isn't it strange...

Nick-H

Nahhh....

Nobody gets as much sex as a politician.

They make 1960s rock musicians look like monks!

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

icetea

Let me come with my feet back on the ground. I am nowhere aware of the intricacies of Hinduism, in fact The Gita is the only Hindu scripture that I have read and that can be very missleading! Let me think that at least Hinduism is not so concerned with rationality, the fairytale-like battle between absolute GOOD and BAD, between morality and immorality, because that's what I liked about it in the first place. There must be thiefs and murderers too in this world, as there must be geniuses and retards, and common people. Let there be shades of grey, they're all just doing their "duty"....that was my point. They are necessary for the society's balance. As for their personal "salvation", they would advance very slowly indeed, but I'm sure they too would. There are different rules and prescriptions for different kinds of people.

I don't think that Arjuna's situation is to necessarily exemplify higher truths, the battle against evil. It is a situation, dramatized, of course, that we all might encounter in our life, where you have to take a difficult and painful decision, that's all. The paper author's point was rather different in my understanding, that you should carry on with a difficult duty if that benefits the society/nature at large and your personal spiritual growth.

batistuta

The teaching would not be a valid if it only applied to some advice to some king abt battle n some ancient times.As you say ,it can be taken in the context of everyday life.There are some decisions which one may have to take which are painful,it has to be taken nonetheless.So,one perfroms his duty without anticipation for results.In some ways ,it is better this way as you are more concerned with the job rather than the end result.

Banarasi at heart

<And I think Hinduism can accommodate atheists very well!>

Of course, atheism was always present. It was a separate philisophy with adherents. Of course, they would not be Hindu but I guess Hindus would have been used to atheism from long back.

Your profile says "sort of hate India club" but this post/thread (I have not seen many yet) does not look like it!

just_an_old_boy

On a side note...till the arrival of Europeans...when Buddhism/Jainism were not distinguished as distinct from the larger Indic philosophical traditions.

These two were always regarded as wayward atheistic sects. The observation is important. Orthodox Hinduism has the term Nastik (atheist or non-believer in common lingo) for them.

While Buddhism has acquired a greater level of differentiation owing to moulding by various cultures when it went out of India, Jains are a different case.

How much are they different from mainstream Hindus? Wrongly classified, otherwise they are the present day example of formal accomodation of atheistic tradition within larger Indic philosophical traditions.