On Jan 9, 2007, at 1:31 PM, TurquoiseB wrote:
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "llundrub" <llundrub@> wrote:
So I know yagyas are the way of heyam dukam anagatam etc,
but what are the mechanics exactly?
. . .
Me, I suspect that yagyas work now the way they
always have -- they're a revenue generator for the
people and organizations that offer them, and any
benefits occur through the mechanism of the placebo
effect.
But there is a simple, scientific way to find out
if there is anything else going on with them. Offer
to perform a study tracking the effects of various
yagyas, as long as the pundits perform the yagyas
for free. We'll tell them that's a testing protocol,
so that the test subjects for whom the yagyas are
performed have no more invested in the outcome
than the control group does. But the real reason
is to see if any of them will do it for free. If
they won't, that'll pretty much clear up once and
for all what yagyas are all about, right? :-)
Obviously, I betray my strong feelings about such
things above. :-) To me, yagyas fall into the category
of religious experience called "the intercession of
the priest class," otherwise known as the Beam Me Up
Scotty Theory of Getting Things Done.
From a Buddhist perpspective there are a number of problems with
yagyas, one of which is caste based. Another is that they are
explained (metaphysically speaking) by mimamsa, which is predicted on
the permanance of objects, specifically the relationships between
objects and their names. Buddha Shakyamuni countered that with the
fact that all compounded phenomenon are impermanent. I don't believe
their insistence on apaurushaya origins (not of human authorship)
would wash either.
Nonetheless Buddhist tantrics also perform their own homas, but also
can hire out lamas to do them for them. I've done my own tantric
rites myself for decades and find that's the best way for me. It's
especially helpful when someone is in need and you can help them.
