Guest guest Posted December 30, 2008 Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 !!!!!!!!!!WHO IS AM A HINDU / WHAT IS HINDUISM !!!!!!!!!!!! Four years ago, I was flying from JFK NY Airport to SFO to attend ameeting at Monterey, CA. An American girl was sitting on the right side,near window seat. It indeed was a long journey - it would take nearlyseven hours. I was surprised to see the young girl reading a Bibleunusual of young Americans. After some time, she smiled and we had few acquaintances talk. I toldher that I am from India. Then suddenly the girl asked: 'What's your faith?' 'What?' I didn't understand the question. 'I mean, what's your religion? Are you a Christian? Or a Muslim?' 'No!' I replied, 'I am neither Christian nor Muslim'. Apparently she appeared shocked to listen to that. 'Then who are you?''I am a Hindu', I said. She looked at me as if she was seeing a caged animal. She could notunderstand what I was talking about. A common man in Europe or US knows about Christianity and Islam, as theyare the leading religions of the world today. But a Hindu, what? I explained to her - I am born to a Hindu father and Hindu mother.Therefore, I am a Hindu by birth. 'Who is your prophet?' she asked. 'We don't have a prophet,' I replied. 'What's your Holy Book?' 'We don't have a single Holy Book, but we have hundreds and thousands ofphilosophical and sacred scriptures,' I replied. 'Oh, come on at least tell me who is your God?' 'What do you mean by that?' 'Like we have Jesus and Muslims have Allah - don't you have a God?' I thought for a moment. Muslims and Christians believe one God (MaleGod) who created the world and takes an interest in the humans whoinhabit it. Her mind is conditioned with that kind of belief. According to her (or anybody who doesn't know about Hinduism), areligion needs to have one Prophet, one Holy book and one God. The mindis so conditioned and rigidly narrowed down to such a notion thatanything else is not acceptable. I understood her perception and conceptabout faith. You can't compare Hinduism with any of the present leadingreligions where you have to believe in one concept of god. I tried to explain to her: 'You can believe in one god and he can be aHindu.. You may believe in multiple deities and still you can be a Hindu. What's more -you may not believe in god at all, still you can be a Hindu. An atheist can also bea Hindu.' This sounded very crazy to her. She couldn't imagine a religion sounorganized, still surviving for thousands of years, even after onslaught from foreignforces. 'I don't understand but it seems very interesting. Are you religious?' What can I tell to this American girl? I said: 'I do not go to temple regularly. I do not make any regularrituals. I have learned some of the rituals in my younger days. I still enjoy doing itsometimes.' 'Enjoy? Are you not afraid of God?' 'God is a friend. No- I am not afraid of God. Nobody has made anycompulsions on me to perform these rituals regularly.' She thought for a while and then asked: 'Have you ever thought ofconverting to any other religion?' 'Why should I? Even if I challenge some of the rituals and faith inHinduism, nobody can convert me from Hinduism. Because, being a Hinduallows me to think independently and objectively, without conditioning.I remain as a Hindu never by force, but choice.' I told her thatHinduism is not a religion, but a set of beliefs and practices. It isnot a religion like Christianity or Islam because it is not founded byany one person or does not have an organized controlling body like theChurch or the Order, I added. There is no institution or authority. 'So, you don't believe in God?' she wanted everything in black andwhite. 'I didn't say that. I do not discard the divine reality. Our scripture,or Sruthis or Smrithis - Vedas and Upanishads or the Gita - say God might be there orhe might not be there. But we pray to that supreme abstract authority(Para Brahma) that is the creator of this universe.' 'Why can't you believe in one personal God?' 'We have a concept - abstract - not a personal god. The concept ornotion of a personal God, hiding behind the clouds of secrecy, tellingus irrational stories through few men whom he sends as messengers,demanding us to worship him or punish us, does not make sense. I don'tthink that God is as silly as an autocratic emperor who wants others torespect him or fear him.' I told her that such notions are just fanciesof less educated human imagination and fallacies, adding that generallyethnic religious practitioners in Hinduism believe in personal gods. Theentry level Hinduism has over-whelming superstitions too. Thephilosophical side of Hinduism negates all superstitions. 'Good that you agree God might exist. You told that you pray. What isyour prayer then?' 'Loka Samastha Sukino Bhavantu.. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti,' 'Funny,' she laughed, 'What does it mean?' 'May all the beings in all the worlds be happy. Om Peace, Peace, Peace.''Hmm ...very interesting. I want to learn more about this religion. Itis so democratic, broad-minded and free' she exclaimed. 'The fact is Hinduism is a religion of the individual, for theindividual and by the individual with its roots in the Vedas and the Bhagavad-Gita. It is allabout an individual approaching a personal God in an individual way according tohis temperament and inner evolution - it is as simple as that.' 'How does anybody convert to Hinduism?' 'Nobody can convert you to Hinduism, because it is not a religion, but aset of beliefs and practices. Everything is acceptable in Hinduism because there is nosingle authority or organization either to accept it or to reject it orto oppose it on behalf of Hinduism.' I told her - if you look for meaning in life, don't look forit in religions; don't go from one cult to another or from one guru tothe next. For a real seeker, I told her, the Bible itself gives guidelines when itsays ' Kingdom of God is within you.' I reminded her of Christ's teaching about the lovethat we have for each other. That is where you can find the meaning of life. Loving eachand every creation of the God is absolute and real. 'Isavasyam idamsarvam' Isam (the God) is present (inhabits) here everywhere - nothing existsseparate from the God, because God is present everywhere.. Respect everyliving being and non-living things as God. That's what Hinduism teachesyou. Hinduism is referred to as Sanathana Dharma, the eternal faith. It isbased on the practice of Dharma, the code of life. The most important aspect ofHinduism is being truthful to oneself. Hinduism has no monopoly on ideas. It is open toall. Hindus believe in one God (not a personal one) expressed indifferent forms. For them, God is timeless and formless entity. Ancestors of today's Hindus believe in eternal truths and cosmic lawsand these truths are opened to anyone who seeks them. But there is asection of Hindus who are either superstitious or turned fanatic to make this an organized religion likeothers. The British coin the word 'Hindu' and considered it as a religion. I said: 'Religions have become an MLM (multi-level- marketing) industrythat has been trying to expand the market share by conversion. The biggest business intoday's world is Spirituality. Hinduism is no exception'. I am a Hindu primarily because it professes Non-violence - 'AhimsaParamo Dharma' - Non violence is the highest duty. I am a Hindu becauseit doesn't condition my mind with any faith system. A man / woman whochange 's his / her birth religion to another religion is a fake anddoes not value his / her morals, culture and values in life. Hinduismwas the first religion originated. Be proud of your religion and be proud of who you are. Om Namo shiva....... ........ Send it to all ONE WHO WANT TO KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT Hinduis & will find it interesting! !!!!!!!!! ! Get rid of Add-Ons in your email ID. Get yourname. Sign up now!Invite your mail contacts to join your friends list with Windows Live Spaces. It's easy! Try it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 13, 2009 Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 Hindu Concept of God (Hinduism A Perspective) Personal God In general Hinduism considers God not just as the Supreme All-powerful Gigantic One, Who commands the humanity to tread the way He/She/It says, but also a personal God Whom the individual can worship out of love and not necessarily out of fear ! The fear brings one only upto certain point and beyond that it repels, but love takes through to the point. Devotion or bhakti as often referred to is a very key concept in Hinduism, even for the philosophically inclined ones. While the shashtras - be it vedas, Agamas, purANas - describe the Glory of God, one finds abundance of stotras that praise the God in love. God is Formless or with Form ? For Hindus God, as is, is beyond any attributes of form, color, shapes ... That is, God does not have any specific form or name. In this state God is referred to as nirguNa brahman (attributeless god). However God takes forms as perceived by humans and this perceived form is called saguNa brahman (god with (good) attributes). These forms could range from calm to fierce to yogic (1). Each form has its significance. For example when one is depressed and sees the form of God Strong and Powerful, the seeker feels the moral boost that God would definitely be the support for the right thing. Similarly when in an auspicious ceremony would like the God to be the calm provider of boons. In a spiritually elevated state, the choice would be the yogic form of God. The forms provide a basis for the Hindu worshipper to easily pursue the otherwise incomprehensible Supreme. So Hinduism supports both form as well as formless worship of the God. Whether one worships in saguNa or nirguNa way, it is ultimately the same God. Let us hail the God, Who does not have a name or a form or anything like that, by singing thousands of Its names! - thiruvAcakam Is there an evil force against God ? God is the Almighty and Supreme. So how can there be anything good or bad against It ? If the good things are the creation of God and bad things of some other evil force, will the gravitational force of the earth be attributed to God or the other force, as it is vital good element for us to live at the same time kills somebody who falls down from a high-rise building! In the system made by God, normally one gets to enjoy the good or bad things based on what have been their inclinations and the actions they made because of that. (This is called karma). There is no evil (satan type) against God. In fact atharva veda puts it very clearly, "na dvitIyo na tR^itIyashchaturtho nApyuchyate na pa.nchamo na ShaShThaH saptamo nApyuchyate nAShTamo na navamo dashamo nApyuchyate ya etaM devamekavR^itaM veda" There is none second to It, neither third not even fourth. There is none fifth to It, neither sixth not even seventh. There is none eighth to It, neither ninth not even tenth. It is the only Supreme. This is to be known. The concept of good and bad things is at a lower level and that too in a different way than strictly good and evil. The divines called devas are the protectors and the essentials who support the worlds. For example, air, sun, moon, water, fire etc. Those who disrupt the life supporting mechanism are the daemons called asuras. The conflicts between the two often arise and the Hindu epics talk in detail about them. However it should be kept in mind that as specified in purANas all the devAs are not the perfect beings and the asuras the worthless evils. Is God in some heaven beyond ? God is not just something that stays in a far off heaven, who would be met with after death, if one gets to heaven etc. God is omnipresent. It is right in front of us. Oh, It is right inside us too. Well, It is in each and every minute of the minute particle present/void anywhere! Does It stay in a world beyond ? Of course It does there too. (Very renowned gAyatri mantra hails the Supreme to be the earth, the world around and the skies beyond). One need not wait for the whole lifetime to get to meet God. The important concept in Hinduism is that God can be realized right here in this world and the God is not just Magnificent Almighty, but is also a sweet lovely One, with whom you can have a relationship - devotee, spouse, sibling, child, parent... God is not just in some heavens, It is right in us. It is both transcendental as well as intermixed in everything. Those who realize Its presence reap the grand reward. Those who say He resides up in the sky, say so; Those who say the Lord of divines residing down in the world beneath, say so. I would say, the Lord of wisdom, Who got His throat brightly adorned with the stain of poison, is residing in my heart ! (2) Is God a He ? Hinduism says, God is not just a He. It is beyond the created contours of gender. For this reason the scriptures very often use the term "It" to refer to God apart from using He and She. Especially when it comes to the Supreme in the natural state (Formless, Attributeless), they prefer It to He or She. The form of Lord ardhanArIshvara(3) clearly conveys that God is masculine, feminine and neuter. When the God is called the Lord of all creatures, It is the God irrespective of the gender, animal race, or whatever other differentiation one could think of. God is understood not only postulated The beauty of Hinduism is that the concept of God is tried to be understood, experienced. There are purANas that elaborately tell through the voice of the divines the glory of God. These are one part. On the other hand the scriptures like upaniShads analyze through questioning and reasoning the concept of God. These two types go very much hand in hand. Neither the divine glory limited to the reaches of the human mind with the purANa like scriptures telling the things beyond the normal human reach. At the same time they do not command a blind following of some super-human texts, but also very much permit analysis. The presence of a range of philosophies in Hindu system is the testimony of this. There are texts like yogasutras that cover the scope from reasoning to divine glory too. So the total and complete spectrum of human verification to super-human wisdom is richly available for the smooth progress of the follower in Hinduism. No need to be blind-folded, explore your way to the Supreme !! Those who did not get the deeper sense out, keep lecturing out the book-confined knowledge. - aRpudhath thiruvandhAdhi "Sone A. Gangadharan" <sonegangadharan wrote: !!!!!!!!!!WHO IS AM A HINDU / WHAT IS HINDUISM !!!!!!!!!!!! Four years ago, I was flying from JFK NY Airport to SFO to attend ameeting at Monterey, CA. An American girl was sitting on the right side,near window seat. It indeed was a long journey - it would take nearlyseven hours. I was surprised to see the young girl reading a Bibleunusual of young Americans. After some time, she smiled and we had few acquaintances talk. I toldher that I am from India. Then suddenly the girl asked: 'What's your faith?' 'What?' I didn't understand the question. 'I mean, what's your religion? Are you a Christian? Or a Muslim?' 'No!' I replied, 'I am neither Christian nor Muslim'. Apparently she appeared shocked to listen to that. 'Then who are you?''I am a Hindu', I said. She looked at me as if she was seeing a caged animal. She could notunderstand what I was talking about. A common man in Europe or US knows about Christianity and Islam, as theyare the leading religions of the world today. But a Hindu, what? I explained to her - I am born to a Hindu father and Hindu mother.Therefore, I am a Hindu by birth. 'Who is your prophet?' she asked. 'We don't have a prophet,' I replied. 'What's your Holy Book?' 'We don't have a single Holy Book, but we have hundreds and thousands ofphilosophical and sacred scriptures,' I replied. 'Oh, come on at least tell me who is your God?' 'What do you mean by that?' 'Like we have Jesus and Muslims have Allah - don't you have a God?' I thought for a moment. Muslims and Christians believe one God (MaleGod) who created the world and takes an interest in the humans whoinhabit it. Her mind is conditioned with that kind of belief. According to her (or anybody who doesn't know about Hinduism), areligion needs to have one Prophet, one Holy book and one God. The mindis so conditioned and rigidly narrowed down to such a notion thatanything else is not acceptable. I understood her perception and conceptabout faith. You can't compare Hinduism with any of the present leadingreligions where you have to believe in one concept of god. I tried to explain to her: 'You can believe in one god and he can be aHindu.. You may believe in multiple deities and still you can be a Hindu. What's more -you may not believe in god at all, still you can be a Hindu. An atheist can also bea Hindu.' This sounded very crazy to her. She couldn't imagine a religion sounorganized, still surviving for thousands of years, even after onslaught from foreignforces. 'I don't understand but it seems very interesting. Are you religious?' What can I tell to this American girl? I said: 'I do not go to temple regularly. I do not make any regularrituals. I have learned some of the rituals in my younger days. I still enjoy doing itsometimes.' 'Enjoy? Are you not afraid of God?' 'God is a friend. No- I am not afraid of God. Nobody has made anycompulsions on me to perform these rituals regularly.' She thought for a while and then asked: 'Have you ever thought ofconverting to any other religion?' 'Why should I? Even if I challenge some of the rituals and faith inHinduism, nobody can convert me from Hinduism. Because, being a Hinduallows me to think independently and objectively, without conditioning.I remain as a Hindu never by force, but choice.' I told her thatHinduism is not a religion, but a set of beliefs and practices. It isnot a religion like Christianity or Islam because it is not founded byany one person or does not have an organized controlling body like theChurch or the Order, I added. There is no institution or authority. 'So, you don't believe in God?' she wanted everything in black andwhite. 'I didn't say that. I do not discard the divine reality. Our scripture,or Sruthis or Smrithis - Vedas and Upanishads or the Gita - say God might be there orhe might not be there. But we pray to that supreme abstract authority(Para Brahma) that is the creator of this universe.' 'Why can't you believe in one personal God?' 'We have a concept - abstract - not a personal god. The concept ornotion of a personal God, hiding behind the clouds of secrecy, tellingus irrational stories through few men whom he sends as messengers,demanding us to worship him or punish us, does not make sense. I don'tthink that God is as silly as an autocratic emperor who wants others torespect him or fear him.' I told her that such notions are just fanciesof less educated human imagination and fallacies, adding that generallyethnic religious practitioners in Hinduism believe in personal gods. Theentry level Hinduism has over-whelming superstitions too. Thephilosophical side of Hinduism negates all superstitions. 'Good that you agree God might exist. You told that you pray. What isyour prayer then?' 'Loka Samastha Sukino Bhavantu.. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti,' 'Funny,' she laughed, 'What does it mean?' 'May all the beings in all the worlds be happy. Om Peace, Peace, Peace.''Hmm ...very interesting. I want to learn more about this religion. Itis so democratic, broad-minded and free' she exclaimed. 'The fact is Hinduism is a religion of the individual, for theindividual and by the individual with its roots in the Vedas and the Bhagavad-Gita. It is allabout an individual approaching a personal God in an individual way according tohis temperament and inner evolution - it is as simple as that.' 'How does anybody convert to Hinduism?' 'Nobody can convert you to Hinduism, because it is not a religion, but aset of beliefs and practices. Everything is acceptable in Hinduism because there is nosingle authority or organization either to accept it or to reject it orto oppose it on behalf of Hinduism.' I told her - if you look for meaning in life, don't look forit in religions; don't go from one cult to another or from one guru tothe next. For a real seeker, I told her, the Bible itself gives guidelines when itsays ' Kingdom of God is within you.' I reminded her of Christ's teaching about the lovethat we have for each other. That is where you can find the meaning of life. Loving eachand every creation of the God is absolute and real. 'Isavasyam idamsarvam' Isam (the God) is present (inhabits) here everywhere - nothing existsseparate from the God, because God is present everywhere.. Respect everyliving being and non-living things as God. That's what Hinduism teachesyou. Hinduism is referred to as Sanathana Dharma, the eternal faith. It isbased on the practice of Dharma, the code of life. The most important aspect ofHinduism is being truthful to oneself. Hinduism has no monopoly on ideas. It is open toall. Hindus believe in one God (not a personal one) expressed indifferent forms. For them, God is timeless and formless entity. Ancestors of today's Hindus believe in eternal truths and cosmic lawsand these truths are opened to anyone who seeks them. But there is asection of Hindus who are either superstitious or turned fanatic to make this an organized religion likeothers. The British coin the word 'Hindu' and considered it as a religion. I said: 'Religions have become an MLM (multi-level- marketing) industrythat has been trying to expand the market share by conversion. The biggest business intoday's world is Spirituality. Hinduism is no exception'. I am a Hindu primarily because it professes Non-violence - 'AhimsaParamo Dharma' - Non violence is the highest duty. I am a Hindu becauseit doesn't condition my mind with any faith system. A man / woman whochange 's his / her birth religion to another religion is a fake anddoes not value his / her morals, culture and values in life. Hinduismwas the first religion originated. Be proud of your religion and be proud of who you are. Om Namo shiva....... ........ Send it to all ONE WHO WANT TO KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT Hinduis & will find it interesting! !!!!!!!!! ! Get rid of Add-Ons in your email ID. Get yourname. Sign up now!Invite your mail contacts to join your friends list with Windows Live Spaces. It's easy! Try it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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