Good points to consider
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testimony_of_Simplicity
See why Quakers do not swear to God....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testimony_of_Simplicity
See why Quakers do not swear to God....
Thursday, October 13, 2011
The problem with seeking truth - it is not easy
http://buddhismnow.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/western-cultural-accretions/
"There is a movement towards making Buddhism easy to take, light weight, or as I’ve heard it referred to ‘Buddha-Lite’. It is being packaged, sold, and tinkered with in a way that is bordering on deception; a kind of counterfeit dharma. Somehow Buddhism is fashionable, popular, and there are many who are taking advantage of that for financial and prestigious reasons. Publishers also make a point of having Buddhism marketed alongside Mind Body Spirit, New Age, and stress management books.
"There is a movement towards making Buddhism easy to take, light weight, or as I’ve heard it referred to ‘Buddha-Lite’. It is being packaged, sold, and tinkered with in a way that is bordering on deception; a kind of counterfeit dharma. Somehow Buddhism is fashionable, popular, and there are many who are taking advantage of that for financial and prestigious reasons. Publishers also make a point of having Buddhism marketed alongside Mind Body Spirit, New Age, and stress management books.
People say, ‘It’s not a religion, is it? It’s a way of life,’ which is, of course, true, but that means that Buddhism is not divorced from anything one does in life, not that it is materialistic. Buddhism is about getting to the root of existence, the truth of self, our delusions regarding what the self actually is, not how to prop up the ‘self’ and make it feel better. The body is going to die, and the personality is going to disintegrate; we cannot avoid it. Buddhism, traditionally, has always been hard to take; it is not light weight; the point is to realise what is beyond the conditioned mind, to realise without views and opinions, to face the indescribable nature of existence and nonexistence. This is something to experience, not to study, think about or dwell on. We shall probably have to face some disturbing moments of truth in our investigations when the so-called ‘self’ or ego has the spotlight of dharma shone upon it.
In the past, disciples were not enticed to embark on the path by realised masters. On the contrary, they were discouraged. Why? Because it is not the easy option. One needs to have given up looking for happiness in the world before the right intention is engendered to find liberation and a deeper happiness."
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Robert Eisenman's comments on the James Ossuary
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-eisenman/the-james-ossuary-is-it-a_b_1005052.html
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Facebook - Cookies still track long after you quit
Hacker Nik Cubrilovic is reporting on his blog that Facebook can still track the websites you visit even after you have logged out of the social networking site. Cubrilovic conducted a series of tests, which showed that Facebook only modifies the tracking cookies instead of deleting them once you log out. It appears that your account information is still contained within the cookies so that whenever you visit a website that features a Facebook share button or widget, your browser sends information back to Facebook. http://www.wired.co.uk/news/ |
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Morality
I am not a follower of Dennis Prager's philosophy, but this is a very clear and telling article discussing what many of us "older" people have observed.
http://www.nationalreview.com/
http://www.nationalreview.com/
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Non-Violence is Most Successful Form of Protest
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/08/24/think_again_nonviolent_resistance?page=full
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Egypt's Brotherhood
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Egypt’s Bumbling Brotherhood
By SCOTT ATRAN
....But here’s the real deal, at least as many Egyptians see it. Ever since its founding in 1928 as a rival to Western-inspired nationalist movements that had failed to free Egypt from foreign powers, the Muslim Brotherhood has tried to revive Islamic power. Yet in 83 years it has botched every opportunity. In Egypt today, the Brotherhood counts perhaps some 100,000 adherents out of a population of over 80 million. And its failure to support the initial uprising in Cairo on Jan. 25 has made it marginal to the spirit of revolt now spreading through the Arab world.
This error was compounded when the Brotherhood threw in its lot with Mohamed ElBaradei, the former diplomat and Nobel Prize winner. A Brotherhood spokesman, Dr. Essam el-Erian, told Al Jazeera, “Political groups support ElBaradei to negotiate with the regime.” But when Mr. ElBaradei strode into Tahrir Square, many ignored him and few rallied to his side despite the enormous publicity he was receiving in the Western press. The Brotherhood realized that in addition to being late, it might be backing the wrong horse. On Tuesday, Dr. Erian told me, “It’s too early to even discuss whether ElBaradei should lead a transitional government or whether we will join him.” This kind of flip-flopping makes many Egyptians scoff.
...Nonetheless, the Brotherhood did not arrive at this historical moment with the advantage of wide public favor. Such support as it does have among Egyptians — an often cited figure is 20 percent to 30 percent — is less a matter of true attachment than an accident of circumstance: the many decades of suppression of secular opposition groups that might have countered it. The British, King Farouk, Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar el-Sadat all faced the same problem that Hisham Kaseem, a newspaper editor and human rights activist, described playing out under Mr. Mubarak. “If people met in a cafe and talked about things the regime didn’t like, he would just shut down the cafe and arrest us,” Mr. Kaseem said. “But you can’t close mosques, so the Brotherhood survived.”
If Egyptians are given political breathing space, Mr. Kaseem told me, the Brotherhood’s importance will rapidly fade. “In this uprising the Brotherhood is almost invisible,” Mr. Kaseem said, “but not in America and Europe, which fear them as the bogeyman.”
Many people outside Egypt believe that the Brotherhood gains political influence by providing health clinics and charity for the poor. But the very poor in Egypt are not very politically active. And according to Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, a former member of the Brotherhood’s Guidance Council, the group has only six clinics in Cairo, a city of 18 million. Many of the other clinics are Islamic in orientation simply because most Egyptians are Islamic. The wealthier businessmen who often sponsor them tend to shun the Brotherhood, if only to protect their businesses from government disapproval.
Although originally the Brotherhood was organized into paramilitary cells, today it forswears violence in political struggle. This has made it a target of Al Qaeda’s venom. In January 2006, Ayman al-Zawahri, the former leader of Egypt’s Islamic Jihad and Al Qaeda’s leading strategist, blasted the Brotherhood’s willingness to participate in parliamentary elections and reject nuclear arms. You “falsely affiliated with Islam,” he said in vilifying the group. “You forget about the rule of Shariah, welcome the Crusaders’ bases in your countries and acknowledge the existence of the Jews who are fully armed with nuclear weapons, from which you are banned to possess.”
People in the West frequently conflate the Brotherhood and Al Qaeda. And although their means are very different, even many Egyptians suspect that they share a common end that is alien to democracy. When I asked Dr. Erian about this, he retorted that the United States and Mr. Mubarak had conspired after Sept. 11 to “brainwash” people into thinking of all Muslim activists as terrorists, adding that “the street” knew the truth.
The street, however, manifests little support for the Brotherhood. Only a small minority of the protesters in Tahrir Square joined its members in prayers there (estimates range from 5 percent to 10 percent), and few Islamic slogans or chants were heard.
Obviously the Brotherhood wants power and its positions, notably its stance against Israel, are problematic for American interests. “Israel must know that it is not welcome by the people in this region,” Dr. Erian said. Moreover, the Brotherhood will probably have representatives in any freely elected government. But it is because democracies tolerate disparate political groups that they generally don’t have civil wars, or wars with other democracies. And because the Brotherhood itself is not monolithic — it has many factions — it could well succumb to internal division if there really were a political opening for other groups in Egypt.
What we are seeing in Egypt is a revolt led by digitally informed young people and joined by families from all rungs of society. Though in one sense it happened overnight, many of its young proponents have long been working behind the scenes, independent of the Brotherhood or any old guard opposition. Egyptians are a pretty savvy lot. Hardly anyone I talked to believes that democracy can be established overnight.
....“Egypt is missing instruments essential to any functioning democracy and these must be established in the transition period — an independent judiciary, a representative Parliament, an open press,” Mr. Kaseem said. “If you try to push democracy tomorrow we’ll end up like Mauritania or Sudan,” both of which in recent decades have had coups on the heels of democratic elections.
A military in control behind the scenes — for a while — is probably the best hope for a peaceful transition. “Let the U.S.A. stay away,” urged Mr. Kaseem, who insisted that he is pro-American and abhors the Brotherhood. “They are only bungling things with calls for immediate reforms and against the Brotherhood. We are handling this beautifully. Even a military leader with an I.Q. of 30 wouldn’t go down the same path as Mubarak because he would understand that the people of Egypt who are out in the streets are no longer apathetic, their interests are mostly secular, they are connected and they will get power in the end.”
If America’s already teetering standing among Egyptians and across the Arab and Muslim world is not to topple altogether, the United States must now publicly hold Mr. Mubarak responsible for the violence and privately inform the Egyptian Army that it cannot support any institution that is complicit.
But there is little reason for the United States to fear a takeover by the Muslim Brotherhood. If Egypt is allowed to find its own way, as it so promisingly began to do over the past week, the problems of violent extremism and waves of emigration that America and Europe most fear from this unhappy region could well fade as its disaffected youth at last find hope at home.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Ron Paul on Egypt
Our 30 Year Mistake
“The events in Egypt of late have captured the attention of the world, as many thousands of Egyptians take to the streets both in opposition to and in favor of the current regime. We watch from a distance hoping that events do not spiral further into violence, which will destroy lives and threaten the livelihoods of average Egyptians caught up in the political turmoil…”
Click here to read the full article: http://bit.ly/e3DukD
Follow Congressman Paul on Twitter! http://twitter.com/RepRonPaul
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Zahi Hawass for prime minister by Robert Eisenman
As it has now turned out, Zahi Hawass is in Mubarrak’s new Cabinet as Minister for Cultural Affairs or some such thing. He reported to the press how the antiquities in the Cairo Museum were saved and how he told the beduin who stole some objects being stored in Sinai to return these items or else; and they did.
Everyone knows Zahi Hawass. Even if he is a little bit of a headline grabber and an egotist, everyone knows he is a stern taskmaster and fair,. He has a worldwide reputation and he thinks Mubarrak should be allowed to finish out his term.
In the meantime, he could handle the transition and he would do it with aplomb, insight, and intelligence. One can’t say the same for Muhammad el-Barradei who suddenly, very suspiciously, crept into the headlines and returned to Egypt just in time to be shoved front and center among the ‘opposition’ movements.
We all know who he is and the terrible job he did both in Iraq and Iran with his so-called ‘inspections’ of nuclear sites and installations. He almost single-handedly with his interminable stalling destroyed George Bush’s handling of the Iraq War. He has performed a similar service in Iran. Nobel Prizes mean nothing. We all know who receives Nobel Prizes.
In fact, the Prize just adds to his suspiciousness. Not only this, but his sudden materialization on the scene, to say nothing of his acceptance by the Muslim Brotherhood (adding to that of the Iranian Mullahs) just makes him all the more worrisome. We all know where he will be taking us.
No Zahi Hawass is the man. Let him be elevated to the Prime Minister-ship. He will treat Mubarrak with the dignity he deserves. He knows about the West and its institutions and ways. He will ensure ‘Democracy’ in Egypt, not a crazed mob upon the street obviously being ‘played’ by Hamas-like supervisors in the form of the Muslim Brotherhood.
These are the sort of people who have no respect for ‘pagan’ antiquities as we saw in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Zawass, though a Muslim himself. is a fanatic when it comes to protecting Egypt’s pre-Muslim culture. He will do it again now in this crisis, plus save the basis of Egyptian tourism.
He would ensure a proper and methodical, no-rush transition. He would ensure all are treated with the respect and care they are due. He is a hard taskmaster, as I said, but a fair one. Anyone who watches his programs would be able to testify to this.
Let him now save his country. He is the only one with the international stature and reputation to do it. He will be able to accomplish this in Mubarrak’s last six months. Elevate him. Give him both the reins and the responsibility. Now we will have archaeology coming to the rescue of Modern Egypt and not the other was round.
He who has done so much to save Egypt’s antiquities, could now be the one best-placed to preserve Egypt’s unique and at-risk cultural dynamic. Elevate him to the Premiership. He certainly will not fail. He has never done so before.
http://blogs.jpost.com/content/zahi-hawass-prime-minister-2
Everyone knows Zahi Hawass. Even if he is a little bit of a headline grabber and an egotist, everyone knows he is a stern taskmaster and fair,. He has a worldwide reputation and he thinks Mubarrak should be allowed to finish out his term.
In the meantime, he could handle the transition and he would do it with aplomb, insight, and intelligence. One can’t say the same for Muhammad el-Barradei who suddenly, very suspiciously, crept into the headlines and returned to Egypt just in time to be shoved front and center among the ‘opposition’ movements.
We all know who he is and the terrible job he did both in Iraq and Iran with his so-called ‘inspections’ of nuclear sites and installations. He almost single-handedly with his interminable stalling destroyed George Bush’s handling of the Iraq War. He has performed a similar service in Iran. Nobel Prizes mean nothing. We all know who receives Nobel Prizes.
In fact, the Prize just adds to his suspiciousness. Not only this, but his sudden materialization on the scene, to say nothing of his acceptance by the Muslim Brotherhood (adding to that of the Iranian Mullahs) just makes him all the more worrisome. We all know where he will be taking us.
No Zahi Hawass is the man. Let him be elevated to the Prime Minister-ship. He will treat Mubarrak with the dignity he deserves. He knows about the West and its institutions and ways. He will ensure ‘Democracy’ in Egypt, not a crazed mob upon the street obviously being ‘played’ by Hamas-like supervisors in the form of the Muslim Brotherhood.
These are the sort of people who have no respect for ‘pagan’ antiquities as we saw in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Zawass, though a Muslim himself. is a fanatic when it comes to protecting Egypt’s pre-Muslim culture. He will do it again now in this crisis, plus save the basis of Egyptian tourism.
He would ensure a proper and methodical, no-rush transition. He would ensure all are treated with the respect and care they are due. He is a hard taskmaster, as I said, but a fair one. Anyone who watches his programs would be able to testify to this.
Let him now save his country. He is the only one with the international stature and reputation to do it. He will be able to accomplish this in Mubarrak’s last six months. Elevate him. Give him both the reins and the responsibility. Now we will have archaeology coming to the rescue of Modern Egypt and not the other was round.
He who has done so much to save Egypt’s antiquities, could now be the one best-placed to preserve Egypt’s unique and at-risk cultural dynamic. Elevate him to the Premiership. He certainly will not fail. He has never done so before.
http://blogs.jpost.com/content/zahi-hawass-prime-minister-2
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
News about Egypt
From:
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?hl=en&shva=1#trash/12ddd87e06e143a2
“As of 2010, Egypt began consuming all the oil that it extracts. Egypt no longer exports oil. Interesting timing for social unrest, don’t you think?
“Here’s what the numbers show. Egypt’s net oil exports have been falling each year since the mid-1990s. So for the past 15 years or so, Egypt’s government has been raising less and less income with which to offer food and fuel subsidies to the teeming masses in the country’s expansive slums.”
Without those subsidies, huge numbers of people in Egypt -- population 85 million -- would not eat. As we mentioned last week, Egypt is the world’s biggest wheat importer.
“In the past few years,” Byron continues, “Egypt has imported about 40% of its food overall and 60% of its wheat. Egypt buys the food on world markets, paying world prices.
“In the past year or so, as net oil exports shifted down to zero, the food problem became even worse for Egypt. World wheat production is down, and global export markets are tightening.” You know the story: drought in Russia, floods in Australia and so on. And at the very moment Egypt has less oil revenue, it’s shelling out more for food. And the subsidies go only so far.
“The bottom line is that energy is a problem for Egypt, compounded by revenue shortfalls, compounded by large and growing population, compounded by the need for food imports.
“It’s an explosive mix, and now the fuse has burnt down. I don’t doubt that this all is why we’re seeing riots in the streets.”
[Ed. Note: Iran’s government is throwing its support behind the “revolution of the noble” in Egypt. “The start of this revolution has astonished the despotic regimes of the region,” says parliament speaker Ali Larijani. Will the support go beyond mere rhetoric? That’s a possibility Byron explores in his $220-a-barrel oil scenario.]
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?hl=en&shva=1#trash/12ddd87e06e143a2
“As of 2010, Egypt began consuming all the oil that it extracts. Egypt no longer exports oil. Interesting timing for social unrest, don’t you think?
“Here’s what the numbers show. Egypt’s net oil exports have been falling each year since the mid-1990s. So for the past 15 years or so, Egypt’s government has been raising less and less income with which to offer food and fuel subsidies to the teeming masses in the country’s expansive slums.”
Without those subsidies, huge numbers of people in Egypt -- population 85 million -- would not eat. As we mentioned last week, Egypt is the world’s biggest wheat importer.“In the past few years,” Byron continues, “Egypt has imported about 40% of its food overall and 60% of its wheat. Egypt buys the food on world markets, paying world prices.
“In the past year or so, as net oil exports shifted down to zero, the food problem became even worse for Egypt. World wheat production is down, and global export markets are tightening.” You know the story: drought in Russia, floods in Australia and so on. And at the very moment Egypt has less oil revenue, it’s shelling out more for food. And the subsidies go only so far.
“The bottom line is that energy is a problem for Egypt, compounded by revenue shortfalls, compounded by large and growing population, compounded by the need for food imports.
“It’s an explosive mix, and now the fuse has burnt down. I don’t doubt that this all is why we’re seeing riots in the streets.”
[Ed. Note: Iran’s government is throwing its support behind the “revolution of the noble” in Egypt. “The start of this revolution has astonished the despotic regimes of the region,” says parliament speaker Ali Larijani. Will the support go beyond mere rhetoric? That’s a possibility Byron explores in his $220-a-barrel oil scenario.]
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Five Reasons You Won't Die
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-lanza/5-reasons-you-wont-die_b_810936.html
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Great Documentary Site with Interesting Film Here
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/secrets-of-the-stone-age/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TopDocumentaryFilms+%28Top+Documentary+Films+-+Watch+Free+Documentaries+Online%29
Flame Retardant Found in Foods
Flame Retardants Found in Common Foods (1/12/2011)
The dangers of flame retardants are nothing new. At Natural Home, we've been advising readers for years to pick natural and organic textiles, furniture and mattresses and to avoid those treated with the toxic chemicals used to make products resistant to open flames. Flame retardants have been known to cause a number of health problems, including heart, liver and thyroid damage, as well as reproductive, developmental and neurological problems. Unfortunately, avoiding flame retardants may not be as easy as purchasing organic textiles and furniture. Many common foods contain traces of flame retardants-and some at alarming levels, according to a recent study. For the study, researchers tested ten samples from 31 distinct food groups, such as meat, fish and dairy products, for traces of two brominated flame retardants, polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD). Butter topped the list of most contaminated foods, followed closely by canned sardines and fresh salmon. The lowest detected levels of flame retardants were found in vegetables and dairy products such as whole milk and yogurt.Although PBDEs were phased out in the early 2000s, brominated flame retardants build up in the body and the environment, storing up in fat tissues of animals and resisting being broken down in the environment. It's still a little unclear how the PBDEs end up in food products, but common theories include through contaminated animal feed and during product packaging and processing. CLIP
How To Limit Your Wireless Exposure
With something like 3 billion cell phones loose on this planet, and more than 2 million cell phone towers in the USA alone, resistance seems hopeless. Not! We can take heart from action being taken by governments are the globe to rein in this malignant technology. A few examples:-- Israel has banned all advertising for home wireless routers.-- New Zealand prohibits cell phone towers on school yards. -- Germany is considering banning all portable phones that have "always on" base stations. -- Russia wants all children under 18 kept away from microwave exposure. -- Britain says children under 12 should have no microwave radiation exposure at all.
-- In Luxembourg, an administrative court has upheld a lower court ruling in favour of a couple after a company installed six cell phone transmitters 270 meters from their home. In its ruling, the court referred to the Precautionary Principle. The court pointed out an error in calculation regarding the permitted threshold of exposure to electromagnetic radiation calls into question the present limits. -- After a study on mobile phone use and Wi-Fi radiation, France is shutting down all cell phone use in its elementary schools, due to health concerns. Currently cell phone use is permitted on elementary school grounds, but not in classrooms. The new mandate will shut down their use completely. A ban on cell phones in public libraries is next. The French Government is also considering prohibiting cell phone use by all children 14 and under. -- The European Parliament has written to its 27 member countries urging them to ignore WHO guidelines and set exposure limits at lower levels. Don't play into "overwhelm" by trying to deal with worldwide wireless. Act locally! First, suggests cell phone author and activist Amy Worthington, establish and own your priorities. Make the choice for robust health, improved mental function and personal space. Explain to others that you are rejecting wireless devices because you regard premature aging, memory-vision-hearing loss, genetic damage and cancer as inconvenient. [The Radiation Poisoning Of America] If you absolutely must use cell or cordless phones, keep them off your body and in speaker mode only for one or two one-minute essential calls every month. Refuse to allow any identification or communication device to be implanted in your body. Defending your personal sovereignty means cleaning up "electrosmog" from your personal space. Remove all wireless routers, portable phones, cell phones and other wireless gadgets from your home. Say "Nix, nope, nyet, forget it already" to Smart Meters. Avoid airport scanners by not flying. CLIP
More on the Pyramids
http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-angeles/the-great-pyramid-and-the-great-flood
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Jews Did Not Build Pyramids
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/2010/0111/Egypt-says-Jewish-slaves-didn-t-build-pyramids
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Most Mysterious Archeological Discoveries
http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/earths-most-mysterious-archeological-discoveries--0367/1
Getting to know Krishna
Search for the Historical Krishna In the first of two articles, Dr. N. S. Rajaram examines some historical issues surrounding Lord Krishna. This article was originally published in the online journal \'Sword of Truth\'. Further information on the subject can be found in the author\'s book, of the same title. Dr. N. S. Rajaram is an author and mathematician, based in the USA, where he formerly worked for the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. In recent years he has written extensively in the fields of archaeology and ancient history. History or myth? As we go on to celebrate another Sri Krishna-Janmashthami, here is a question of interest to all of us: was Krishna a historical figure, or is he just a myth created to fill a void in the Hindu soul? As the most admired and adored figure in the Hindu pantheon, Krishna occupies a unique place in Indian history and tradition. Known since time immemorial as a Yadava prince of the house of Vrishni, and the son of Vasudeva and Devaki, most Hindus have accepted Krishna an avatar or incarnation of Lord Vishnu. But now, in keeping with the spirit of the scientific age in which we live, many people - including Hindus - want to know if he really existed. This is not a new phenomenon: the question of his historicity has engaged the attention of scholars for nearly two centuries, ever since European scholars began to study India, questioning every belief that the Hindus had held for millennia. They concluded - and their Indian followers faithfully accepted - that Krishna was a myth. In reality, it was a preconceived answer, which they sought to justify by giving it an appearance of scholarship. But in these articles I will present evidence to show that Krishna was indeed a historical figure who lived about 5000 years ago. Since the life and career of Krishna lie within the century or so described in the great historical epic Mahabharata, if we can demonstrate the historicity of the characters and the principal episodes of the epic, we will essentially have established Krishna\'s historicity also. And the same goes for the date: once we know the dates of the principal events in the Mahabharata, like the War, we automatically have an approximate date for Krishna. If, on the basis of our search, we can ascertain the existence of Krishna, and arrive also at an approximate date for him, we are justified in regarding him as a historical figure. The approach that I follow is inspired by the work Sri Krishna Charitra written more than a century ago by the great Bengali author Bankima Chandra Chatterji, supplemented by archaeological and other research that has come to light up to our own time. The topics presented in these articles are discussed in greater detail in my book, Search for the Historical Krishna. Evidence for Krishna According to Indian sources, Krishna was a Vedic figure. He was a younger contemporary of Krishna-Dvaipayana - or \'Krishna of the Island\' - better known as Veda Vyasa - who by tradition was responsible for the organization of Vedic hymns into their four fold division, the form in which we know them today. He is also by tradition the author of the earliest version of the Mahabharata. It is worth noting that the names of some of the characters of the period are found in the literature of the period and also on some Harappan seals that Jha and I have deciphered. For example, words like Paila (Vyasa\'s pupil), Akrura (Krishna\'s friend), Vrishni (Krishna\'s clan), Yadu (Krishna\'s ancestor), Sritirtha (old name for Dwaraka) are found on seals, some of which may go back five thousand years. The greatest barrier to a rational study of ancient Indian history continues to be a nineteenth century colonial fiction known as the Aryan invasion of India. When the ruins of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were discovered about 70 years ago, this was followed by a new piece of fiction known as the Aryan-Dravidian wars. Science has now fully discredited both. We now know that the Harappan Civilization came at the end of the Vedic Age. I will not go into their details here, but only mention that in these articles I totally ignore both the Aryan invasion and the idea of the Harappan Civilization as Dravidian, unrelated to Vedic. (See my book The Politics of History, Chapter 1. For a more detailed exposition.) Panini, the great grammarian mentions several Mahabharata characters including Vasudeva (Krishna), Arjuna, Nakula, Kunti and others. We find the names of Mahabharata characters in Vedic literature - Vicitravirya in Kathaka Samhita; Sikhandin Yajnasena in Kaushitaki Brahmana; Janamejaya the grandson of Abhimanyu in Aitareya Brahmana; and Pariksita in Shatapatha Brahmana. And the list is far from exhaustive. Among Buddhist works Kunala Jataka mentions Krishnaa (i.e., Draupadi) in addition to Bhimasena, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva and Yudhittila (Pali for Yudhisthira). Dhananjaya of the Kuru race (Arjuna) and Draupadi Svayamvara are referred to in Dhumakari Jataka. The same work refers also to Yudhisthira as an ancestor of the Kurus of Indapattana (i.e., Indraprastha) and also to Vidurapandita. In addition to these Mahabharata characters, Krishna himself is mentioned in Buddhist works such as Sutrapitaka and Lalitavistara. These works are often hostile to Krishna and his teachings, but the very fact they found it necessary to try to discredit him (and his teachings) shows that he was accepted as a historical figure even by them. They did not try to deny his historical existence. Returning to the late Vedic literature, one of the most interesting references to Krishna is to be found in the ancient Chandogya Upanishad. It goes (my translation): \"Ghora of the Angirasas spoke thus to Krishna, son of Devaki (Krishna Devaki-putra) - \"Hearing your words I too am now free of thirst.\" And till the end of life he sought refuge in these three principles: \"Thou art indestructible (akshita). Thou art eternal (acyuta). Thou art the flow of life (prana samhita).\" Krishna Devaki-putra is of course Krishna of the Mahabharata. It is worth noting that Krishna studied the Vedas under Ghora of the Angirasa clan, who seems to have inspired Krishna to develop ideas that later went into the Bhagavadgita. The Gita is essentially a summary of the Upanishads combined with the rationalism of the Sankhya philosophy. No less remarkable is the fact that there is a reference to this episode - of Ghora providing the seed of the Gita - on one of the Harappan seals. The message is \'ghorah datah dvayuh varcah\' - meaning \'Two essences given by Ghora\', the two essences being the Upanishads (Vedanta) and Sankhya. So in the third millennium BC, Ghora was recognized as the inspirer of this synthesis of Vedanta and Sankhya affected by Krishna in the Bhagavadgita. The important thing to note is that unlike the Harivamsha or the Bhagavata, these works - the Upanishads, the Jatakas, the Sutras or the Brahmanas - are not part of the historical tradition and had therefore no reason to use these names except familiarity. With such profuse references to Krishna and other Mahabharata characters in so many unrelated works of diverse kinds, written in different periods, there cannot be the slightest doubt that they refer to historical characters in a historical era. What remains now is to fix an approximate date for Krishna or the Mahabharata War. Contined next issue
http://www.hinduvoice.co.uk/index.php
http://www.hinduvoice.co.uk/index.php
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
New York Must Care for this Ancient Treasure
http://www.drhawass.com/blog/obelisk-central-park
Remember, this is an Egyptian artifact, created and found in Egypt. The usual argument for a country taking and keeping an historic relic of another country is that it will "better preserve" the given piece for the future. New York can hardly defend itself with this argument. My recent trip to Egypt has made this tragedy even more poignant.
Obelisks are enormously valuable and important beyond what we currently understand.
Remember, this is an Egyptian artifact, created and found in Egypt. The usual argument for a country taking and keeping an historic relic of another country is that it will "better preserve" the given piece for the future. New York can hardly defend itself with this argument. My recent trip to Egypt has made this tragedy even more poignant.
Obelisks are enormously valuable and important beyond what we currently understand.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Excellent visual information about the science and age of the Pyramids!
This is an excellent interview which is in tune with the science presented in the works of West and Scanlon and visually explains it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKyEGNZ5bEA&feature=player_embedded#!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKyEGNZ5bEA&feature=player_embedded#!
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