+Communal Support

Introduction

Hinduism (not talking about specific views/ darshana-s like advaita, dvaita, gaudiya vaishnavism etc..) shows a huge diversity of views and lack of dogmaa (beliefs without which the edifice would collapse). This cultural background is worthy of preservation for various reasons considered in the benefits page.

General uses:

  • Communal support and reinforcement can help greatly in preserving superior memes in society. See the explanations here.
  • Suitable communal identification can positively influence one’s grit and consequent ability to accomplish great things.
  • Shared communal identity can increase group effectiveness. Eg. According to Lee Kuan Yew: Japanese groups can outperform other groups even though as individuals they mayn’t be superior.

Of course, belonging to smaller sets, one should not forget the higher sets one belongs to - for example, one should not forget shared pagan interests and collaborations.

Achieving cohesion

  • Practice is very important.
    • The role of modern orthodoxy in bridging liberals and ultra-orthodox, and preventing schims that threaten security is considered elsewhere.
    • Ways of practice
      • Art (especially literary arts, ancient classics, classical performing arts, rituals) and service (to the environment and people) will be stupendous substitutes to organized religions of the west.
      • Shared festivals and rituals.
  • Education about the traits of hindu culture and hindu past (especially heroes and mlechCha enemies). This can be done by guru-s or parents.
    • “Just as life in large urban settlements exposed humans to new communicable diseases against which they needed to develop immunity likewise this arrival of “modernity” in an inorganic fashion has opened the brAhmaNa-s (& likely other H groups) to memetic diseases. Just as parents are responsible for immunizing their kids against the biological disease, it is also their responsibility to immunize them to memetic disease. This is not done proactively enough. Just like booster doses grandparents or parents merely narrating rAmAyaNa or bhArata as kids is not enough. It is necessary to impart boosters doses especially closer or at adolesence & set up avenues for sexual opportunities where brAhmaNa-s will find other like dvija-s & pair/mate with them early. In the medieval period they had child marriage for that. Now they may create opportunities where dvija-s get together to do dvija things like speaking sanskrit rather than local languages etc.” - MT
  • Participation in related communal organizations
    • There are many subcommunities of hindus, centered around spiritual traditions and language, that one can associate with.
    • One option for people with a hindu background, who are ok with tangential associations with hindu nationalism, and who don’t find discourses or temple visits very attractive is HSS, where adults and children get together weekly for yoga, games, songs, speeches/ discussions, camps, occasional service-events and festivals. I’ve known several atheists (not to mention core ideologues who like Veer Savarkar) who actively participate in their “shaakhaa-s” (formal branch meetings). At the level of children, they tend not get into very deep discussions about beliefs or their necessity though.
      • Some caution: “Far from producing mRgendra-s, they seem to be good at turning everyone to (fairly timid) sheeple. They are like good ants at best. While they are a fair place to make friends and develop a support network, it is the idiot who will expect his or her talents to bloom for the good of the dharma in “the sangh”. People not interested in mediocrity and stupefied conformity will not fit in.” [KV16, ]
    • Another option for people with such background is to enroll with Samskrita Bharati, which aims to spread Sanskrit knowledge (with no insistence on religion or indoctrination of any sort - other than the dogma that Sanskrit knowledge is essential for refinement in the Indian way), so that one can relate to hindu epics, aethetics and worldview however one desires.
    • Jewish example - “The only person stopping you from building Jewish identity is you. It is not rocket science. Find a family with kids the same age as yours, call them this week and invite them over for Friday night dinner and then do it the next week and the week after that. Sign up for a class. When picking your next vacation, choose to go on a synagogue trip to Israel. Designate one night a week (you have seven of them) to “do Jewish with other Jews.” Find a Jewish organization committed to your highest values and get involved. Do anything. Just don’t sit around bemoaning the state of the organized Jewish world, when you yourself have not organized yourself to step into into that very world that you are criticizing so vocally from the bleachers.” [pasyn]