A little light thrown on Swadharma and Religion

A little light

Thrown on Swadharma and Religion

https://ramamohanraocheruku.blogspot.com/2016/09/a-little-light-thrown-on-swadharma-and.html

The term “religion” is only about 1000 years old and was used first for the Church and later for Islam. It means “to bind”. If religion is for the welfare of people, it must bind oneself to the Divine and not to one book or doctrine.
Each of Islam and Christian religions makes a terrible, but untrue claim: all those who don’t belong to their own religion, will suffer for all eternity in hell-fire.
Anybody who is not indoctrinated can see immediately that there is something very dangerous and discriminative in these claims. Let’s analyze them:

First: The simple logic is that if we believe in creator, Eswar, Allah or Esa, by whatever name we call should be one, and he is supreme. Then his kingdom resembles a cone and he will be at the pinnacle and his staff occupy circles of various diameters till the cone touches the base and we stand at the base. If this is the crux of the point, what if, by whatever name he is called.
Second: As against the existence of God everywhere that includes the nature (Ardhanariswara Tatva) as envisaged by the Vedas, the religions occupying first and second place in the world preach the creator to be different from it. Can that stand for any logical argument.
Third: the claim that those who don’t convert will burn in hell for all eternity needs to be dismissed outright. It is ridiculous, but unfortunately still widely believed by those who were indoctrinated into their fixed doctrines.

The issue is serious. Today’s most pressing problem, Islamic terrorism, has its roots in the claim that infidels are rejected by Allah. ISIS and others don’t see them even as human beings, but rather as sub-human, and therefore it is easy to kill them. Their foot soldiers consider it a sacred duty to rid the earth of such sub-humans to please their God. Obviously they are convinced that what they were taught is true and they will get paradise for their acts. (ISIS stands for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and is an extremist militant group that is ruled  by Wahhabi/Salafi law.)

Once it was the same case with Christians also. Now they are playing mind games to appease the skeptical lot and making them gullible or drag them into their religion by pelf, power or foul means.
But unfortunately the truth is that they may draw people, especially from Hinduism, for the time being but gradually when they analyze they, I mean the followers of respective faiths, lose faith in the religion and remain oscillating like a pendulum and when it attains rest they lose faith in God with their confused state of mind. Present day Europe is the best example for that.

Bhagavad Gita says, ‘Swadharme nidhanam shreyah paradharmo bhayaavahah’ (3.35).

This can be explained to any extent but in a nutshell
"Swadharma is that action which is in accordance with your nature. It is acting in accordance with your skills and talents, your own nature (Svabhava), and that which you are responsible for (karma). Any action that does not make you feel afraid or restless is Swadharma. That action which you feel compelled to do, without which you feel restless is Swadharma. Let it not be misinterpreted, ‘I feel restless if I do not drink alcohol’. No! Not at all. Because it is not Swadharma, it is just your desire.
Therefore one should be able to distinguish clearly between 'To succumb to pleasure and pain or stand sturdy with all unflinching and unceasing adherence to his Swadharma.

Swasti.

The following are the important comments subscribed by a few who read the article verbatim when I published on June 2^nd 2016 originally.

Murthy Srigiriraju: While our Sanathana Dharma is like a perennial river always providing us fresh running water, the religions are like stagnated water ponds, losing their utility gradually due to contamination & drying up. Have ever seen, people of other faiths visiting/consulting religious scholars of Islam, Christianity etc.,to seek solace & enrich quality of spiritual life? But it is a routine phenomenon that people of all faiths flocking to our religious scholars regularly. The popularity & belief in our religious philosophy is so much & the solace seekers are so large that there are hundreds of branches of Hindu Philosophical centers all over the world who seek solace & solution besides acquiring spiritual knowledge, which is not found in any other faith. One more interesting fact is that, whatever may be the official religion of south & eastern nations like Srilanka, Maldives, Mauritius, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam etc., since ages are fallowing our traditions & customs by suitably modifying to suit their needs including following & worshipping our epic characters, though with variations due to the universal acceptability of Sanathana Dharma, inspite of continuous onslaught by intolerant fanatics of other faiths.

2Murthy Srigiriraju: 1. Jesus Christ & Mohammad are not Gods, they are the messengers of God. The Bible & Quran are the life & times of Jesus Christ & Mohammad, their historical documents.

So there is no sacred book before Bible/Quran or after Bible/Quran.as they begin with Christ / Mohammad & end with Christ\ Mohammad. So only the customs, practices & the concepts & philosophy preached by Christ/Mohammad are documented in the Bible/Quran.

 During their times, Christ /Mohammad, were moved by the living conditions & atrocities on their tribes, the Jews/infidels etc., by the rulers & other tribes. So in order to protect them, & bring orderliness in their society, they conceived a cult, in the name of their perception of God, weaving around some miracles, for the people to fear, worship & get solace from both natural & man made calamities Thus succeeded & also brought unity among various tribes, for a peaceful & harmonious coexistence. Similar is the case with Sikhism, Guru Nanak & guru Granth Sahib, etc., which were all historical documents of those messengers of God, without any spiritual philosophy.

 In comparison, Hinduism is a way of life, the Sanathana Dharma, God/Super natural force centric. It is continuously, documented from times immemorial, by various, saints, Gurus, scholars, through written scriptures of Vedas, Upanishads & epics like Ramayana, Mahabharatha etc., experienced & heard through the God, with a divine philosophy applicable for all ages including present & future, & various of its concepts, proved & continuously under research of even the innumerable mundane & spiritual concepts, by the eminent western scientists, by learning sanskrit & stealing several of our ancient scriptures. For example the various epic asthras are, atomic weapons, rockets, missiles,the pushpak viman are today's aero planes, engineering marvels like, Rama Sethu, Dasavataras are nothing but, origin & evolution of life, subsequently postulated by Charles Darwin, . to name a few. Thus while we have an ocean of scientifically established innumerable scriptures, the Christians have just a Bible, the Muslims a Quran etc. That is the reason why Hinduism/ Sanathana Dharma is eternal, philosophy of God & creation.1

Vvs Sarma: Any religion which classifies people into believers and nonbelievers, by whatever name they are called is a threat to humanity. 2000 years of history are blood soaked on account of these closed mind, brain-washed belief systems I feel it is the trait of Kaliyuga.

4

Vulapalli Hanumantha Rao: Very much impressed but needs a number of readings to leave alone to assimilate basically to understand which i try, sir.

Duties of the Householder - Mahanirvana Tantra

Duties of the Householder - Mahanirvana Tantra

At the outset let us pity ourselves for our inability to know about so many great people of 

ours and their works. Probably they have foreseen the fate of elders neglected by their own 

kin and gave so many invaluable advices to us through their works. All these works are 

in Sanskrit and our great and monuMENTAL leaders for the personal benefits of their own 

or their party obliterated the mother of universal languages namely Sanskrit following the 

foot steps of Thomas Babington Macaulay . Now the time has come to do dusting to all 

those books read and serve the recipe to the youth. I try to get to your notice one such 

book where the directions, commandments,or postulates , given to us named as   Maha 

Nirvana Tantra .     

Maha Nirvana Tantra is said to have been written between 10th and 14th 

century.I chapter 8 of  the same it describe about  'pravritti marga.' in which 

the duties of householder is given in detail. The following are the meanings of a 

few verses there in.

• A man becomes a householder the moment he is born. It is by Samskara that he enters upon any of the other stages of life. For this reason, one should first be a householder, following the rules of that mode of life (8:14).

• When, however, one is freed of worldly desires by the knowledge of the Real, it is then that one should abandon all and seek refuge in the life of an ascetic (8:15).

• In childhood one should acquire knowledge; in youth, wealth and wife. The wise man in middle age will devote himself to acts of religion, and in his old age he should retire from the world (8:16).

Duties towards Parents, children, and things in general

No one should retire from the world who has an old father or mother, a devoted and chaste wife, or young and helpless children (8:17).

• He who becomes an ascetic, leaving mothers, fathers, infant children, wives, agnates and cognates, is guilty of a great sin (8:18).AGNATES: Relations whose chain of relationship to the propositus  (A person to whom descendants are commonly related.) can be traced uninterruptedly through males. in other words: Agnates is a relation, who is related to the deceased wholly through MALES. For Example: son, Son's son, Son's son's son, son's daughter, farther's mother. there must be a male in the start of each line of relation. Hence, it will be held as Agnates. COGNATES: The relations in which , when a person id related with the deceased through one or more female link, the relation is said to be as COGNATES. For Example: daughter's son, sister's son, sister's daughter. 

• He who  without first satisfying the need of his own parents and relatives and make them mendicants, is as good as owning  the sins of killing his father and mother, a woman, and a Brahmana (8:19).

• A householder should not tell an untruth, or practice deceit, and should ever be engaged in the worship of the Devatas and guests (8:24).

• Regarding his father and mother as two visible incarnate deities, he should ever and by every means in his power serve them (8:25).

• According to their requirements, one should offer seats, beds, clothes, drink, and food to mother and father. They should always be spoken to in a gentle voice, and their children’s demeanour should ever be agreeable to them. The good son who ever obeys the behests of his mother and father hallows the family (8:28-8:29).

• If one desires one’s own welfare, all arrogance, mockery, threats, and angry words should be avoided in the parents’ presence (8:30).

• The son who is obedient to his parents should, out of reverence to them, bow to them and stand up when he sees them, and should not take his seat without their permission (8:31).

• Even if the vital breath (Prana) were to reach his throat, the householder should not eat without first feeding his mother, father, son, wife, guest, and brother (8:33).

• *The man who, to the deprivation of his elders and equals, fills his own belly is despised in this world, and goes to Hell in the next (8:34).

• *The householder should cherish his wife, educate his children, and support his kinsmen and friends. This is the supreme eternal duty (8:35).

• The body is nourished by the mother. It originates from the father. The kinsmen, out of love, teach. The man, therefore, who forsakes them is indeed vile (8:36).

• For their sake should a hundred pains be undergone. With all one’s ability they should be pleased. This is the eternal duty (8:37).

These are all things to read keeping mind and sole on it. Hence read thoroughly and then click a like if you like.

Tomorrow we will consider the duties of the householder towards wife,children, and things in general

Duties towards wife

• The householder should never punish his wife, but should cherish her like a mother. If she is virtuous and devoted to her husband, he should never forsake her even in times of greatest misfortune (8:39).
• The wise man, whilst his own wife is living, should never with wicked intent touch another woman, otherwise he will go to hell (8:40).
• The wise man should not, when in a private place, live and sleep or lie down close to other men’s wives. He should avoid all improper speech and braggart boldness in their presence (8:41).
• By riches, clothes, love, respect, and pleasing words should one’s wife be satisfied. The husband should never do anything displeasing to her (8:42).
• The wise man should not send his wife to any festival, concourse of people, pilgrimage, or to another’s house, except she be attended by his son or an inmate of his own house (8:43).

Duties towards children

• A father should fondle and nurture his sons until their fourth year, and then until their sixteenth they should be taught learning and their duties (8:45).
• Up to their twentieth year they should be kept engaged in household duties, and thenceforward, considering them as equals, he should ever show affection towards them (8:46).
• In the same manner a daughter should be cherished and educated with great care, and then given away with money and jewels to a wise husband (8:47).

2.

Some Other Advices

• The householder should thus also cherish and protect his brothers and sisters and their children, his kinsmen, friends, and servants (8:48).
• He should also maintain his fellow-worshipers, fellow-villagers, and guests, whether ascetics or others (8:49).
• The householder should not be inordinately addicted to sleep, idling, care for the body, dressing his hair, eating or drinking, or attention to his clothes (8:51).
• He should be moderate as to food, sleep, speech, and sexual intercourse, and be sincere, humble, pure, free from sloth, and persevering (8:52).
• Chivalrous to his foes, modest before his friends, relatives, and elders, he should neither respect those who deserve censure nor slight those who are worthy of respect (8:53).
• Men should only be admitted to his trust and confidence after association with them and observation of their nature, inclination, conduct, and friendly character (8:54).
• Even an insignificant enemy should be feared, and one’s own power should be disclosed only at the proper time. But on no account should one deviate from the path of duty (8:55).
• A religious man should not speak of his own fame and prowess, of what has been told him in secret, nor of the good that he has done for others (8:56).
• A man of good name should not engage in any quarrel with an unworthy motive, nor when defeat is certain, nor with those who are superior or inferior to himself He should diligently earn knowledge, wealth, fame, and religious merit, and avoid all vicious habits, the company of the wicked, falsehood, and treachery (8:58).
• Ventures should be undertaken according to the circumstances and one’s condition in life, and actions should be done according to their season. Therefore, in everything that a man does he should first consider whether the circumstances and time are suitable (8:59).
• The householder should employ himself in the acquisition of what is necessary and in the protection of the same. He should be judicious, pious, good to his friends. He should be moderate in speech and laughter, in particular in the presence of those entitled to his reverence (8:60).
• He should hold his senses under control, be of cheerful disposition, think of what is good, be of firm resolve, attentive, far-sighted, and discriminating in the use of his senses (8:61).
• The wise householder’s speech should be truthful, mild, agreeable, and salutary, yet pleasing, avoiding both self-praise and the disparagement of others (8:62).
• He whose aim is truth, whose charity is ever for the poor, who has mastered lust and anger, by him are the three worlds conquered (8:65).
• The wise man who in his conduct with his fellow-men looks with an equal eye upon friend and foe, by him are the three worlds conquered (8:69)

• • 4 hrs · Unlike · 1
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    Harish Aluru మీలాంటి వారికి ఈ సమూహం ఒక పరిచయవేదిక కావడం, అందులో నేను ఉండడం 
  • నాకు చాల సంతోషముగా ఉంది సర్. చాలా నేర్చుకుంటున్నాను మీ వద్దనుండి.
• 

  K R Narayanachar Narayan Nijamaina mata,gopavari parichayam gavinchina yee vedikaku kruthgundini 
• hareesha garu

English Not Great Language India Should Have

English Not Great Language India Should Have

It is a sempiternal anguish or agony whatever it is called, in me, that the language English is embedded as a resplendent emerald in the coronet of India. As long as we crown English as the soul of our progress we are like a king under the emperor. Hence I used the word coronet.

English in India is synonymous to ‘progress’ ‘prosperity’ ‘technology’ ‘science’’ commerce’ what not everything put together we can call it ‘modernity’. Let us see the truth in it.

Let us take this example. The youth, encouraged by their parents, go to china mostly to obtain a degree in medicine. Lakhs of rupees they spend to the broker and the Universities and Colleges there. Learn the course in Chinese and coerce English. Somehow they obtain degree there and come back. What did they learn? Neither this nor that. Ultimately they should write another Exam to make themselves fit to be a doctor in India by the Medical Council of India. How far the present themselves in the exam. I know a girl giving up the said test as she could not get through even in more than five attempts. She said to me she is not able to present the appropriate answers in English. Now let us compare us with Chinese. They are teaching in their mother tongue and some technical terms in English. The fate of this particular student having spent so much money on the course for lack of presentation she gave up the degree. Had it been in her own mother tongue she would have definitely fared supplementing technical English words wherever necessary.

 In India though they are not catching the media’s eyes there are many villagers and dwellers of semi urban places who invent or discover so many technical needs. Our ancestors are the best examples who never knew even what English was! They Invented and dedicated to the world free of cost without patenting.

However  subsequently they were  plagiarised by several Europeans. Hence they gained knowledge, sharpened their Intelligence, developed trust in their power, potency and proficiency.

From these facts I observed, I feel English is more a barrier than a channel for the outflow.

Hence I came to realise that India’s English-medium obsession is one of the biggest barriers to India’s development.

I shall try to throw light on 5 enduring myths about English:

Myth 1: English is a language spoken by all well-educated, developed, technically-savvy people in the world

There are millions of people in the world who are well-off, well-educated and technically savvy and they don’t speak a word of English. South Coria, China and natives of Arab countries are best examples. The Arab sheiks never mind their little knowledge in English as they are capable of getting done all their wants without any hassle though the Indian population is more than their number. Especially in China even in the restaurants we cannot find English. The staff at the Chinese restaurant will ask the order to be typed in English in their smart phone. They then use the Baidu app to translate it to Chinese. Can’t we follow the same in India?

Myth 2: MNCs do all their business in English; English is necessary for an MNC job

MNCs in all major countries operate in the local language. The language of communication is Hebrew, not English in Israel. Emails, technical documents and discussions will be all in Hebrew, the native language and not any other language. Similarly, Samsung, which is one of the biggest electronics manufacturer in the world with cutting-edge technology has a CEO who did his MBA in Korean. Samsung uses Korean in South Korea, uses Thai for office jobs in Thailand, but in India it uses English. MNCs choose to adapt in different countries of the world but in India, we bend backwards assuming MNC means English. Even in India in many blue chip Organisations, with particular reference to Bombay, people speak in their native language Marathi or Hindi. Why can’t we understand the reality?

Myth 3: English is India’s “competitive advantage” and necessary to develop India

This is the most enduring myth—that English has given India a “competitive advantage” in Information Technology vis-a-vis the world. There are highly technically advanced societies, such as Japan, that do not use English.

Here I come with an example in defense of the contradiction of the above statement.

I hail from a rural place. I had education up to my eleventh class at Jammalamadugu of Cuddapah District which was only a gram panchayat then even without provision of electricity. Kerosene lamps with dim light were to glow on the streets. We had kerosene lanterns lit in the house. Under these lanterns we used to study. In the class when the teacher does not turn up to the class we the students used to spend the time on various mathematical puzzles and paper games. If teacher other than the concerned comes he used to engage the students with excellent moral stories or ask the able children to tell. At that small age of 10 to 12 I had a classmate by name Basha whose favorite of Bhima of Mahabharatha used to tell so many stories of Imagination, of his hero. These things really sharpened our brains. May be sharper than the most of the city dwellers. Intelligence   is the intrinsic quality of a human being and not the environment that can supplement. Of course environment can motivate people either for the good or bad. Again the choice is ours. A survey conducted on rural children which explored the fact that they outscored urban Indian children in IQ. English, as the language of higher and professional education alienates these children. They find math easy but English hard.

Even when it comes to outsourcing, the advantage is temporary. China’s programmers learn in Chinese and have teams with one outward-facing project liaison who speaks the client language. Thus, China is providing outsourcing to the US, using English, but also to Japan, using Japanese. Only about 5% of the world’s population is native English speakers and the importance of this segment will likely decline as the US and the UK decline as Economic superpowers. China is also investing in technological innovation, developing its own companies, like Baidu and Weibo for search and social networking while its entire technology education uses Chinese. When this is the fact how can we accept that English is our bread.

Myth 4: Indian languages are “not suitable” for science and technology education

At the very out set let me bring to your notice that The Forbes magazine July 1987 published an Article that “Sanskrit is the most convenient language for computer software programming.

Science is taught at the graduate level in dozens of languages across the world, from Japanese to Portuguese and from Thai to Polish. It is even written using the pictographic Kanji (Japanese writing system) script with thousands of characters. Even MS-DOS the command prompt operating system from Microsoft supported Kanji characters 30 years ago because the Japanese demanded it.

Indian languages, on the contrary, are highly scientific. They are phonetically sound and can express a range of sounds. They also have technical literatures and vocabulary from hundreds of years. Sanskrit-based grammars also makes it very easy to construct new words.

Hebrew was once considered a dead language, yet it was revived for science and technology education. Technion, Israel’s foremost engineering college is Hebrew-medium and is ranked much higher than the IITs. Languages need investment. India simply needs to invest their mind and deed in its languages and keep them contemporary. It is much easier to translate one thousand key books of science and technology than teach a foreign language to a billion plus people.

Myth 5: People want English, but the government keep pushing Hindi/Indian languages

It is, in fact, the other way round. It is English that is pushed in India by government policy. The government allows only English in the Supreme Court and most High Courts. Most top institutes, be it the IITs, the IIMs or the AIIMS, they are all funded by the government and operate only in English. Most government websites still use English as the primary language. But is this because people want it?

No, where people have a real choice, they prefer to consume Indian languages, not English. Only one of the top 10 newspapers in India is in English. Less than 10% of the newspaper readers prefer to read in English. English TV channels have an even smaller percent of the audience. Thus, given a choice to the populism, most people opt for reading and listening to their own languages.

The artificial demand for English is arising because of flawed government policies that are pushed by the bureaucrats or so called elite. We need to provide an equal opportunity to study Indian languages. This will allow deep technology penetration. English cannot be the vehicle for our development, rather it remains the biggest barrier to our progress.

Not but not the least let certain modern inventions. The Archaic meaning in English for car is a chariot, carriage, or cart. Is it now being used that way in the modern world by any country?

No, hence, let, the names of the modern inventions be taken as they are coined avoiding the ambiguity in dialogue among the foreigners. But let the terms that suit the local languages be adopted in our conversations.

Please give a mindful thought to what I tried to say and develop your passion to your mother country, mother language and mother culture. Don’t forget we were all one, once upon a time before the advent of Muslims and Christians and they were not converted at their own will.

Shubham Bhuyath

GIVE A THOUGHT

We are witnessing today a revival of Islam with all its imperialist ambitions and in all its fundamentalist ferocity. Flushed with its oil-wealth, Islam has re-acquired its self-righteousness of olden days, and has re-affirmed its mission of world-conquest through terror and subversion. India in particular has been chosen as a priority target. There is no dearth of voices from all over the Islamic world calling for finishing the unfinished work of Islam in India.

Most other countries can take care of themselves in the face of a militant Islam. No other country in the world is so vulnerable to this threat as we are at present and are likely to remain in future unless we mend our fences. We have as our immediate neighbour a highly militarised Islamic state waiting for an opportunity to pounce upon us as soon as she achieves a strategic superiority in armaments, and a favourable international situation. Today we have a friend in the Soviet Union which keeps Pakistan in check. But tomorrow the two of them may strike a deal which will free Pakistan to turn towards the east. The United States has been arming Pakistan in the fond belief that Islam is a barrier against Communism and that Pakistan will stay as her bastion in South Asia. This is the same sort of delusion which had led the U.S. to put quite a few of her eggs in Iran's basket.

All told, the situation for us is similar to that which we had faced from the middle of the seventh to the end of the twelfth century when, flushed with the plunder from many lands and the mass conversion of many an ancient people, Islam had come to believe that a total conquest and conversion of India was its divinely ordained destiny. Let us not harbour the illusion that the Arab countries, whose causes we support more fervently than they do themselves, will stand by us in any conflict with Pakistan. The three wars which have already been forced upon us by Pakistan provide ample proof to the contrary. 

A comparison between two leaders of our nation.

A comparison between two leaders of our nation.

Morarji Desai, when he was 87, filed a $50 million damages suit in US when Seymour Hersh wrote in his book that Desai was a CIA agent, disproved the charge and saved his and the nation’s honour.

Sonia family name was issued in The New York Times issued by some NRIs at the time of Sonia Gandhi’s visit to US in 2008, the Indian National Overseas Congress sued for $100 millions in damages to defend the honour of Sonia Gandhi but did not contest the allegation about Swiss money; and it also withdrew the suit!

The onslaught of Project Thessalonica?

Can Hinduism face the onslaught of Project Thessalonica?

            Alex Pomero - in a Croatian Newspaper 

Some months back I watched a documentary which aired an interview with a young Palestinian terrorist. Most people would be appalled simply at the fact that someone who had killed innocent people is being treated like a celebrity and given an opportunity to "explain" himself. But what was more shocking was that he showed absolutely no remorse for having killed innocent people on the streets of Israel, including women and children. Worse still was the fact that even the parents of those youngsters supported the violent activities of their children. The reason: they were simply doing their religious duty as true Muslims. For them killing an innocent bystander is Jihad, the God-ordained religious duty of every Muslim. I was born to Catholic parents and raised by a missionary Catholic mother and an abusive, born-again Christian, who I will refer to only as "my mother's husband". I was raised in an "ideal" Christian environment, and would have followed my parents' footsteps and would have spread hate against other religions , if it weren't for a fortuitous meeting I had with a Chinese friend of my dorm roommate. Little did I realize then that the chance encounter would end up being a turning point in my life. The Chinese student was Buddhist who talked about meditation and its advantages. Finding it curious I checked with my University library for some books on meditation. After some searching, I found a book on Transcendental Meditation (TM), a meditation technique founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. That book sparked a profound spiritual and emotional transformation in me and I have never looked back. My thirst for knowledge led me to read more about TM and its roots in Hinduism. I started reading every book on Hinduism I could lay my hands on. In the Ramayana, I came across the the life of Lord Rama and his only wife Sita. Hindus consider Rama and Sita to be the ideal couple and the path shown by them as the perfect man-woman relationship. It was a refreshing change from the abusive relationship I had witnessed and experienced in my own christian family. The wisdom and spirituality that I found in Hinduism has no parallels. There is practically no aspect of life that is not dealt with in detail by the innumerable texts that are a part of Hinduism. There are texts which deal with the mundane aspects of day-to-day living and those which deal with more profound questions such as those about life and death. To me, the most fascinating aspect of Hinduism was that it was inclusive, respectful and tolerant of all people and their various beliefs, in stark contrast to the exclusivity that pervaded my native religion. Unfortunately the adherents of the latter seem to be on a mission to destroy Hinduism. Josh, my childhood friend with whom I communicate frequently was trained in a seminary is currently a Baptist missionary. I met Josh during my recent trip to USA. He had just returned from India and was going back again in November. Much of our conversation centered on his current assignment as part of something called Project Thessalonica. Josh was very passionate when he spoke of Project Thessalonica - passionate in a scary kind of way. In his eyes I could see the same resolve that was visible in the Palestinian terrorist in the interview. Project Thessalonica is a sub-project of Joshua Project II. Joshua Project II set the scope and strategy for converting the "heathen" of the world in 10-40 window (regions that lie between the latitudes of 10 and 40 degrees north) whereas project Thessalonica (called PT) prioritizes the tasks to be taken. Joshua project II strategized the methodology called 'Adopt-a-peoples' wherein every mission agency or church adopted a 'people group'. Tribals were the first and easy missionary tragets. Unfortunately the missionary activity didn't weaken Hinduism as the church strategists had anticipated - many of the converts still celebrated and attended Hindu festivals and continued to follow Hindu traditions. As a counter measure Project Thessalonica was started in 2004. Before getting into the details of Project Thessalonica it will be useful to look at the origins of the name of the project. Thessalonica was a major port city strategically located at the junction of the main land route from Italy to the east and the main route from the Danube down to the Aegean Sea. It was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia, a free city ruled by a popular assembly and magistrates. The people of this city were rich, technologically advanced and culturally distinct. Paul and Silas, during the Apostle's second missionary journey, visited Thessalonica to preach the Gospel and propagate Christianity. However, Paul's teachings received a lukewarm response from the people. Some locals irritated by Paul's teachings got a hold of Jason and his brothers, who were hosting Paul, and took them to city officialls. They were charged with harbouring traitors, but faced no physical harm. They were eventually made to post a bond and set free. In 390 AD, the Christian ruler Theodosius the Great, punished a revolt by the inhabitants of the city by massacring more than 7000 people. Much of the city was eventually converted to Christianity. A few observations about the city of Thessalonica at the time of Paul will make its relevance to today's world clear. First the city was strategically located in terms of access to other cities by both land and sea. Before their forced conversion to Christianity, its inhabitants were economically and culturally prosperous. Perhaps more importantly they were tolerant, which explains why, inspite of provocation, the lives of Paul, Jason and his brothers were spared. The government was also indifferent to the missionaries and the adverse impact of their activities on the people. Hindus in India today are in the same situation as the people of Thessalonica found themselves in at the time of Paul. They are prosperious economically and culturally and extremely tolerant of other people and faiths. The government is completely indifferent to the activities of the missionaries in India, in spite of the tremendous damage that missionary activity has wrought on the local population all over India. Seen in this context, the choice of "Thessalonica" as a name for a project focused on converting Hindus of India to Christianity seems particularly apt. Project Thessalonica aims to stop or limit Hindu activity by converting people who form the pillars of Hindu culture, festivals, traditions and activity. Traditionally missionaries hate any public expression or display of heathen religions in the form of festivals and temples. Missions want to ensure that no new temple construction activity starts. With this objective they are converting masons, craftsmen and others involved in temple construction activity. The First Baptist Church of Nashville, Tennessee adopted towns where the annual Kumbh Mela takes place and has been actively converting the locals so that visitors face extreme hardship during their next visit trying to find services and supplies. Another mission group is adopting boatmen of Kasi where Hindus drop rice balls in river Ganges as an offering to their forefathers. The boatsmen are being trained in other fields so that they abandon this profession. They are making environmental groups raise the voice so that Ganesh processions, Kumbh Melas and Jagannath Rath Yatras are limited. One big worry seems to the extremely popular Hindu television programs. Christian agencies have decided on buying these prime slots at a premium and are actively working with programming sources. Over the past 20 years, missionaries also appear to have invested a lot in handling the political leadership. So much so that their activities appear to be almost immune to the ruling political party. It seems that a good section of media is also on their side to such an extent that any group opposing their activity finds itself identified as a militant or extremist group in the news media. My friend Josh doesn't have any sense of remorse, guilt or reasoning when he speaks about converting the "heathens" of India through any means. Instead he shows a sense of pride and achievement as he believes that he is simply implementing God's word as written in the Bible. Just like the Islamic terrorist in the interview. With Christian Jihadis like Josh at the forefront of missionary activities in India, one can only hope that Hindus don't face the same fate as the people of Thessalonica. ---- Alex Pomero is a freelance writer based in Croatia Sourcehttp://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29