jack, i thought you knew- there is a whole blog about him by justin:
http://www.philosophyforum.com/blogs/justin/488-banning-member-nonsum.html#comment1926
he may be back though. i really thought he was great-intelligent, knowledgeable (there is a difference) witty and charming. both you guys made this one of the most entertaining threads i have ever come across!

What a horrible thing!... Thanks for the link. I have posted my comments therein. I did suspect it. I think tha administsrtor took a view bcoz of NS commnets on the introduction pages. He has a case, Ns should have reported his disaproval to him rather vent his ire to a new member. Any way i am not sure what may have transpired. Hope there is a remedy to al this human frailties.

You hindu people are biggest jerks,you guys trouble pakistani people you kill muslims in your country and then you talk about being the most noble religion,I spit on your religion.

You joined this forum just to write that?

I see you have plenty of time on your hands. Wanna rake my lawn?

Man’s quest for happiness generates the need to define the meaning/purpose of life. The resulting ideology is called religion. The highly exalted thinkers define the basic ideas, but the less exalted add magic and myths to the ideology, in their zeal to gain prestige for their cause and/or for themselves.

From the steppes land between the Caspian and the Black sea (approximately present nation of Georgia), some Aryans drifted in south-east direction. When the migrating Aryans arrived in India, around 1700 B.C., they brought their nebulous religion with them. Thus Hinduism has no founder; it is just the sum of the thinking of its thousands of thinkers over the centuries. Initially they settled in the fertile valley of the mighty river Indus, in north-west India. Actually, the name they gave to the river was ‘Indu’, meaning ‘Moon’. Over the time they got recognized as Indu people, and their religion as Indu religion. Eventually, they spread all over northern India, and were recognized as Indu people. Then over the time the name of the river changed to Sindhu, and their clannish name to Hindu.

The north India, covering about two third of the sub-continent, is very fertile, and India is naturally isolated against foreign invaders. This peace, coupled with prosperity, gave a huge impetus to cultural development. In about a thousand years, they developed scriptures like Vedas and Upnishads. With the discovery of iron around 7th century B.C. kingdoms started to grow in size, facilitated by increased production and by faster transportation and communication. The resulting wars produced much pain to the people. This intensified the thinking process of Hinduism. In 5th-6th century B.C, the ideas of the first historically prominent thinkers, like the Buddha (the founder of Buddhism) and Mahavira (the founder of Jainism) appealed to the populace. Even though their preaching diverted from the prevailing Hindu traditions, their thinking had deeply modifying impact on Hindu Ideology. Thus Hindu religion, strictly speaking is not a religion; it is a way of life.

In about 4th century B.C. the written language was born. The Aryan language, Sanskrit (the word means ‘cultured’), along with its literature, was developed greatly during the next eight peaceful centuries. Two popular Hindu Epics, Ramayana and Mahabharta were created in this era. These two define the final Hindu ideology very well. The small part, called Gita, of Mahabharta, is remarkable from any view point. The ideology coincides so much with the patterns of life, that it creates deep faith in sincere followers. This is what has made the culture withstand the thrusts of all calamities in their physical world, through the millenniums.

Originally, Indra was the selected warrior leader of the group, the warriors were called Kshatriys, the old wise men directing the life of the group were called Brahmins, and the working class as Vaishyas. Later a fourth cast of Shudras (the conquered natives) was added. This completed the cast system. During the later painful centuries, the cast system degenerated into viciously unjust arrangement, so much so that the shudras were turned into untouchables. But along the history, the good brahmins were so instrumental in keeping the kings’ behavior in check, that the system refused to die, until Gandhi hit it hard, mainly to unify India against the British rule.

The Hindu word for religion is dharma. Literally, dharma means the correct way. A river flows downward, a mountain stands tall, the sun shines; they all are following their dharma (their way of behavior), assigned by nature. But living beings have volitional control over their behavior. They are not compelled by nature to behave correctly, like a river or a mountain is.

We are driven by our desire for survival. This translates into safety and comfort. This results in our need for gratification of the senses. The emotional make-up of his total mind determines the correct way of behavior for the individual. But if the temptation is strong enough he acts in defiance of his heart. This is how people sin. Hinduism says, all sins are committed against the self. What we feel is what we become. The emotions felt during the life are stored in our mind, to be re-lived once again. These emotions are called karmas; literally meaning ‘deeds’. But these are not physical deeds but emotional deeds. If you hurt someone without intention, it is not binding on you. But even if you wish someone harm without acting the emotion out, it becomes you. Amazingly, this means the same as, ‘Do unto others, as you would have done unto you’. It seems like, when we shed all the dogmas and magic away from sound religions, the singular truth of life stands out.

Desires are feelings of shortages. When we dwell on a shortage, it becomes us, perpetuating the shortage. Hinduism tells us that life is given to us to experience the pains we have created for us. Pleasure is relief from pain. Thus pleasure and pain are two sides of a coin. It is the state of absence of all pains, we need to strive for. As we go through the life, ignoring the pains and pleasures, we let our mind deplete itself of the pains. When all desires are lived through, without adding any, we reach the bottom of our mind, which is called ‘Atman. Atman is the essence of God; the shear lack of pains. In other words we make our own fate; we are our God.

Some people are born in dungeons and some in heavenly conditions, some to caring parents and some to abusive ones, some are in the U.S. and some in Somalia. Nothing happens in this scheme of creation without a reason, and without becoming the cause for something else. This defies the logic of life being an isolated incidence. Hinduism explains this by the phenomenon of reincarnation. There has to be a reason for the way we are born, and after death our state of mind has to cause something out of it.

I, myself do not worry about atman or God; I have no idea about their existence. But as I go on ignoring my pains and pleasures to some degree, in my feeble ways, I become more content, and more worthy of being loved and respected. As my greed and fears subside, I choose more correct paths to successes.