Soma and its Effects Essay

The Aryans of the Vedic Age and the people of the Shang and Zhou dynasties

“Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma ("eternal spiritual path") began about 4000 years ago in India. It was the religion of an ancient people known as the Aryans ("noble people") whose philosophy, religion, and customs are recorded in their sacred texts known as the Vedas” (United Religions). Vedas are written in the ancient language of India, called Sanskrit. Vedas means “knowledge” or “sacred lore.” The Vedas gives great intelligence about the variety of Gods from the Vedic period, 2000 to 500 BCE (Molloy,78).

Upon reading about the historical and religious background of Ancient India, one can clearly assume that the country was strongly influenced by three main religious teachings: Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. These three sects in religious thinking have many similarities as all recognize the life-cycle and the need of liberation, they worship one central deity that used to be a human who gained enlightenment and they all recognize the existence of the eternal soul and after-death re-incarnation. However, they also share a lot of differences that mark the underlying principles of practicing them. I will identify the scope of differences and similarities in these ancient religions in an attempt to understand why each attracted followers, why

Throughout the book, multiple characters indulge in soma, a drug that gives the user a pleasant sensation of relaxation, known as a "soma holiday". Soma holidays allow the user to escape the unpleasantness of reality. The consumption of soma is considered normal and a necessary part of daily life. Ironically, our society considers drug use to be both abnormal and immoral. Like promiscuity, soma usage is considered normal because it is regulated by the World Controllers. Soma’s properties turns into one of the World Controller’s most powerful means of management. After partaking in soma, the people no longer feel the need to ask questions or defy the structures of society. The soma rations are an insurance against any social unrest. It removes initiative and ultimately restricts

Soma is the answer to all of life's problems and is invented in an attempt to distract society from worry, tension, and pain. The drug is rationed by the government and is normally consumed after a hard day's work. In this utopian society, people choose to "know no pain" (Clareson 238). Instead of suffering, people fill their days with the mindless acts they were predestined to perform. At the end of each day, everyone gathers in crowded distribution rooms and waits eagerly to receive the one thing that truly makes the day worthwhile, which is his or her ration of soma (Huxley 215). This valuable drug goes beyond the literal meaning in which it is being used and becomes the one thing that everyone really lives for. The idea in the novel is that pleasure is the most powerful motivator (Clareson 238). So by giving the masses pleasure, the directors keep the world running smoothly. The directors also eliminate the time between desire and fulfillment, so one cannot help but take the quick fix of soma rather than using logic to figure out his or her problems. It is the mass' motivator and problem solver, and brings the people all the great moods and feelings that they could possible ask for because of its hypnotic power to relax the mind (Meerloo 236). Unfortunately, when the futuristic people take this drug, they eventually

In Brave New World, soma is used to oppress the competence to be aware of one’s personal feelings and the ability to communicate their emotions. The people in Brave New World have been so conditioned to seek drugs to forget their human feelings, they have become incapable of self-expression. Soma is a powerful drug encouraged by the government to consume whenever one gets any emotional urges. It is distributed rationally throughout the population and acts as an anti-depressant. Soma is provided by the government to distract people from any cruel realities or any human emotion that may want to question or change the government in power. It numbs people of their feelings and abolishes any emotional responses while creating a sense of euphoria and well-being. With the backing of science, the state provides them with soma to dissuade their attention from the harsh truth, while keeping them in a happy bliss. Throughout the years, scientists and doctors have seen a growing trend in the integration of pharmaceutical drugs in our healthcare, rather than encouraging life style changes. For instance, pain-reliving drugs are the most commonly prescribed medication in America. Pain-reviving medication produces a false euphoric sense of well-being and pleasure.

Soma is used so frequently that it is just another normal item used by consumers. Some people even use it religiously. The controller states, “Christianity without tears-that’s what soma is.”(Huxley 238). Comparing it to a religion not only signifies its relevance in society, but also its strength. Religion brings hope and courage to someone and eliminates worry. This is exactly what soma is, except it is not actually a religion. It is just a drug that takes someone out of the realities

in the Indus Valley which is present day Pakistan, before written records were kept. There are some theories as to why Hinduism began, one is it began because of varna which is color associated with caste, but some Hindus believe it was result of stratification through psychological preferences. Hinduism shruti (Hinduism sacred writings) include the Vedas with four collections of scripture the Rig-Veda, the Sama-Veda, the Yajur-Veda, and the Atharva-Veda, it also includes the Brahmanas (explanations of sacrifices), the Aranyakas (explanation of rituals), and the Upanishads (the end of the Vedas). The Bhagavad Gita is 700 versus for hindus to use to have release from rebirth. The Laws of Manu (code of conduct) appear later in the religion between 200 B.C.E. and 200

Men were usually in the category of priests and they were known as Brahmins and the only ones allowed to perform any ceremonies since they held the knowledge passed down over the centuries ("ARYANS AND EARLY INDIAN CULTURE | Facts and Details," n.d.). The Aryan people added Vedas, which was the addition of new gods, and writings that combined with Indian’s original gods are how the religion Hinduism was created ("Aryan Dynasty Indian History AP World History," n.d.). Aryan’s simplest political group was the grama, which was the “wagon train” then it was named the village once the Aryans settled in a settlement (Wallech et al., 2013, p. 79). Unfortunately a strong unity or political power was never formed and numerous dialects of individuals moved into the area and eventually the empire

Our text book tells us that Aryans became dominant in north India. In Sanskrit text the Indo-Aryan developed the caste and the Brahman religion. The Brahman religion developed into Hinduism. (Beck et al.) India’s caste system there is 4 caste or social levels of people. At the top there is the Bhramin which are the priests and teachers. Second is the Kshatryia which are the leaders and warriors. Third is the Vaishya which are the merchants and landowners. Fourth is the Sundra which are commoners, peasants, and servants. Not considered in the caste system is the untouchables which are the outcasts. They held the lowest valued jobs such as street sweepers, latrine cleaners, and slaughter house workers. The caste system in India forbids people from mingling with other levels of castes. What caste level you were born into you were required to stay at that level. There was no

The drug, soma, in particular is emblematic in its pervasive influence into the World State, of the power of

"Take a holiday from reality whenever you like, and come back without so much as a headache or a mythology. "(46) The objective of drugs is to relieve an individual from suffering and discomfort, soma differs from other drugs such as alcohol and marijuana by leaving an individual without any side effects, unlike alcohol where users are left to experience the awful effects of a hangover which consists of headaches, nausea, fatigue etc. " Euphoric, narcotic, pleasantly hallucinant. "(46)

quote to show how someone under the influence of Soma looks like. We a person is flushed it means that they are having some powerful emotions like excitement, fear, disgust. An important phrase in the quote that is used is ”Universal Benevolence breaks out”, benevolence means to perform a good deed or a to commit a charitable act. If Benevolence means to do good things for others then Universal Benevolence must mean to want to do good things for everyone. The did not have this Universal Benevolence break out before they took the Soma. The Soma changed how a person acts by making them feel and do stuff that they normally would not do if they were not under the influence of Soma. It brings out random feelings for no apparent reason like a fake

Throughout history religion has been used as means to justify actions and to control people. The two earliest examples are Zoroastrianism and Hinduism. The time frames that will be discussed will be the reign of Cyrus, 521 to 486 BCE, and India from 1500 to 500 BCE, before the Persians had a direct effect on India. The Persian religion is thought to be Zoroastrianism or a derivative of it, called Achaemenian. (For this paper the Persian’s religion will be referred to as Zoroastrianism.) However, Cyrus did not strive to spread his religion he introduced his self into other religions as a divine figure. Hinduism is a religion whose origins are unknown but are speculated to have been initiated by the Aryan people. The development of the

The Vedic age in India started around 1500 BC with the arrival of Aryans, an Indo-European tribe from central Asia near the Caspian Sea. Aryans settled along the banks of the Indus and its tributaries in the northern part of the subcontinent. Initially, it was a tribal society centred in northwest India and by 1000 BC, it spread along the Gangetic plain with the development of modern agriculture. Aryans dominated the local indigenous population and often ruled over them. Over time, the interbreeding with the local residents led to the emergence of mixed culture. The Vedic age lasted from 1500 BC to 500 BC. Agriculture and cattle rearing were the main occupations of the people. The Vedas and Upanishads were written during this period. The early Vedic beliefs formed the foundation of Hinduism. People worshipped Gods such as Indra, Agni, Varuna, Vayu, Prajapati, Vishnu, Rudra, etc. The society was divided into four castes based on the profession of the people; Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras. Women had a respectable position in the society and they