Are there any practicing Hindus on DU?

[opiate69]

I looked in the Religions group cluster, and didn't see a group specifically for Hindus.. I have a favor to ask if there are any. I'm currently in a Religions of the World class in college, and I need to do a 10 question interview with a Hindu practitioner. If anyone here would be so kind, please PM me and I'll either send you the questions or maybe set up a phone call.

[ZombieHorde]

1. I could convert to Hinduism for one hour and answer your questions. nt

[sailor65]

2. I seriously doubt it

If they're old enough to post on DU, I'm sure they've practiced long enough and are quite good at it by now.

:-)

Sorry, you just kinda hung it out there.....

[demwing]

3. There are MANY flavors of Hinduism

But always two distinct branches - Personalism and Impersonalim. In a nutshell (and this is extremely simplistic) Personalist believe Brahman eminates from God, the original Person (and the variations of opinion abound on just which of the Hindu dieties best embodies that person), while the impersonalists believe that Brahman is the ultimate state of consciousness, is without form, and that all form is Maya, or illusion.

I suggest you talk to a Personalist, and an Impersonalist to get the best balance of ideas.

[Vehl]

4. I am one

I dunno if this would be of any help for you...being so late, but yeah if u do have any questions; feel free to ask, ill answer to the best of my ability

PS: as another poster pointed out in the previous post, there are many schools of thought in Hinduism, and mine is Advaida vedanta(Advaida literally means "not two). It is a non-dual school of Hinduism...some practitioners of which..like me..tend to consider ourselves atheist Hindus.

Advaida School of Hinduism is also one of the biggest schools of Hinduism out there.

regards
:)

[opiate69]

5. Oh thank you thank you thank you, Vehl! I'll post the questions here

Its for my final paper due next weekend, but I need to do the rough this week


1. How were you first introduced to Hinduism?

2. Have you read the Bhagavad-Gita in its entirety?

3. What would you consider to be the three most important teachings of Hinduism?

4. What are the important holidays and traditions of Hinduism?

5. How has Hinduism shaped your life?

6. What are the challenges, if any, to practicing Hinduism?

7. As a member of a minority religion in America, do you find the culture here welcoming?

8. What, if anything, can you and your fellow adherents do to make the larger community more aware of your religion?

9. While most of us understand Hinduism to be a peaceable religion, there have been some incidences of inter-faith violence. Do these incidents blemish the other-wise peaceful perception of Hinduism? If so, what can be done to negate this negative perception?

10. Do you foresee any major changes in the practice and global impact of Hinduism over the next few generations?

[Vehl]

6. You are welcome :)

Its for my final paper due next weekend, but I need to do the rough this week

I'll try to answer these question to the best of my ability, if you have any further questions/need any clarifications, don't hesitate to ask. :)

1. How were you first introduced to Hinduism?

I grew up with it. My parents are Hindu, my relatives are Hindu as well. However, Hinduism is more of a way of life than a religion, thus kids are not given "lessons" on Hinduism..but pretty much pick it up as part of the daily routine/day-to-day activities.

Later on, in my late teens I was suggested some books, notably the works of swami Vivekananda and Ramana Maharishi, which I read mostly out of personal curiosity.

2. Have you read the Bhagavad-Gita in its entirety?

Yes. However I have to point out that there are quite a few English translations of the Gita out there, and I found the “Hare Krishna” version of it , called “Bagavat Gita as it is” to be very different from the original Gita. Even though this version is quite popular in the west, my advice to anyone interested in reading the Gita would be to avoid this particular version as it has a very “sectarian” outlook to it., and not considered by most Hindu’s to be a honest translation, especially when one considers the heavy dose of personal opinion found in the above-mentioned translation.

3. What would you consider to be the three most important teachings of Hinduism?

Contrary to popular belief, Hinduism does not have any central texts or religious authority, thus the ones I list here are mostly the one’s I find most important (however some of those I list are generally accepted by Hindus as part of their core teaching)

1 There are many equally valid paths to truth. One cannot claim that his “way” is the only way and the other ways are wrong. Furthermore, “truth” itself is defined by the seeker as there is no “universal” truth applicable to everyone in equal measure.

2 There are many gods/goddesses or a singular god for those who need a deity
or there is something that transcends god for those who look beyond the need for god/gods

3 The interconnectedness of all things in this universe…be is an inanimate rock…or a highly evolved being considered to be a god…or a human. Everything is “one” when one looks beyond the illusion and sees the underlying unity of all things.

4. What are the important holidays and traditions of Hinduism?

Deepavali/Diwali is an important festival. It is also known as the festival of lights

Navaraatri ( 9 day festival of the three main goddesses)

Shivaraatri ( A festival for Shiva)

The list is pretty long, Furthermore, each state of India has its own flavour of the festival..with its own story behind it…sometimes the stories differ greatly from each other.

5. How has Hinduism shaped your life?

I would say that it helped me become more liberal in my worldview. As Hinduism advocates that different paths and philosophies/ways of life are all equally valid, I realize that diversity and the willingness to let people live their own lives according to their own interests without an over-arching authority telling them what to do is a very good thing. Thus accordingly my worldview is that people should be allowed to live as they wish, as long as they do not intrude into the personal lives of others. As the old saying goes..your freedom ends where my nose begins…as far as its away from my nose, people should have all the freedom they want.

Yet another area where Hinduism played a major part on my life is my decision to be an atheist. Yes, I do call myself a Hindu atheist because Atheism has always been; from the ancient times, part and parcel of Hinduism. Some of the greatest philosophers in Hinduism were atheists. The Advaita School of Hinduism which I follow (which literally means “non-dual”) says that everything in this universe is “one” even though they might appear to be different(almost akin to the "superstrings" that make up our universe, according to astrophysics). I find this idea interesting because, the logical conclusion of this line of thought implies either god does not exist..or everything is god (as Advaita claims). Thus the need for “god” fell by the wayside for me in my teens when I started to read more into this school of Hindu philosophy. By my late teens I was an Atheist, and continue to be so. As a democrat i cannot agree with the notion that things are not equal (as would be the case if there is a god that is separate from creation...always "better" than the rest of creation) and was one of the main reasons i like the Advaita philosophy.

A side effect of this philosophy, at least for me; is an increased respect for nature and other people, beings in this universe. It allows me to stop being “species centric” and try to look at things from a detached universal standpoint, without the usual “baggage” that warps logic when one tries to look at things from a human-centric standpoint.

6. What are the challenges, if any, to practicing Hinduism?

I have not found any challenges yet, however on a personal level what I find most challenging is the hard-wired human centric thinking we all inherently have. I have to remind myself oft that an ant has as much say as I do when we look at things in a truly universal perspective. It is hard to realize and accept that we are Not special!

7. As a member of a minority religion in America, do you find the culture here welcoming?

I have found the American culture to be very welcoming! :)

8. What, if anything, can you and your fellow adherents do to make the larger community more aware of your religion?

We are not a missionary religion, thus one does not see Hindus on the roadside handing out pamphlets or holding religious awareness seminars. However there are quite a few books/websites out there which give a good overview of Hinduism.

In the Hindu tradition those who have questions ask. Unless a question is asked the answer is not given, because traditionally it is assumed that one has to show interest/or have a question in order to be answered. This is the main reason that Hindus go in search of Guru’s and Gurus do not go in search of students (some modern “Guru’s”..especially the ones more interested in money and fame are obviously an exception). In the olden days often the Guru would only answer the question. No more. The student has to ponder on the answer,and come up with more questions. This “Question/Answer” form of teaching is probably one of the most commonly found method of teaching in Hindu religion from the ancient times. Even most of the Upanishads(Hindu texts) are in the form of questions and answers. So is the Baghavat Gita. According to Hindu philosophy one cannot be "shown" the truth. One has to find it himself/herself. He can be guided by a guru, but one has to achieve enlightenment himself...there is no "savior" for us but ourselves.

The best way for anyone to know more about Hinduism is to ask one of their Hindu friends/neighbors. Even if that person is not able to answer the question himself/herself she would be more than glad to put you in touch with someone else who can.

As for what Hindus can do, we can invite more people to our festivals. However Hindus sometimes do not do this because of the fear that such an invite might be interpreted by others as an attempt at conversion. We don’t try to convert anyone at all, but as people who live abroad, we have to be aware of the concerns of those who are not Hindu and anticipate any misunderstanding that might be caused by such an innocent invite, even though it is without any ulterior motive.

I do know that most of my suggestions for this question sounds very passive, but we Hindus tend to be quite passive when it comes to letting others know of our religion.

9. While most of us understand Hinduism to be a peaceable religion, there have been some incidences of inter-faith violence. Do these incidents blemish the other-wise peaceful perception of Hinduism? If so, what can be done to negate this negative perception?

I believe that Hindus are quite angry at those fellow Hindus who tend to participate in these incidents of inter-faith violence…doubly so because it goes against one of the core percepts of Hinduism, that all paths are equally true.

As for these incidents blemishing the peaceful perception of Hinduism, I cannot speak for all Hindus. We range from the Himalayan foothills…to the islands of Bali..and beyond…we speak hundreds of different languages, and hail from dozens of ethnicities and nations. It is impossible for one Hindu to be held responsible for the actions of someone else with whom he has almost no relationship whatsoever. It would be tantamount to saying that just because a raven stole a candy, all birds should feel the responsibility for his actions. However I hasten to add that by these comments I do not try to swipe the actions of those violent few under the carpet, but am merely trying to give an idea of how diverse we Hindus are.

IMHO the best way to prevent such acts in the future is for Hindus to adhere to the unity in diversity concept that forms a core part of Hinduism. When we start looking at everyone as equal, the need for conflict hardly arises.

10. Do you foresee any major changes in the practice and global impact of Hinduism over the next few generations?

I do not think I would be seeing any major changes in Hinduism. However I do believe that more and more Hindus might be tempted to follow the monistic(non dual) schools of Hindu thought compared to the other schools.

Hindu’s do not call themselves “Hindu”. We only use it when talking to a native English speaker or one who is not of our religious tradition. The commonly accepted term for our “group of philosophies” is ‘Sanatana Dharma”. Which literally means “ The Eternal way/law”. Its more of a way of life than a religion….doubly so when the term “religion” is often defined in the Abrahamic religious sense. It’s a way of life for us, part and parcel of what we are.


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I hope this helps

regards :hi:
Vehl

[opiate69]

7. Those answers are perfect! Many, many thanks again!

dhanyavad
:hi:

[Vehl]

8. I'm glad I was able to help

I remember taking a comparative religions class for GE requirements during college. It was a fun class :)

PS: I had to google dhanyavad.lol...my Hindi knowledge is probably less than my knowledge of Japanese...in other words...limited to only a few words. :D. I'm Tamil so we use Nandri instead.

good luck with your class!

regards
Vehl

[Manifestor_of_Light]

9. Hinduism Today is an excellent magazine.

It is put out by a group in Hawaii. I enjoy reading it. I also read Buddhist stuff, since I consider Buddhism to be a distilled version of Hinduism. Both of them are quite interesting. I am a secular humanist interested in Hinduism and Buddhism.

I am a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (raised Presbyterian) who is SICK of people getting in my face and telling me about Jesus.

I think Christianity is a dead religion that does not have sufficient insight & answers to human problems to survive and be relevant in the 21st century.

[Vehl]

10. good suggestion!

I should have mentioned that magazine, but I forgot. In fact my granddad and SubramuniyaSwami(the American who founded the Hawaii temple & Himalayan-academy) were friends during the time Subramuniya swami was a disciple of Yogar Swami of Jaffna, Srilanka(Ceylon). We used to subscribe to that magazine for years till recently. It's a very good periodical.Thank you for reminding us of this publication :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogaswami
http://aryasangha.org/james.george.htm

[Nihil]

11. Thanks too from a bystander!

I found your replies to be a fascinating insight to something that (until now)
I've only had a very patchy comprehension - just bits & pieces from here & there.

If you don't mind (and if opiate69 doesn't think I'm rat-holing the thread!),
can I ask for an expansion of one of your comments?

> 2 There are many gods/goddesses or a singular god for those who need a deity
> or there is something that transcends god for those who look beyond the need
> for god/gods

I was aware that there are many gods & aspects of gods in what tends to be called
"the Hindu pantheon" but what names/terms should I try to follow up to find out
more about both the "singular god" and the "something that transcends god"
aspects/views/concepts please?

Thanks (to both of you) for an opportunity to learn.

:hi:

[Vehl]

12. Hi there :)

Hi Nihil, I'm glad that you found my post to be of some use, and no, I don't mind your question at all :)
Ill try to explain the comments you quoted in greater detail.Some of the explanation requires some backstory/delving into the Hindu philosophy, so ill try to cover the relevant parts


Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) Has many different schools of thought/philosophies/denominations/sects etc etc within it.
At times certain schools of thought gain prominence(relatively) over the others and vice versa. Generally Hinduism is split into 2 major groups of philosophies.

They are the Astika and Nastika groups.

Astika group holds the following (Disclaimer: I took some stuff from the wiki, as its pretty well written)

1. Samkhya: a strongly dualist theoretical exposition of mind and matter, that denies the existence of God.
2. Yoga: a school emphasizing meditation closely based on Samkhya
3. Nyaya or logics
4. Vaisheshika: an empiricist school of atomism
5. Mimamsa: a ritualist, anti-ascetic, and anti-mysticist school
6. Vedanta: the logical conclusion to Vedic ritualism, focusing on mysticism. Vedanta came to be the dominant current of Hinduism in the post-medieval period.

Nastika Group

1. Buddhism
2. Jainism
3. Cārvāka: a skeptical materialist school, which died out in the 15th century and whose primary texts have been lost, however its ideas and philosophies live on in the other Astika/Nastika schools.


Apart from these philosophies, we have dozens of denominations, which use one/many of those above mentioned philosophies...or even a mixture of them. The Major denominations as of now (I hasten to add that there are literally dozens if not hundreds of other minor denomination as well...and often people subscribe to more than one denomination!)

The Major denominations are

1 Shaivism
Śaivites are those who primarily worship Siva as the supreme god, both immanent and transcendent.
Śaivism embraces at the same time monism (specifically nondualism) and dualism. It focuses on yoga, meditation, and love
for all beings.
Major theological schools of Śaivism include Kashmir Śaivism, Saiva Siddhanta and Virasaivism.
To Śaivites Shiva is both with and without form; he is the Supreme Dancer, Nataraja; and is linga, without beginning or
end.

2 Shaktism
Shaktas worship Shakti, the divine Mother, in her many forms like (Kali, Durga, Laxmi, Saraswati etc.).
Shakta form was one of the oldest forms of Hindu religion(along with Shaivism) (evidences even from Indus valley civilization).
Shaivism and Shakta forms are really inseparable, as is the description of Shiva and Shakti/Sati/Parvati.

3 Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism is the monotheistic tradition worshiping Vishnu (or his forms of Krishna and Rama) as the supreme or svayam
bhagavan.

4 Smartism
Smarthas have free rein to choose whichever deity they wish to worship.Smarthas accept and worship the six manifestations
of God, (Ganesha, Shiva, Shakti, Vishnu, Surya, and Skanda) and the choice of the nature of God is up to the individual
worshiper since different manifestations of God are held to be equivalent. It is a liberal and eclectic sect.


Apart from this, there are the 4 types of yoga, Which the practitioners of different schools of Hinduism use, the type of Yoga used usually depends on the school/denomination of the practitioner.

The 4 Yogas

1 Raja Yoga:
Rāja Yoga ("royal yoga", "royal union", also known as Classical Yoga) is concerned principally with the cultivation of the
mind using meditation (dhyana) to further one's acquaintance with reality and finally achieve liberation.
NOTE : this is also a philosophy within the Astika group

2 Jnana Yoga: The yoga of knowledge.
jnâna yoga teaches that there are four means to Enlightenment
Viveka - Discrimination
Vairagya - Dispassion
Shad-sampat - The 6 Virtues:
Mumukshutva - Intense longing for liberation from temporal limitations.



3 Karma Yoga: The yoga of action,
Of the four paths to realization, karma yoga is the science of achieving perfection in action. Anyone who does his
duty perfectly, without thinking about the fruit of his actions, is a Karma Yogi. A samurai who wants to make the
perfet cut with his sword is a Karma Yogi...because for him nothing else excepts but his goal of achieving the
perfect cut. Karma Yogis transcend the karmic repercussions of their actions because they do not think/desire of
the fruit of their actions, but act for the sake of acting alone.

4 Bakhti Yoga: The yoga of devotion,
is one of the types of yoga mentioned in Hindu philosophies which denotes the spiritual practice of fostering loving devotion (bhakti) to a personal form of God.


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Oops I Guess I went overboard with the "brief" overview.lol...But I blame Wiki! :P
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As for your question

Hinduism has people who have a personal concept of god (all the 4 major denominations have them). These gods are usually some of the "famous" ones...like Shiva...Vishnu...Shakti/Durga etc etc or some of the less famous but equally important ones. Furthermore often they worship multiple "gods". However there is this common agreement that all of these "gods/godesses" are the personifications of an abstract "god" or "entity"..."thing" called "Brahman.." (The Brahman should not be confused with the Brahmin(who are priests) and it should also not be confused with "Brahma", the god who created this universe(yes..I see a question most people might have here, but ill address it later)).

Then there are the other group of Hindus, also belonging to the 4 major (and other minor) denominations who worhip this "Brahman" as god. This in this case, Their philosophy could be termed as "monotheistic". They believe that the soul (Atman) and the God(brahman) are different, and the goal of the Atman is to bask in the glory of Brahman when they achieve liberation from the cycle of life and death.

Finally there is a 3rd group of people(These hail from only 2 of the 4 denominations..the Shaivas and the Shaktas) (amongst whom I fall under) who consider the Atman and the Brahman to be identical. As usual amongst Hindus...even this philosophy has many sub-categories within. The term for this philosophy is called "Advaita vedanta"



Advaita literally means "Not two" (Dwaita =two)

For Advaita vedantins, everything in this universe, including the Atman, Brahman...gods...etc etc are made up of the same basic building block....or rather ..everything we see and perceive with our senses in this world is Maya (illusion). The Advaitin would say, we are Brahman (the all encompassing , unchanging force that is without a second..(lol because there is no second!!!..remember? non-dual :evilgrin: )) but we do not realize it because we are fooled by this "illusion". The Goal of the advaitin is to achieve enlightenment in order to pierce this veil of illusion to experience the one-ness beyond.

Think of "Maya" as the "Matrix" and us humans as "Neo's". In fact every Advaita Hindu who saw the Matrix trilogy loved it..because for them it was an absolutely good example of what "maya" is. Imagine a balloon. It has air within it. There is air around it. Yet the thin rubber membrane separates the Air within from the Air outside. The rubber membrane can be likened to "Maya" or "illusion". Because for the Air within(Atman)...the rubber membrane is all there is...it does not see whats outside..or the air outside because its fooled into thinking that there is nothing outside. When this balloon is pricked...the illusion dissolves and the air within and the air without merge into one...and they were not different in the first place...only "Ignorance" created the illusion of difference.

Even "gods" too, are an illusion, for an Advaitin...especially the ones of the strictest advaita doctrines.(usually there is some seepage of ideas and overlap between non duality and duality in Hindu practitioners). The gods too are the product of "maya"...and illusion...but an ultimate illusion. According to some advaita philosophers many people stop then they perceive "god"...because for them its the end of the journey..however the path continues beyond gods as well. The ultimate goal of an Advaitin is to seek "oneness" with Brahman..because..he is Brahman too...he only has to get rid of the Ignorance that keeps him trapped in the Illusion of "Maya". I have to add that "maya" is not considered evil..but only a by=product of our own ignorance....as one advaitin aptly put...."we are gods with Amnesia!"

The Core philosophies of Advaita can be expressed in Zen Koan-ish aphorisms used by Advaita philosophers
They are

1. Brahma satyam jagan mithya : Brahman is real; the world is unreal
2. Ekam evadvitiyam brahma : Brahman is one, without a second
3. Prajnanam brahman : Brahman is the supreme knowledge
4. Tat tvam asi : That is what you are (You are Brahman)
5. Ayam atma brahma : Atman and brahman are the same
6. Aham brahmasmi : I am brahman
7. Sarvam khalvidam brahma : All of this is brahman


The Brahman is impersonal and transcendent...and it is not known if its merely a force...or an intelligence...or just "it"..or even "nothing". Different shades of Advaita are partial to different shades of interpretation.

One could say Advaita is a form of "Monism"


Monism is any philosophical view which holds that there is unity in a given field of inquiry, where this is not to be expected. Thus, some philosophers may hold that the universe is really just one thing, despite its many appearances and diversities; or theology may support the view that there is one God, with many manifestations in different religions. Hinduism is considered to be primary proponent of Monism. In the Hindu religion, Brahman (Devanāgarī: ब्रह्मन् bráhman) is the eternal, unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this Universe. The nature of Brahman is described as transpersonal, personal and impersonal by different philosophical schools and the Brahman religious belief is just seen as different paths to the one god. (From wiki)


Here is a famous conversation between a Father and Son, from an Upanishad, which explains the Advaita principle

Svetaketu was the grandson of Aruna, and the son of Uddalaka. His father sent him to Gurukul (forest ashrama of a guru in ancient India). His family had a long tradition of studying Vedic Lore and intricacies of the knowledge contained therein. 'Without studying the Vedas, a Brahmin remains merely a Brahmin for name,' the family believed.

Therefore, Svetaketu went to forest-retreat at the age of twelve, and studied the Vedas, scriptures, science, grammar, etc. at the feet of the Guru for twelve years, and returned home. He was proud of his knowledge and scholarship.

However, when father, Uddalaka, saw that his son, Svetaketu, had returned full with pride and arrogance, he was perturbed and therefore, put this question to the son:

"Svetaketu, my dear boy, have you inquired about that Entity by means of which even that which is not heard about becomes heard, even that which is not reflected upon become reflected upon, and even that which is unknown becomes known?"

Unable to comprehend the question, the son asked:
"O father, I do not know about That; will you please enlighten me, O revered one?"

The father replies: "As one knows the characteristics of everything made of clay by studying just a lump of clay, and realizes that the name and form are just the play of words; just as by knowing a nugget of gold all that is made of gold would have been known, the various ornaments of gold are mere play of words concerning names and forms; just as by studying a piece of steel everything made of steel would become known, the differences being merely the play of name and form; even so, my son, is this Entity, by knowing which everything in this universe becomes known; the apparent differences are but the multifarious names and forms."

Thus requested, the father tells his son about all pervading Self or Atman (same as Brahman) as the basic Reality of every being. "Listen, my boy, in the beginning was one Being alone; one without second."

The concepts of time, space, and causation did not exist then, and these concepts could never evolve later as well; for the Being which is described is without attributes, and is changeless, eternal, all-pervading Consciousness. In order that the aspirant may get the idea of his/her true transcendental nature, empirically, Atman is presumed to have evolved as this universe; the cause giving rise to effect of this multifarious world of name and form. Universe is superimposed on the changeless reality of Atman, so that the individual being - the jiva - can pierce through his ignorance of believing this world to be absolutely real.

"Now it is this subtle Entity which all this universe has for its essence. It alone is real. That is the Atman(brahman), That Thou Art, O Svetaketu,"

"When the jiva merges with that Entity, or becomes one with it, as in transcendent state, the jiva does not remember its individual identity, or recognize having become one with the Self, as the rivers lose their individual identity after merging with the sea; or as one cannot separate honey of one flower from the honey from another flower in a collected form.

"Now it is this subtle Entity which all this universe has for its essence. It alone is real. That is the Atman(brahman), That Thou Art, O Svetaketu,"

"Please, venerable Sir, give me further instruction," said the son. "So be it, my dear," the father replied.

Father: "Bring me a fruit of that nyagrodha (banyan) tree."
Svetaketu: "Here it is’ venerable Sir."
Father: "Break it."
Svetaketu: "It is broken, venerable Sir."
Father: "What do you see there?"
Svetaketu: "These seeds, exceedingly small,
Father: "Break one of these, my son."
Svetaketu: "It is broken, venerable Sir."
Father: "What do you see there?"
Svetaketu: "Nothing at all, venerable Sir."

The father said: "That subtle essence, my dear, which you do not perceive there—from that very essence this great nyagrodha arises. Believe me, my dear. Now, that which is the subtle essence—in it all that exists has its self. That is the True. That is the Self. That thou art, Svetaketu."

"Please, venerable Sir, give me further instruction," said the son. "So be it, my dear," the father replied.

As Uddalaka continues to explain: "O son, put this salt in the water," and Svetaketu does as directed. The next day, father asks him to bring the pot, and asks the son to feel or look for the salt. The son says he cannot see or feel the salt. Then father says:

"O son, taste the water from above."
"Yes sir, it is salty," says the son.
"Drink from the middle."
"It is salty," says the son.
"Drink from the bottom."
"It is salty," says the son.

"Here you could not see or feel the salt, but you could taste it all the same; likewise O Svetaketu, by adopting the right method and means of knowledge one can know the essence of Atman(Brahman) everywhere in this universe; and Thou Art That(brahman), my boy."


ps: Note how the teacher repeatedly states "thou art that", to reinforce the point.

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coming back to the part i glossed over earlier..about Brahma(not to be confused with Brahman), the creator god. Ironically he is hardly mentioned in Hinduism....especially in the recent times. The last time any importance was given to him was in the vedic era...about 3000 years ago...even then he was but a minor god. It might be surprising for those not of the Dharmic religious traditions(Hinduism, Buddhism, jainism) to understand how the god who created the universe could be so un-important.The answer lies in the Hindu view of "god". For Hindus "gods" are but beings who are more evolved than humans...so evolved that they are literally "gods"...the same way..for an ant (if they could reason and think), we humans might seem as gods. Furthermore..to complicate matters more...there are an infinite numbers of universes according to Hinduism..and infinite Brahmas...and every universe is created and dissolved...thus "brahma" is temporary too..but for us it seems like an eternity<[In Hinduism Humans can and will achieve godhood in due time(due to evolution(i mean the spiritual one))>]....but even that is not the ultimate goal. Hindus love huge numbers...lol thus according to Hinduism...the lifespan of a Brahma is 10^22(10 to the power of 22) years. Also known one cycle of Brahma. As these are all aprt of the Illusion(maya) not much importance is given to the creator of the universe.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_numbering_system
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_units_of_measurement

^^ Check this out...pretty fun :P (but dont take the values seriously)


Hope this helps :)
Ill' be glad to answer any other questions you might have.

ps: pls pardon any typos as I really didn't have time to go over my post.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

13. How interesting!!!

There is a white marble temple SW of Houston in a suburb, Missouri City, of the Saivites. The organization acronym is BAPS. There are several identical temples in different parts of the world.

The people there speak Gujarat. They have statues of a succession of gurus as well as all the gods/goddesses.

I think it was cool that the Hindus, instead of fighting, just said that Shakyamuni Buddha was the 9th incarnation of Vishnu. And when the tenth incarnation shows up then it's the Kali Yuga.

[Vehl]

17. Thank you

Yes, As you mentioned Hindus do not consider Buddha, or Buddhism to be a different religion. If I remember correctly...Buddha himself never mentioned that he is creating a different religion.(Most of the Hindu schools of thought were formed in a similar manner..some sage/philosopher coming up with a different/slightly different philosophy and teaching it to his disciples, just like buddha did) His was a different school of philosophy within Hinduism...like the dozens of other philosophies within the Hindu fold.Later on his disciples probably made it into a separate religion.However in the eyes of Hindus, Buddhism is revered and respected as a major philosophical tradition. The Vasihnavite Hindus went a step further and made Buddha into one of the avatars of Vishnu.

I'm a Shaivite Advaidin so we do not have the 10 avatar concept (we think of every living being as an avatar of the universal self) however we do hold Buddhism in high regard.Hindus make it a point to visit the famous Buddhist temples in the countries/locales they visit. I visited a Buddhist temple in LA with my friends when I was there a month ago. It was a Vietnamese temple, and I was the only South Asian guy. lol. But I liked visiting it...felt so very similar to the temples/temple traditions we have in Hinduism.

[Nihil]

15. Thank you so much for that Vehl!

I'm sorry that it has taken me a while to catch up (I don't get over
to the R/T forum as often as I'd like so there tends to be large gaps
to catch up between visits).

I'm going to have to re-read that a few times to absorb it but it has
already helped with regard to some of the previously confusing essays
and extracts - I hadn't realised about the variety of different
denominations nor that a person could be an adherent to more than one
at a time!

Again, thanks for your kind help.

:applause:

[Vehl]

16. You are welcome :)

Hey don't worry about it...I don't frequent the religion section often either. I drop by once in a while :)

Yep..there are so many denominations and schools of thought within Hinduism. We sometimes joke that its almost impossible to find two Hindus who have exactly identical religious philosophies. This is mostly due to the fact that we have neither a religious authority nor central texts to regulate/dictate how Hinduism ought to be. We prefer it this way...everyone has his own view..all equally valid :)

[Pterodactyl]

14. You can't spell HinDU without DU.

Just kidding.

[Vehl]

18. lol good one

:D