Questions..please answer

[rrepling]

i have 12 questions and i was looking for answers from a hindu perspective:

 

1. How did everything begin?

 

2. How will everything end?

 

3.Is there a God? If so, what is he/she like?

 

4. What is the basis for determining right from wrong, good from evil?

 

5. Is there something special about man that sets him apart from the other creatures?

 

6. What is man's basic moral nature?

 

7. Who or what controls the course of events in the cosmos?

 

8. What happens to people after they die?

 

9. Who are the major leaders today in this religion?

 

10. Who was the founder of the religion?

 

11. How large is the religion today?

 

12. When did it begin?

 

~your responses will be very appriciated..thank you!!

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

you will find answers to your questions in Bhagavad Gita,

 

<a href="http://www.asitis.com" target="_blank">www.asitis.com </a>

[shvu]

 

Unfortunately, unlike in christianity, when it comes to Hinduism, there are no standard answers to most of your questions. Hinduism is like a big mall with many stores selling different wares. Therefore, depending on their background, different folks will give you different answers. For instance, one person will tell you that God is formless, another will tell you that God has a human form and both answers are correct as far as Hinduism is concerned !

 

Just thought I would give you a heads up.

 

Cheers

 

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

This is probably a school report of some sort. Why don't we all try answering it from each of our perspectives and see what we come up with. I will post something when I get sometime.

 

[Gauracandra]

Here are my answers quickly

 

1. In the ultimate sense there is no beginning. The soul, God, heaven etc… are all eternal. On a material platform, the universes come into being, exist, and then die, just as our bodies come into being, live, and then die.

 

2. There is no ultimate ending. For the universe (on the material platform) there will be an ultimate destruction, but this is part of a cyclical process (there are trillions of universes all being created and destroyed). I have a somewhat positive outlook that ultimately everyone makes it back to God. That is we can have trillions of lives, and trillions of decisions. Eventually we will make the right decisions even if it takes us “forever” but since there is no ending, we’ll all eventually get there.

 

3. Yes there is a God and a Goddess. They are beautiful, ever youthful. If you want to know what God/Goddess looks like we can post some pictures of deities.

 

4. Scripture. The Golden Rule always helps.

 

5. Yes, man is the only animal that can inquire into his/her own existence, and thus take charge of the direction of his/her life. This ability means we are held to a very high standard of ethical conduct not placed upon animals.

 

6. Man, within the material world, acts as some combination of goodness, passion, and ignorance. Different people act in different ways. However, people can purify themselves to move more in one direction and less in another.

 

7. There are universal laws and controllers that God places in control of various aspects of the cosmos. Their power only comes from God, and so they are instruments in His control.

 

8. Whatever is one’s last thought in life, that will be one’s destination. If that thought is on God, then one goes to God. If not, then one takes another material body (reincarnation) that suites one’s desires.

 

9. There is no one leader in Hinduism.

 

10. There is no particular founder.

 

11. Difficult to say. Hinduism is very broad. In the broadest sense there are 1 Billion Hindus. If you ask about a particular sect like Gaudiya Vaisnavas, I have heard there are like 50 million Gaudiya Vaisnavas in India [don’t know if its true, just something I recall reading]. Its more cultural, so its difficult to count up.

 

12. The religion of the soul is as old as the soul so it is beginningless.

[karthik_v]

Dear rrepling,

 

I will try to answer your questions, one at a time. In fact, each question can be answered in detail from several Hindu scriptures and commentaries written on them. In that sense, answering just 1 question will take weeks. Nevertheless, I will make a beginning and hope others, such a s Gauracandra who has already contributed nicely, provide answers from a myriad of Hindu scriptures. By the way, Hinduism is a name given to it by the Persians to address not just the religion but the entire people, culture and language that existed on the eastern side of the river Sindhu [modern day Indus]. In ancient Persian language, the phonem S in Sanskrit often changed to H, so Sindhu in Sanskrit became Hindhu in Persian. Hence the origin of the name Hindu. The religion itself had no beginning. It has been eternal. Hence it never had a name by which the Indians addressed it. The entire collection of philosophy and its interpretation has been known as Sanatana dharma. Sanatana means eternal. Dharma has no equivalent translation in English, but the closest definition would be religion and the way of living that is based on eternal righteousness. With that pre-amble, I will start answering your questions in my next post.

[karthik_v]

Dear rrepling,

 

 

How did everything begin?

 

 

Let me try to answer this from Rk veda. Just to provide an introduction, Hindu scriptures fall under 2 categories - shruti and smriti. Shruti is what has been revealed to the sages and smriti is what has come of that revelation. The 4 vedas are known as shruti. The message of the vedas are often esoteric and the real meaning of the vedas, as the Rk veda itself states, remains beyond the words that they contain. So, they are perceptible only to the realized sages. Great sages such as Vyasa, Sankara, Valmiki, Kambar, Azhwars, Nayanmars, Caitanya, Ramanuja, Aurobindo, Prabhupada etc., have expounded on the esoteric message of the vedas and elucidated them in a manner the ordinary people can understand. As a result, we have several other Hindu scriptures known as [i[smritis. Now let us see what the Rk veda says about creation. I am quoting from what is known as the Creation hymn. I am just providing the translation, but if you are interested, I can provide the Sanskrit verses too:

 

"Then, even nothingness was not, nor existence. There was no air then, nor the heavens beyond it. What covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping? Was there then cosmic waters, in depths unfathomed? Then there was neither death nor immortality, nor was there then the touch of night and day. The One breathed windlessly and self-sustaining, there was that One then and none else. At first there was only darkness wrapped in darkness. All this was only unilluminated water. That One which came to be enclosed in nothing arose at last born of the power of heat and then stretched the cord across the void before time was to be." [RV 10:129]

 

Others can provide different perspectives from such treatises as Srimad Bhagavatam.

[karthik_v]

 

Unfortunately, unlike in christianity, when it comes to Hinduism, there are no standard answers to most of your questions.

 

 

Shvu, I would rather say it is fortunate, because it has allowed Hinduism to be a religion of laissez faire unlike the dogmatic Christianity. I can't imagine a parochial Hinduism with its one jealous Semitic God, His Son whose way is the only way, His one all powerful church and its single-minded ruthless violence against those who seek the truth differently - rather those who seek it /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif

[Guest guest]

1) Whatever is exisiting is God's energy and that is Krishna(God). Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita that I am the start, end and the middle of everything.

 

(Aham aadissh cha madhyam cha bhutaanam anta eva cha)

 

2) Answer is there in 1)

 

3) There is God. The very fact that you're asking "Is there a God" implies that there is God. You know why? Can you produce the energy with which you've asked this question? Who is producing the energy?

 

Who is making the land fertile with rains, which gives food?

 

Who is digesting the food?

(Aham vaishvaanaro bhutva, praaninaam dehamaashritaa) - Krishna says I am in the form of Vaishnavara fire, which digests the food).

 

He is the most beautiful person, whose beauty can only be seen by one whose eyes are annointed with pure love for Him! He is always accompanied by his friends and consort.

 

4) Right and wrong changes according to context. For example if a person kills for his selfish desire, then he will be convicted for murder. But, if the same person as a soldier kills the enemy in a war, he gets medals.

 

Do you know what you can infer from this? We can infer that if we perform our regular actions (Please note - REGULAR ACTIONS means actions which does not unnecessarily trouble anyone) and leave the result to Krishna (God) then that action gives you peace and then you need not worry about whether the action is good or evil!!!

 

 

5) Man has the developed intelligence. Everyone knows this. But if that intelligence is used to live the animal life in a posh manner, then it's not an intellegent use of the intelligence. So this intelligence has to be used to enquire

Who am I? and What am I doing here? What is the purpose of my life?

 

6) Man's basic moral nature is to serve. If the service is directed to Krishna, then He finds the much wanted "peace and happiness".

 

7) Course of events in the cosmos is controlled by Krishna (God). Even if a small car cannot move if a person does'nt switch on and drive. So, how can you imagine this whole cosmos without a being who is superior to everyone and who controls everything!

 

8) Whatever a person remembers at the time of his death, that He becomes. If a person in this life always thinks of dog, then he thinks of dog at the time of death and becomes dog.

 

(Yam yam vapi smaran bhavaan tyajante ante kalevaram,

tam tam evaiti kaunteya, sadaa tad bhaava bhaavita)

 

9) Major leaders in this religion are the ones who have pure love for Krishna and see everything in relation to Him!

 

10) The religion or Dharma means it's an eternal engagement and it is coming directly from Krishna (Dharmam tu sakshat bhagavat-pranitam). Since Krishna has no begining (anAdI) therefore DhrmA (religion) too does'nt have a begining).

 

11) This religion is as large as the human population. The only limitation is that some realize it, and some don't. But everyone will realize it some day. If not this birth, then next birth, or the next or after millions of births!!!

 

12) Answer is there in point 10.

 

 

 

[Somesh Kumar]

Above Insignificant attempt to answer by the aspiring servant of the servant of the servant .... of Krishna.

[rrepling]

i would just like to thank everyone who replied to my questions. it really was a great help!

-Ryan

[karthik_v]

Dear rrepling,

 

Now I will try to answer your other questions.

 

 

2. How will everything end?

 

 

As Gauracandra explained, in Hinduism, time is considered to be cyclical. So, there is no permenant end. Every destruction is followed by the beginning of the next cycle. In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that He has given the spiritual message many times over in the past. He also says that he continues to do so each time dharma is on the decline. So, time is cyclical.

 

This cyclical time is in turn made up of units called yuga. Just like 4 seasons, there are 4 yugas which follow each other cyclically. They are Satya, Treta, Dwapara and Kali. We are presently in the Kali yuga, 5000 years into it, in our current yuga cycle. There is a destruction, though only partial, at the end of each yuga. For example, there was a great Kurukshetra war at the end of Dwapara yuga 5000 years ago. There is also a complete destruction at the end of every yuga cycle - that is at the end of every Kali yuga. Our scriptures say that Lord Krishna will appear as Kalki and there will be a great pralayam or floods. That will bring about a massive destruction and the next yuga cycle starts all over again.