How Christian Institutions screwed up Vedantic wisdom and Hinduism for Conversions
Does this book cover seem strange? It is Hinduism By Monier Monier-Williams, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (Great Britain). General Literature Committee. As an understatement, it insults my intelligence!
This was the mess of the White burden that descended on India in the 19th century. Now, if you were not a serious student of Vedanta and were to view it from a very restrictive and naivette that is often used by most in West to understand Jesus himself. The text below will explain why! Worse is that this guy who is talking about Vedanta suddenly starts about Aryan Invasion Theory – which was ultimate BS to start with! These are the folks who have been known as Indologists and “Scholars” of Sanskrit and Hinduism!
This system which was fully developed in the Vedanta philosophy and is commonly called Advaita Non dualism insists as we have seen on the unity of all being But it has also other characteristics It may be described as in one sense the most self annihilating system in the world for it asserts that there can be no real self atman existing separately from the one self existent Supreme Self sometimes called Paramatman sometimes Brahman and that when by the act of that Self the individuated spirits of men are allowed for a time an apparent separate existence the aim of such spirits should be to be blended once more with the one Eternal Self in entire self annihilation A Brahman who holds this doctrine thinks the religion of the Christian who is conscious of severance from God and yearns for reunion with Him and yet does not wish his own self consciousness to be merged in God a very selfish kind of creed compared with his own. It is evident however that there may be more real selfishness in the self annihilating creed (self annihilating?? There is no annihilation as it is understood about matter or anything in creation! It is dissolution of ego and really there is no way around it … on the journey to the spiritual realm). For whatever may be said about the bliss of complete union sayujya with the Supreme Spirit the true aim of Brahmanism pure and simple is not so much extinction of self as extinction of personal existence for the sake of release from the troubles of life and from the consequences of activity.
The term Hinduism on the other hand best expresses Brahmanism after it had degenerated to wit that complicated system of polytheistic doctrines and caste usages which has gradually resulted out of the mixture of Brahmanism and Buddhism with the non Aryan creeds of Dravidians and aborigines Hence Brahmanism is somethingvery different from Hinduism though the one is derived from the other Hinduism is like a huge irregular structure which has spread itself over an immense surface by continual additions and accretions Its present aspect is that of an ancient