For some time now I have been thinking about this concept of Brahminism. Brahmin, as a word means a person who has full knowledge of Brahman, that is God.
How things happen in India nowadays is that anybody who is born in a Brahmin family is a Brahmin. Nobody else is. I was never very satisfied by this order of life in India. I always felt that one becomes a Brahmin under certain conditions. What these where I never knew completely. But still I was certain that just being born into a Brahmin family and having undergone the thread ceremony doesn't make me a Brahmin. Also nothing disqualifies a person born in a non-Brahmin family from becoming a Brahmin. Basically which family you were born into doesn't form a necessary part of the set of conditions which makes one a Brahmin. Then what are these set of conditions? I intend to pursue this question in my life and probably even become a Brahmin one day :-)
The concept of Brahminism should have been the ideal for the Hindu religion. Infact, I believe that the goal of Hinduism is achieved when everyone becomes a Brahmin. I am not very sure about this. But it certainly sounds good. One very important point here is to see two things as separate. One is what Brahminism is and what it has become.
What Brahminsim is: An ideal to be achieved.
What Brahminism has become: Something which only the children of a Brahmin can become. And thereby it just remains as a caste and a set of rituals.
What I feel is that the latter is not correct. The former should not be called as bad because the latter is the prevalent practice in Hinduism today.
My intention while saying this is not to hurt the feelings of anyone who believes in the latter. But I request them to kindly explain to me why they are correct? I am a novice and just learning these things and generally seeking knowledge.
I will be occasionally coming back to this and will continue my pursuit of Brahminism. If anyone has any views or information please feel free to share it through the "Comments" or "Guestbook". And I hope we learn something out of the whole exercise. Tuesday, April 02, 2002
