In ancient times, our ancestors wore wooden khadau (sandal) in the feet.

The thought of our ancestors was completely scientific even after wearing wooden stands on the feet.

"Brahmins are not a privileged caste""
By Kanchi Paramacharya.

It is alleged that Brahmins created the dharmasastras for their own benefit. You will realise that this charge is utterly baseless if you appreciate the fact that these sastras impose on them the most stringent rules of life.

If anyone criticises a judge he will be charged with contempt of court. People who call themselves democrats and socialists have managed for themselves special allowances, special railway passes, etc, that the common people are not entitled to.

In contrast, the Brahmins who have preserved the dharmasastras have bound themselves to vigorous discipline, roasted themselves, as it were, in the oven of ritual practices. If the Brahmin's purity is affected by someone he punishes himself by bathing and fasting.

The Brahmin must be conversant with the fourteen branches of the Vedic lore. He must be proficient even in Gandharva-veda or music and must be acquainted with agricultural science, construction of houses, etc. At the same time he must give instructions in these subjects to pupils

Those who complain that women have no right to perform sacrifices on their own must remember that men too have no right to the same without a wife.

If they know this truth they would not make the allegation that Hindu shaastras looked down upon women.

A man can perform sacrifices only with his wife. He does them for the well-being of all mankind and for his own inner purity.

It is for this purpose that, after the samavartana following the completion of his student-bachelorhood, he goes through the samskaar called marriage.

Marriage or vivaaha is known as "सहधर्मचारिणीसमप्रयोग". It means (roughly) union with a wife together with whom a man practises dharma.

The clear implication is that carnal pleasure is not its chief purpose, but the pursuit of Dharma.

The shaastras do not ask a man to pursue dharma all by himself but require him to take a helpmate for it.

The wife is called "dharma-patni", "सहधर्मचारिणी", thus underlining her connection with dharma, and not with kama or sensual pleasure.

This is the proof of the high esteem in which the shaastras hold women. The celibate-student and the ascetic alike follow the dharma of their respective aashramas (stages of life) not in association with anyone else.

Bharat: Advancement of earth’s earliest civilization

Glorious Vedic Architecture and Temple

Architecture in India was an extremely rich form of expression and highly developed science, with a deep heritage of spirituality in it. #FreeHinduTemple

The centre of all architectural development was the temple and temple or Mandir was the earthly home of God, and like the launching pad for the devotee’s consciousness to soar toward the Divine and the spiritual world.

The murti or deity of the Divine would be placed in the temple sanctum, around which all temple activity would revolve.

Such buildings were often elaborately decorated with stone, wood, plaster, etc. and carved or cut to depict the stories from the Puranas or other sacred texts

Temples were always the centre of religious, social and educational activities, practically more so in
ancient times than today.

During a span of more than two thousand years, various dynasties were known for constructing glorious temples,

some of which include the Mauryan, Ashoka, Gupta, Satavahana, Chedi, Chandella, Chalukya, Solanki, Pallava, Shola, Hoysala, Vijayanagar, and others.

Many of these temples remain beautiful architectural wonders today.

|| Duties of Brahmins ||

Based on the discourses of Mahaperiyava Swamigal, this thread deals with the duties of Brahmins. The duties propounded in this thread must be practised even by the office-going Brahmins.

It is upto Brahmins to take whatever steps they think fit to promote Vedic learning.

Everyday they must perform Brahmayajña (ब्रह्मयज्ञ) which is one of the five great sacrifices (mahayajñas).

The Brahma (ब्रह्म) in Brahmayajña means the Vedas. The power of the mantras must be preserved in us as an eternal reality.

It must burn bright like a lamp that is never extinguished. For this reason it is necessary that we perform Brahmayajña.

We must offer oblations to the presiding seers (ऋषि) of our Vedic recension.

Failing that, the least we can do is perform the Gayatri-japa every day.

Gayatri is the essence of the Vedas, their substance. To qualify to chant it, you must be initiated into it by a Guru.

The Gayatri you thus learn must be mentally repeated at least a thousand times every day.

Navayan and Buddhism of Ambedkar

BR Ambedkar announced to accept Buddhism on 14th October, 1956 in a press conference.

He formed a new sect Navayan inspite of following pre existing sects such as Mahayana, Vajrayan and Heenayan.

Along with him about 4 lakhs people accepted his sect. His book "Buddha and his dhamma" is the basis of his sect.

BR believed that Buddhist sects were distorted with time and gradually were filled with seemingly stupid beliefs.

He rejected most of the Buddhist philosophies.

He declared that 4 ultimate truth mentioned in Buddhist texts is not the original Buddhist teaching.

The story of Buddha getting inspired by old person, ill person, corpse and an ascetic was rejected by BR Ambedkar.

He believed that Buddha and his knowledge came from watching the struggle in society, and political anarchy.

Ambedkar rejected Buddhist philosophies of Karma, rebirth and anachronism as superstition.

He criticized the tradition to become an ascetic after renouncing the family

He interpreted the Nirvana theory after eliminating the metaphysical aspect of it. He reduced nirvana to a social status.

He believed that Buddha originally didn't propagated these philosophies, but they were later added by some stupid, cunning and superstitious people.

A thread on Wallelign Mekonnen’s 1969 essay “On the Question of Nationalities in Ethiopia” - which catalyzed the student movement that overthrew Ethiopia’s Solomonic dynasty in 1974 (Wallelign was killed in 1972 while hijacking an Ethiopian airlines plane) https://t.co/Ol0ElagLJq

Wallelign wrote that, while some call the question of nationalities "tribalism" - it is in fact "nationalism." Ethiopia is not one nation, he wrote, “it is made up of a dozen nationalities with their own languages, ways of dressing, social organization and territorial entity.”

Culture is nothing more than the superstructure of an economic basis that presupposes subjugation of the peasantry and proletariat. To be a “genuine Ethiopian” one has to speak Amharic and adhere to their culture. One must “wear an Amhara mask”- to use Frantz Fanon's terminology.

A common refute to the Neftegna system, whereby Abyssinian elites took lands from southern peoples, was that there are Amhara and Tigray masses in poverty. Another centred on representational politics. In reality, the feudal system oppressed all, but some groups more than others.

While Abyssinians are not dominant because of inherent imperialist tendencies, this is no excuse to perpetuate this situation. The only way forward is a state where every nationality is given equal opportunity to preserve and develop its language, culture and self-administration.

Made by NickHintonn 2 apr. 2018

Here’s a thread about The Black Tom explosion: a terrorist attack on American soil and major event in US history. However, no one has heard of it and I believe it’s proof that our timeline may be changing.

On July 30th, 1916, in Jersey City, German agents destroyed American ammunition supplies by setting them on fire. The incident is famous for causing damage to the Statue of Liberty.

The fires caused the ammunition supplies to explode, lodging fragments in buildings miles away including the Statue of Liberty and the clock tower of The Jersey Journal, stopping the clock at 2:12 am.

The explosion caused windows to shatter as far as 25 miles away, including thousands in lower Manhattan. Some window panes in Times Square were shattered. Even stained glass windows in St. Patrick's Church were destroyed.

The explosion was so strong is registered as a 5.5 earthquake on the Richter scale. It could be felt as far away as Philadelphia. The explosion cracked the outer wall of Jersey City's City Hall and the Brooklyn Bridge was shaken. People as far away as Maryland were woken up.

On 23 September 1984 the BBC broadcast the apocalypse: the story of nuclear war and its effects on the people of Sheffield. Filmed on a shoestring budget it still causes nightmares to this day.

This thread is not for the squeamish.

This the story of Threads...

In 1965 the BBC had filmed The War Game, a fictional docu-drama about a nuclear attack on Britain. However under pressure from the government the BBC withdrew it from screening. It was finally released in 1966 as a film in selected theatres.

For many years the withdrawal of The War Game had rankled many at the BBC. Surely it was a public broadcaster's duty to show the public what the reality of nuclear war would mean. Finally in 1982 they did so.

A Guide To Armageddon was a documentary for the BBC's peak-time science series Q.E.D. Produced by Mick Jackson it graphically depicted the effect of a one megaton explosion on London. It also explored how well people could survive such a blast if they were in a fallout shelter.

Jackson had carefully researched his subject and knew how under-prepared the UK was for nuclear war. The physical and psychological effects of atomic attack would catapult what was left of Britain back to a 14th century mode of living, a time when bubonic plague killed millions.

A brief thread on the life, religion, and language of Omar ibn Sa’id, author of the only known Arabic-language autobiography of an enslaved person in the United States.

Omar ibn Sa’id was a Fula man from what is now Senegal. He studied Islamic sciences and mathematics under prominent scholars before his enslavement in 1807 at age 37.

In his autobiography, he writes that he was taken “to a place called Charleston in the Christian language.”

He escaped from his first enslaver, but was recaptured and jailed. He wrote in Arabic on the walls of his cell, attracting the attention of the Governor of North Carolina and his brother, who took Omar to their home, where he remained until his death in 1864.

He continued to write short Arabic theological and philosophical texts through his life - his autobiography in 1831, letters, annotations in his Bible, and passages from the Qur’an.

He converted to Christianity in 1820, but his relationship to Christianity was always ambiguous

He writes more about Jesus after his conversion, but the language he uses is consistent with Islamic views of Jesus - المسيح (Messiah) and سيدنا (our master), but not ربنا, our Lord