A friend wrote on a mailing list:

In the recent find of the God’s particle, India can claim a big part.

No I am not referring to the controversy (in India) about late scientist Bose. AlJazira is the only foreign news channel to mention anything about him:

here

I am referring to the main part of this word - it is not the particle, but God. India had discovered GOD much before most of the world civilization did and documented it in our Vedanta. Here is some scientific proof

======= Understanding Hinduism ======= http://www.hinduism.co.za/hinduism.htm#staggering

an “objective universe” is simply one that exists apart from our consciousness. “All this- whatever exists in this changing universe, is pervaded by God” -Isa Upanishad

In 1935, Albert Einstein, together with Nathan Rosen and Boris Podolsky proposed through flawless mathematical reasoning that if the quantum theory were correct, then ‘A change in the spin of one particle in a two particle system would affect its twin simultaneously, even if the two had been widely separated in the meantime’. This thought process is recorded in our Vedanta.

My response:

I am unable to understand this need to prove that “we” did anything before anyone else.

“India had discovered GOD much before most of the world civilization did”.

There are several things that I find to disagree with in this statement.

There was no “India” then. It was a group of kingdoms in the subcontinent.

The Vedas are a part of Hindu philosophy and religion, and are not part of the Islamic, Christian, or other faiths in our country.

If I say, someone discovered something, that presumes that something exists. The concept of God is something some of us believe in, some of us don’t, and some of us are not sure about. So “India” could not have “discovered” God, perhaps only postulated the concept of divinity.

And I cannot share the viewpoint of wanting to claim priority in various fields. Why are we so keen on doing this? We seem to have some chip on the shoulder about how great we were. We were probably great…but the reality of today, when we have a lot to be ashamed of, should also be looked at clearly. Today, we are emphatically not the society which observed diligently, recorded clearly and was objective.

So why are we always so keen on claiming part of any major discovery or invention that has been made abroad? Even when someone of Indian origin achieves something, we want to bask in the reflected glory, even though that person might never have achieved anything in the repressive, unhelpful, venal system that we have in place here. Lakshmi Mittal became a big man, not here. Hargobind Khurana made major discoveries…not here. Kalpana Chawla became an astronaut..she’d never have made it in India.

Hmm…I’ve probably said too much….and I also realize that my point of view is not necessarily right :) But, being me, I had to write this. What are your thoughts, you others? This is a debate, not a personal diatribe.