HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Times, 1894-07-20, Page 7r7'
'.Z CASTE BRAHMIN
GIVES U,S AN INTERESTING
INTO HIS RELIGION.
,p eldest of the Great Living ltaiislons
.-.Some of Ito Manifold Aspects—Its
0)43041 Doetl•ilta as zaitgi,t In All Its
o Higher 'Works.
(The writer is oneof the first High
sCaete Brahmins's who have ever been in
the country, and the following is the
;first article written by hint for a Cana-
diaa newspaper,He isprofessor
of
' mathematics at .liall)bs,d
College, Al-
lahabad, Iudia, Land tame as a delegate
to the Theosophical -Convention held. at
''the Parliament of Religions at the
• World's Fair. He appeared in Toronto
at a lecture by Mrs. Annie Besant.)
PEEP
' Brahmanism is decidedly the very
oldest of the living religions • of to -day,
and it often sloes strike me as strange
. that this ancient religion, which might
' be as old as the world itself for aught
• that historical research can tell us,
, should for age after age have stood the
work of time and decay, while religions'
'I ; much younger should have been com-
4 pletelY disintegrated and shguld have
. disappeared *without even lbaving a
;-trace behind. Under the above circum-
stances. it may be interesting to people
even in the West to get a momentary
glimpse of some one of its manifold as-
, pacts --all of which are now seen in India,
not in the beauty of shining youth. but
distorted and deeply furrowed with age.
i To the superficial observer of this grand
and transcendental religion,the existence
of the so-called idolatry among the peo-
ppie of India is what the red rag is to the
..bull, and he does not pause to think if
' there may be, underneath the crust of
what he considers "silly superstitions," 1
the greatrock of Truth, which alone
could withstand for centuries the inces-
pant battering of the waves of destrac-
; tion from outside. One single fact is
, enough to dispel the delusion that
Brahminisin and "debasing idolatry"
• mean the same thing. Brahmanism, as
is now well known in the 'West, thanks
to the labors and researches of European
scholars, is essentially pantheistic. It
believes that all that exists, from the
minutest atom—commonly regarded by
the ignorant as dead—to man, thethink-
ing and reasoning being, is permeated
by thegreatSpirit from which, accord-
' ing to its conceptions, all thiues pro-
ceed and•into which they finally return:
•. The Universe, both seen and unseen,
• both animate and inanimate, both ra-.
tonal and irrational, is but a mani-
festation . of the Great Divine
One, which ' liveth from chaos to
cosmos -sand. from, COSU1Os . to
chaos, pure, undecaying, and ' un-
dying; and the universe is therefore
in one souse sr•'oextensive with God and
• is God. To any thinking mind it will
be evident on a moment's reflection that
"idolatry" can have no place in a sys-
tem of religion which starts from which
all other truths follow. How can a re-
ligion which in every page and every
line of its sacred writings teaches the
One-ness, the All pervading and the In-
finite nature of the Spirit, in the same
breath inculcate on its followers the be -
'lief that God cau reside in an isolated.
portion of matter, is a question which
people who run away with the idea that
"Bn allmanisin is synonymous with heath-
enism would do well to answer. From
• the very earliest dawn of Brahmanic bi-
'bllography down to its dim evening, the
One idea that has always been kept in
the front and never lost sight of is the.
,ephemeral and illusive nature of matter,
, which is technically called Maya in its
philosophical systems. In all the trans-
cendental and mystical works, in all the
metaphysical and even scientific writ-
ings, in all the allegories and fables, and
in all the talk and traditions of the great
Hindu race, the one characteristic which
gives c81or to them all, and differenti-
ates them from similar -works and
'institutions of other nations, is the
ever-preseiitt 0 idea that spirit is
the only reality of the universe and
that matter in all shape and form. in all
.its phases of evolution, is an illusion
At given rise to by the thought of the
•Deville Spirit, and will finally vanish
into its bosom, just as a bubble .rising
on the breast of the mighty ocean.
How a nation which has imbibed this
'doctrine front its mother's milk and
grows and is nurtured in this belief can
regard a few cubic inches of matter
of the lowest type as Divinity is a prob
.lem to be solved by thosewho jump at
. the conclusion that the Hindus are
.heathens immersed in barbarous super-
stitions,.and need the light of model'n
religious and.philosophic thought to take
them out of their intense darkness.
The fact, However, is that no other na-
tion realizes se deeply, so intensely and
• so vividly, as the Hindu the Reality and
the Eternity of the Spirit, 'because the
Hindu has inherited this belief as the
• "result of centuries of thought ou those
lines. And Brahmanism insists, as .
frobably no other religion does, .upon
orcing )natter to take its proper place
'in the economy of nature. and not
allowing it to assert its ascendency in
,the sublimer realms by ustuping
;the throne which really belongs to
'Spirit. That a man, constantly realiz-
ing the transitory and illusive character
• of all that can be poreeived by the five
;senses, should strive to direct his body,.
imitd and soul toward that which is
t Permanent and Undying; is the kernel
of all Brahnnautical teachings. So long
all a person is immersed in matter and
• ,pursues vainly the gratification of his
;senses, kis reason 'will bo clouded, his
• tintttition blinded, and his . upward path
;bleeked, for tint with the dead weight of
)Material tendencies can one mount tap .
,to the It c i..a-• where the light of Spirit ;
:shines fee 4•t:r. One of the aphorising i
;deur t ollr �)lai•o "lltical systeiax is "Only by
" 'Spirit is t ..' ,,.:it cognized," and there-'
fore he wtto would aain have a glimpse •
sf eat 3i ate e i 9a , of the Great
•
T.1x:
A 1.1 TIMES, JULY '201 1894. ,
Spirit must approach it with the wings
of the Spirit, end be in it unburdened
and unstained with the rubbish of uta-
terial .conceptions and attachments.
GYANENPR.A N, 011AKRAVA1tTI,
M.A., L.L.B., F.T.S.
llrigin of .Qalie° Toys.
There is a story to those calico prints
of cats and dogs and rabbits which,
sewed together and staled with cotton,
serve as admirable toys for small child-
ren, The idea of suck a toy occurred to
a woman, and she tried vainly to con-
vince several calico printers that the
thing would'be profitable. She found,
at length, a manufacturer who was wil-
1r; to undertake the experiment
of
printing
her toys and lie has since paid
her many thousands of dollati of royal-
ties upon the patent.
Laugh.
There is absolutely nothing that will
help you bear the ills of life so well as a
good laugh. Laugh all you can, If the
clothes -line breaks, if the cat tips over
the milk and the dog elopes 'with the
roast, if the children fall into the laud
simultaneously with the advent of clean
aprons'
if the new girl quits in the mid-
dleof housecleaning, and though you
search the earth with candles you find
none other to take her place: if the
neighbor in whom you have trusted goes
back on you and keeps chickens, if the
chariot wheels. of the uninvited guest
draw near when you aro out of provender
and the gaping of an empty purse is like
the unfilled mouth of a young robin,
take courage if you have enough sun-
shine in your heart to keep a laugh on
your lips.
Europe Slowly Growing .Contex.
That the continent of Europe is pas-
sing. through a cold period has been
pointed out by ?M. Flammarion, the
French astronomer. During the past
Six years the mean temperature of Paris
has been about two degrees below the
normal, and Great Britain, Belgium,
Spain, Italy, Austria and Germany have
also been growing cold. The change
seems to have been in progress in France
for a long time, the growth of the vine
leaving been forced far southward since
the thirteenth century; and a similar
cooling has been observed as far away
as Rio de Janeiro, where the annual
temperature has been going down
for some years past. -=-Scientific
American.
When Children Grow.
The British Medical Monthly offers
some interesting statements, which sour
readers may test for themselves if they
will, as to the times of growth of the
human body.
The year of greatest growth in the
boys is the seventeenth; in girls the
foorteen h While
girls reach I full
height in their fifteenth year. they ac-
quire full wttight at the' age of twenty.
Boys are stronger than girls from
birth to the eleventh year ; .then girls
become physically superior until the
'seventeenth year,- when • the tables are
turned, and remain so.
From November to April children
grow very little and gain no weight
from April to July they gain in height,
but lose in weight, and from July to
November they increase •greatly in
weight, but not in height. -
Stub Inds of Thtiugiit.
With Cupid salary is no object.
Cynicism is one of the shadows which
experience casts.
The heart is no philosopher.
An ounce of a woman's intuition is
better than a pound of her reason.
We alwaysbetter ourselves by. for-
getting ourselves.
What a flower enjoys, it gives to the
world in color and perfume.
What a girl thinks, a woman would
like to.
Melody is -the soul of music, as har-
mony is its body.
Give soine people an ell and they'll -
take all the rest of the alphabet.
- A Woman icevolunontst.
It is said that one of the leaders of the
Brazilian ,revolutionists is a woman—
Madame de Mates. She is described as
about thirty years old, with blue eyes
and blonde hair. In the field she is at-
tired in a dress which is a mixture of
men's and women's attire. Many anec-
dotes of her courage are told, as also of
her great kindness and generosity. She
seetns to consider herself as a sort of
Joan of Arc, and similarly called to the
service of her country. We wish her a
kinder fate.
a A Worth to Breeders.
It1 choosing a male for breeding pur-
poses, you want to select it typical ani-
mal of some established breed. You
can calculate then with reasonable cer-
tainty upon the result.
Tale of the Two Monks.
"I need oil," said an ancient plonk.
So he planted hien an olive sapling.
"Lord," he prayed, "fa needs rain that
the tender roots may drink and swell.
Send gentle showers." And the Lord
sent a gentle shower.
"Lord," prayed the monk, "my tree
needs sun. Send sun, I pray thee."
And the sun shone, gilding the dripping
clouds.
"Now frost, Lord, to brace its tis -
sees," said the monir. And behold the
little tree stood sj arltling with Prost.
But at even song it died,, Then the
monk' sought the cell of a brother of his
order and related his strange experi-
ence.
"I, too," said this monk, "have plant-
ed 'a
lant•ed.'a little tree, and see! it thrives. But
I intrusted it wholly to God. Ile who
made it knows better what it needs than
it men like me, Hence I lay no condi-
tion nor ,dictatowaysand means
to
God,
but only say: "Lord. send ie what is
best for it—storm or sunshine, wind,
main or frost. Thou hast made it, and
thou dost know.'
•
• ...,vUGH THE MAIL.
po>gtaa[tha Very Curious a i�aal.ai;es 3ro.t�•
musters. sometimes Get,
Postmasters not infrequently come
aeross queer -looking parcels. Perchance
the torn wrapper of a suspected bundle
eV I box tames is . • •1� (i w 1 b /�. c.o ere[. with
[.� 111 l covered
tin -fail, inside of which A tie'ting sound
is audible. The sender. if known, is
notified that he may Iutve the article re-
turned to him if he likes by express.
Otherwise it is put where it can do no
harm.
One day not long ago a box frankly
labelled "Dynamite" reached the Dead -
Letter Office. A messenger was ordered
to open it gently, and "outdoors. The
Package proved, ee had been imagined,
a "sell."
Of articles suspected to be explosive
Inally are fluids, They are promptly
disposes]. of. even fitment liquids being
"umltailiable" tinder the law. The post-
master, after destroying the contents of
a parcel, forwards the wrapper to head-
quarters, where it is placed on file for
record. Time, if inquired about, the
fate of the inclosure."an be determined.
However, no amount of suspicion
would warrant it post office official in
breaking the seal of a pacltare on which
letter rates aro paid. It is absolutely*
sacred, Accordingly, the proper way to
send explosives by Instil is at full port-
age, Law cannot prevent that, though.
every year large quantities of fireerack-
ers and torpedoes shipped as fourth
class platter are seized, as well as num-
berless boxes of cartridges, percussion
caps, etc.
In the packages they havefound such
things as rattlesnakes, centipedes. tar-
antulas. Gila Monsters and alligators
from Florida, all alive and squirming.
They classify with composure such in -
closures as petrified frogs, stuffed goph-
ers, Toltec) idols, gold nuggets, spirit
photographs, skulls, Indian scalps' and
human ears.
A common occurrence is a bundle of
old letters tied with. a ribbon, usually
containing a finger -ring and a last note,
saying: •I return herewith your let-
ters: all is over between us," This ex-
cites no sentimeutal feelings on the part
of the hardened postal employee. Rather
will the pause for a second to tickle the
horned toad found in the next parcel.
Once upon a time a girl sent by mail
to a friend a peculiar moss -agate ring as
a Christinas present. The gift never
reached its destination. Three years
later, while visiting another city, she
stayed at a boardinghouse. On the op-
posite side of the table at dinner she saw
a man who wore his necktie through a
g
ring. It was the missing Moss agate.
She asked him where he got it, and he
explained that he had bought it at a
Dead -Letter Office sale.
Thousancls•of articles are found every
mails, with wrappers.
year in the without
Not very long ago a handsome gold
watch was thus discovered in a post-
box. Possibly it was dropped iu by a
pickpocket axions to get rid of spoils
that would betray him.
Most numerous among the articles
disposed of at postoffice auction are
handkerchiefs. Next comes men's neck-
ties. Third in point of number, strange
,to say, aro Catholic medals and rosaries.
Among other things listed for the sale
were razors, dark lanterns, packs of
playing cards, poker dice, cigars, poker
chips, stogies, hair -curlers, wire garters,
pads, bunion plasters, trusses, dental
forceps, electric bolts, hypodermic sy-
ringes, abdominal supporters, dolls, esti-
Real whiskers. cof]iu-platea • nd Ha-
waiian stamped envelopes. All of the
things thus gathered at the dead -letter
office are kept for two years before be-
ing sold.
Poor Charmed Snakes.
The secrets of snake -charming are
much simpler than most people imagine.
The snakes to be handled are gorged
with food until they become drowsy, or
else they are drugged so that their senses
are dazed. Sometimes they are kept in
ice boxes, and the cold puts .them in a
seinitorpid condition, In either case
the snakes are -only half alive. In hand-
ling the reptile the hand must always
grasp it sat certain places where the
head can be guided and held from the
body, This is the hardest thing to learn,
but, like everything else, it comes with
practice. By dint • of dexterity and
strength the snake ie easily passed from
one hand to the other and is allowed to
coil about the body. The snake charm-
er, however, must be always on the
alert, When the snake becomes too
lively it is put back into the box. In
handling a reptile with the fangs in—
which ought to be prohibited by law—
one requires great strength, as the strain
on the system during the performance,
is very considerable. The grasp and
movements must be precise ant. accur-
ate.' There is no room for hesitallcyand
uncertainty. 'Most of the snakes hand-
led, however, are harmless', so far as
poisoning is concerned. --Charles Robin-
son in Libpiucott's.
• • •
A Sublime Uinta Truth.,;
The inhabitants of sparsely populated
regioes must, of )necessity, submit to the
inconvenience of poor roads: but as the
country becomes more populous, and
the area of cultivated land is increased,
and the product of huanan industry
multiplied, with the augmented wealth
that these conditions induces; the roads
can and should be improved and per-
fected. There is no reason why every
thickly settled and prt% luctive region in
this. country should not'bo supplied
with good roads.
About'hational Airs.
The national nits of great countries
aro short, while those of little countries
lire long. " God Savo tiro Queen "' is
fourteon.bars, the Russian hynlin'is six-
teen bars, and " Hail Columbia" lies
twenty-eight bars. Siam's national
hymn l hasseventy-six bars and that vhat of
Urugnay seventy, Chili's forty-six ,and
so en. San Marino bat the longgebt
national hymn, except China's, which is
so long that people take half a day off
to lieten to it.
f
'Choice Rare in Ji4ptan.
Mr. Lefcadio Hearn, iu his paper, "Of
the Eternal Feminine," iu them tlantic,
thus refers to one of the MARV differ -
ewes between the ,poety and tictiou of
Japan, and those of the western nations:
I mast touch upon one feature of V't•st-
esn literature never to be reconciled
with Japanese ideas and customs. Let
tilereader reflect for a moment how
large a place the subject of ltisses and
caresses and embraces occupies is our
poetry and in aurprasofiction, and then
let him consider the tact that lit Japan-
ese literature these have no existence
whatever. Fpr kisses and embraces are
simply unknown in Japan as tokens of
affection, if we except the solitary fact
that Japanese mothers, like mothers all
over the world, lip and hug their little
nes e r
o b tines•
After babyhood there is no more hug-
ging or kissing. Such stations, except
in the case of infants, are held to be
highly innnoclest. Never do girls kiss
one (Mother; never do parents kiss or
embrace the children who have become
mule to walk. And this rule holds good
of all classes of society, from the highs
est nobility to the Humblest peasantry..
Neither have we the least indication
throughout Japanese literature of any
time in the history of the race when
affection was more demonstrative than
it is to -day. Perhaps the Western read-
er will find it hard even to imagine a
literature in the whole course of which
no mention is made of kissing, of em-
bracing, even of pressing a loved hand;
for hand -clasping is an action as totally
foreign to Japanese impulse as kissing.
Yet on these topics even the naive songs
of the country folk, even the old ballads
of the people about unhappy lovers. are
suite as silent as the exquisite verses of
the court poets,
Suppose we take for an example the
ancient popular ballad of, "Shuntoku-
mara," Which has given origin to various
proverbs and household words familiar
throughout Western Japan. Here we
have the story of two betrothed lov-
ers, long separated by a . cruel mis-
fortune, wancleriug in search of each
other all over the empire, and at last.!
suddenly meeting before Kionlidzn Tem-
ple by the favor of the gods. Would
not any Aryan poet describe snob a TosEplI cowAN,
•
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