06.06.10

Danielou and the histories of Indian religion.

Posted in General at 12:05 pm by nemo

Danielou posts at The Gurdjieff Con

There are many posts at The Gurdjieff Con discussing Danielou, author of a useful history of India, and its religions.
The previous post today on Hinduism moves into terrain that is seeded with quagmires of all kinds.
It is a pity because Hinduism, so-called, has many elements that might serve a secular philosophy of religion. But unfortunately Hinduism, as such, is already a series of later corruptions of the real Indian tradition. Some of the work of Danielou can help sort this out.
Virtually none of the histories written by Westerners get the basic issues right. And the ‘Hindu’ histories are almost as bad.
Indian religion was almost destroyed by the Indo-European influence that rewrote it along the lines of Vedism. Just that point will create so much controversy that getting anything straight thereafter is probably hopeless.

It is good to be wary here. The type of intolerant scientism as a cult of Darwinism and (Dawkins-style) atheism coming into existence is going to be as destructive in the end of the entire past of man. That Buddhism was an atheist religion doesn’t even cause a murmiur in the ‘jihadis’ in this rising cult.
As with Hitchens denying ‘buddhist enlightenment’, they mean to enforce the Iron Cage on an absolute basis, an alarming prospect.
It is important therefore to get straight what the history of religion really is.
With Indian religion there are many obstacles in the way of seeing the basic simplicity of the history as it is.
The Dawkins New Atheism cult is going to destroy those atheists who won’t toe the line along the lines of their budding fanaticism. As the intolerance even toward Buddhist atheists makes clear.
The realization that intelligent atheists have no place in their cult should be an eye opener to the reality of a bad formulation in the making.

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