answers

April 11, 2004

hi agian i need help with these question

1) what are the marks on the forehead of hindus?

2) What are the festivals and celebrations of Hinduism?

3) who do hindus worship and why?

4) how can someone be come hindu ?

i'm asking these questions beacuse is for my world history religion project so plz can someone answer these question i will be vey thankfull

thank alot

April 11, 2004

1)the sign of belonging to a particular school... actually hinduism is a cathegory based on land, nation, everything comes from india is considered hinduism even if the beliefs, also the fundamental ones, are opposite. So it would be better to speak of more hinduisms, not only one.

2)they are connected with the appearance or disappearance and with significative activities of a divine manifestation

3)basically two things: The Supreme god in the energetic form.. brahman, or the same supreme in the personal form with many names, isvara, krishna, rama, vishnu. The essential difference is that both schools accept the position of the other one not as completely false, but as secondary or maybe mixed with materialism. It happens also that the ceremonies, rites, ecclesiastic rules and personal conduct are exactly the same, but with different meaning and purpose in the mind.

Another aspect is that from both position can come for many hindus, a religiosity very similar to superstition, based on the mere asking to god or his various assistants (devatas) and saints, of good fortune in business, health, money, finding husband/wife and so on (like in every religion)

4)freely joining ceremonies, temples, rites, lessons and so on, essentially accepting one of the various ways in the heart. Obviously to have access to a ecclesiastical, priestly position, there's a need to join officially a school and to obtain initiation from a master. Sometimes, but not too much, there's racial discrimination (to non indians) especially in joining as priest or aspiring priest, brahmin

jaya sri krishna