Idol worship is a "kind of corruption" but who cares?!

A recent search on Al-biruni led me to this page. What struck me was what the Persian traveler wrote about the religion of the Hindus. Biruni, aka Baruni, wrote :

"The educated among the Hindus abhor anthropomorphisms of this kind, but the crowd and the members of the single sects use them most extensively."

"The Hindus believe with regard to God that he is one, eternal, without beginning and end, acting by free-will, almighty, all-wise, living, giving life, ruling, preserving; one who in his sovereignty is unique, beyond all likeness and unlikeness, and that he does not resemble anything nor does anything resemble him."

Biruni argued that the worship of idols "is due to a kind of confusion or corruption." He writes:[68]

"The physical images are monuments in honour of certain much venerated persons, prophets, sages, angels, destined to keep alive their memory when they are absent or dead, to create for them a lasting place of grateful veneration in the hearts of men when they die."

Now, if we tell our hysterically religious Hindu masses that this is what real Hinduism is (what Baruni wrote was essentially what the realized masters from the Hindu religious tradition have always said, and still say), will anyone listen? In fact, I fear if anyone dares to utter such blasphemy in our religiously-charged times, he or she can expect to be lynched and, maybe, even a Vatican-style inquisition!
Hinduism, as separate from Vedic dharma, today is the opium of ignorant masses, which need it in its current form to stay addicted and hysterical.
If you are looking for salvation from such a religion, God save you. And that goes for most other religions on this Planet, as they are practiced now.

A theory designed to discredit the glory of India, and supported by our historians

If you choose and screen your friends carefully, I have found that Facebook can become a sort of provider of information filtered to your interests. Whatever your friends comment upon, or post, on this social networking site can be a easy reference for you to keep updated on what is happening of interest to you in the clutter of cyberspace. It was through Facebook that I came across this article.
"Story of India" Misses the Mark on India's History, Hindu Watchdog Group Announces
And that has reopened in my mind the question: how can this theory, never substantiated and whose only claim to authenticity is that it was articulated by some half-informed European and British colonial historians, become the dominant theory about India's past? And how can it still be tom-tomed about when there are numerous other theories of equal validity, some of them articulated by better informed historians with better evidence?
That says a lot about how our so called historians have become tools in the hands of politicians of different hues who want to discredit the Hindu civilization for narrow political gains. These politicians and academics are no better than the colonial historians but the ill-informed Indian masses -- and the government -- give them a kind of credibility which they hardly deserve.
The Aryans never came to India; there is enough evidence to prove that India was the cradle of the Aryan civilization, that is, if you have the will to open your eyes and look at the evidence with and open mind. One of those proofs, a more scientific and recent one, is mentioned in the article whose link has been posted above.
How sad it is that we call those people who discredit our identity and history as great historians!
How can this state of affairs change? To my mind it can happen only when people who want to understand the propagate the truth come together and form organizations that will sponsor studies on such topics, and also expose the current crop of pseudo-historians.
It seems an uphill task, considering the many groups of various hues who will try to usurp the stage if such an effort is made. But such an effort can succeed it it has the blessing of the Himalayan masters. Again, we need to be wary here. The Himalayan masters shun the limelight; and it is easy in the world we live in to fall for the machinations of pseudo-swamis who may try to usurp such a platform.
Which means, such an effort cannot be undertaken in isolation; it needs to be part of a holistic movement to revamp Indian society and politics, along with religion.

Let us start by cleaning up the Holy Ganga!

This is my first post in the year 2009, and here I want to return to my favourite theme: cleaning up the Holy Ganges. The more I think about it, such a cleansing would be symbolic of the cleansing of Indian, especially Hindu, society. Mother Ganges has become a super-drain of the Gangetic plain, and no one really cares about it. The so-called secular leaders who govern this country would have no reason to care and so would the many pseudo-holy men in the country. But if India and Vedic dharma have to be revitalized, I have a feeling it needs to start from the Holy Ganges.
Such a massive exercise cannot but affect the lives of every human being and animal in the Gangetic plain and, by extension, a major part of India. It will, automatically, turn into a cleansing process for our society and body politic.
Which is exactly why none of the powers that be want Holy Ganges cleaned up.
Apart from the need for hygiene and cleanliness, cleaning up Mother Ganges would also be a washing away our accumulated bad karma, cleaning up Hindustan for higher achievements in the grand scheme of things.
I hope I can contribute something towards the cleaning up of Mother Ganges this year.