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[lilrockdiva 0]

Must one be born Hindu or can one become Hindu?

[Gauracandra 1]

I think it depends on what you mean by Hindu. This is often a cause of confusion and is due mostly to semantics. Due to the nature of Indian spirituality, especially with the Guru system, institutional structures tend to break down as previous disciples go on to become gurus themselves. As such, there is far more religious diversity in India than probably anywhere else in the world. Certainly one can categorize various lines as being Vaisnava, Shaivite, Tantric, etc.... In general the word Hindu is a catchall term used to describe any and all faiths originating and flourishing in India. Personally I don't describe myself as Hindu. If someone asks me what religion I belong to I'll generally say "I'm a Vaisnava", if pressed further I'll say "I'm a Vaisnava in the line of Caitanya". Thus can one become "Hindu" is a tricky question. There are some lines that consider anyone not born Indian not to be eligible for certain positions. In the line I follow we have a saint named Haridas Thakur who was born muslim but loved Krishna. However, because he was born muslim certain caste concious Hindus rejected him. So it is kind of tricky to answer this question.

 

Gauracandra

[viji_53 0]

Hindu religion is the oldest religion. All the other religions came after sometime. So all the people born in this earth are basically Hindus. Those who follow other religion, adopted them for time being. You can come back to your mother religion anytime. Going to other religion is like Indians taking US citizenship. They can surrender US citizenship & anytime can take Indian citizenship. So basically all are Hindus. All are born as hindus only.

[curious 0]

So how can u spread ur religion (or whatever u r calling it) if no one is allowed to join if they r from another religion. Sorry, juss wanted to no.

[Jahnava Nitai Das 2]

I think Viji was saying that since originally Hinduism (or Sanatana Dharma) was the ancient world religion, everyone regardless of where they are born now, are connected to Hinduism by their roots.

[animesh 0]

The answer to your question depends very much on what you mean by "spreading one's religion"? What is the meaning of spreading hindu religion? Does it mean just to increase the count of people who call themselves as hindus? Does it mean to make somebody stop taking the names of Jesus and Allah and make him start taking names of Rama, Krishna, Siva etc.? Or, does it mean to make people belonging to other religions perform the rituals of hindu religion?

 

I do not think that any of these is important. One should try to spread the good things (teachings) of one's religion. Vedas and upanishads are oceans of knowledge. They have got large no. of verses worth pondering over. Nobody is debarred from reading them even if he does not call himself as hindu. If you want to enjoy hindu festivals (like Deepawali, holi, Dashhara etc.), then also you have got every right to do so without leaving your present religion.

[shvu 1]

 

Hi Curious,

 

According to Hinduism, everyone can be traced back to one of the Rishis [sages] created by Brahma. Since they all followed Sanantana Dharma, it goes by default that all people belong to Sanatana Dharma. When that is the case, how can there be missionary activities in Sanatana Dharma?

 

But all the later religions had to establisd hthemselves by converting people, as people were already following some other religion. Hence they all have missionary activites and converting routines.

 

Note that a a person is called a Hindu by birth rather than by what he practises. For example, I don't worship any God. But I am still a hindu because I was born in a Hindu family.

 

Hopefully now you understand the concept.

 

Cheers

[viji_53 0]

 

Hindu religion is like Banyan tree. It will spread itself. We do not need any agent for spreading our religion. So stop worrying.

Since Hindu religion is the oldest religion, everyone is basically a Hindu . All the other religions are man made religions. As Krishna said in Gita anybody from any dharma can surrender to Him & He will take care of such person.

HariBhol!

 

[curious 0]

So I'm trying to understand but still a little confused. I just wanna ask, what do u say about Jesus, Moses, Abraham, etc. R u denying that they exsisted or helped society in any way. U said that all other relgions r man made.

 

How was the geeta revealed? Has it ever been changed since then?

[shvu 1]

Hi Curious,

 

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what do u say about Jesus, Moses, Abraham, etc. R u denying that they exsisted...

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Moses is a mythical character. For an egyptian prince, there is no record of him in egyptian history. And it turns out that his parting the Red-sea story was borrowed fron even earlier tradition. I can come up with details if you are interested. And personally I don't believe that anyone can part the Red-sea.

 

Jesus is a historical character.

 

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...or helped society in any way ?

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There is no denying that Moses's Ten commandments and Jesus's teachings have been very benefic to a social and peaceful life

I don't see anyone denying that. Christianity today is the world's biggest religion.

 

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U said that all other relgions r man made.

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All religions are man-made, including the Vedic religion. That part is clear. The Vedas [the earliest hindu books], were written by the settlers along the Saraswati river in North India over a period of time.

 

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How was the geeta revealed?

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The Gita is part of the Mahabharata. I presume you know what the Mahabharata is. It says that Krishna who was an incarnation, revealed that to Arjuna.

 

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Has it ever been changed since then?

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Good question. That is a matter of controversy. Some scholars believe that the Gita was not originally written in the form that we know today. They say that the war with Arjuna's confusion was chosen as a proper situation to bring out the Gita as part of a story, to make it interesting.

 

It is a fact that, there are verses which contradict one another in the Gita. Some clever scholars can give them hidden meanings and explain them away. But it may also be possible that they were written by 2 different authors. But it is all speculation. There is no known change made to the Gita.

 

But you should note that Hinduism is not based on the Gita, as some people think. It is based on the Vedas. The Gita is only a condensed form of some parts of the Vedas, and it came later.

 

Cheers