BRAHMOS: An archaic Brahmo catechism (FAQ) from 1867.

From: Malay Sanyal
Date: Mon, Feb 22, 2010 at 5:52 PM
Subject: [brahmoconferenceorg] An archaic Brahmo catechism (FAQ) from 1867.

EXTRACTS FROM A CATECHISM ISSUED BY A MEMBER OF THE ADI BRAHMO-SAMAJ.
(sourced from Max Muller, so treat with our usual caution)

Q. Who is the deity of the Brahmos?
A. The One True God, one only without a second, whom all Hindu Sâstras proclaim.

Q. What is the divine worship of the Brahmos?
A. Loving God, and doing the works He loveth.

Q. What is the temple of the Brahmos?
A. The pure heart.

Q. What are the ceremonial observances of the Brahmos?
A. Good works.

Q. What is the sacrifice of the Brahmos?
A. Renunciation of selfishness.

Q. What are the austerities of the Brahmos?
A. Not committing sin. The Mahábhárata says, He who does not commit sin in mind, speech, action, or understanding, performs austerities; not he who drieth up his body.

Q. What is the place of pilgrimage of the Brahmos?
A. The company of the good.

Q. What is the Veda of the Brahmos?
A. Divine knowledge. It is superior to all Vedas. The Veda itself says: The inferior knowledge is the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda, the Atharva Veda, etc.; the superior knowledge is that which treats of God.

Q. What is the most sacred formula of the Brahmos?
A. Be good and do good.

Q. Who is the true Brahman?
A. He who knows Brahma. The Brihadâra{n}yaka-Upanishad says: He who departs from this world knowing God, is a Brahman

 

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Am I still a Brahmo ?

From: Arrow Sinha Roy
Date: Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 8:32 PM
Subject: Re: [brahmoconferenceorg] Am I still a Brahmo ?

Friends, I wish to clarify that the Bhowanipore Samaj 'prayer hall' maintains pristine purity about not conducting upasana in the presence of any object that may be repfresenting ...or which  in course of time, may come to be associated with a divine image. So not just paintings etc  but even photographs are not allowed. When we hold memorial services for the dear departed, the photo is placed in the outside verandah of the Samaj. No Samaj prayer hall should have figurines or statues inside it. A Sinha Roy

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Haradev Chatterjee, a True Brahmo

From: sarbajitr
Date: Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 1:02 PM
Subject: [brahmoconferenceorg] Re: Information about Haradev Chatterjee
To: brahmoconferenceorg@yahoogroups.com

I would lay short odds that both refer to the same Haradev Chattapodhyaya who holds many distinctions in Brahmoism.

1) As the Secretary of the Tattwabodhini Sabha from 1840 till 1845.

2) As the second person after Debendranath to take the First covenant in 1843 from Ram Chander Vidyabagish

3) As the close friend and confidante of Debendranath and Akhoy Kumar Dutta, who played a pivotal role in formulating both the second part of the Brahmo Dharma (1848) as well as the Brahmo Anusthan of 1861

4) As the Adi Brahmo who first started the practice of street processions and nagarkirtan which was later copied by future factions.

5) As the father of 2 daughters married to Debendranath's sons. His elder daughter Neepamayi Devi (also spelt as Nipamaya) marrying Hemendranath Tagore and the younger sister Prafullamayee Devi marrying Birendranath (the fourth son).

Sarbajit

--- In brahmoconferenceorg@yahoogroups.com, Saurav Brahmo <saurav@...> wrote:
>

> Dr Sanyal is presently in Nepal and has fwd'ed yr email to me.
>
> We have information on Haradev Chatterjee (all variations) for
> 1) Bolpur (Bhirbhum, W.B.)
> 2) Santragachi (Howrah, W.B.)
>
> There is also additional information in the Tattwabodhini records.
>
> Saurav
>
> >Dear Dr Sanyal
> >
> >Is there any information about Haradev Chatterjee in the Adi Samaj records
> >--
> >Shymal Dutta Basu
> >(Dept of Sociology) UCAM

Ram Mohan Roy
Brahmoism
History of the Brahmo Samaj

Brahmo principles from the 1830 Trust Deed

The Trust Deed for the Chitpur Brahmo Sabha was duly executed on the 8th of January 1830 by 5 "great men" in the Brahmo pantheon. First named among them being Dwarkanath Tagore whose munificence enabled the premises to be purchased. It is a precise legal deed, drafted with great care on the eve of Rammohun Roy's departure for England. It is pertinent that every significant "party of the first part" to the Deed was a "Propertied" sacerdotal Brahmin of the highest "degree" reputed for knowledge of Law and Religion. At the time of its execution, this small band of reformers were locked in a dangerous (and oftentimes life threatening) struggle in Bengal against the Trinitarian occultic forces - a) obscurantist Trinitarian Hinduism/Brahminism, b) Trinitarian Christianity c) Trinitarian Masonic / Luciferian "Lodges" (incl. secret societies masquerading as Unitarian and Scottish Freethinkers). It is pertinent that the parties to the Deed carefully and with deliberation took their collective personal experience of these aforesaid opposing forces  into consideration while drawing up the Deed to protect and innoculate their heirs and successors. As the Deed evidences, Brahmoism repudiates entirely the (occultic) doctrines and principles of each of our 3 great historical opponents, which confront us today in new garbs and variations - the fake Magicians and charlatans like SaiBabas,  the Guru / Baba cults like the Ramdevs, the Ravi Shankars,  Swami Narayans etc, and the new Hindu Masonic bodies such as the Ramakrishna Mission.. The first step for every True Brahmo is to know who "the enemy" is. The host of foes who incessantly confuse our minds with their false messages and corruptly distort our principles  Know your friends but know your enemies better, To do this we must study them by the "Light" of our Trust Deed which causes our Fearful Enemy to reveal himself. The Trust deed was settled for us publicly (not secretly) as a legal document to declare that "Law, Property and Religion" are not dead. These 3 (Law Property Religion) are "revealed" as the "3 Assassins" in the 33rd degree of the infamous Scottish Rite of FreeMasons. To quote a well known (and often assailed) comment from 1888 on this  "Once Religion is dead, Law and Property will fall to our mercy, and we shall be able to regenerate society by founding on the corpses of the assassins of man, Masonic Religion, Masonic Law, and Masonic Property." Parting kick: Why does the Brahmo Samaj (of 1830) figure in lists like this? http://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/miller_e/occult_theocrasy.html Answer: Because our pulpits are still used to preach the blasphemies of our foes. Sarbajit

True Brahmo MahaAcharya - Hemendranath Tagore

From: Saurav Brahmo <saurav@med...>
Date: Sun, Feb 7, 2010 at 9:01 AM
Subject: [brahmoconferenceorg] Re: What does the Brahmo Samaj stand for primarily today ?

In True Brahmoism, MahaAcharya  refers to Hemendranath Thakur (Tagore) , 3rd son of Maharshi DebendraNath Thakur. The term means "Great Teacher" reinforcing that the deep spiritual body knowledge of Brahmoism is now beyond intuition and can now only be passed on with the assistance of a teacher (acharya).

The title Pradhan Acharya was informally used by all branches of Brahmoism to describe Maharshi Debendra Nath during his lifetime. As the founder of the Brahmo Samaj, Maharshi Debendra Nath always enjoyed the great love and respect off all Brahmos.

It is recorded in our histories that after the death of Maharshi DebendraNath in 1905 his sons SatyendraNath and RabindraNath embarked on a course not conducive to the expansion of True Brahmoism by the Northern India Brahmo Samaj. This caused the dissolution of the 2nd Calcutta Brahmo Samaj Trust in 1913. Most  papers / documents and other movable assets of the Calcutta Brahmo Samaj located at Jorasanko and Chitpur were removed to Lahore. Several records of the Calcutta Brahmo Samaj / Thakurbari were destroyed by S.N and R.N.Tagore at about that time. Many years later Rabindra Nath expressed his regret for this mentioning that his elder brother had acted unwisely due to the family compulsions.

In Truth
Saurav

== In brahmoconferenceorg Shymal Dutta <shymal.d@gm..> wrote .. ==

>Just 2 queries
>
>a) Who is the Maha Acharya ? Is this the same as Pradhan Acharya ?
>
>b) I was reading on the Brahmo Samaj website that Rabindranath Tagore
>became leader of the Adi Brahmo Samaj in 1911 and carried on until
>his death in 1941. So when did the Adi Brahmo Samaj get dissolved
>or cease to exist ?
>--

>Shymal Dutta Basu
>(Dept of Sociology)