My New Book Launch on 4th March

 I am pleased to announce that I would be launching my new book written in Gujarati language on 4th March, 91th Birthday of my mom.

Book Reviw, "Don't Burn This Book" By Dave Rubin

 

As the name suggests, Dave Rubin is afraid that someone may burn his book. It is a well founded apprehension looking at the new culture of intolerance and outrage mongering. Logic is thrown to the wind and replaced by Outrage. Outrage is the newest form of “logic”. Battle of Ideas” has been reduced to “Battle of (not logic, but) Feelings”

We currently live in a time when people from the world of freest societies are afraid to speak up for fear of an outraged-fuelled mob. Where, Left is no longer Liberal. “Progressivism” has traded a love of individual rights for paternalistic, insincere concern for the collective. It judges people based upon their skin color, gender and sexuality, thus imagining them as  competitors in an “Oppression Olympics” in which victimhood is Virtue” This kind of construct can only deconstruct and divide and spawn only jealousy and grievances.

Dave Rubin, A Journalist, Once a sworn Liberal Left, Youtuber, and host of “THE RUBIN REPORT” TV Show. I do not agree with many of views on other matters but definitely not on his analysis that Today’s Liberals are anything but liberal.

There are many things from Dave Rubin’s multifaceted life with which I do not agree, however everything presented in this book is nothing but truth. 

New Book by Jeffrey Armstrong: “The Bhagavad Gita Comes Alive”

 Unlike other posts on this blog, this is however not a review of the book,  “The Bhagavad Gita Comes Alive”, but a little note from what interested me from an interview of author Jeffrey Armstrong, on Citti Youtube Channel.

That terms, “Bhagavan” is not equal to “God”, that the term “God” in English has come from Sanskrit, “Hutam”, (“Huta”), that “Atom” has come from Sanskrit “Atma” was well explained. And the author has added a long glossary at the end of the translation, explaining many Sanskrit words that were retained in the translation, as they were in Sanskrit. The author, also being English scholar, has well related literary meanings of “spiritual” and “prayer”, that are completely different from what we generally think, using those terms. 

In short, the book promises great read, meaningful, and a true translation, a book, excellent for gifting or recommending to English Language readers.

This link may help readers to Citti Channel on Youtube. https://youtu.be/WAUhhB2-0Pg for interview of author Jeffrey Armstrong. 

What made me write this small note, was that, perhaps, it resonated with my attempt many years ago, when I retained terms such as Yagna, Bhagavan, Tyaag, Tapasya, Dharma, Punya etc while attaching a translation of the Bhagavad Gita in my book, “The Bhagavad Gita and Hinduism, What everyone should know”. I am not sure, but perhaps, that book, at that time, was the only book of its kind that retained Sanskrit non-translatables.

Bhagvan is Bhag+Van, who possesses Bhag (भग). What is Bhag? Bhag are: 1- Beauty, 2 - Wealth, 3 - Strength, 4 - Fame, 5 - Knowledge and 6 - Generosity. Possessor of all 6 Bhagas in infinite quantity is Bhagwan. God is different. God came to English from Gut (Dutch). Gut came from Guta (German) and Guta came from Huta (Sanskrit).

Review- “Jesus among other Gods”- Author Ravi Zacharias.

 

My friend, a friendly Chaplain Joe Zaccaria presented a book to me. He told me that looking at my history of international exposure and analytical bent of mind, I might enjoy reading that book. Surely enough, I felt excited because the book on Jesus was written by an India born Ravi Zacharias. India-born individuals are famed for their rationale and critiquing ability. A large number of critiquing books on Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism are written by them over centuries. They are not afraid of contra-opinions or going against main-stream. Hinduism is unique in the sense that it does not have the concept of Blasphemy and no one is ever persecuted for speaking against Hinduism or its gods. Famously, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen called Indians as “Argumentative Indians''.

Thus excited, I began reading, almost like a school student with pencil and notebook, making notes. Alas, it turned out to be disappointing as I turned pages after pages. But having started in earnest, I did not give up until finishing reading the entire book.

Ravi Zacharias has gone overboard in exhibiting his love, even ‘intellectual’ love for Jesus and the Bible as narrated by those who wrote its various books. It reminded me of “Tehzeebi Nargisiyat” (Translated it means, “Religious Narcissism”), written by Mubarak Haider*. It appeared as if Ravi was suffering from the pressing need to prove Jesus and the Bible to be true. In the process, he has tried to justify a few things, such as the silence of Jesus, a scattered few utterances, his actions, his kingdom, etc, on the strength of what latter day mortals, street bystanders, ordinary people, their writings, cinema scripts, songs and fictional, made-up stories are therein. While on one hand there are too many unidentified “he said, she said”, “places”, etc that arise suspicion on the veracity of accounts and on the other hand there is a total negation or ridicule of those solid references of the works of Bertrand Russel, Thomas Paine, David Hume, Mathew Parris, Mahatma Gandhi, Nietzsche, Gautam Buddha, Ramakrishna Paramhans, Shankaracharya, etc who are well established rational thought-leaders.

Perhaps, so much going overboard, rambling on and on, on some points, may have done injustice to Jesus.

Ravi Zacharias must be a well read man, he has used many quotations from what all passed under his eyes. This gives a sense to readers that Ravi is an intellectual. Perhaps to grind his intellectualism on the minds of readers, he has done an intellectual blunder when he compares the volume of 6x10²³ molecules to a stack of paper of the same number. It is simply an inappropriate comparison. Ravi has inadvertently downgraded God by comparing His ability of converting two swallows of water into wine to the inability of humans to stack 6x10²³ papers. 

Ravi binds himself in knots over the issue of “Evil” and “source of Suffering” just like any other typical Christian apologist.

His quest for purpose in his initial days (Jesus and Christianity), looks to be an afterthought from what he has narrated while talking about how his father had treated him on discovery that Ravi has been bunking from college and his playing Cricket.

When he compares Jesus with other gods, he should have defined what the entity, ‘god’ he is talking about. Because, the tea and coffee look alike, they are not the same and so is a Christian ‘God’ and for example a Hindu ‘God’. Knowing a little bit of Hinduism, I can say with certainty that Ravi’s understanding of Hinduism and Hindu ‘Gods’ is flawed, his idea of Pantheistic Hinduism is erroneous. He has not intellectually applied himself on Hinduism, that is for sure.

Putting all together, Ravi’s writing appeared a facade of intellectualism.

One of my grandchildren, Kurush, is overly obsessed with Lego toys. His Parents have given him Lego sets for years, on his almost every birthday, on Christmas and even without any occasion. He also loves to watch Lego films, made very creatively by Warner Bros. This 10 year old kid has a fertile imagination and is gifted with a huge vocabulary. When he works on his Lego toys, he is lost there, he creates his own stories of that world and if I am around, would tell me some of it. Religious narcissism and obsession reflected in the writing of Ravi Zacharias inadvertently reminded me of Kurush. Lego is a real world for him but ultimately he knows it is unreal.

Ravi Zacharias gets full marks for his conviction and obsession with Jesus and the Bible. Perhaps, only with this conviction can you write what is written in his book. However, it is more a book for Christians than would-be Christians. In his narrations, the truth-claim is mixed up with truth. He has taken for granted a lot of unsubstantiated stories as ‘history’. I fully agree with Ravi  that “All religions, plainly and simply, cannot be true”. If you are looking for answers as to why non-christians will go to hell for eternity or why nothing but only through Jesus can you  be saved, how is it possible that Jesus has paid for our sins by crucifixion, this is not that book.  

----    ----    ----    ----

*Mubarak Haider is an author of a best seller “Tehzeebi Nargisiyat”. It must be a unique work of its kind. Translated, the title means “Religious Narcissism” According to him, Islam and Muslims of the world are so affected that everything Islamic, their book, custom, food, manner, history, dress, is the best, their ways of confronting others, kafirs, is the best, their sultans, khalifs, Maulvis and Mullas are best, Everything you need is in Islam and its holy book and there is nothng useful anywhere else, their culture is best and every earlier culture was primitive and barbaric, if someone says that some ancient cultures were advanced, they are all made-up stories spun by enemies of Islam.

New Book, SUHELDEV by Amish Tripathi. Looking at India with a fresh new outlook, non-apologetic, bold.

 

Barbaric Turk looters plundered India for centuries. But leftist Historians fabricated a narration that Turks were invited to India by infighting Indians, that Turks were not really as bad and cruel as believed. All stories thereafter glorified foreign invaders and painted brave Indians in a poor light.

But, for a change, Amish Trivedi has presented Indian stories in a new light. He mentioned how invaders began with an immoral and lawless methods of war that was completely different from traditional Hindu way of war which was faught with certain respectful codes. The moral laws like never touching a woman or child in a war, or not killing civilians, not fighting after sunset etc were major setback to Hindu rulers. Despite these limitations, Hindu rulers kept winning and kept the foreign barbaric rulers at bay. However they learnt quickly and defeated Barbarians innumerable times and kept Hinduism alive despite cruelty of Islam.

Amish has presented story of brave King Suheldev in a new light that would make every Indian proud. 

"Be here now Remember" Amazing read.

 

Journey of Transfermation of a celebrated Psychologist Dr. Richard Alpert Ph. D into Baba Ram Dass. He calls it as a "Cookbook for a sacred life". 

Amazing journey. His Guru, Baba Neem Karoli, who also was guru of Steve jobs and Zuckerberg.

When I first saw this book, printed in rather a bizzare format, but it was so gripping that I couldnt stop reading it until I finished. Dr. Richard Alpert was keenly interested but not really ready to dive into spirituality. His interest was keen but almost like ours, more of curiosity rather than becoming a Yogi...but things took him without even him knowing.

A great read. Also look up https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_Dass  He has written a couple of more books.

The Darkening Age - The Christian Destruction of the Classical World, a Book by Catherine Nixey

 

Review: The “Dark Age” of Europe is well known but what is “The Darkening Age”? It seemed like a new phrase coined by the writer; and when I read her book, it made perfect sense. Archimedes, Aristotle, Ceaser and countless other brilliant Greeks and Romans, with their science, arts, architecture and philosophy, had created a culture that enlightened. Certainly it was a bright and shining Age in Europe. It was BC. But then, the dimming began.

The Dark Age of Europe, according to historians, begins around 400/500 AD and lasts till about 1300-1400 AD. The Dark Age had extinguished that bright and shining era of BC. Of course, the light did not go out in one day with a flip of a switch. Darkness began to spread gradually. It took about 400 to 500 years. Catherine Nixey writes about this era when lights began to fade and the darkness began to envelop the Roman Empire encompassing Europe, North Africa and Western Asia. It was not just Germanic tribes that defeated Romans, the empire was primed to be defeated by the lawlessness and anarchy spread by a new religion of monks. 

The book exposes lies fed to us. It gives us several documented historical facts, the history that is currently missing from mainstream narration.

Current narration, that Christians were persecuted by Romans and that Christians suffered at their hands is not true, even considering that Roman Roman Emperor Pontius Pilate had ordered the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Romans did not persecute anyone for following a new religion. The Roman administration took action only when the rule of law, maintenance of peace and liberty of citizens became an issue. Even under the grave provocation, their administration took action with a lot of restraint and even reluctance.

What Roman emperors did was, in the present context, precisely akin to the action of the governments of the civilized world against Islamic ISIS and other similar groups who unlawfully take laws in their own hand and threaten people. It is then, not persecution by the Government but solemn duty. That's what any responsible government ought to do.

Even Islam wherever came to rule the roost, created the same narrative against their predecessors, just as what Christians did. First, that the then rulers persecuted pious and harmless converts and second, that ancestors were uncivilized pagans who worshipped silly idols. Victim-card currency is an extremely effective evangelical soft tool. Both, the Hard and the soft, tools were used and are being even currently used by both religions as and when opportunity presents itself. 

The book shows that Romans  were in fact tolerant and they easily let the newly arriving Christian faithfuls to freely propagate their ways and build churches and monasteries. They were even privileged by exemption from tax. On the other hand, whenever opportunity arose, Christians “gleefully” destroyed Roman and Greek temples, the beautifully carved statues of their gods, burnt books and libraries in bonfires in the city squares, even the library of Alexandria, housing thousands of hand-written books, was burnt down. Christian mobs lynched and horribly killed philosophers and learned. Aging Hypatia was just one of those killed by the mob. Some of those monks and priests were later pronounced Holy Saints, who not only actively sanctioned and watched over the destruction and cruelty, they even personally led the mobs to rampage on streets of towns and villages.The killing, torture, burning and looting was done as an “Act of Love” or “For helping God” “For establishing God’s Kingdom” and as “A favour to the victim”. “If done for God there is no sin”. 

The age towards the darkness, “The “Darkening Age” begins with the arrival of Christians and got accelerated the moment kings adopted Christianity, beginning Emperor Constantine. It was then the nature worship, fire worship, worship of ‘old’ gods; Apollo, Jupiter, Athena, Zeus, etc, offering sacrifice (presumably ‘sacrifice’ to be like ‘Prasad’ in Hinduism or ‘Kurbani’ of Muslims, or burning of incense) at the altar of their gods, etc was strictly forbidden. Christian spied on the other christian as well as on the other not yet baptised. A time came when baptism was made compulsory by law. Pagans were denounced as evil; sorcerer or witch. Leave alone, Heathens and Pagans, even those who were baptised, were punished for blasphemy and burnt alive at the stake or tortured for slightest deviation. St. Augustine is quoted, “The Church persecutes in the spirit of love”. St. Jerome is quoted as, “It is not cruel to defend God’s honor”. 

After total annihilation, the cultures of Greeks, Romans and Egyptians that were once flourishing are present today only as antiquities, history in books and their artefacts in museums. Same thing has happened elsewhere too. Africa, America and large parts of Asia too have lost their original culture and their remains are now mere stories, myths, antiques, collector’s pieces or found in museums.   

The irony is, those “Heathen”, “Idolater” and “Pagan” Roman/Greek and other Europeans who had created and lived in a liberal, enlightening culture were later branded as cruel persecutors of Christians. World is made to forget both. The darkening and the dark, both ages. But with the current resurgence of Islam, Talibans and ISIS,  the world is reminded of history, they arel face to face today, with incidences of destruction of art, culture, science philosophy and free-thinking, wherever they come to dominate societies.

The book reminds Hindus, the Indian experiences of last thousand plus years with the arrival of marauding Islamic invaders, cruel portugese Christian rulers, clergy, crafty British rulers and missionaries who used the same proven template, pioneered during “The Darkening Age”, but in an even more vicious manner in that huge area, what is between Himalaya and Indian Ocean. The area that was the “Bharatvarsha”. It was an area of more than double the area of the current nation state of India. Darkness came over to large parts of highly civilised Indian culture. Areas north, north-west, east and west of current Indian state, although battled and resisted for over thousand plus years, ultimately fell to the cruel, looters and killers, for whom “my way or highway” is the guiding principle of ruling. 

Even today, in the remaining free India, the same things are being done, well hidden in sight. Hard and soft, both tools are being effectively deployed by every variety of evangelizers. It would continue to go on until all the Indians are baptised or Islamised.

Catherine Nixey, authorress of “The Darkening Age - The Christian Destruction of the Classical World”, has Catholic upbringing. Her mother was a Nun and father a monk. Thus presumably she has seen Christianty from close quarters. Her book is written with many historical facts and quotes, complete with information of their sources in the large bibliography section at the end of the book. Apart from the easy and gripping read, the book can be a good source of authentic references.

The book is a must read, especially for Hindus, who need it more than anyone to have more clarity on the modus operandi and protect themselves from proselytizing religions,

----    ----    ----    ----