Guest guest Posted May 7, 2004 Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 can anyone tell me more on the relationship between the two religions?? or any links to any literautre? ive read some, and they have alot of striking similarities betwen rastas and saddus....anyone agree? disagree? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maadhav Posted May 8, 2004 Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 to my knowledge there is no religion by that name. if you are a hindu, then you know it too. you might know that ask to compare "rastafarianism" (literally meaning the philosophy or the way of living or the religion of streets and neibhgourhoods) with hinduism is a very ingenius way of insulting hindus and hinduism. are you a hindu? unless you can prove that such a religion is listed as a religion in the authorativive books, this theread needs to be deleted soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 9, 2004 Report Share Posted May 9, 2004 true rastafarianism isnt all about reggae music and smoking marijuana. rastafarianism is a true religion, started by ras tafari who became the king of ethiopia as halie selasi I. he started a religion based on truth in life and harmony. i know it doesnt get much exposiure except the commerialized TV part of it. but if u understand rastafarianism for what it really is and not just what some corrupt capitalist portrays it as, then u will see it is like saddus. they may not be ascetics like saddus, but im saying rastafarianism might have taken parts of hindu belief in their philosophies on life. the smoke marijuana to meditate (maybe not the same was as indains), but meditaet in their own way. we should not judge a person because they dont do thinsg the same way as us. we should learn from diversity and except individualism (even on a cultural sense). a devotion to god is also present (whom they call Jah). they preach from the certain books of hte Bible. Lord Vishnu will see that theire devotion is to him, only they call him different words and express their devotion differntly. He will not hate them for it and love them for their differences. And we should try to do the same. accept rastafarianism and not take it to heart and be insulted when someone calls a comparision between the two. one can easily say that a jamaican man who is somewhat educated but has had no real contact with indians as regarding them as jst another culture. they dont agree with everythign we do but dont fully understand it. they may also jjudge, lord knows there are good ad bad ppl everywhere. but that doesnt mean we should do the same to them. threat ur enemy like a brother my friend. listen and understand fully before we dismiss. i hope i dont offend u in anyway. i was mearly trying to understand something new. i meant no harm and have no hard feelings whatsoever. i am definately hindu and will always be and love my reilgion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maadhav Posted May 9, 2004 Report Share Posted May 9, 2004 dear ratheesh bhai, glad to know you are a hindu. as hindus, we have our dharma given in gita, and it is complelte and good for all the people of all the times. so, we have no hunger or need to find if some one some where has anything better for us. the other thing we know is dharma has to be given by god Himself, else it is not dharma. now if ras tafari picks something from here and something from there and makes a religion called "rastafarianism" then all he did is assemled or packaged something for his people. he did not make it, or he may have added something his own in it. but he being not god, we do not accept his package as dharma. we do not mind looking at it how it helps them and others, but we have our gita to live by. just as if you live on the shore of ganga river, you have no need to drink waters of all the different places of the world; so we having gita with us, have no need or hunger to seek another religion else where. only an ignorant hindus who cannot realize the value of gita will try to find a better religion else where. hope you understand this. ras tafari can make a tank of water gathreng water from here and there, and may add some flver of his own to it, but he cannot make the ocean - hinduism -gita. be happy you have it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 10, 2004 Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 i wasnt looking for a better religion, im merely a man trying to understand life....and in life, i do not mean the hindu/indian way of life alone....to understand life and learn a true understanding of dharma, one must understand life in its fullest.....even if we have never tried something (some behavior or actions or way of thought) and even if we may never want to, we must not ignore it as if it does not exist. just as an apple grower's occupation is to get seeds out of apples to grow with, our's is realization and devotion of god. but to get to the seeds, we should not just cut off and throw away the skin and the fruit.....taste the sweetness of all life has to offer, even if you want no part in it....at least understand. ras tafari was not just a man making a cult....he was reiving an african religion to bring about black unity and pride in culture.....some could say sri sankara did the same for hinduism....we do not say that because we are indians who respect sankara and not africans who havent experienced life from their shoes. then one can say we dont know what their life is like, we only know what we see.....but we do not know what a star is made of, whats on it and what its like there, just by standing on earth and looking at it. but still, in no means do i presume that they are better or worse than hinduism. it should not be our stance to judge superiority...we must understand that we indian brothers are brothers of african brothers, both being different due to cultural and situational incidence, but can still live in harmony and peace and stilll be different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barney Posted May 10, 2004 Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 Rastafarians acknowledge that their religion is the blending of the purest forms of both Judaism and Christianity; they also accept the Egyptian origins of both these religions. In affirming the divinity of Haile Selassie, Rastafari rejects the Babylonian hypocrisy of the modern church. The church of Rome, and even the council of Rome, are considered to be particularly Babylonian: was it not from this city that Mussolini invaded the holy land of Ethiopia in 1935? Religions always reflect the social and geographical environment out of which they emerge, and Jamaican Rastafari is no exception: for example, the use of marijuana as a sacrament and aid to meditation is logical in a country where a particularly potent strain of 'herb' grows freely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barney Posted May 10, 2004 Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 Rastafarianism has no link to Hinduism. What the shadus pratice is Tantraism which is part of the Vedas while rastafarianism originated form Babylon and differ alto from Hinduism. I hope you would not confuse yourself and bel;ief in what your heart tells you to do. Every path leads to a destination and hope your too would have one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 10, 2004 Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 i wasnt saying that they had any true link connecting them...i was just amazed at the similarities in the smoking weed for meditation purposes and the growin of the hair until it looks like dreads in both groups..that is all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maadhav Posted May 11, 2004 Report Share Posted May 11, 2004 << but still, in no means do i presume that they are better or worse than hinduism. >> i think you mean .....worse than hindus. a good hindu has no desire to hate any one. he sees krishna in all. but the ways of life for different people are different,ad so some are better than others. a way that brings one closer to god easily and fast is better. hinduism/git gives all possibel ways, and all are good, but only one can be most suitabel for a person. so different people choose different yogas and deities. even krishna says which yoga is better than other and which is best. this does nto mean that if you are practicing one yoga - the best one - then you start looking down at others who chose different yoga. you look at them and feel happy that hey, they are trying to reach god in a chosen way. but if any one comes to you and says, "my religion says that i need to convert you or kill you". then you are d4aling with an asura who cannot tolerate your dharma or yoga. this is time to fight. << it should not be our stance to judge superiority...>> we hindus are not with any superiority complex. we are humble, but we know the truth that there is no better dharm on earth than hinduism. if some one says other religon is better, we would say fine, but we would not give up hinduism if we know what it is. we never enter into arguments like "my god is better ro superior than your, or my yoga is better than yours". we knwo the truth from the vedas and gita, and we live by it. << we must understand that we indian brothers are brothers of african brothers, both being different due to cultural and situational incidence, but can still live in harmony and peace and stilll be different. >> we think the whole world is a family. vasudhiva kutumbakam but we are not willing to tolerate adharm and asuras. asuras my do adharma in their countries, that is their internal business, but not in ours. on the devabhoomi we uphold dharma. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 11, 2004 Report Share Posted May 11, 2004 you put so many opposite things under hinduism, that if you add rastafari it would not make any difference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 11, 2004 Report Share Posted May 11, 2004 what do u mean by opposite things? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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