Irregular Times Diaries: Unfit Discussion
In a time of the spring, old paths are obscured and new growth begins.
Irregular Times Diaries: Unfit DiscussionIn a time of the spring, old paths are obscured and new growth begins.
If you believe in supernatural omens, look to Nepal for disaster. A statue in the village of Dolakha has got moisture on it.
Nepalese Hindus believe that when the idol of Bhimeshwor has moisture on it, very bad things happen. They believe that the statue is sweating. According to Shanta Krishna Shrestha, who manages the temple that houses the statue, a sweaty Bhimeshwor statue “denotes something like major political change or a natural calamity”.
How convenient for Shanta Krishna Shrestha, whose employment depends on panicky people making donations to the temple, that the statue is sweating. She has some of the same divine fortune that Ram Bomjon had when he performed his tricky little miracle (no one allowed to inspect the amazing fasting boy or see him after dark, please!).
So, how can we test the claim that the sweaty statue of Dolakha is an omen of major political or natural disaster to occur in Nepal? Well, we could wait and see if any major political or natural disaster takes place soon, but what would that prove? It could just be a coincidence. After all, political and natural disasters take place all the time.
Well, at least if a natural or political disaster does not take place, that proves that the sweaty statue omen cult is a fraud, right? Not absolutely. You see, those who believe in the power of moisture on the statue to foretell a dark future also believe that if a ritual known as the Kshyama Puja is performed, then the foretold disaster can be diverted.
It just so happens that the Kshyama Puja has been performed, with the results sent for the Prime Minister of Nepal to inspect. So, if no great political change or natural catastrophe takes place, believers can say that it is because the god has been appeased.
The system belief in the sweat omen of Bhimeshwor is carefully designed to evade every attempt of proof or disproof. That in itself is cause for suspicion.
A side note about Bhimeshwor: It seems that Bhimeshwor, also known as Bhimsen, is linked to Bhima, the strongman of the Pandava brothers, who is one of the main characters of the Mahabharata, of which the Baghavad-Gita is a part. A statue of Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas, is present in the sweaty temple of Dolakha as well.
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May 24th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Oh, hi, jclifford, I don’t really want to make a comment, I just want to keep this post sticky because it’s my bedtime and I don’t have time to read it right now.
That idiot DataSwami is back and he just posted twenty-nine, count ‘em, 29 new posts that are as rambling and incoherent as ever. He sure doesn’t edit. And he never comes back to read the comments anyone makes either. He needs his own blog, yes he does, and he could get one very easily on blogger or wordpress and for free too.
But NOOOO, he has to post all of that here, not one at a time as he writes them, but in a huge block, so we can’t find the posts we really DO want to read.
So when I get up in the morning, the diary contents will probably be swamped with Datawami’s titles, but I’ll still be able to find this post by looking in the “latest diary comments”. Thanks for humoring me, see you in the morning.
May 25th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Okay, yeah, I do have a comment after all.
In someplaces there is no freedom of the press and people are not allowed to say what they want. In other places there is freedom of press, but it is not healthy to say certain things. In addition, some things cannot be communicated by writing or even by cellphone. Think of the people who have gotten in trouble over Emails. The only thing that you can’t really get in trouble for are 1) things you say with no witness present or 2) religious expression that can be written off as silly non-political superstition. You will note that this oracle could combine both of these last two, since the results of the sweat oracle are to be examined by the king in person and some sort of message could be delivered to the king with some assurance that the message would not stray into the hands of the wrong intriguer.
So yes, I would take the oracle seriously. There are good reasons and there are real reasons. The religious reason might merely be a politically correct reason for doing something with an unmentionable political reason behind it.
The message for western observers in this particular oracle is that the results were delivered to the prime minister and not the king, who at least in former times was considered to be an incarnation of the god Vishnu the Preserver.
May 25th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Your comments add another level of analysis and meaning to this experience, and I don’t argue at the validity of that level on a figurative level. However, it’s being reported on as a literal occurrence. That seems quite over the top, and fascinating at the same time. Well worth keeping an eye on. I’m glad to see J. Clifford write on this.
May 25th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Of course it’s a literal occurrance, PW, oh ye of little faith, otherwise the devotees wouldn’t have any reason to tell the king, would they. And no reason to go gallivanting around the breathtaking Nepali landscape on various pilgrimages either. Maybe there’s some unwritten rule that the king pays for the exorcism or they overthrow him, do you suppose? Or maybe there’s some old nepotism link, like the medieval European monasteries that were endowed by royals, who would then retire to them in their old age when they could no longer withstand their political enemies. Religious stuff does not occur in a cultural vaccuum.
There’s a Chicago statue someplace that weeps, in a Greek orthodox church I think, although their collection box is not at all lonely or unhappy–why shouldn’t a Nepalese statue sweat? The connection to the government though is puzzling.
May 28th, 2007 at 11:59 am
Has it ever occured to you that people have to work. Religion is big business and keeps lots of people amused and off the streets…well, some times on the streets begging, but in a nice way.Why,you never slept with a night light when you were a kid? Well, religion is sort of a night light, and just as rewarding to the religious orders as electricity is to Con Ed.Besides,if there weren’t some idiots willing to believe this stuff, all these people would be in advertizing, then what? At least with some religious organizations, you got great music and artist got work. Occasionally, a religious war, usually the work of the devil. So, lighten up and find your own scam.
love
May 29th, 2007 at 7:47 am
The new argument for religion: It’s a useful scam.
Sorry, not buying it. We can find better things to work for than sweating statues.
May 29th, 2007 at 10:21 am
Oh, but Frank, they do have a very delightful Secular Patriotism Religion scam going, with t-shirts and everything.
While secular patriotism has its moments, it does lack a few things that religion can supply more easily:
1) Food. There’s Christmas dinner, there’s Islamic Eid, and there’s those weird Hindu feasts that use milk to represent various bodily reproductive fluids, but you have to admit the Hindus do have very healthy vegetarian food in their rituals. Where is the ritual feast for Irregularity?
2) Behaviour control. You can tell kids that Jesus doesn’t approve of torture or that Krishna doesn’t want revenge since that will be taken care of in the next incarnation, but where is the secular justification for treating people with respect? That’s why you find so many nasty snarky atheists who have the personality of a porcupine.
3) Miracles. Which inspire the aforementioned art, architecture, and music. Secular patriotism relgion only inspires bumper stickers, nothing grandiose or awe-inspiring.
4) Personal meaning. Okay fine, you can say something like habeas corpus is a worthwhile thing, and I like habeas corpus a whole lot, but how does that relate to everyday life? On the other hand, there is a small temple dedicated to Sarawati at the back of the Monkey Temple in Katmandu that is particularly efficacious for students. Having made the pilgrimage (along with a small cash donation), I can say I was completely safisfied with my GPA for that semester. Religion works. When was the last time you could say that about congress?