tabby said:
Sure…
During my research it states there are different Brahmin castes, ones of the north and ones of the south of India. Would you be willing to share some of what you know regarding the differences between the north and south castes, maybe a little of the history?
I’m also curious about some the ceremonial dress the Brahmins wear, if you’re willing to share some knowledge on that as well? As long as it’s not identifying or inappropriate to answer such a question. (I guess that’s technically two questions… my bad). You know I study historical clothing, and clothing of other cultures. Some of their dress seems to hold spiritual meanings to different Brahmin castes, like the Upavita (I hope that’s the correct spelling), and this fascinates me.
A Brahmin anywhere around the world can marry another Brahmin so I don't think there's a fundamental difference between the North Brahmins or the South. The difference might be in the mentality of their families where they might nor consider another Brahmins family if no one knows them by their surnames. There are certain surnames when uttered you'd immediately know that ones a Brahmin from that Area.
Most of the spiritual knowledge that is from the South is more sound, in depth and free from corruption than the north because the Muslims couldn't penetrate that far.
The Eight Fold path was discovered by an unknown Kapalika ,meaning "Skull Bearer" a kind of Yogi who doesn't follow the Brahmanic Right Hand Path. So I give credit where credit us due. It was expounded upon in the Gheranda Samhita.
A lot of useful information is from the South ,However there is a massive language barrier there. A lot of the North is Vaishnavites (Devotees of Vishnu) and a lot of South are Shaivites (Devotees of Shiva.)
I don't know if the ceremonial dress contains any symbolic meaning because I've never cared about any of that stuff. I only care about meditation techniques.
However there is a ceremonial thread ceremony every Brahmin Boy goes through where they do hymns and put a sacrificial thread which you have to wear at all times throughout your life. During that ceremony they Pierce the ears with earrings which is something of an initiation ceremony from being a boy to a man due to the pain.
This practice is called being Twice born. The boy must die and a man is then born. During the ceremony the boy makes a decision whether to become an ascetic Immediately thereafter or a marriage able man. It's just a weird thing that's in there for some reason. No one in their right mind would choose to be an ascetic.
All of this in my view is mostly tradition. My boys will go through this ceremony as I've gone through it and it will continue like that for hundreds of years.
I follow the path of Yoga. These side traditions help keep the family lineage but there is nothing of profound personal spiritual benefit to them. The one good thing Brahmins did was to be extremists about marrying only within their own castes. This made it so that the IQ would be preserved as well as the Special Spiritual gifts. This is the only reason why the Brahmin iq, along with some certain other Higher Castes is the same as Whites and Japanese. The western world is full of these high castes who occupy a lot of good positions in those countries.