious. In a way, one could assume the damage done by the British is worse than what the Muslims did in the Middle Ages, but we will leave that out for now. However let it be known that most Hindus regard Muslims as nothing but savages who contributed nothing to India however, a lot of Hindus consider the British rule as an improvement to India. I don’t agree with that completely. What was so beneficial about British education to the Hindus? As many leaders have stated; British education is a means to secure a job and earn money. It does not develop morals and character like an ideal Hindu education tries to incorporate.
However what is unfortunate in British education is that while these young Hindus were being educated by the British, they where taught to hate their culture and country. They were indoctrinated in western civilization and philosophy. These bright young Hindus were taught that the western world was the most civilized and advanced civilization in the world. That’s rather ridiculous if you compare the middle ages of the Hindus and the Westerners. In Europe people were slaughtering each other through the crusades, inquisitions, protestant reformation etc while Hindus were busy developing different schools of thought and propounding the path of Bhakti to god realization. I would rather debate about philosophy than to fear for my life because I believe differently.
Many people assume the Greeks were the original thinkers in logic and philosophy, sorry to disappoint those arrogant Europeans, but according to this source It is stated that the sages of Greece got their knowledge from India.
" It will no longer remain to be doubted that the priests of Egypt and the sages of Greece have drawn directly from the original well of India," that it is to 'the banks of the Ganges and the Indus that our hearts feel drawn as by some hidden urge." (source: On Hinduism Reviews and Reflections - By Ram Swarup p. 102).
Many of us Indians in the west keep commenting on the passiveness of Indians, or more so we are divided between people who are labeled as sell outs i.e. those who have adopted western way of life, and those that remain to traditions. However the blame should be shared by Indian parents and the western education system. This problem does not only happen in the west but the same problem is in India where the country refuses to topple the shackles of British legacy. Why are we made to hate our culture? There are reasons for this,
1) The Aryan Invasion - Indian civilization is not indigenous and their civilization is from abroad. This adds to the ego of Europeans that they are responsible for India’s glorious civilization.
2) Caste System - Aryans established this to maintain racial purity.
3) Western education - As emphasized above.
We are taught about glories of the Islamic civilization, Christian civilization and the Judaic civilization. All of which are Semitic narrow minded religions. Given that Europe is a Christian continent, it is not surprising as to why these three religions are afforded their proper respect while India and Hinduism are looked upon with contempt not to mention our culture being eaten away by people within; notably the communists and the anglicized Indian sell outs. What can be done to stop this? A lot is being done as I was typing this and as you are a reading this now. I will be honest, I am not doing anything, and I am no scholar nor am I affiliated with any institution. I am writing my thoughts and you are free to read them or condemn them do what you wish. If you want to learn more about Eurocentric’s just type this world on Google along with Hinduism and you can learn more from professional writers and thinkers.
-Muski
http://india_resource.tripod.com/britishedu.htm
http://www.atributetohinduism.com/European_Imperialism.htm
This article is directed towards Hindus of Indian origin. I am sure many Hindus growing up in the west have gone through some disastrous cases of trying to find their identity and an identity that can yield respect from their peers. But the question is how do people perceive Indians and India. Common misconceptions that arise are 1) India is a land of poverty 2)Land of population crisis and 3) Land of plague. India lacks infrastructure, is full of corruption and a third world country. While many of the above statements are true, I think we are missing the point that India after independence is only about fifty years old and is therefore a young country, i.e. Republic of India.
Unlike many people of different ethnic backgrounds, it is very rare to find Indians or Hindus who are proud of their ethnic background or are proud of their Hindu heritage. What is the reason for this? Most of the education that we receive in the west is by European Christian teachers that have a strong contempt for anything different. We are always taught that civilization started from Greece and that the Greeks were the original people to think ‘logically’. That seemed ridiculous, and I recently read a book by Linda Johnsen who also proposed a very simple question, “How did the Egyptians build those pyramids?”, "How did the Aztecs and Inca’s built those superb cities and buildings that surpassed those of the barbaric and primitive Spaniards"? Did they spring up by accident? No, one would have to think logically to be able to engineer such endeavors. The Shankhya School of thought is based on logic thinking and it is confirmed by academic scholars that Shankhya School of thought is older and existed before any of the greeks dsicovered farming. What about all those advanced weapons used by the Indian warriors in ancient times? Did they crop up by accident? Not to mention the superb architecture of the temples you can find by a stones throw when in India.
I am not denying the logic thinking of the Greeks, I don’t believe that the Greeks were the original thinkers or the only thinkers. What about the Indians? Why is it that although Indians have discovered and invented many things for the benefit of mankind, they do not get the recognition that is due to them? What about all those scientists, philosophers, inventors, martial artists, musicians, etc? Were they a figment of our imagination? Are they mere legends? I would think not. It is unfortunate that in this day and age we are left with the outdated legacy of British education in regards to the history and religion of India. Now let’s take a trip through mainstream history and examine the major powers that were involved in colonizing countries that don’t belong to them, those countries being Britain, Spain, Portugal, and Belgium. Spain and Portugal are the major European powers that were known for their almost annihilation of the native populations. The unfortunate victims being the Aztecs and the Incas.
Before the British had arrived in India, the Hindus by general were very proud and content with their faith, and found no reason to change religions. The British knew this very well. Unlike their Spanish and Portuguese counterparts, the British were not so violent in nature in taking over. But that does not excuse them from what I think is atrocious. In a way, one could assume the damage done by the British is worse than what the Muslims did in the Middle Ages, but we will leave that out for now. However let it be known that most Hindus regard Muslims as nothing but savages who contributed nothing to India however, a lot of Hindus consider the British rule as an improvement to India. I don’t agree with that completely. What was so beneficial about British education to the Hindus? As many leaders have stated; British education is a means to secure a job and earn money. It does not develop morals and character like an ideal Hindu education tries to incorporate.
However what is unfortunate in British education is that while these young Hindus were being educated by the British, they where taught to hate their culture and country. They were indoctrinated in western civilization and philosophy. These bright young Hindus were taught that the western world was the most civilized and advanced civilization in the world. That’s rather ridiculous if you compare the middle ages of the Hindus and the Westerners. In Europe people were slaughtering each other through the crusades, inquisitions, protestant reformation etc while Hindus were busy developing different schools of thought and propounding the path of Bhakti to god realization. I would rather debate about philosophy than to fear for my life because I believe differently.
Many people assume the Greeks were the original thinkers in logic and philosophy, sorry to disappoint those arrogant Europeans, but according to this source It is stated that the sages of Greece got their knowledge from India.
" It will no longer remain to be doubted that the priests of Egypt and the sages of Greece have drawn directly from the original well of India," that it is to 'the banks of the Ganges and the Indus that our hearts feel drawn as by some hidden urge." (source: On Hinduism Reviews and Reflections - By Ram Swarup p. 102).
Many of us Indians in the west keep commenting on the passiveness of Indians, or more so we are divided between people who are labeled as sell outs i.e. those who have adopted western way of life, and those that remain to traditions. However the blame should be shared by Indian parents and the western education system. This problem does not only happen in the west but the same problem is in India where the country refuses to topple the shackles of British legacy. Why are we made to hate our culture? There are reasons for this,
1) The Aryan Invasion - Indian civilization is not indigenous and their civilization is from abroad. This adds to the ego of Europeans that they are responsible for India’s glorious civilization.
2) Caste System - Aryans established this to maintain racial purity.
3) Western education - As emphasized above.
We are taught about glories of the Islamic civilization, Christian civilization and the Judaic civilization. All of which are Semitic narrow minded religions. Given that Europe is a Christian continent, it is not surprising as to why these three religions are afforded their proper respect while India and Hinduism are looked upon with contempt not to mention our culture being eaten away by people within; notably the communists and the anglicized Indian sell outs. What can be done to stop this? A lot is being done as I was typing this and as you are a reading this now. I will be honest, I am not doing anything, and I am no scholar nor am I affiliated with any institution. I am writing my thoughts and you are free to read them or condemn them do what you wish. If you want to learn more about Eurocentric’s just type this world on Google along with Hinduism and you can learn more from professional writers and thinkers.
-Muski
http://india_resource.tripod.com/britishedu.htm
http://www.atributetohinduism.com/European_Imperialism.htm
posted by Muski at 3:17 PM
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