A Centre that Holds - commentary on 'Let’s Stop Funding Our Enemies'
Conquerors through our history typically attempt to gut or wipe out the traditions and cultures of their conquests. Although the British were forced to relinquish their hold on India in 1947, the traditions and culture of India are still under attack by the Eurocentric or Western world. Swaraja magazine just published an article entitled 'Let’s Stop Funding Our Enemies' wherein the author Aditi Banjeree, writes, 'It is well-known that the academy—the system of universities and
scholarship prevalent in the West and in India today—is virulently
anti-Hindu and anti-India.'
Below are Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet's comments on the article together with a few other voices (originally posted with the article on http://swarajyamag.com), which deserve to be widely shared.
Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet [10 Mar 2016]
I follow assiduously what Hindus in the USA and their organisations are doing to try and promote a more sophisticated reality and appreciation of Hinduism. I especially appreciate Aditi Banerjee’s inputs which are clear, to the point, and informative. In this latest she has driven home the point better than ever, for me at least though there will not be many takers among Hindus on the issue I will highlight. Perhaps because a serious crossroads of destiny has been reached, the gravity of which is difficult to gauge when we stand in its midst.
In all these efforts something essential is missed – not surprising because it falls in line with a carefully crafted strategy set in motion many centuries ago: Hinduism is lost in the toss and tumble of the Periphery. I use the word in a geometric sense – i.e., the periphery of a circle. Most Hindus will pride themselves on their great diversity (as represented by that periphery), where any cult or sect is welcome and is offered a place in the circumscribing firmament of Hinduism, even those in stark contrast to the basic tenets of the Sanatan Dharma. This is the classic definition of paganism, and we all know its fate at the hands of the exclusivist religions that overtook the world during the past Piscean Age. But really it wasn’t the arrival of those exclusivist faiths that finished off the grand diversity that paganism represented: it was the lack of, in the words of Yeats, a centre that holds.
Paganism actually did itself in because it had lost its way when it lost sight of the centre that holds. This was always provided by the Time-Spirit in the ancient world and in India as well; and the harmonies of the Time-Spirit were carried over to the calendar that regulated societies – or better said that served as the centre that holds. When that cosmic connection was lost (and this is not the place to discuss why and when that took place; we can only state the fact based on an assessment of the results of that loss) the decline was predictable. We are faced with a central void – and for the Sanatan Dharma with its foundation in Fullness, a void as ‘centre’ is perhaps the worst fate imaginable; it spells doom by any standards.
Regarding contemporary Hinduism, the only remaining repository of paganism in the modern world, the central void is more than apparent. If not it would be impossible for the anti-Hindu forces to overtake the movement so totally. Hindus are doing themselves in because the Dharma harbours a central void. The Time-Spirit has been forsaken – a fact that is clearly in evidence by the very method provided to a society as diverse as the Hindu to hold its own against all attacks: Hinduism is collapsing in on itself because it has eschewed the method to unify diversity which is the calendar it adopts for ritual and horoscopic purposes; when the centre is left void anyone and anything can seek to fill that void. This is what is happening: collapse, caving in – and in spite of the best efforts hostile forces gain supremacy, as Banerjee points out. No amount of signatures collected as in political and human rights campaign can remedy the situation since they too are part of the periphery and only further compound confusion. The centre is filled by its yogic realisation, and not otherwise.
For the past several hundred years the Hindu calendar makers have imposed a system on the Samaj that not only celebrates diversity, it positively foments it. The calendar is the connection to the cosmos and is the means for the Time-Spirit to act in the world throughan enlightened society. The contrary is taking place today, and until that is recognised, until voices arise within the Samaj that demand a careful inspection of what the current Nirayana calendar is doing to Hinduism, things will only get worse until the last bastion of paganism is wiped off the face of the Earth. For that is the ultimate goal.
The Sayana system that follows the Sun is the way forward, the way that all pagan societies have followed throughout the ages. Considering the lofty place the Sun holds in the worship, it is obvious that the Nirayana calendar that does away with the solar connection as reflected in the Earth’s equinoxes and solstices is patently wrong. Hindus fortify this connection in their hearts and souls when they chant the Gayatri Mantra at dawn. Why then is this not reflected in the calendar they adopt to regulate and unify the great diversity paganism stands for?
Patricia Heidt > Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet • [12 Mar 2016]
Hinduism has an inbuilt mechanism that allows it to keep renewing itself, over the aeons. It is still as alive and relevant today as it was from Vedic ages. Is this what you mean by the term time-spirit?
Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet > Patricia Heidt • [12 Mar 2016]
I have always contended that the Vishnu Line of Ten is the backbone of the Sanatan Dharma mainly for this very reason: it allows for eternal renewal making use of the cosmic harmonies to do so, together with the forward impulsion of Time, reflected and measured in an enlightened calendar that unifies and does not divide society. But as things stand in our times, this too has been used as a device to confuse the issue. Today any Guru with a sizeable following and a well-packed bank account, given that Mammon reigns supreme, is an ‘avatar’, usually meaning one of Vishnu’s line. That it is the backbone of the Dharma is clear when we consider that the epics of the 7th and 8th of the Line are the revered heroes of the two national epics.
The best way to distort matters to the point where the Dharma becomes unrecognisable is by flooding the field with candidates, none of whom have the right ‘credentials’ – these are COSMIC credentials. It is to be noted that another epithet of the members of the Line is that they are ‘emanations of the Time-Spirit’. Such being the case, those cosmic credentials have to be recognisable and indisputable. But none of the many candidates today can comply with this important aspect of the appearances. However, there is more to note: their very births – occurring at specific points in time, with intervals between each appearance of approximately 6000 years – are the only means to re-set the cosmic clock and thus to permit Bharat to fulfil her destiny of centre-soul of the Earth, which is so tightly intertwined with Time. The reason for this connection is, as I wrote earlier, because it is through Time and Calendar that the higher will is transcribed here below for the larger community; Time provides the binding force as well as an infallible protection and power of renewal ever faithful to the Dharma.
There has to be a unifying factor rooted in the heart and soul of the Dharma that extends beyond individuals but embraces them all and draws together their aspirations around a single central One. As it stands now, the place that should be occupied by that One is the Void because there is no such unifying factor. The currently-used Nirayana calendar based on the circle of the constellations far out in space rather than the Sayana tropical zodiac, giver of our seasons on Earth and the harmonics we are intrinsically linked to, cannot convey those credentials. In effect, they have ceased to exist in an appreciable manner from the moment the Nirayana system was adopted several centuries ago.
Of course, this is a free society – and no group is freer than the Hindu Samaj – so the will of the majority is thought to prevail. However, in the present instance, the majority is not consulted. There is a small cabal that dictates terms pontifically in this essential area, and they alone are ‘authorised’ to establish timings for the entire Samaj. It is a very sad situation. All aspects of the problem must be brought forward and discussed threadbare and the veils removed that make this question of Time appear so mysterious and apparently reserved for an elite. Leaving it closed within the walls of this cabal keeps the larger Samaj in ignorance of the true situation and looking for solutions where they can never be found. But this call to meet and discuss is never heeded; the reason is clear: this is the way to maintain control and power. However, the death knell is being heard loud and clear and the Nirayana calendar is being questioned on an increasing scale. It won’t be long before its adherents will be forced to accept the invitation to a public debate. With its tradition of free speech and liberal exchange of ideas, Hindus in the USA should be in the forefront of this movement and organising a discussion of this sort.
Here is a link to one such group that offers Hindus a complete calendar/almanac based on the Vedic Sayana system. This link is to the Hindi version: darshaney.smkatp@gmail.com [LT note: I will find and post the correct link here when I find it]. There is also the Tamil/English version available at www.reformedsanathancalendar.in. Included are letters from the Shankaracharyas to the authors urging the Samaj to consider switching to the Vedic calendar and praising them for their efforts. PNB
pshakkottai > Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet • [12 Mar 2016]
Higly speculative. Hindu Dharma is integral reality and is being understood to be so thanks to Rajiv Malhotra. There is no void in the center of Dharma because Dharma has no center and edge.
Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet > pshakkottai • [12 Mar 2016]
'...Dharma has no center and edge', you write. Sounds pretty much like a void to me. Reading this reminds me of the renowned Teacher J. Krishnamurti who famously stated, 'Truth cannot be measured. What can be measured is not truth.' That conveniently leaves out the entire material manifestation - the field where the Goddess manifests her infinite complexity and diversity. Truth, however, is far more mathematical than that and happily CAN BE MEASURED. This is the Divine Maya of the Veda, and can also be proven today through the physical Ganga whose actual physical measurements as she flows across Bharat prove the point. We need to integrate the material and bring it back to a oneness with Spirit and not allow science to hog the field.
Karan Gupta • [10 Mar 2016]
Excellent article, but don't agree with the ending. "Dharma" is not some Pagan tradition. The Vedas clearly defines the absolute as one and formless the "Brahman" which can be evoked by the vibration of "Aum". Dharma is at the least not a Pagan Tradition.
Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet > Karan Gupta • [12 Mar 2016]
With the advent of the exclusivist religions, I am aware that 'paganism' has become a dirty word, equated with the devil and devil worship. It was a job well done. But the truth is that paganism stands for all-inclusiveness and recognition of the Goddess as the architect of the Supreme, known in the Veda as the Divine Maya - Maya being the root connected to measure. In other words, the Divine Maya sanctifies material creation - a concept which we could well use today when we are destroying our planetary home. PNB
I follow assiduously what Hindus in the USA and their organisations are doing to try and promote a more sophisticated reality and appreciation of Hinduism. I especially appreciate Aditi Banerjee’s inputs which are clear, to the point, and informative. In this latest she has driven home the point better than ever, for me at least though there will not be many takers among Hindus on the issue I will highlight. Perhaps because a serious crossroads of destiny has been reached, the gravity of which is difficult to gauge when we stand in its midst.
In all these efforts something essential is missed – not surprising because it falls in line with a carefully crafted strategy set in motion many centuries ago: Hinduism is lost in the toss and tumble of the Periphery. I use the word in a geometric sense – i.e., the periphery of a circle. Most Hindus will pride themselves on their great diversity (as represented by that periphery), where any cult or sect is welcome and is offered a place in the circumscribing firmament of Hinduism, even those in stark contrast to the basic tenets of the Sanatan Dharma. This is the classic definition of paganism, and we all know its fate at the hands of the exclusivist religions that overtook the world during the past Piscean Age. But really it wasn’t the arrival of those exclusivist faiths that finished off the grand diversity that paganism represented: it was the lack of, in the words of Yeats, a centre that holds.
Paganism actually did itself in because it had lost its way when it lost sight of the centre that holds. This was always provided by the Time-Spirit in the ancient world and in India as well; and the harmonies of the Time-Spirit were carried over to the calendar that regulated societies – or better said that served as the centre that holds. When that cosmic connection was lost (and this is not the place to discuss why and when that took place; we can only state the fact based on an assessment of the results of that loss) the decline was predictable. We are faced with a central void – and for the Sanatan Dharma with its foundation in Fullness, a void as ‘centre’ is perhaps the worst fate imaginable; it spells doom by any standards.
Regarding contemporary Hinduism, the only remaining repository of paganism in the modern world, the central void is more than apparent. If not it would be impossible for the anti-Hindu forces to overtake the movement so totally. Hindus are doing themselves in because the Dharma harbours a central void. The Time-Spirit has been forsaken – a fact that is clearly in evidence by the very method provided to a society as diverse as the Hindu to hold its own against all attacks: Hinduism is collapsing in on itself because it has eschewed the method to unify diversity which is the calendar it adopts for ritual and horoscopic purposes; when the centre is left void anyone and anything can seek to fill that void. This is what is happening: collapse, caving in – and in spite of the best efforts hostile forces gain supremacy, as Banerjee points out. No amount of signatures collected as in political and human rights campaign can remedy the situation since they too are part of the periphery and only further compound confusion. The centre is filled by its yogic realisation, and not otherwise.
For the past several hundred years the Hindu calendar makers have imposed a system on the Samaj that not only celebrates diversity, it positively foments it. The calendar is the connection to the cosmos and is the means for the Time-Spirit to act in the world throughan enlightened society. The contrary is taking place today, and until that is recognised, until voices arise within the Samaj that demand a careful inspection of what the current Nirayana calendar is doing to Hinduism, things will only get worse until the last bastion of paganism is wiped off the face of the Earth. For that is the ultimate goal.
The Sayana system that follows the Sun is the way forward, the way that all pagan societies have followed throughout the ages. Considering the lofty place the Sun holds in the worship, it is obvious that the Nirayana calendar that does away with the solar connection as reflected in the Earth’s equinoxes and solstices is patently wrong. Hindus fortify this connection in their hearts and souls when they chant the Gayatri Mantra at dawn. Why then is this not reflected in the calendar they adopt to regulate and unify the great diversity paganism stands for?
Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet
Director
Aeon Centre of Cosmology
Patricia Heidt > Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet • [12 Mar 2016]
Hinduism has an inbuilt mechanism that allows it to keep renewing itself, over the aeons. It is still as alive and relevant today as it was from Vedic ages. Is this what you mean by the term time-spirit?
Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet > Patricia Heidt • [12 Mar 2016]
I have always contended that the Vishnu Line of Ten is the backbone of the Sanatan Dharma mainly for this very reason: it allows for eternal renewal making use of the cosmic harmonies to do so, together with the forward impulsion of Time, reflected and measured in an enlightened calendar that unifies and does not divide society. But as things stand in our times, this too has been used as a device to confuse the issue. Today any Guru with a sizeable following and a well-packed bank account, given that Mammon reigns supreme, is an ‘avatar’, usually meaning one of Vishnu’s line. That it is the backbone of the Dharma is clear when we consider that the epics of the 7th and 8th of the Line are the revered heroes of the two national epics.
The best way to distort matters to the point where the Dharma becomes unrecognisable is by flooding the field with candidates, none of whom have the right ‘credentials’ – these are COSMIC credentials. It is to be noted that another epithet of the members of the Line is that they are ‘emanations of the Time-Spirit’. Such being the case, those cosmic credentials have to be recognisable and indisputable. But none of the many candidates today can comply with this important aspect of the appearances. However, there is more to note: their very births – occurring at specific points in time, with intervals between each appearance of approximately 6000 years – are the only means to re-set the cosmic clock and thus to permit Bharat to fulfil her destiny of centre-soul of the Earth, which is so tightly intertwined with Time. The reason for this connection is, as I wrote earlier, because it is through Time and Calendar that the higher will is transcribed here below for the larger community; Time provides the binding force as well as an infallible protection and power of renewal ever faithful to the Dharma.
There has to be a unifying factor rooted in the heart and soul of the Dharma that extends beyond individuals but embraces them all and draws together their aspirations around a single central One. As it stands now, the place that should be occupied by that One is the Void because there is no such unifying factor. The currently-used Nirayana calendar based on the circle of the constellations far out in space rather than the Sayana tropical zodiac, giver of our seasons on Earth and the harmonics we are intrinsically linked to, cannot convey those credentials. In effect, they have ceased to exist in an appreciable manner from the moment the Nirayana system was adopted several centuries ago.
Of course, this is a free society – and no group is freer than the Hindu Samaj – so the will of the majority is thought to prevail. However, in the present instance, the majority is not consulted. There is a small cabal that dictates terms pontifically in this essential area, and they alone are ‘authorised’ to establish timings for the entire Samaj. It is a very sad situation. All aspects of the problem must be brought forward and discussed threadbare and the veils removed that make this question of Time appear so mysterious and apparently reserved for an elite. Leaving it closed within the walls of this cabal keeps the larger Samaj in ignorance of the true situation and looking for solutions where they can never be found. But this call to meet and discuss is never heeded; the reason is clear: this is the way to maintain control and power. However, the death knell is being heard loud and clear and the Nirayana calendar is being questioned on an increasing scale. It won’t be long before its adherents will be forced to accept the invitation to a public debate. With its tradition of free speech and liberal exchange of ideas, Hindus in the USA should be in the forefront of this movement and organising a discussion of this sort.
Here is a link to one such group that offers Hindus a complete calendar/almanac based on the Vedic Sayana system. This link is to the Hindi version: darshaney.smkatp@gmail.com [LT note: I will find and post the correct link here when I find it]. There is also the Tamil/English version available at www.reformedsanathancalendar.in. Included are letters from the Shankaracharyas to the authors urging the Samaj to consider switching to the Vedic calendar and praising them for their efforts. PNB
pshakkottai > Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet • [12 Mar 2016]
Higly speculative. Hindu Dharma is integral reality and is being understood to be so thanks to Rajiv Malhotra. There is no void in the center of Dharma because Dharma has no center and edge.
Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet > pshakkottai • [12 Mar 2016]
'...Dharma has no center and edge', you write. Sounds pretty much like a void to me. Reading this reminds me of the renowned Teacher J. Krishnamurti who famously stated, 'Truth cannot be measured. What can be measured is not truth.' That conveniently leaves out the entire material manifestation - the field where the Goddess manifests her infinite complexity and diversity. Truth, however, is far more mathematical than that and happily CAN BE MEASURED. This is the Divine Maya of the Veda, and can also be proven today through the physical Ganga whose actual physical measurements as she flows across Bharat prove the point. We need to integrate the material and bring it back to a oneness with Spirit and not allow science to hog the field.
Karan Gupta • [10 Mar 2016]
Excellent article, but don't agree with the ending. "Dharma" is not some Pagan tradition. The Vedas clearly defines the absolute as one and formless the "Brahman" which can be evoked by the vibration of "Aum". Dharma is at the least not a Pagan Tradition.
Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet > Karan Gupta • [12 Mar 2016]
With the advent of the exclusivist religions, I am aware that 'paganism' has become a dirty word, equated with the devil and devil worship. It was a job well done. But the truth is that paganism stands for all-inclusiveness and recognition of the Goddess as the architect of the Supreme, known in the Veda as the Divine Maya - Maya being the root connected to measure. In other words, the Divine Maya sanctifies material creation - a concept which we could well use today when we are destroying our planetary home. PNB
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