Kuvalayesha

Nine Beliefs of Hinduism 1. Hindus believe in the divinity of the Vedas, the world's most ancient scripture, and venerate the Agamas as equally revealed. These primordial hymns are God's word and the bedrock of Sanatana Dharma, the eternal religion which has neither beginning nor end. 2. Hindus believe in a one, all-pervasive Supreme Being who is both immanent and transcendent, both Creator and Unmanifest Reality. 3. Hindus believe that the universe undergoes endless cycles of creation, preservation and dissolution. 4. Hindus believe in karma, the law of cause and effect by which each individual creates his own destiny by his thoughts, words and deeds. 5. Hindus believe that the soul reincarnates, evolving through many births until all karmas have been resolved, and moksha, spiritual knowledge and liberation from the cycle of rebirth, is attained. Not a single soul will be eternally deprived of this destiny. 6. Hindus believe that divine beings exist in unseen worlds and that temple worship, rituals, sacraments as well as personal devotionals create a communion with these devas and Gods. 7. Hindus believe that a spiritually awakened master, a guru or satguru, is essential to know the Transcendent Absolute, as are personal discipline, good conduct, purification, pilgrimage, self-inquiry and meditation. 8. Hindus believe that all life is sacred, to be loved and revered, and therefore practice ahimsa, "noninjury." 9. Hindus believe that no particular religion teaches the only way to salvation above all others, but that all genuine religious paths are facets of God's Pure Love and Light, deserving tolerance and understanding.

Namaste, I think it only fair that first you give us a brief explanation why you have chosen your religious path. Hinduism is a way of life and not specifically a 'religion'. All paths lead to God...As the Vedas say "He is One without a second" and we as hindus should love and accept all. With that in mind, below are some words from Black Elk, a plains indian of the Ogalala Soiux tribe, published around 1932. He was a relative of Chief Crazy Horse... "Hey Hey! hey hey! hey hey! hey hey! Grandfather, Great Spirit, you have been always, and before you no one has been. There is no other one to pray to but you. You yourself, everything that you see, everything has been made by you. The star nations all over the universe you have finished. The four quarters of the earth you have finished. The day, and in that day, everything you have finished. Grandfather, Great Spirit, lean close to the earth that you may hear the voice I send. You towards where the sun goes down, behold me; Thunder Beings, behold me! You where the White Giant lives in power, behold me! You where the sun shines continually, whence come the daybreak star and the day, behold me! You where the summer lives, behold me! You in the depths of the heavens, an eagle of power, behold! And you, Mother Earth, the only Mother, you who have shown mercy to your children! Hear me, four quarters of the world--a relative I am! Give me the strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is! Give me the eyes to see and the strength to understand, that I may be like you. With your power only can I face the winds. Great Spirit, Great Spirit, my Grandfather, all over the earth the faces of living things are all alike. With tenderness have these come up out of the ground. Look upon these faces of children without number and with children in their arms, that they may face the winds and walk the good road to the day of quiet. This is my prayer; hear me! The voice I have sent is weak, yet with earnestness I have sent it. Hear me! It is finished. Hetchetu aloh! (So it is)

Newton's Third Law of Motion: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is not just a law of physics but a law of nature. We see this easily in the gross physical plane when we push against something, it pushes back. However, as we rise to more and more subtle forces it gets a little more difficult to see the reaction. Take for example smoking... Some people are still convinced that there will be no ill effects to such a habit. It may take years to suffer the reaction. Mental and emotional forces are even more subtle and their effects may take lifetimes to reap. It is through meditation and developing our intuitive nature that we become more sensitive to these forces and more easily able to see the potential effects our actions will have. God is your own real inner Being, Consciousness, Delight. Who lives in God, has real freedom. When you are in God, have experience of God, you have unlimited freedom, real freedom, and no other freedom is worth the name. Ultimately Karma does not belong to you as it does not belong to God... Om Namah Sivaya

Here's something that may help from my guru Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. Om Namah Sivaya! LESSON 287 from Living with Siva Realize That God Is Love Siva is Love and Love is Siva. People often ask, "How can I worship God if I can't see God?" There was a young man who had formed an intense dislike for his father because his father disciplined him strongly when he was growing up. Every time the young man thought of his father, it was through feelings of resentment and confusion. Whenever his father was around, the son avoided him, and sharp words were often exchanged. However, his father put him through college, paying all the expenses. When the young man broke his leg playing football, the father visited him in the hospital every few days and paid the medical bills. But still the young man resented his father for what had happened years ago. He could not see that his father really loved him. His inner sight, feeling and emotion were blinded by his bitterness about the past. This story illustrates how mental barriers disable us from seeing people as they really are. And if we cannot correctly see the people around us, how can we expect to see God? We are often blinded by our "ignore-ance"--our great ability to ignore. People who question the existence of God because they cannot see God must take the word of those who do see God. When they cannot do even this, they are obviously lost in their own delusions and confusions, unable to even see the love or accept the love of those who are closest to them. They most likely misjudge everything through their limited vision, clouded by resentments built up over the years. We all see people with our two eyes, and we see into people with our hearts. When our heart is pure, holding no resentment, we can then see with our third eye. Someone having problems in seeing God should begin by worshiping his mother and father as divine. He can see them with his eyes and within his mind. This sadhana will clean up the person's heart and bring his thoughts, speech and actions into line with dharma. Then one day he will see that God Siva truly is the Life within the life of everyone--of the whole universe, in fact. The word love describes the free-flowing interchange of spiritual energy between people, between people and their things, between people and God and the Gods. Our scriptures clearly tell us that "Siva is love, and love is Siva." Therefore, our free-flowing love, or bhakti, is our own Sivaness in manifestation. Expressing this love is a profoundly auspicious and beginning form of living with Siva that is complete, in and of itself.

God we have not seen; but Love we see in all its self-expressions. Since God is Love, we have seen God. Develop Love more and more and you will see Him. God we do not know; but Truth we understand. Since God is Truth, we understand God. Adhere to Truth more and more and you will know God. God we have not experienced, but we daily experience Goodness. Since God is Goodness we have experienced God. Develop goodness more and more, and you will experience God. God is invisible, but Beauty is visible. Since God is Beauty, God is visible. Love Beauty more and more, and you will perceive God. God we can deny, but the Consciousness which is the basis of our intelligence, awareness and knowledge, and with the help of which we deny God, is, and cannot be denied. Since God is Consciousness, we cannot deny God, for He is the very denying Consciousness. Evolve and expand in Consciousness by growth in Love and Goodness, or by growth in Knowledge and Wisdom, or by the pursuit of Beauty and Truth, or by service of Humanity, or by any of the hundred other time-tried ways. Then God will be, for you, a matter of living experience, and the source of your imperishable Life, Joy, Peace, Perfection. ~Swami Omkarananda