[mvadg]

Originally Posted by msdivy

There is a difference between untouchability & social distancing. Somebody gets an infection, they practice social distancing and after cure, they lead a normal life. Untouchability is by birth. However healthy they are, distance is maintained due to their caste.

You misunderstood what I said - I meant that most likely untouchability had its roots in some logical reason, like staying away from asymptomatic carriers of disease, which became the scourge it is today because people forgot the original reason and followed it blindly. I don't support untouchability.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by mvadg

You misunderstood what I said - I meant that most likely untouchability had its roots in some logical reason, like staying away from asymptomatic carriers of disease, which became the scourge it is today because people forgot the original reason and followed it blindly. I don't support untouchability.

No. Not at all likely. Please don't confuse the two. You can find this contempt and hatred for "others" as far back as the oldest Vedic text the Rig Veda, with frequent references to "dasyus", non aryan people.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by hserus

No. Not at all likely. Please don't confuse the two. You can find this contempt and hatred for "others" as far back as the oldest Vedic text the Rig Veda, with frequent references to "dasyus", non aryan people.

Hello sir, how's the lockdown in Adyar?

I was giving this matter some thought and it occurred to me that there are other words to describe outsiders as well - "mleccha" is a prominent one.

Be that as it may, I doubt that there are any specific calls for violent action against outsiders in Vedic texts. Richard Dawkins used the phrase "in-group loyalty and out-group hostility" in "The God Delusion" when he ground his axe in that book against certain other faiths' main shortcomings. I like that phrase for its succinctness and I doubt that it is a feature of the Vedas. Do let us know if you found proof of it though.

Lastly, the Vedas also say to us to take what is useful/relevant in them (i.e., in the Vedas) and to discard the rest-

Parivedhya lokaan lokaajithan brahmano nirvedamayat ("After examining all these things and finding that they are useless to you, you must step out of it")

Thus we remain flexible enough to bend but not break. We acknowledge and flow over our shortcomings as a progressive people. Cheers!

[400notout]

Originally Posted by msdivy

There is a difference between untouchability & social distancing. Somebody gets an infection, they practice social distancing and after cure, they lead a normal life. Untouchability is by birth. However healthy they are, distance is maintained due to their caste.

Sad truth. Thanks for putting it out so bluntly.

Originally Posted by mvadg

I meant that most likely untouchability had its roots in some logical reason,

All communities are part of some or the other highly criminal social wrongs. Better to just accept the shame and move on and try to right the wrong rather than finding lame fairytale - I just had a thought that will blow your mind which no genius in all these years could make out - justifications.

By the way let's stick to Astrology in this thread which I do enjoy

[Zed]

Disclaimer: I do not believe in astrology, tarot or numerology. And I mean no disrespect to anyone that does. Some of my closest friends are believers.

A couple of years ago someone I know well was an intern at a top print media organization. Their newspaper printed a weekly horoscope prepared by a well-known astrologer. And each week a handful of readers would send back positive reviews on the accuracy of predictions. After a long association the astrologer and the print outlet decided to part ways. And when a successor wasn't found on time the rather desperate supplement editor tasked the intern with scripting random positive notes and published this horoscope under a pseudonym. This was supposed to be a stop-gap solution for a couple of weeks. Turned out that the number of positive reviews sky-rocketed. The office started receiving calls with inquiries about the new astrologer. And the editor tasked the intern with horoscope responsibilities for the rest of her stint and the pseudonym lived on beyond the intern.

I respect the choice of those who believe - be it numerology or religion for that matter. But this incident was an eye-opener, as far as I was concerned, regarding the fallibility and gullibility of the human mind in its capacity to perceive things based on presumptions and biases.

[Turbanator]

Something to read about, nothing to do with religion.

JOTISH

Do not tell lies, speak the Truth. When egotism is eradicated through the Gur-Shabad, then one finds His Home (Mool|

Calculating and counting, the astrologer draws the hroscope.

He studies (reads) it and announces it (to his client), but he does not Understand Reality

http://www.gurbani.org/articles/webart100.php

[raghu.t.k]

I do believe in my horoscope which has been accurate on some of the key points of my life also check numerology of my vehicle registration to see what it adds upto more from a curiosity perspective. I have tried looking to into astrology when I had some hard time, but have not seen success in most of the cases, though some prediction were pretty close.

[Sherlocked]

Not a believer in Astrology but this came up in my YouTube feed:

https://youtu.be/nZyNhpqMIHY

If we see the date, the video was published seven months back!

[Samurai]

Here is a learned opinion from someone who understands science as well as astrology. So I was really interested what he had to say. It took him 16 minutes to build the answer with all the nuances required, and finally concludes it is an art at this point. He thinks it may have been a science 2000 years ago, but most of the understanding is lost since then. In other words, even he is not ready to call it science as it stands today, due to lack of verifiable evidence.

From the video description:
PVR Narasimha Rao has a bachelors degree from IIT, Madras and a masters degree from Rice University, Houston and lives in greater Boston where he works as a firmware manager at a top semiconductor firm. He received "Sanskrita Bhasha Kovida" and "Sanskrita Bhasha Visharada" diplomas at an age of 11 and combines his Sanskrit knowledge with scientific temper to conduct fresh research into the teachings of rishis.

He is an astrology researcher, author, teacher and also the author of popular Jyotish software "Jagannatha Hora" used by many Vedic astrologers and students across the world. Thousands of spiritual seekers are performing daily homa (fire ritual) for the dawn of a new Dharmik era on earth and individual spiritual progress, using free and simplified homa manuals on his website (www.VedicAstrologer.org).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSvXs4n7tY8

[tilt]

Since I had absolutely nothing to do I sat and read through this entire thread. Yeah, I have no life

In the first few pages, many people have referenced beer and other alcoholic/non-alcoholic drinks. Does anyone here know the context? I see no reference in the original post or the poll about it, hence the question.

Regarding my experience with Astrology/Nadi-josyam etc.; according to astrology I would not live to see my 50th birthday. Well, I am almost 59 now.

Astrology is a scam that uses obsolete astronomic information to help charlatans make a living.

Cheers

[dailydriver]

PS: I am neither a believer nor a detractor of astrology. I let it be, it let's me be!

The reason I had to visit this thread was to highlight an announcement supposedly made by a popular astro site. In a news item carried by Inshorts, it is reported that the site owners will be giving away 100 crore rupees to its users IF India wins the cricket World Cup tomorrow.



I mean, seriously dude! IF?



IF you don't know whether India will win or lose tomorrow, who else is supposed to?

OR

Does he really know something that we don't!!!