Principles and Practice of Hindu Religion
A Comprehensive Study of the Ancient Tradition and the Perennial Philosophy

Epilogue : Progress, Prosperity & Problems

A Time to Think About It is Now
The Decline of the Society and a Time for Renaissance
E - 11 - : Materialism, Ignorance and Renaissance
Ignorance is not a bliss and Greed is not a Karma
Some of the effects of Western influence and alien rule are seen even now in some groups. There was persecution of Hindus and destruction of countless Temples and places of worship by alien forces. Many ritualistic practices and understanding of the philosophy and Dharma were lost. Prejudices, infighting and bigotry almost destroyed the moral fiber of the society and the true meaning of our faith. There was infighting within groups and various sects and the teachings of scriptures were almost forgotten while the rituals continued. Simple home prayers and group singing replaced Temple worship and performance of ritualistic Vedic Yajña. Even some of the words and pronunciation of Vedic texts got corrupted by alien culture. Material gains, greed and lack of sense of sacrifice along with poverty and loss of property and family support also played a part in the loss of faith and tradition. The four ashrama dharma as four stages of life were forgotten. The four varna dharma as rules of duties according to ones inborn ability and ambition were given new meanings and our caste problems have almost destroyed the unity.

Our Acharyas and leaders should lead us all in the right path and develop a new Dharma Sastra suitable for our modern times of secular democracies and materialistic societies. We need to establish thousands of weekend schools in all villages, cities and foreign countries to teach the principles, philosophy and practice of our faith in all languages. We have to develop prayers in all world languages for all our children and adults, not just those Vedic schools for creating more priests. We should develop educational programs to teach the Principles of Hindu religion, the Vedas and Agamas to every one and any one who studies the Vedas and Hindu philosophy should be accepted as "Hindu" in the "Upper Caste". It is time we start a renaissance movement. The feudalistic passage of Varnas and Caste from father to son and all the taboos of inter-marrying and inter-dining must be abolished. We need a new Varna Dharma according to the way it was originally intended and not as practiced now. All the caste system, which is not really of Vedic origin, must be abolished and we must have a new set of "castes" and a new set of four varnas according to one's ambition, education and occupation only and people must be able to change their Varnas.

 
Sanãthana Dharma Šãsthra
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