Hi fellow Charvakas. Here is a ROUGH DRAFT of Charvaka Manifesto. Let us have a robust discussion on this topic. - K. P. S. Kamath
1. Preamble
Charvaka is a Rationalist Philosophy of ancient India. The original Manifesto of this philosophy was written by Brihaspati around 600 B. C. and they are lost to posterity. What little knowledge we have of this philosophy comes to us from commentaries written by their adversaries. There is a dire need to regenerate this philosophy in modern India by preserving its fundamental aspects and developing newer ones that are applicable in the twenty-first century.
2. Fundamental Beliefs Of Charvakas
A. Followers of Charvaka Philosophy do not recognize any knowledge, which is not based on sensory perception and physical verification. It rejects knowledge gained from inference, intuition and testimony.
1. Therefore, Charvakas reject all supra-sensory phenomena such as gods, Atman, rebirth, demons, evil spirits, Moksha, and the like. They consider them as relevant to ancient times but totally irrelevant to modern times.
2. Charvakas also reject all rituals such as Yajna, Pooja, Abhisheka, pilgrimage, and Shraddha meant to appease gods and ancestral souls. They believe that the sole purpose these rituals serve is to provide priests the means to make a living.
3. They do not believe that Swamis, Babas and Gurus have supernatural powers such as materializing ash, gold rings and watches. They consider all these magicians as frauds.
4. Charvakas reject all ancient scriptures such as the Vedas, the Brahmanas, Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita as sacred. However, they do consider them as valuable historical documents, which give useful insight into ancient Indian society, and therefore they must be diligently preserved for posterity.
5. Charvakas consider all ancient and medieval temples dedicated to various gods as important archeological and historical structures, which must be diligently cleaned and preserved for posterity.
6. Charvakas consider all functioning temples of India are temple-casino complexes operating to fleece naïve people by falsely promising to fulfill their desires and ward off unknown evil.
7. Charvakas do not believe in religion whether it is organized or not. They believe that religions have been highjacked by priestly class to generate hate for other religions and to consolidate their own power and security. Most conflicts in the world today originate from religions.
B. Charvakas believe that they have but one life to live and one should strive to enjoy it to the fullest extent as long as such enjoyment does not violate rights and sensibilities of others in the society.
3. Duties Of Charvakas
A. Charvakas consider the Constitution of India as paramount law above all other laws, ancient or modern. They will defend this law when followers of other laws attempt to subvert it.
B. Charvakas defend every citizen’s right for equality, justice, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
C. Charvakas will behave in the society as models of morally responsible, freethinking, reasonable, happy-go-lucky people. In the pursuit of their happiness, Charvakas will not violate the rights and welfare of others in the society.
D. Charvakas make it their business to nonviolently fight injustice perpetrated by political, government, religious or antisocial agencies in the society.
E. Charvakas will conduct themselves in the society as models of rectitude. They will not indulge in antisocial behavior of any kind. They will cheerfully pay the taxes they owe the government.
F. Charvakas will not violate the laws of the land except when they consider the law as patently against the spirit of natural law. When they do this, they will use nonviolent methods and willingly suffer consequences thereof.
G. Charvakas use non-violent methods when they protest against unjust laws or outrageous behavior of people deluded by religion.
F. Charvakas will fearlessly expose the fraud of Babas, Gurus and Swamis to the general public by means of enlightening articles in newspapers and magazines; DVDs, television shows, demonstrations, seminars, meetings, and other means of communications.
4. Development And Preservation Of Charvaka Literature
A. Charvakas will collect available literature on Charvaka Philosophy, develop new ones to suit twenty-first century, and collate them in the form of an easily readable book. This book will become the Manifesto of Charvaka Philosophy.
B. Charvakas will diligently preserve all materials pertaining to Charvaka Philosophy in the form of a book and give wide circulation to it. They will supply free of cost copies of such material to all libraries of India.
A Manifesto For New Charvaka Movement
1. Preamble
Charvaka is a Rationalist Philosophy of ancient India. The original Manifesto of this philosophy was written by Brihaspati around 600 B. C. and they are lost to posterity. What little knowledge we have of this philosophy comes to us from commentaries written by their adversaries. There is a dire need to regenerate this philosophy in modern India by preserving its fundamental aspects and developing newer ones that are applicable in the twenty-first century.
2. Fundamental Beliefs Of Charvakas
A. Followers of Charvaka Philosophy do not recognize any knowledge, which is not based on sensory perception and physical verification. It rejects knowledge gained from inference, intuition and testimony.
1. Therefore, Charvakas reject all supra-sensory phenomena such as gods, Atman, rebirth, demons, evil spirits, Moksha, and the like. They consider them as relevant to ancient times but totally irrelevant to modern times.
2. Charvakas also reject all rituals such as Yajna, Pooja, Abhisheka, pilgrimage, and Shraddha meant to appease gods and ancestral souls. They believe that the sole purpose these rituals serve is to provide priests the means to make a living.
3. They do not believe that Swamis, Babas and Gurus have supernatural powers such as materializing ash, gold rings and watches. They consider all these magicians as frauds.
4. Charvakas reject all ancient scriptures such as the Vedas, the Brahmanas, Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita as sacred. However, they do consider them as valuable historical documents, which give useful insight into ancient Indian society, and therefore they must be diligently preserved for posterity.
5. Charvakas consider all ancient and medieval temples dedicated to various gods as important archeological and historical structures, which must be diligently cleaned and preserved for posterity.
6. Charvakas consider all functioning temples of India are temple-casino complexes operating to fleece naïve people by falsely promising to fulfill their desires and ward off unknown evil.
7. Charvakas do not believe in religion whether it is organized or not. They believe that religions have been highjacked by priestly class to generate hate for other religions and to consolidate their own power and security. Most conflicts in the world today originate from religions.
B. Charvakas believe that they have but one life to live and one should strive to enjoy it to the fullest extent as long as such enjoyment does not violate rights and sensibilities of others in the society.
3. Duties Of Charvakas
A. Charvakas consider the Constitution of India as paramount law above all other laws, ancient or modern. They will defend this law when followers of other laws attempt to subvert it.
B. Charvakas defend every citizen’s right for equality, justice, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
C. Charvakas will behave in the society as models of morally responsible, freethinking, reasonable, happy-go-lucky people. In the pursuit of their happiness, Charvakas will not violate the rights and welfare of others in the society.
D. Charvakas make it their business to nonviolently fight injustice perpetrated by political, government, religious or antisocial agencies in the society.
E. Charvakas will conduct themselves in the society as models of rectitude. They will not indulge in antisocial behavior of any kind. They will cheerfully pay the taxes they owe the government.
F. Charvakas will not violate the laws of the land except when they consider the law as patently against the spirit of natural law. When they do this, they will use nonviolent methods and willingly suffer consequences thereof.
G. Charvakas use non-violent methods when they protest against unjust laws or outrageous behavior of people deluded by religion.
F. Charvakas will fearlessly expose the fraud of Babas, Gurus and Swamis to the general public by means of enlightening articles in newspapers and magazines; DVDs, television shows, demonstrations, seminars, meetings, and other means of communications.
4. Development And Preservation Of Charvaka Literature
A. Charvakas will collect available literature on Charvaka Philosophy, develop new ones to suit twenty-first century, and collate them in the form of an easily readable book. This book will become the Manifesto of Charvaka Philosophy.
B. Charvakas will diligently preserve all materials pertaining to Charvaka Philosophy in the form of a book and give wide circulation to it. They will supply free of cost copies of such material to all libraries of India.