The mantram of modern superstition. 'the infalliable science' !

The mantram of modern superstition. 'the infalliable science' !

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Palanichamy Rangasamy What is science ? It is systematic knowledge verified by
experiments and empirical data checked, double checked and cross checked ! There could be no superstitious science , but scientists are !

November 4, 2014 at 9:05pm · Edited · Like · 2

Sathish Yadav True that... "Infallible Science".... Science is only a derivative of unnatural living....

November 4, 2014 at 9:31pm · Like

Rahul Banerjee atheists have found that people will believe anything when you say that GOD has said that!!

November 5, 2014 at 6:10am · Like · 4

Aparna Krishnan Exactly. And this is a retort to that unsaid statement. The modern day superstition of modern science is worse - because the followers of that creed feel very very superior and educated compared to the 'illiterate god beleiveing masses'.

There is a temple near my village where habitual drunks go and get a string tied on the wrist. This is said to enable them to 'break the habit'. When I asked Eashwaramma (a neighbour,friend, landless, illiterate, devout) if this worked, she told me, 'well, people have to decide to stop, and then it'll work. isnt it.'. 

Of Mahabharata, which forms the foundation of life and truth for the village people, they say. "Even Gods fail.", "Even Gods make mistakes" and "See Gods also underwent all this, what about us". 

What people will go my implicitly is Dharmam, which is a code of ethic. Which says that every hungry person has to be fed irrespective of one's own food stock at home. Which says that a livlihood is valid only when it sustains others livlihoods also. Annasamy Anna tells me that, "Dharmam is to do an honest job even when no one is looking". 

In complete silence, and putting aside every preconceived notion, if we simply sit in the vllages, we may learn vastly of the common sense and goodness of people, and of the validity and sense of their religion and dharmam. It is not blind or superstitious, by a long way.

November 5, 2014 at 7:50am · Like

Sathish Yadav FYI... "God doesn't do mistakes" :), The Gita was revealed when Krishna became God, the rest of Mahabharatha is just an Itihasa, people confuse day to day life of Krishna from his birth to death as a revelation, he was just another man except at the point when he revealed the Gita, that's why the Gita is in most homes but not the Mahabharath. Same goes with the lives of Prophet Muhammad and Christ's.

November 5, 2014 at 8:05am · Unlike · 1

Sathish Yadav Dharma according to Krishna is "Dharma Sookhshmoshti" which means its tricky :), Dharma is the highest good, not the right and wrong, "Dharma is action which enables man to see God" but not a bunch of rules according to Krishna.

Sathish Yadav The path of Dharma must be treaded carefully... Dharma is tricky.... but he doesn't give any reprieve to Karma, he paid for his sins too and accepted it gleefully... That's why he is great... although he speaks about Dharma, he doesn't talk any more about Karma as the law is already well understood...

Vipin Sharma Because people are conditioned that way, a child's innocence is snatched away by the society, because if he thinks independently he may question the norms and conditioning imposed upon him by society, the lie and bluff would be called off then where will all the self styled Religious and political leaders look for their following, Scientists have agendas of their own and they put everything into a logical reasoning and people are made to believe at large that what stands the scientific scrutiny and test is proven to be correct, although scientists will always fail to solve the mystery of existence.

November 7, 2014 at 2:00pm · Like · 1

Samir Patil Science has no moral or ethical consideration of its own. Whatever they tout as values etc.comes from its incestous relationship with abrahamic tradition..

 

Mekhala Gee God is likely to "enable" things when we put the effort.

 

Kannan Thandapani Superstition should be called out as superstition, whether it is in modern science or in religion or in the villages. There is a lot of common sense and goodness in the villages. But there is no dearth of blind superstition as well.

 

Aparna Krishnan Kannan, maybe I am also reacting to the enshrining the 'god of moden science'. And by a section of popluation that sees itself as 'superior' to the 'illiterate villagers'. But maybe if we enlist the superstitions of modernity vs. the superstitions in villages, the list may be revealing.

 

Aparna Krishnan And when we talk of 'superstitions', i am afraid we judge through the glasses of modernity. One of my children Redipa used to get fainting spells. It was said to be 'possessions' by a spirit. Superstitious enough for us ? Well, Uma took him to the Tirupathi hospitals, where it was undiagnozable, and they tentatively put him on anti-epileptic pills. Those made him dull, and his mother stopped that after a month. The mantram treatment was continued, and the stories were revealing (a garland of limes was tied around his neck, and as the boy was seated and mantrams recited 21 times, the limes one by one turned black as the negativities were absorbed ...). ... But is the non-diagnosis of allopathy and adhoc epilectic medication less superstitious that beleif in 'gaali' and addressing with mantrams. I do not know. I think we are deeply conditioned - each one of us - villagers and urbanites - to be able to see objectively.

 

Rahul Banerjee a vast majority of those who consider illiterate villagers to be inferior to them also believe in God like them.

 

 

Aparna Krishnan When i speak for god, it is not their god. it is the god of my village people, which is dharmam itself (in practice the seperation of god and dharmam is hazy.). and that dharmam i see there

Rahul Banerjee then speak of ethics only

 

Aparna Krishnan no - because gods, rituals, celebrations and dharmam form an integrated whole. and dharmam is embedded in that whole. to seperate, to sanitize is not my agenda. i have learnt to respect the people too deeply to try to 'correct' their religiousness. if that religiousness can support that dharmam whic supports that generosity - far be it from me to question it.

 

Aparna Krishnan the urban community, and their religion sans a deeply understood and lived ethic, I would like to question. But that audience vacated the hall long long back ... and i cannot speak to the winds.

 

Vaidya Subramanian S Annasamy Anna is bang on: "Dharmam is doing the right thing when no one is looking!"

 

Aparna Krishnan Annasamy Anna has always been bang on - in the 15 years i have known him. poor, illiterate, landless, SC, wise and wonderful

 

Vaidya Subramanian S BTW, Dharmam also expects us to do the right thing without considering who is the beneficiary or what is our situation. That ideal expounded by our epics like Ramayana & Mahabharata spurs generations - even if we know it is a stretch for an average human being.

 

Vaidya Subramanian S As folks of the "modern" generation, we call anything as "superstition" if it is not explained by our "science". Alas, we forget that science is simply a single word for " _our_ current body of knowledge."

 

Vaidya Subramanian S As our knowledge improves science does, too. Just in case someone doesn't get it, we only have to look at how gravitational theories moved drastically or improved from Copernicus, Newton, Einstein, ...

 

Vaidya Subramanian S Even scientists have what is called as Empirical Evidence - something that has not been explained formally, but is known to occur in large instances.