Re: [mukto-mona] Use and misuse of science in religions

Indians excelled in tracing the movement of heavenly bodies. Even the Babylonians apparently learned it from them. 

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On Nov 13, 2014, at 7:37 AM, "Jiten Roy jnrsr53@yahoo.com [mukto-mona]" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

Dr. Das, I used to wonder, as a child, who wrote the little Ponjika (Event-log Calendar) and how did he record so precisely date and time of each event years' ahead.

We used to wait for the Solar Eclipse. Villagers would gather around our pond to see the event on clear water; it used to be a huge celebration. On that day, priest used to look at his Ponjika to announce the exact time of this event, and people would stare at their watches to compare it. That little Ponjika never disappointed anybody.  

Jiten Roy

 

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From: "Kamal Das kamalctgu@gmail.com [mukto-mona]" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2014 8:51 PM
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Use and misuse of science in religions

 

How could the ancient Indian astrology predict the lunar and solar eclipses correctly in spite of believing that the demon Rahu swallows them? Follow the cryptic language of ancient literature, and a lot might be clear.

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On Nov 11, 2014, at 9:35 PM, "Sukhamaya Bain subain1@yahoo.com [mukto-mona]" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

Let me make my final comments on this thread. The claim that the Hindu religious books have in-depth knowledge of astronomy is worse than exaggeration. It is false. Those books have no in-depth or systematic knowledge. They have wild imaginations.

 

It is wrong for educated people like us to give too much credit to myths and wild imaginations from religious books, even when we agree that imaginations are needed for real innovations. People like us need to work on removing the brainwash from religious people who falsely and exaggeratedly give too much credit to what I call "primitive wisdom" in their respective religious books, and in the process stay in their narrow cocoons of stupidity and hatred, making the world a miserable place to live in.

 

SuBain

 

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On Tuesday, November 11, 2014 8:42 AM, "Jiten Roy jnrsr53@yahoo.com [mukto-mona]" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

"I am not inclined to take pride in some thing called Vedic math."

Look, Pal, Modi's message was for the people, like you, who are ashamed to take pride of their own heritages. When I tried to remind that point, some of you started to attack me without understanding my message. Someone even accused me of 'falsification,' which turned out to be meant for 'exaggeration.'

As I said before, Indus Valley civilization is one of the oldest civilizations in the world (5000 years old). When I tried to remind that heritage, you try to find excuses to demean them. Vedic era is ~3500 years old, it has brought so much enlightenment to people in that region, which people are still making use of. But, instead of being proud of them, you are bringing Chinese, Greek, and English literatures. This was the point Modi was making.

I know, if the same talk was given by President Kalam or Mukharjee, we would not be talking about it. So, it was not the message, but the messenger, that was wrong.

Look, when someone counter comments against mine, I look forward to learn something from it; this is just waste of time talking about something that should be obvious to all of you.

Jiten Roy

 

From: "Subimal Chakrabarty subimal@yahoo.com [mukto-mona]" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, November 10, 2014 8:12 AM
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Use and misuse of science in religions

 

Ancient Indian scholars or (sages if you like the word) did real research on astronomy. That is what we need to talk about. I am not inclined to take pride in some thing called Vedic math. 
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On Nov 10, 2014, at 6:12 AM, Sukhamaya Bain subain1@yahoo.com [mukto-mona] <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

Well, Dr. Roy, I can accept that the imaginations of the Vedic stories were richer than their time. But when you suggest, for example, that "in-depth knowledge of astronomy ...... are all in the scriptural books", I find it more than exaggeration; it is falsification. BTW: Did Ganesh's body try to reject the elephant's head, as we see in modern transplant cases; or there was no such problem due to his mother's blessings? Now, don't get me wrong; I have been weak enough to think that the blessings of my parents did/could bring good things in my life; but I am not weak enough to think that such blessings by themselves could change established science.

Talking about some people being ahead of their time, I am willing to accept that Mohammad also was one such human. The problem that I see with the Muslims now is that too many of them proclaim his messages to be adequate for today's world.

Sukhamaya Bain

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