Yeah you're right, that is a more complicated answer than I wasrichard5za wrote: Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:56 am > Its of course a slightly complicated answer and I hope not to
> offend anyone.
> But as a starting point none of us can look inside ourselves and
> see what it is that we believe, but we can look at our attitudes
> which are a reflection of our beliefs, and look at our behaviour
> which are a reflection of our attitudes. And then if we are really
> honest with ourselves we can begin to see what it is that we
> believe. Its easier looking at others and in Western culture we
> are only too familiar with the self righteous religious fellow who
> prays upon his knees for an hour a week and then preys upon his
> neighbour the rest of the time. He actually believes in his own
> selfish interests first and foremost rather than the religion he
> claims to follow.
> On Eastern religion I have seen the absolute delight on the faces
> of the people at festivals such as Diwali, especially in more
> rural India, so I don't want to dimish their religious practice
> and spirituality, but the activity that's really important is
> cricket. Its more important than soccer is in England which is the
> religion there. India now "owns" world cricket and calls the
> shots. No question that India's success in cricket helps them feel
> good about themselves. Its a national thing. Its of course easy to
> become fascinated with cricket and only cricket could have a match
> that lasts for 5 days and keep the interest of the players and
> spectators for all that time. Gambling is the other religion; it
> is part of life throughout the subcontinent; and Indians are very
> good at gambling.
> If there's a gamble going on and India is involved to any extent
> they will probably have thought through the forward moves, almost
> like chess. They are likely winners in a GameStop gamble. Someone
> else will be left holding the losses!
expecting.
In writing my book on the history of Vietnam, I've done extensive
research on the history of Hinduism and Buddhism, including how the
theology of Buddhism changed along its northern route, along the Silk
Road into China, and from there into Japan, Korea and North Vietnam,
transforming step by step from core Hinayana and Theravada schools to
the Zen meditation schools.
So when you referred to cricket and gambling as "religions," I found
the concept intriguing, and possibly related to my research.
Now, we know that castes have been "illegal" in India for about a
century, and that may be true legally, but it's not always true in
practice, and I would be very surprised if there wasn't a caste angle
to the two "religions" that you've identified. And it wouldn't
surprise me if each of these "religions" is associated in a
discriminatory way to one or more castes.
So the following is what I would expect, though I have no evidence to
support it beyond intuition: Since cricket is an Aryan game, I would
think that it would be pretty much restricted to the upper castes,
starting with the Brahmans.
And of course everyone in the world of all races is involved in
gambling in one way or another, from street gambling to Monaco.
However, when you say "Gambling is the other religion; it is part of
life throughout the subcontinent; and Indians are very good at
gambling," I tend intuitively to associate what you're describing as
an activity being pursued by people closer to the poverty level, which
would most likely be the Dalit caste.