(June 29, 2021 at 11:03 pm)vulcanlogician Wrote:(June 29, 2021 at 2:01 pm)AkiraTheFighter24 Wrote: It still promoted sexism, calssism and smug self righteous behavour based on what it, as well as other hindu relegious texts, concidered as "moral and pure".
Sounds like the same excuse that Bible apologists use if you ask me.
Nah. If you read the entirety of my last post I'm not engaging in Hindu apologetics at all.
What I meant to say was: The Bhagavad Gita is a valuable book to read, even if you approach the work entirely from an atheist's perspective.
I'm not saying there aren't falsehoods and myths in the book. There are. The text even condones the four-caste system. (Actually "glorifies" may be a better word.) Plenty in it that a rational reader should ignore or recognize as faulty. Plus the theistic sentiments are commonplace and heavy-handed.
But it's a really beautiful book in some ways. Keep in mind that it's not some list of commandments like the Bible is. It's a poem that can be completed in a matter of hours.
It argues that it is better to see the entire world as an ongoing process, to relate to that larger world, and to do everything you do for the sake of that larger world, instead of keeping your mind on your own life's difficulties and doing things for your own sake. This isn't a moral commandment. It's a way of seeking a clear mind, a method to avoid being bogged down by life's apparent senselessness. That's an atheistic interpretation of the message anyway. I read it through a Spinozist lens... ie. no free will... deterministic universe. The book makes a good argument that, even in a deterministic universe, life is neither futile nor meaningless. It's an interesting idea in any regard.
Of course, it's an ancient book, and mixed into it are ancient notions (male-centricity, caste system, etc.) Furthermore, the second half of the book is less, poetic, more esoteric, and (by-and-large) less good. The second half of the book kind of goes on and on about the three gunas, and it's kinda meh. But I'm willing to bet that any atheist who reads the first half will find some valuable insights in it, or at the very least find it beautiful.
Same goes for the Upanishads and some of the yoga sutras. Those are even more esoteric and (by and large) less poetic. But they're good reads too.
There's only one "Sutra", that I can get behind...
Disappointing theists since 1968!