Is there a true religion?

[barney 0]

I'm but a simple human being having no educattional knowledge of Sanskrit craved an interest in studing this ancient text through various translations and meaning in Romanize text. Belief in the existence of the Supreme Being [nameless and formless]was not in my thought since childhood. Getting connected to Hindu religion was in the mids of my twenties and interest developed through studing of various books and of late the internet. I'm not an expert like the many GUEST and DASAS in this forum. I believe in the all powerful Supreme Brahman and would not question his power to manifest in any form he desires. Call it blind faith but it gives me the satisfaction and peace and studing the various sastras helps me to follow the Dharma as most I can. Reading books on the life of Ramakrishna Paramamsa, Swami Ramalingam [Vallalar], Life of Shridi Baba and of course Shree Satia Sai Baba have helped me more in understanding Hinduism coz these saints have lived in our time and not some few thousand years ago. They are the pillars of Hinduism now because they have lived and experienced enlighenment. Any Hindu can use their experience to develope the knowledge in Goadhead. We all are seeking the TRUTH and we must understand that TRUTH has many faces and if one believes in one so be it as long as he does not hurt others. Trying to compel one to believe in something that you believe in is like forcing a Hindu to eat beef when his religion does to permit.

 

Within each and every human being: indeed, within all forms of Creation, there is that which is indestructible and Divine. Religion is but the striving of Mankind towards an understanding of this TRUTH, no-matter how varied its form or confused its approach. There is no such thing as "True Religion": to make such an assertion is to close the door to knowledge. One can only comprehend the true nature of things to a limited degree. It is not possible for Man to encompass within his understanding the Universal Whole. The best we can do is to seek a measure of personal illumination: to approach as far as possible to a perception of Truth. To understand and obey the Call to Perfection is to fulfil one's high potentiality: to perceive the Divine origin of Man and to march forward in fulfilment of the ultimate destiny of Mankind. It is through the medium of Divine Love that Mankind can approach its Creator. It is really possible for each and every individual to enter into a relationship with God, through the vehicle of prayer: expressed in terms of acknowledgement and gratitude for the gift of life and of the guidance and support, which is freely available to each and every person, regardless of situation or of status. The Creator's Love acknowledges no boundaries of race, colour or creed, for all are subject to the law of Universal Love. It is this Divine Love, which ameliorates and places in perspective all human activity. It finds its expression in a Divine compassion for the follies and weakness of Mankind.

 

 

[Guest guest]

I'm not an expert like the many GUEST and DASAS in this forum

 

but at the same time you feel free to preach

[Guest guest]

I'm beginning to notice a pattern here.

 

Barney criticizes a Vaishnava based on his own philosophy.

 

I then point out a critical flaw in Barney's philosophy, thus toppling it like a deck of cards.

 

Barney ignores the threat and instead posts 5 more messages on various and sundry topics in an effort to reassure the forum that he has some deeply philosophical things to share with us.

 

All this merely reinforces my earlier conviction that Barney's "philosophy" is for people who are either unwilling or incapable of thinking.

 

[barney 0]

May be you are talking about Rangoli. Yes, rangoli has pattern and beautiful to look at. My dear friend I criticize Vaishnava for their hypocracy. They talk about loving Krishna and chanting Krishna's name but have they ever for once say love your fellow human for Krishna's is in all. You have not pointed out anything except being sarcastic and it does not hurt be a bit. What threat? Are you planning to kill me over a discussion? This forum is for all and it is a Hindu forum and has place for all dieties. Did I show any sign of abnegation of Hindu vedas? I see TRUTH in certain philosophies and it is my right to say or post as you have yours. Do not be delirious when confronted with thruth. Are you feeling insecure when I post something that is different from your understanding? Hinduism is not based on Krishna alone. Read the Drahma sastra to have a better understanding of Hinduism.

[Guest guest]

There are some thinking themselfs the all in all . not caring for any autority thes demons some time perform so-call religiuos or sacrificial rites.and since they dont believe in autority, they are very inprudent ,this is due to illusion caused by accumulatig some falce prestige.sometimes such demons take up the role of preachers, mislead the people and want to become known as realigios performers, they make a show ,or they worship the demigods and manufacture ther onw philosopy ,only another fool will considered them as advancein in the principles of religion and spiritual knowledge, they think that whatever path one can create is ones own path, this is due to illusion and ignorance.

[barney 0]

Trying to evade my question. Exactly like a Muslim fanatic who would simply say non believers are fools when cornered. This shows your ignorance and stupidity. Demons reside in fools who think that he knows everything. Where ego is demon resides and you are a good example. Puranas themselves there are contradicting stories about the supremacy of Vishnu and Shiva. For every famous story or bit about the superiority of Vishnu, you'll find one of Shiva, vice versa. Hanuman, the greatest bhakta of Rama, is purported in the Ramayana to be an incarnation of Shiva, since Shiva wished to worship Vishnu. Vishnu and Brahma were both flummoxed by Shiva's infinite pillar of fire that showed him to be all the cosmos, and Vishnu ended up bowing to Shiva! The lesson here is that all is one, no matter how one looks at it.

 

Read about Shiva in the Mahabaratha and you will know what it means. Just reading a book of your favourite guru would make you wise. I feel sorry for you.

 

[Guest guest]

They talk about loving Krishna and chanting Krishna's name but have they ever for once say love your fellow human for Krishna's is in all.

 

?this is your speculation... you simply imagine that who worship god hates humans and you apply this fantasy to others. Demonstrate it before insult. Actually your way of blaspheming god and showing hinduism as an atheist path is very bad

 

This forum is for all and it is a Hindu forum and has place for all dieties.

 

?and your plan is insulting them all showing them as mythology

 

Did I show any sign of abnegation of Hindu vedas?

 

?in a recent discussion you have manifested your disagreements that the vedic traditions, especially for the following a spiritual master, are to follow now. You have said that there's no need to listen to masters because now there's internet

 

I see TRUTH in certain philosophies and it is my right to say or post as you have yours

 

?your problem is that you come in a discussion's place and you are able to sustain your theories with insults and to spam

 

Are you feeling insecure when I post something that is different from your understanding?

 

?insecure is one who like you cannot in any way to sustain a philosophical discussion and simply get angry and start to blaspheme others when he hears different opinions . I never saw you having an exchange or a dialogue.. only insults

 

Hinduism is not based on Krishna alone

 

?it is clear that your purpose is to show a atheist hinduism... more than 80% of hindus are vaishnavas personalists, they believe in god, they're not atheists

 

Read the Drahma sastra to have a better understanding of Hinduism.

 

?yes you have read "dramas" instead of vedas.. now you are dramatic

 

Puranas themselves there are contradicting stories about the supremacy of Vishnu and Shiva

 

?and you resolve the problem saying that it is all false.. very good

 

Just reading a book of your favourite guru would make you wise

 

?it is the habit of the sai baba followers to read only sai baba's books, Who follows a real guru reads vedas, upanishads, purana, itihasas and so on

[Guest guest]

If one refuses to act under the direction of the Supremw Lord Vishnu ,then he is compelled to act by the modes in which he is situated. Evryone is underthe spell of a particular combinationof the modes of nature and actingin this way.But anyone who voluntary engages himself under the direction of the suprem Lord Vishnu becomes glorios, so if you want to be ignorat and stupid do your thing baby !!!!!

[barney 0]

Lingodbhavamurthy is an iconic representation of Shiva, installed in the rear devakoshta (niche) of the garbagriha (sanctum) of all Shiva temples. The story of Lingodbhavar is that of the attempts of Vishnu and Bhrama to discover the origins (the beginning Alpha and the end Omega) of Shiva, as stated in three of the puranas - the Kurma Purana, the Vayu Purana and Shiva Purana.

 

Vishnu was engaged in his yoganidhra - the slumber of yoga - at the end of a kalpa, in the waters of the great deluge, when there appeared before him, Bhrama emerging from a great illumination. Bhrama introduced himself to Vishnu as the Creator of the Universe, to which Vishnu replied that he was the architect of the Universe. An argument ensued between both as to their superiority over one another, when there appeared before them - a huge lingam of fire - with tongues of flames blazing out of it.

 

Curious to trace the origins of this column of fire, Bhrama assumed the form of a swan and flew upwards, while Vishnu assumed the form of a boar, and burrowed down into the earth. Days of search in either direction proved futile, and hence the duo surrendered to this column of fire with prayers. Shiva then appeared out of this column of fiery lingam, with a thousand arms and legs, with the sun, moon and fire as his three eyes, bearing the pinaka bow, wearing the hide of an leephant, bearing the trishul, and addressed Vishnu and Bhrama in a thunderous voice, explaining that the two were born out of him, and that the three were then separated out into three different aspects of divinity.

 

The non-anthropomorphic form Shivalingam is a representation of this infinite cosmic column of fire, whose origins were not tracable by Bhrama or Vishnu. The Shivalingam is the center of reverence and worship in all Saivite temples.

 

The manifestation of Shiva in this column of fire in front of Bhrama and Vishnu, is carved in stone, as the Lingodbhavamurthy manifestation of Shiva, and is always enshrined in the rear niche of the sanctum enshring a Shivalingam. Since most temples face east, Lingodbhavar faces West.

 

This legend described above is held at the vast Arunachaleswara temple complex at Tiruvannamalai, where the sacred Annamalai hill itself, is considered to be a manifestation of this cosmic column of fire. Tiruvannamalai, is one of the Pancha Bhoota Stalas, representing the primordial element fire.

 

There is another interesting aspect to this legend. While Bhrama was flying upwards in the guise of a swan, he saw the petals of a ketaki flower drifting down. Tired by the futility of his efforts to reach the top of the mysterious column of fire, Bhrama requested the flower to acquiese to his lie that he had seen the top of the column where the flower had previously resided. Accompanied by his accomplice, Bhrama confronted Vishnu and asserted that he had indeed discovered the origin of the cosmic column. An enraged Shiva appeared out of the fiery column and cursed Bhrama so that he would not be worshipped in temples on earth. This legend relates to the fact that there are hardly any temples dedicated to Bhrama in India. There is a shrine to Bhrama at Uttamar Koyil in Tamilnadu, and Bhrama is also represented in the devakoshtas (niches) in Shiva temples; there are thus no Bhrama temples of any significance in India.

 

 

[Guest guest]

Long long ago , there was an assembly of gret sages on the bank of the river Sarasvati , and they performed a great sacrifice of the name Satrayana . In such assemblies , the great sagespresent usually discuss Vedic philosophical topics, and a question was raise;who among the 3 Brahma, Siva ,Vishnu, is the Supreme? Afther much discussion on the question Bhrgu who is the son of Brahma, was deputedto test all 3, to see whic one possessesthe quality of goodness in full. Bhrgumuni went to Brahma his father ,to test wheter he had the quality of goodness in full . so he purposely did not offer his respects to his father, just to see Lord Brahma reaction to is negligence. lord Brahma was very angry at his son's inpundency . ha was ready to condemn Bhrgu by cursing him but because he was his son, Brahma controlled his anger. Next he went to Kailasa where Lord Siva resides, Bhrgu is Sivas brother, therefore as soon as he approached, Lord Siva rose to embrace himbut Bhrigu refused, he said you are allways very impure,because you smear your body whit ashes, therefore not clean place do not toch me !! Lord Siva become very angry his eyes red whit anger he took up his tridentand prepare to kill him,Paravati was present . She fell donwat the feet of her husband and whit her sweet words talked him out of killing him. Next he went to Svetadvipa where lord Visnu was lying on a bed of flowers, accompanied by his wife Laxmi , Bhrgumuni committed the greatest offenceby touching the chest of the lord whit his foot in the presence of the goddess of fortune,isntead of being angry or cursing Bhrgumuni Lord Vishnu immediately got up and offered obeiances to the brahmana, and he said " my chest has now become sanctified because of the toch of your feet, after testing all 3 he returned to the assembly of sages and described his experience. Afther hearing him whit great attention, the sages concluded that of all the deities, certanly Vishnu is situated in the mode of goodness in the highest degree.

[maadhav 0]

you still do not know it?

 

the dharma given in gita is for all the mankind.

we just need to make more and more people true followers of gita.

 

[Guest guest]

i can't believe all you so-called hindus are fighting over which God is supreme....vishnu or shiva or krishna...what's all this? even the trinity of brahma, vishnu and shiva comes from ONE supreme being or consciousness. then why even discuss who is supreme and whom to worship. all the various forms and avatars lead to the same ONE God. a person should be able to pray to whichever form he wants to without someone putting his deity down or saying their deity is superior. you all sound like small kids. WAKE UP! this world is in so much turmoil already. we don't need to fight and prove who we follow is the best.

as for barney....it's become a habit to put him down and ridicule what he says without even reading what he writes. he may not make sense to you all the time but read what he says carefully and then disagree.

i know that everyone thinks his religion is the best and there's no harm in that. just like everyone thinks his mother is the best. but to say that other religions are inferior is wrong. it's like saying your mother is better than someone else's. you forget that only in YOUR eyes it is so. the other person is thinking the opposite. we need to live and let live. intolerance among religions is wrong but what is worse in intolerance WITHIN the same religion.

[Guest guest]

you are simply mistaking accuracy and precision with intolerance.... and this is in itself intolerance

[maadhav 0]

no. i am not fighting.

i want hindus to unite for some purpose.

 

<< intolerance among religions is wrong >>

 

yes. please try to convince it to the invaded muslims and xians.

 

<< but what is worse in intolerance WITHIN the same religion. >>

 

yes, and we hindus need to unite per gita.

becaue it is well known as THE BOOK of hinduism.

 

[Guest guest]

i'm not mistaking anything. if accuracy and precision only lead to strife among people then it's irrelevent.

[Guest guest]

the gita maybe THE book of hinduism but we have the vedas and upanishads and other books too to teach us the path we have to travel on.

 

just because other people maybe intolerant doesn't mean we have to be. then what's the difference between them and us? instead we must arm our kids and the future generations with the weapon of knowledge. if someone tries to convert you he may be doing wrong but you will be held responsible if you allow yourself to be converted. the invading muslims and xians may have left their mark but we allowed them to. now we have to remedy that and begin to acquire more knowledge of our own religion and pass it on.

[Guest guest]

i'm not mistaking anything. if accuracy and precision only lead to strife among people then it's irrelevent.

 

accuracy and precision are essentials in the study of any matter... it is possible to be accurate and not fanatic

 

and it is possible to be fanatic when we are too much anti-fanatic

[maadhav 0]

<< the gita maybe THE book of hinduism but we have the vedas and upanishads and other books too to teach us the path we have to travel on. >>

 

sure. my point is when we talk to the non hindus, we should sasy gita is our book. and gita actualy unites us all the hidnus of different worshippers and sadhakas.

 

<< just because other people maybe intolerant doesn't mean we have to be. then what's the difference between them and us? >>

 

the difference is : they - our enemy woudl win over us.

and to help enemy win over us is stupidity.

 

<< instead we must arm our kids and the future generations with the weapon of knowledge. if someone tries to convert you he may be doing wrong but you will be held responsible if you allow yourself to be converted. >>

 

sure, but among 1B of us, it is not possible to make ll of them so smart individually. some ignorent and poor will fallpray to the missionaries, but only if the missionaries are allowed to walk/live on our vedic land.

 

<< the invading muslims and xians may have left their mark but we allowed them to. >>

 

and it was a mistake.

 

[Guest guest]

you don't compound a mistake by making another mistake. you don't fight intolerance by being intolerant yourself. then it becomes a vicious circle and leads only to death and destruction.

[Guest guest]

http://webcom.com/~ara/col/books/CLAS/bhag/page2.html

[maadhav 0]

<< you don't compound a mistake by making another mistake. you don't fight intolerance by being intolerant yourself. then it becomes a vicious circle and leads only to death and destruction >>

 

this sounds good, but is a faulty argument.

intolerance to whom?

 

would you tolerate cancer cells in your body,

or a cobra in your home?

would you tolerate some one raping your mother?

 

if you do, at lease i would not have any respect for you.

even many of your friends or relatives also would not tolerate it, and do something about it if they can.

 

A law says you should drive within speed limit.

but the law will not punishyou if you drive above thelimit in a situation of life and death.

 

if you drive above speeed limit illegaly,

then a police can drive faster than you to catch you,

and he would not be considered a criminal.

 

killing is sin, but killing the six types of aatataayis

 

(one who takes away your wife,

one who gabbles your land,

one who kills by poison,

one who attakes with lethal weappon,

one who plunders or destroyes community riches,

one who starts fires)

 

is dharma per the vedic literature.

 

so, your argument is not sound and in line with dharma.

i suppsoe you are not above the scriptures.

 

[Guest guest]

do not play with words.. these scripture's injunctions are valid against individuals that you find committing personally these crimes, not that you punish someone because someone else belonging to the same religion did some crime hundreds of years ago

 

so find the one who...:

who takes away your wife,

who gabbles your land,

who kills by poison,

who attakes with lethal weappon,

who plunders or destroyes community riches,

who starts fires....

 

....and punish him, but do not touch others

 

or it is a great crime, adharma, injustice

 

gita does not teach injustice and intolerance

[Guest guest]

We have a lot of confused people in this forum. Krishna is the supreme personality of God and as such everything emanates from him. He has brought forth the Gita to humanity by instructing his devotee Arjun and this is the ultimate scripture. I think its very simple, why must you all argue about visnu and shiva?

 

Jai Sri Krishna!

-Amit

[maadhav 0]

i have no hope you ever will get my point.

 

i write this for the readers.

 

islam has invaded in bhart and has no place there.

 

fools are born in the muslim families there, and are forced to accept islam.

that is the problem.

they need to give up islam.

thats all.

 

if they do not give up islam, then basically they are saying,

 

"we like islam because it telles us to convert by force or kill the hindus (we have done it for 1000 years), and we go to haven if we kill hindus per koran. therefore we like islam."

 

this the hindus cannot tolerate on their own vedic land now. (unfortunately we did toleratele foolishly for a long time.)

 

when a musim disagrees on the above proposal of peace to give up islam, fine; then he must go live out of bharat.

 

the conflict is the new disagreement, and not old, if he disagrees.

 

the rationale is simle: a cobra has never right to live in your home with you. cut off the poison fangs, and he can live with me and you.

 

Besides, you are not born on the vedic land and have not grown in the vedic culture. all you have learned from the hindus is chant and dance. so, please do not give advice to hindus how the hindus should think to solve their centuries old problem. we will solve it and you will see it if you live a bit longer.

 

[Guest guest]

 

I'm but a simple human being having no educattional knowledge of Sanskrit...

 

 

Yes, we know. That's why we object to you writing so much.