John posted: > Paramatma... > We are the Materialists, one of the greatest schools of Indian Philosophy, founded by Brhaspati, and very old. We have always existed, and we will exist at the end of time.
Our Sutra has been lost, so we offer this manifesto: a protest to the extreme idealism and monkdom of all priests everywhere. A protest to the kidnapping of true religion. A protest to the enemies of the Open Society. Our teacher is Bhogi, so called because he must be having a hair blanket about himself all the time. We believe in four elements. Our motto is "emphasize the substance, ignore the shadows". Perception is rejected as a valid means of knowledge and we reject inference as a leap in the dark. Verbal testimony is a lie. In fact, we reject all means of knowledge. Earth, water, fire, and air are reality. Enjoyment is the true end of human existence. Concsiousness is a product of the elements, an epi-phenomenon, and the senses are the by-product of matter. There is no other world and no individual soul: death is liberation. There is no returning here again. The three authors of the Vedas were clowns, buffoons, and knaves. Eat, drink and be merry. Pleasure is a fact, desired by all. After all, man is an animal, and satisfaction is as natural as life itself. As Vatsyana said: "No pleasure should be neglected." (arasparasyanupaghatakam trivargam sevets) Kama Sutra Ch. 2.
