Opression in the USA

October 2, 2006

HinduThought, Vrndavan Parker

<vrnparker wrote:

Hi,

I just attended my 1st session of my Fall quarter Karate class here at

a Seattle area college. This will be my 4th quarter attending this class.

The primary reason I continued with this class is due to our teacher's

committment to the ancient Japanese traditions and culture. At the

beginning and end of each class he leads us in meditation and guides

us thru a series of bows to the ancient masters of the tradition, to the

teacher himself and finally to the other students. He closes the class

with a strong slap on the ground to emphasize the intensity of our

bowing and respect for the traditions.

Yet at the end of class today, we did not do any bowing to the teacher

or to the other students. We did not slap the ground as traditional

Japanese Karate culture does. After class some of us approached the

Sensei (teacher) to ask him why he did not lead us in the normal

bowing etc.

He responsed by saying,"I HAVE HAD TOO MANY MUSLIM

STUDENTS COMPLAINING ABOUT IT SO I HAVE DECIDED TO

DISCONTINUE THIS PRACTICE IN MY CLASSES. ITS NOT A

PROCEDURE INTEGRAL TO LIFE AND ITS NOT THE END OF THE

WORLD. SO WHY DEAL WITH THE HASSLE?"

I said,"Well the Muslims do not want to bow and I want to bow. So

why are thier concerns more important than mine?"

I left in a huff and came to this computer to let anyone who cares

know that the Muslim oppression that is strangling Freedom of

expression in India is alive and well in the "Land of the Free and the

Home of the Brave", the Good Ole USA.

Vrndavan

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October 10, 2006

I understand your frustration as I personally enjoy doing prostrations and I believe that some traditions have actually elucidated the metaphysical benefits of doing dandavats or full prostrations.

From what I understand it helps the kundalini to rise up the spine and we move up the higher chakras [if we are also practicing the Yamas and Niyamas].

One possible way to also look at the situation is that your teacher/ sensei

does not have a proper or full grasp of siddhanta and the metaphysical reasons why there is a stylistic convention on the external level of doing practices meant to stimulate the inner chakras and inner worlds.

So one way to view the situation is this teacher has an incomplete understanding of universal mystical siddhanta aka Sanatana Dharma.

I would not be surprised because when I was in Japan two years ago I saw things like the priests are selling octopus and fish on the Temple grounds at the O-bon festival in Tokyo.

Right? India, Sanskrit, and Hinduism is the source of the full monty aka the highest and most complete siddhanta from a living master. When a person is not fully self-realized then perhaps they don't understand the esoteric meaning behind doing certain practices.

So why blame that on the Islamic students? I would tend to place the blame on the teacher for not understanding the full mystical reason why it is so lovely and benefic to do prostrations. I would secondly put the blame on the teacher for teaching his art in such a way that he has to compromise his principles, i.e. accept students who won't listen to him.

Why? Because I guess he needs the almighty dollar. Isn't that why things get watered down? Either the person transmitting a viable art form is not fully self-realized and conversant with the mystical reasons behind all of the seemingly superfluous acts done with the body or the teacher needs a buck and does not discriminate who he accepts as a sisya, s/he is only doing it for the money.

So why blame your classmates? It is up to the teacher to set the tone and enforce classroom discipline. Is the teacher being reprimanded by his/her supervisor, is that it? You mentioned it is part of a university...?

Universities are not autonomous entities, there are politics as to where the funding comes from and whoever has the gold makes the rules. In my opinion the optimal situation would be to find a sensei who understands siddhanta of

mystical application of reverence and devotion and prostrations vis-a-vis it

helps the kundalini to rise

then see if that master has his own studio and self-employed. Then she or he

can make strict rules and if the sisya does not agree then he should terminate instructing the sisya who cannot follow his or her directives.

Anyway in this post 911 era I think that it is very important that we do not generalize and blame the Muslims for everything that goes wrong in our lives.

Many Muslims are nice people, mystical even, and working together with people in traditions that do prostrations.

If you study history you can see that some past Islamic civilizations created

and perpetuated many nice things and there were also Islamic leaders who allowed all religions to coexist together in peace and prosperity.

I understand that sometimes we just want to rant, however because what you said went all around the world online, I would not want to witness this and not say anything and thus contribute to more rancor in the world.

"Let us have concord with our own people and with people who are strangers to us. Ashvins, create between us and the strangers a unity of hearts." --Atharva Veda 7.52.1

In summary you are attending an institution not a private karate class. Therefore you made the decision that you would receive your training in that milieu and not at a sensei's private studio.

In such an environment your teacher is not free agent. He or she is subject to discipline from the department head who in turn is subject to discipline from the Chancellor. Can you speak to the Dean of Students or an Ombudsman at your university?

Then you can discern if the teacher simply has no balls and/or improper understanding of siddhanta, or if he received a directive from his department head not do the parampara prostrations anymore.

Bottom line please do not blame the Muslims for your teacher's incompetence and/or lack of balls, your teacher's lack of understanding siddhanta [after all s/he is in a Buddhist tradition so it is incomplete understanding of mysticism],

your teacher's being reprimanded by department head, or for you yourself enrolling in a public university rather than in a private zendo, etc.

Aum Tat Sat.

October 10, 2006

Dear Vrndavana Parker,

Namaste, pranams!

Here is another way to look at the situation:

You have called your thread "Oppression in the USA". So let me get this straight: there has been unrest in the Middle East for approximately 2000 years. Emperor Constantine of Rome took over Byzantium in 324CE , and warfare "was a constant fact of life" ("What Life Was Like", Dersin 10).

Then in 570 Mohammed [peace be unto Him] was born and lived until 632 AD.

During this period of time--in early 600 CE--Persia conquered Syria, Palestine, and Egypt in 614 CE. Next Arabs conquered Syria and Palestine in 636 CE, Persia in 637 CE, and Egypt in 640 CE.

The next two centuries Byzantium fought with the Arabs (600 - 800 CE)

from the south and east. Within two centuries, Mohammed's followers controlled Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, northern India, Spain, and southern France ("A History of World Societies" Coryell xxxiii).

So you have an axe to grind that is approximately 1400 years old, is that what you are saying? Never mind that "in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries the Muslims created a brilliant civilization centered at Baghdad in Iraq?

You have a problem with ---? The fact that Mohammed (PBUH) preached a monotheistic faith? That Western civilization borrowed from Muslim culture the innovations of a bill of exchange [invoice] in commerce, the check, and the joint stock company? (Coryell xxxiv)?

So you feel like ripping up all of your checks from your checkbook and giving them back to the Islamic students in your class then? And all of the invoices for your businesses, surely you don't need those either, right? They all came from Islamic culture and you have borrowed their ideas.

"Long distance trade brought wealth that supported a gracious and sophisto culture...Baghdad ...thronged with a kaleidoscope of races, creeds, customs

and was a great intellectual center where Islamic scholars made great advances in mathematics, medicine, and philosophy" (Coryell xxxiv).

So, I am guessing that if your professor/ sensei is an intellectual. Perhaps he feels that the US invaded Baghdad under false pretenses: to get the purported WMD and Saddam Hussein, who Dubya claimed was responsible for 911. Then oopsie-daisy made a little boo-boo there, it was actually someone else responsible for 911.

So since we are there anyway let's bring democracy to the people there by spending the equivalent of $250,000 USD per man, woman, and child in Iraq

doing things like bombing the library of Baghdad and awarding no-bid contracts to Halliburton.

So you are saying that there is oppression in the USA because maybe your professor/ sensei knows history? And maybe he sees an opportunity for healing? And if there are Islamic kids in your class then maybe they and their clan have heard hateful things about US and Western culture for the past 1400 years?

So here is a chance to interact with some real Muslims and real Westerners face to face. So the lesson that your sensei is going to teach the Islamic kids is: [please choose one]

a) I am a fanatic and I can never change. We have been kowtowing in Japanese martial arts for thousands of years and so we kowtow in this class, people. And if you don't like it, it's out the door for you, bub.

b) Whoa man. Cool. Nice to have you all in my class here in the USA. Welcome. So like yah this is a martial arts class. So like yeah man if it bugs you then I can drop the external forms of things. After all the main precept of Buddhism the Dalai Lama has said is, "My religion is kindness."

Maybe your teacher is just trying to model being respectful of others' feelings and how to peacefully coexist by being flexible to the Islamic [and ALL] of the students, as once happened during the prime of Islamic civilization in both Cordoba Spain and Baghdad Iraq back in the day of 900-1200 CE.

Perhaps he feels this is the most important lesson he can teach at this point in time from an American: kindness, considering the other person's feelings.

Perhaps it is his own little personal one-on-one PR with the Islamic world to counteract Dubya.

And since the US did not invade India and start bombing it recently, then maybe your professor thinks the Vedic-centric kids can do inner bhajan to the Japanese parampara and mental offerings,

since as a Hindu-centric person you are familiar with the concept of the kanistha adhikari freaks out about external forms. So maybe your professor knows that a madhyama adhikari can do internal offerings.

Like whoa man maybe he even knows that it is best for our own inner bhajan and spiritual advancement not to unduly agitate the minds of the kanisthas.

Cool prof then, I'd say.

October 10, 2006

You know, call me wacky but maybe your sensei was reading the writings of this guy Abhay Caran De:

"The Supreme Absolute Truth is **ALL-ACCOMODATING** and everything is BEAUTIFULLY HARMONIZED in Him. This is the teaching of ALL *******TRUE RELIGIONS***** and ESPECIALLY the

"**********Vedic*************

"Sanatana Dharma. If someone desires to attain that Absolute Truth and follows a SO-CALLED RELIGION that cannot *************ACCOMODATE THE FEELINGS OF OTHERS, then that so-called religion is in fact NOT A TRUE RELIGION

"It is **********SECTARIANISM and such sectarianism that ignores the concept of harmony RESULTS IN ***********FANATICISM, EXTREMISM, OR TERRORISM of the kind that is prevalent in the world today..."

--written in 1950 by Abhay Charan De*, editor of Sri Bhagavat Patrika

[*AC Bhaktivendanta Swami Maharaja].

So, you are saying that you cannot accomodate the feelings of others but your professor can? Then according to Abhay Charan De you a person writing a blog about VEDIC culture are not following the VEDIC Sanatana Dharma, but your sensei is.

This is not surprising to me since Japanese Buddhism is influenced by Lao Tse and Taoism as well as Shinto, which follows the Way of Kami or Harmony.

It advocates taking a humble approach. In fact that is what my sensei in my karate class told me:

in Karate we use our opponents aggro force to defeat him or her. We draw back while they rush forward and so easily we flip them using their own energy. We live in harmony with the Kami and the Tao and we do not push our way onto others.

We pull back and retreat and only use our energy in emergency situations, we are never the aggressor ourselves. So your class mates being aggro then sensei retreates in accordance with ShinTao or Shinto and the Tao which stresses the concept of accomodation and harmony.

This harmony and accomodation of others is, according to Swamiji, also called the VEDIC Sanatana Dharma.