Sunday, December 14, 2008

WHY I AM A HINDU - for those who don't know

this is a mail forward i got...GOOD REASONING>.. as Gandhi said.. you have to listen to everyone and select what you think is truth...



WHY I AM A HINDU - MUST READ 
 
Four years ago, I was flying from JFK NY Airport to SFO to attend a
meeting at Monterey, CA. An American girl was sitting on the right side,
near window seat. It indeed was a long journey - it would take nearly
seven hours. I was surprised to see the young girl reading a Bible
unusual of young Americans. 
  
After some time, she smiled and we had few acquaintances talk. I told
her that I am from India. 
Then suddenly the girl asked: 'What's your faith?' 
'What?' I didn't understand the question. 
'I mean, what's your religion? Are you a Christian? Or a Muslim?' 
'No!' I replied, 'I am neither Christian nor Muslim'. 
Apparently she appeared shocked to listen to that. 'Then who are you?'
'I am a Hindu', I said. 
 
She looked at me as if she was seeing a caged animal. She could not
understand what I was talking about. 
 
 A common man in Europe or US knows about Christianity and Islam, as they
are the leading religions of the world today. But a Hindu, what? 
 
I explained to her - I am born to a Hindu father and Hindu mother.
Therefore, I am a Hindu by birth. 
 
 'Who is your prophet?' she asked. 
'We don't have a prophet,' I replied. 
'What's your Holy Book?' 
'We don't have a single Holy Book, but we have hundreds and thousands
of
philosophical and sacred scriptures,' I replied. 
'Oh, come on at least tell me who is your God?' 
'What do you mean by that?' 
'Like we have Jesus and Muslims have Allah - don't you have a God?'
 
I thought for a moment. Muslims and Christians believe one God (Male
God) who created the world and takes an interest in the humans who
inhabit it. Her mind is conditioned with that kind of belief. 
 
According to her (or anybody who doesn't know about Hinduism), a
religion needs to have one Prophet, one Holy book and one God. The mind
is so conditioned and rigidly narrowed down to such a notion that
anything else is not acceptable. I understood her perception and concept
about faith. You can't compare Hinduism with any of the present leading
religions where you have to believe in one concept of god. 
 
I tried to explain to her: 'You can believe in one god and he can be a
Hindu. You may 
believe in multiple deities and still you can be a Hindu. What's more -
you may not 
believe in god at all, still you can be a Hindu. An atheist can also be
a Hindu.' 
This sounded very crazy to her. She couldn't imagine a religion so
unorganized, still 
surviving for thousands of years, even after onslaught from foreign
forces. 
'I don't understand but it seems very interesting. Are you
religious?' 
What can I tell to this American girl? 
 
I said: 'I do not go to temple regularly. I do not make any regular
rituals. I have 
learned some of the rituals in my younger days. I still enjoy doing it
sometimes.' 
'Enjoy? Are you not afraid of God?' 
'God is a friend. No- I am not afraid of God. Nobody has made any
compulsions on me to perform these rituals regularly.' 
She thought for a while and then asked: 'Have you ever thought of
converting to any other religion?' 
 
'Why should I? Even if I challenge some of the rituals and faith in
Hinduism, nobody can convert me from Hinduism. Because, being a Hindu
allows me to think independently and objectively, without conditioning.
I remain as a Hindu never by force, but choice.' I told her that
Hinduism is not a religion, but a set of beliefs and practices. It is
not a religion like Christianity or Islam because it is not founded by
any one person or does not have an organized controlling body like the
Church or the Order, I added. There is no institution or authority. 
 
'So, you don't believe in God?' she wanted everything in black and
white. 
'I didn't say that. I do not discard the divine reality. Our scripture,
or Sruthis or 
Smrithis - Vedas and Upanishads or the Gita - say God might be there or
he might not be there. But we pray to that supreme abstract authority
(Para Brahma) that is the creator of this universe.' 
 
'Why can't you believe in one personal God?' 
'We have a concept - abstract - not a personal god. The concept or
notion of a personal God, hiding behind the clouds of secrecy, telling
us irrational stories through few men whom he sends as messengers,
demanding us to worship him or punish us, does not make sense. I don't
think that God is as silly as an autocratic emperor who wants others to
respect him or fear him.' I told her that such notions are just fancies
of less educated human imagination and fallacies, adding that generally
ethnic religious practitioners in Hinduism believe in personal gods. The
entry level Hinduism has over-whelming superstitions too. The
philosophical side of Hinduism negates all superstitions. 
 
'Good that you agree God might exist. You told that you pray. What is
your prayer then?' 
'Loka Samastha Sukino Bhavantu. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti,' 
'Funny,' she laughed, 'What does it mean?' 
'May all the beings in all the worlds be happy. Om Peace, Peace,
Peace.'
 
'Hmm ...very interesting. I want to learn more about this religion. It
is so democratic, 
broad-minded and free' she exclaimed. 
 
'The fact is Hinduism is a religion of the individual, for the
individual and by the 
individual with its roots in the Vedas and the Bhagavad-Gita. It is all
about an 
individual approaching a personal God in an individual way according to
his temperament and inner evolution - it is as simple as that.' 
'How does anybody convert to Hinduism?' 
 
'Nobody can convert you to Hinduism, because it is not a religion, but a
set of beliefs 
and practices. Everything is acceptable in Hinduism because there is no
single authority or organization either to accept it or to reject it or
to oppose it on behalf of 
Hinduism.' I told her - if you look for meaning in life, don't look for
it in religions; don't go from one cult to another or from one guru to
the next. 
 
For a real seeker, I told her, the Bible itself gives guidelines when it
says ' Kingdom of 
God is within you.' I reminded her of Christ's teaching about the love
that we have for 
each other. That is where you can find the meaning of life.  Loving each
and every creation of the God is absolute and real. 'Isavasyam idam
sarvam' 
 
Isam (the God) is present (inhabits) here everywhere - nothing exists
separate from the God, because God is present everywhere. Respect every
living being and non-living things as God. That's what Hinduism teaches
you. 
 
Hinduism is referred to as Sanathana Dharma, the eternal faith. It is
based on the 
practice of Dharma, the code of life. The most important aspect of
Hinduism is being 
truthful to oneself. Hinduism has no monopoly on ideas.  It is open to
all. Hindus believe in one God (not a personal one) expressed in
different forms. For them, God is timeless and formless entity. 
 
Ancestors of today's Hindus believe in eternal truths and cosmic laws
and these truths are opened to anyone who seeks them. But there is a
section of Hindus who are either 
superstitious or turned fanatic to make this an organized religion like
others. The 
British coin the word 'Hindu' and considered it as a religion. 
 
I said: 'Religions have become an MLM (multi-level- marketing) industry
that has been 
trying to expand the market share by conversion. The biggest business in
today's world is Spirituality. Hinduism is no exception'. 
 
I am a Hindu primarily because it professes Non-violence - 'Ahimsa
Paramo Dharma' - Non violence is the highest duty. I am a Hindu because
it doesn't condition my mind with any faith system. A man / woman who
change 's his / her birth religion to another religion is a fake and
does not value his / her morals, culture and values in life. Hinduism
was the first religion originated. 
  
 Be proud of your religion and be proud of who you are. 
Om Namo shiva............... 
 


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19 comments:

  1. I am a Caucasian, atheist who dated a free-thinking Indian woman for a few years. I always appreciated the beauty of Hindu symbolisms and culture. But even after all of that time and discussions we had, she was never able to explain the Dharma to me as well as you did in this post. Thank You for that.
    I hope it opened the eyes of the impressionable young woman on the plane to other ways of seeing life as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. O BRAHMA!

    BY GOING ON THE PILGRIMAGE TO SEEK YOU I HAVE DENIED YOUR OMNIPRESENCE;

    BY MEDITATING ON YOU, I HAVE GIVEN YOU FORM IN MY MIND AND THUS DENIED YOUR FORMLESS NATURE;

    BY SINGING HYMNS I HAVE DESCRIBED YOU AND THUS DENIED YOUR INDESCRIBABLE NATURE.

    FORGIVE ME FOR THESE THREE OFFENCES.
    ______________________________________________
    Religion conditions the mind to set principles which though lead to a common objective, yet can be torn apart en route to such achievement.There being universes, as many as are drops in our oceans and within the drop, there are planets. Can one belief within a mere one such planet with hundreds and thousands of such set beliefs trigger a strife that could well destroy the very creation? Almighty has created mankind and Creator alone if He, She or It so desired, shall let its creation flourish or perish.
    Dr. Talwar
    talwar40@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is not a place to preach religion. Its a mail forward I got and since I was liked it i put it here. As Gandhiji said , listen and read all, but use your mind and justification before accepting something.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Replies
    1. sorry brother.. i have different opinion... i live in Punjab (India). My fellows Hindu citizens are always easy to observe... What i saw is Hinduism is totally different in practice here... my Hindu fellows are not giving respect to other Hindus who came from Bihar or UP... Even in Mumbai, Maratha's are beating them. I don't know about Maratha's much. Are the Hindu or what. Moreover in south Hindu's don't accept north Hindus a part of their religion. Moreover caste based racist people are all around the nation. Other hand Americans or Europeans are very innocent people. Mostly Hindus around me try to fool of other, lie more. Always try to show their religion's positive thing to other but them self very different in practical

      Delete
    2. Dear Anonymous,
      Please do not lie about your identity and place. It is very well known abot the divisive nature of people and how they behave everywhere on earth. This has nothing to do with a religion. We are discussing about Hinduism and it's beliefs here, and not about your beloved political agendas.
      We are sure you are the same guy, who is preaching islam below and this post is a preamble of that. Above post is very much clear, and we are not amused by your contradictions and political preaching.

      Delete
  5. sorry brother.. i have different opinion... i live in Punjab (India). My fellows Hindu citizens are always easy to observe... What i saw is Hinduism is totally different in practice here... my Hindu fellows are not giving respect to other Hindus who came from Bihar or UP... Even in Mumbai, Maratha's are beating them. I don't know about Maratha's much. Are the Hindu or what. Moreover in south Hindu's don't accept north Hindus a part of their religion. Moreover caste based racist people are all around the nation. Other hand Americans or Europeans are very innocent people. Mostly Hindus around me try to fool of other, lie more. Always try to show their religion's positive thing to other but them self very different in practical

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Anonymous,
      Please do not lie about your identity and place. It is very well known abot the divisive nature of people and how they behave everywhere on earth. This has nothing to do with a religion. We are discussing about Hinduism and it's beliefs here, and not about your beloved political agedas.
      We are sure you are the same guy, who is preaching islam below and this post is a preamble of that. Above post is very much clear, and we are not amused by your contradictions and political preaching.

      Delete
  6. This is kind of absurd. So there is no clear definition of hinduism. If it would be a true religion of God, everything would be precisely defined what you have to believe and what not. Because two opposite thing cannot be true at the same time. If you say "There is one God" is true, you cannot say "there are multiple gods" is true at the same time. I have talked to many hindus and they cannot even mention who had written their scriptures. So this religion cannot be from God. I suggest hindus to open your mind and search for other religions, look at their logic and definitions of God. This is the age of Internet and it is now so easy to research. I am a Muslim and have found Islam as the most logical religion on earth. I know most people think Islam is a Terrorist religion but in fact it is the media who has spread this. Real Islam is not like that. So don't be fooled by the media. Don't look at the followers, look at the scriptures and use your God gifted brain.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly what he is talking about a 'narrow' and 'conditioned' mind which thinks god as a small worldly thing. That is why you and your so-called religion needs to grow enough to understand divine nature of the supreme power, which is beyond time, space, gender, form etc. It can be 0,1,2 and million at same time.
      Next you will demand how many 'air's are there and how many 'light's are there. You have this narrow, shallow and immature views just because your religion does not allow you to 'think' and 'analyze'.
      By comparison of freedom of thought/acceptance to oter religions etc., I would say buddhism is one of most logical, and Islam is
      'least' logical religion in existant. Hinduism is not being compared, because it is not a religion at all as discussed in the article. So please stop your 'MLM industry conversion practice' written exactly here in the blog.

      Delete
  7. Dear Blogger,
    I request you to remove the posts by the above 'Anonymous' guy. He has hardly read your post, and just wish to comment so he can create confusion by bringing up small specific matters and then preacing his own stuff is most 'logical and true'. Please remove those posts, or answer them appropriately.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hinduism is an illogical religion...even if some things are good. Actually hinduism is very confusing religion.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I agree with you..

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yes our blogger forgot to mention girl on plane that hindu god mr.shiva...was totally a perv and he ejaculated on seeing goddess parvati milky thighs...his ejaculated material was deposited into fire which led to creation of pandits/rishis a.k.a hindus........so hurray all hindus are pervs...like our blogger who was trying to get into white female underpants

    ReplyDelete
  11. The post is completely biased on Hindu teligion and Idealogies ....there are no proofs at all of Gita or any other things in India ....

    The fact is some Hindus study all religions and then decide to convert but some people in India are just afraid that Hindu people are gettint converted more and more ...this is as per the yearly reports ...Due to which they start pouring hatred anongst people as well as start provinf one religion is better than other ......Since there are no prooffs the people have made there own gita when the writing came from Arab people .......Some Hindus start using the same famous methodologes and start decalring God for the famous social workers ...Recent is Sai baba ....he is not Hindu ...he explained about equality ...but as his temple collects second most money in India ....He is been now declared to be God ...as happened with Lord Shiva ......and if you want to say that Hindu is just not a religion and anyone can atach with it ...... why does aome Hindu religions leaders spread hatred speach...why they dont accept western culture .....if you are strict with Hindu religion ....you should obey till death ....dont use new techologie ...nor internet ...not any wester n cultures

    ReplyDelete
  12. The post is completely biased on Hindu teligion and Idealogies ....there are no proofs at all of Gita or any other things in India ....

    The fact is some Hindus study all religions and then decide to convert but some people in India are just afraid that Hindu people are gettint converted more and more ...this is as per the yearly reports ...Due to which they start pouring hatred anongst people as well as start provinf one religion is better than other ......Since there are no prooffs the people have made there own gita when the writing came from Arab people .......Some Hindus start using the same famous methodologes and start decalring God for the famous social workers ...Recent is Sai baba ....he is not Hindu ...he explained about equality ...but as his temple collects second most money in India ....He is been now declared to be God ...as happened with Lord Shiva ......and if you want to say that Hindu is just not a religion and anyone can atach with it ...... why does aome Hindu religions leaders spread hatred speach...why they dont accept western culture .....if you are strict with Hindu religion ....you should obey till death ....dont use new techologie ...nor internet ...not any wester n cultures

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hinduism is f***ing religion. Which divides the humans into different groups in the name of caste. And oppressed dalits and tribals under fucking caste brahmins. But before the british rule brahmins the hindu caste people who tortured and maked other castes as their slaves and forcibly made them to drink their toilets. Eating shit; drinking toilets is agenda of brahmins at that time. Thay think they are the superior and gods. Where is equality and dharma ? Haa... And Hinduism is not an religion anymore even hindus agreed and even pm narendra modi agreed too. Hinduism is way of life meaning leaving an peaceful life. But whats going on india was killing people who are at war to prohibit blind superstition beliefs. And killing people in name of religion conversion to Christianity and raping nuns destroying churches and killing Muslims in name of eating beef so on.......Hinduism is dangerous to man kind. When compared to Hinduism; islam and Christianity are better where the people are treated equally. And wearing burqa in Islam religion is just a religious practice only at the time of visiting masjid. The only religion which worships male sex organ was Hinduism. The only god who married more than 1600 girls was krishna. Shall we follow him ? Mean while again Hinduism says to marry only one girl ? Then what about krishna ? And Geeta was an pure copy of koran...and some part of it is nothing but a comic book..How come he can become god when he fucks 1600 wifes ? Ha..Instead we should call him play boy. Hinduism is just an imagination of one or some group persons tried to make india more worst.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Yeah. Hinduism is a cock religion. They can change according to the surrounding environment, i.e. people.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ok...after the many detractors' postings above, is that all we can expect from them?
    But then again Hinduism will teach a few things to anyone of them...without any farcical conversion.

    ReplyDelete