September 22, 2013

Today we began the second week of Balavihar 2013-2014 by discussing the meaning of culture. Many people contributed with parts of the correct answer. The discussion moved towards the formation of civilization, where we talked about the necessities for civilization: water, food, and shelter. When these are in place, language (to communicate) and celebrations (to give thanks to some higher power, generally due to a good harvest), start developing.

To soundly define culture, we listened to a 10 minute excerpt of a talk by Swami Chinmayananda, in which he began by explaining the origin of the word “Hindu.” When European foreigners traveled to Persia, they Persians told them of a people who lived on the banks of the Sindhu River. Since the Persians had no “s” sound in their language, they replaced the S in Sindhu with a H, and when the Europeans came, the pronunciation was not corrected. Swami Chinmayananda goes on to enforce the point that culture is not religion, though the two are related. He then defines culture, as something that develops when a people are living in the same geographical area, for a long period of time, start to respect some fundamental values.

After the talk was over, a lengthy discussion about the values of life, and how all humans share the most basic values ensued. A point was made about how religion presents us with many paths, but what path we choose is up to us. Ram Uncle made an analogy about how culture can be represented as a larger box, in which religion sits. Another discussion was started about how culture is still applicable today, (although many students disagreed at first), because basic human nature has not changed. The topic moved to religion, where Ram Uncle explained how Samskaras(prescriptions) help Prakrti(inner nature) from becoming Vikrti(perverted). He explained it through another analogy between an iron block, and how its value can change (ignoring labor costs), by refining it, and how we must strive to refine ourselves so that our value can increase.

On a side note, as we had not learned the stages of life, it was explained as it was relevant to the next point to be made. Brahmachari is the stage for the first 25 years of life, in which the person’s purpose is to learn. Grhasta is the next 25 years, and in this stage, the person must be a householder, earn a living, and take care of their parents. In the next stage, Vaanaprasta, the person’s purpose turns more towards God. The person need not earn a living, and must focus more on living the scriptures. In the final stage, Sannyasa, the person gives up all desires, and attends only to his absolute needs: water, food, clothing, and shelter.

The class concluded with what each student should do every class: analyze the aspects of Hindu culture being discussed in class, detect where he/she can apply that to their own life, and fix, or apply what they have learned.

- Uday Shankar