Guest guest Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 DEFINING HINDUISM Lawrence Brown (Omamerica (AT) aol (DOT) com) Defining Hinduism Mon, 22 Aug 05 21:15:39 IST Regarding the disagreement with using the term Hinduism to describe our faith: The problem is that 300 million fellow Americans have already learned our name as it is. And we only have so much ammunition: only so many minutes on the stage to make our point. It seems fruitless to spend our ammunition on a battle we cannot win. Better when someone asks if there are any Hindus in the house to stand up. Then use our available time and energy to define our ism in positive terms truthfully, as it is. No ancient faith had a name "until it came in contact with its neighbors. Then you had the religion of the Egyptians the gods of the Greeks, etc. No one called it Zeusism. Fair enough, but that was then and this is now. We could refer to the religion of the Indians "except there is more than one". So we are back to square one. The British came up with a name of convenience. OK, it was more convenient to them than it is to us. History is like that. So Hinduism it is. What is the ism about? That is up to us. If we say it is a way of life, then ways of life are drying up all over the world. If we are slow to define ourselves, the evangelical Christians will be only too happy to do it for us. We see ourselves as Atman on its way to becoming Brahman. We believe we are souls evolving in a spiraling path to spiritual perfection. For reasons known best to God, we are given bodies to do this work in as many as we need. There is no Hell. The consequences of being slow students is being given more life on earth. Until we graduate, we stay in school. We worship a God beyond our powers of visualization, so we reverence the forms of God we can apprehend for ourselves. We condemn no one, provided their faith instructs them to be good and civil neighbors. This enthusiastic curiosity is one of our greatest charms. Because we do not believe in sin but rather see most of our self- inflicted misfortune as a consequence of ignorance, it is our inclination to teach rather than to fight. So non-violence is the foundation of our morality. We are taught to seek God in everything and everything in God. So we behold the natural world less as predators do than as fellow sojourners do. We are reminded to keep our humility about us. We Namaste each self and bless them, and pray that they will use their freedom to choose a path that benefits all sentient beings. I am joy, says our god. And on a portion of that joy, all other beings live. We are Hindus. Although we know all about the destruction of matter in the universe, we do not worship an angry God. We are not driven by fear but by a universal longing for a life transformed by spirit rescued by love from its shortcomings.) Lawrence W. Brown omamerica (AT) aol (DOT) com 508-771-5096 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 > Lawrence Brown (Omamerica (AT) aol (DOT) com) > Defining Hinduism > > The problem is that 300 million fellow > Americans have already learned our name > as it is. . . . If a falsehood has been propagated -- whether among 300 million or the entire population of the world -- then it must be corrected by spreading the truth. It is truth that wins, not the acceptance of falsehood (even if "300 million Americans have already learned it".) Satyamevajayate! Jai Maharaj, a Hindu born in Bharat Om Shanti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 16, 2006 Report Share Posted June 16, 2006 The point here belowan important and valid one. Just today at work a coworker mentioned she was reading the gita. She said she wanted to know why all major religions support war as in the Gita, thus she is reading it though she is not interested in religion. I could have spent my time talking to her about the term Hindu during our 10 min lunch break. instead I told her that if I walked in the library and someone was committing violent acts on the public, I would be required to act in a warlike manner. Otherwise I would be supporting that violence. In this way I explained to her the context inc. all the chances Krsna gave Duryodhana, the request for only 5 villages, the refusal to even give a pinprick of land and the attempt to arrest Krsna on His peace mission. As I spoke I could tell she was worried as to whether I would begin a conversionary pitch so I had to be quick, to the point etc. Also I dont see being born in Bharat as some kind of proof or validation of nobiity. Karma not Janma isnt? At the same time you say you are Hindu but dont agree with the point of using Hindu. Namaste Vrndavan "And we only have so much ammunition: only so many minutes on the stage to make our point. It seems fruitless to spend our ammunition on a battle we cannot win. Better when someone asks if there are any Hindus in the house to stand up. Then use our available time and energy to define our ism in positive terms truthfully, as it is." vediculture, Jyotishi <jyotish2000 wrote: > > > > Lawrence Brown (Omamerica) > > Defining Hinduism > > > > The problem is that 300 million fellow > > Americans have already learned our name > > as it is. . . . > > If a falsehood has been propagated -- > whether among 300 million or the entire > population of the world -- then it must > be corrected by spreading the truth. It > is truth that wins, not the acceptance of > falsehood (even if "300 million Americans > have already learned it".) > > Satyamevajayate! > > Jai Maharaj, a Hindu born in Bharat > Om Shanti > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 17, 2006 Report Share Posted June 17, 2006 Namaste, I agree with all yr points except calling for & waiting for the cops. i would call, but any chance i may have to protect an innocent before the cops arrived, I would be dutybound to carry out. I could not live with myself if someone died because I didnt act correctly. All of this is dependant on immediate circumstances of course. only real example I could give from my own experiance, as an adult,(as a kid, I protected as many younger boys from trauma in Isckon gurukul and befriended those already victimized) is regarding an incident where some Sikhs were being harrased by some white Americans in front of a SF niteclub. Of course the Sikhs were ready to fight though outnumbered. having earlier befriended one of the Sikhs, I felt I could not be a silent observor. I took a chance, got in the middle space between the hostiles and managed to defuse the danger. No cops and no victims of drunken violence either. I cant say what would have happened if I didnt intervene. If my friend had been attacked, as I stood there watching from across the street....what shame I would have felt. Also I mentioned the issue about being born in Bharat because a majority of anti-vedic anti-hindu people I have met or been exposed to have been born in Bharat. I do however agree that those born in Bharat and raised within the Hindu/Vedic framework are advanced Souls that have achieved one of the highest births available within the Universe. Jaya Bharat! Jaya Hanuman! V vediculture, Jyotishi <jyotish2000 wrote: > > > Vrndavan Parker <vrnparker wrote: > > The point here belowan important and valid > > one. Just today at work a coworker mentioned > > she was reading the gita. She said she wanted > > to know why all major religions support war > > as in the Gita, thus she is reading it though > > she is not interested in religion. > > I could have spent my time talking to her > > about the term Hindu during our 10 min > > lunch break. > > Why? She didn't bring up the term, did she? > > > instead I told her that if I walked in > > the library and someone was committing > > violent acts on the public, I would be > > required to act in a warlike manner. > > Not necessarily. Calling the police is > what society expects you to do first. Taking > the law into your hands is not recommended. > Now if the violent act was directed against > you, then you may act in reasonable self-defense. > > > Otherwise I would be supporting that > > violence. > > No, not really. You wouldn't be "supporting > that violence" if you called the police, or > acted in self-defense. > > > As I spoke I could tell she was worried as > > to whether I would begin a conversionary pitch > > so I had to be quick, to the point etc. > > Why so defensive? > > > Also I dont see being born in Bharat as some > > kind of proof or validation of nobiity. > > Karma not Janma isnt? > > The words are Karm and Janm. There is no "a" > sound at the end of the words. But why such an > inferiority complex? No claim of nobility or > validation has been made. Being born in a culture > and raised from childhood in it provides more > immersion, more time for one to be exposed to that > culture -- more experience with the principles of > that culture and its spirituality (in my case, the > Vedic and Hindu). > > > At the same time you say you are Hindu but dont > > agree with the point of using Hindu. Namaste > > Vrndavan > > I don't agree with someone's *opinion* about > something. Being Hindu doesn't mean that you > have to accept falsehoods or inaccuracies. > > Keep up the good work. > > Namaste, > > Jai Maharaj > Om Shanti > > > "And we only have so much ammunition: only so many > > minutes on the stage to make our point. It seems > > fruitless to spend > > our ammunition on a battle we cannot win. Better > > when someone asks if > > there are any Hindus in the house to stand up. Then > > use our available > > time and energy to define our ism in positive terms > > truthfully, as it > > is." > > > > > > vediculture, Jyotishi > > <jyotish2000@> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > Lawrence Brown (Omamerica@) > > > > Defining Hinduism > > > > > > > > The problem is that 300 million fellow > > > > Americans have already learned our name > > > > as it is. . . . > > > > > > If a falsehood has been propagated -- > > > whether among 300 million or the entire > > > population of the world -- then it must > > > be corrected by spreading the truth. It > > > is truth that wins, not the acceptance of > > > falsehood (even if "300 million Americans > > > have already learned it".) > > > > > > Satyamevajayate! > > > > > > Jai Maharaj, a Hindu born in Bharat > > > Om Shanti > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Tired of spam? Mail has the best spam > > protection around > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.