What worries me about Hinduism.

[Vinayaka]

Hinduism entails so much more than the advaitin chase of 'I' with the ultimate goal of conquering it. Yes this is the school most widely presented in the western cultures. But it's not the only school. Hinduism is far too vast to only have one philosophical path.

In fact, most born Hindus are hardly aware of that aspect, as they simply realise that it's somewhere near the end of the trail where one day they'll be. But for now there is so much more to enjoy, like seva, devotion, temple camaraderie, culture, dance, pilgrimage, colourful saris, sadhana, japa, bhajans.

So the western version, brought to the west mostly by Vedantin swamis, has little of the fascinating culture of Hinduism in it. But if that's all you see or are exposed to, then sure it's puzzling, even boring.

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by Vinayaka

Hinduism entails so much more than the advaitin chase of 'I' with the ultimate goal of conquering it. Yes this is the school most widely presented in the western cultures. But it's not the only school. Hinduism is far too vast to only have one philosophical path.

In fact, most born Hindus are hardly aware of that aspect, as they simply realise that it's somewhere near the end of the trail where one day they'll be. But for now there is so much more to enjoy, like seva, devotion, temple camaraderie, culture, dance, pilgrimage, colourful saris, sadhana, japa, bhajans.

So the western version, brought to the west mostly by Vedantin swamis, has little of the fascinating culture of Hinduism in it. But if that's all you see or are exposed to, then sure it's puzzling, even boring.

That was beautifully said!

Even those with superior intelligence, those with much worldly experience, can only get so far in the quest for conquering the "I"...then one has to lose ALL of that...forget it...just surrendering the ego to the will of the Divine..then what is "duality" what is "non duality"?...All of the stuff on that boring or confusing level doesn't even matter anymore...one becomes free.

I have been watching a Buddhist series that I own on DVD called "On Life and Enlightenment" by the Dalai Lama...I watch it every few months..it goes into rituals, mudras, mandalas, mantras, energy healing, traditional medicine, meditation, yoga... basically all of the Agama tenets...these are common to Buddhism and Hinduism alike.

Watching these DVD's, I am transported to a very familiar place in space and time...Tibet...there is a lot of recognition there and I feel something on a very deep level. This means more to me than any dry philosophy... anything the Vedantin Swamis brought over to the West.

While some were brought up on Swami Vivekananda and Ramana Maharishi, this little one went the way of Tuesday Lobsang Rampa.

Aum Namah Shivaya

[Altair]

Originally Posted by Vinayaka

Hinduism entails so much more than the advaitin chase of 'I' with the ultimate goal of conquering it. Yes this is the school most widely presented in the western cultures. But it's not the only school. Hinduism is far too vast to only have one philosophical path.

In fact, most born Hindus are hardly aware of that aspect, as they simply realise that it's somewhere near the end of the trail where one day they'll be. But for now there is so much more to enjoy, like seva, devotion, temple camaraderie, culture, dance, pilgrimage, colourful saris, sadhana, japa, bhajans.

So the western version, brought to the west mostly by Vedantin swamis, has little of the fascinating culture of Hinduism in it. But if that's all you see or are exposed to, then sure it's puzzling, even boring.

Yes.. I noticed that, and I appreciate you make this post. Hinduism is incredibly diverse..

There is so much to appreciate so the whole impersonalist path isn't for me. I fully respect other people who feel that is their path, but they do make a habit of presenting their path as ''the only truth''. I know I sound like a broken record, but they remind me too much of evangelicals. Maybe that's what many ex-Christians need.. a new path and subjective spiritual experiences they can now use as the next ''true path''. For a detached, freed-from-desire, non-attached people they're very preachy. Anyways. I appreciate a lot about Hinduism. It's a glimpse into a polytheistic past we used to have. Many are veg since birth, I respect that. Many great and beneficial practices as well..

[Vinayaka]

Originally Posted by Altair

Yes.. I noticed that, and I appreciate you make this post. Hinduism is incredibly diverse..

There is so much to appreciate so the whole impersonalist path isn't for me. I fully respect other people who feel that is their path, but they do make a habit of presenting their path as ''the only truth''. I know I sound like a broken record, but they remind me too much of evangelicals. Maybe that's what many ex-Christians need.. a new path and subjective spiritual experiences they can now use as the next ''true path''. For a detached, freed-from-desire, non-attached people they're very preachy. Anyways. I appreciate a lot about Hinduism. It's a glimpse into a polytheistic past we used to have. Many are veg since birth, I respect that. Many great and beneficial practices as well..

You know, the longer I'm Hindu of the sampradaya I am, the more I think the primary reason is simply because it's more fun than other stuff. Non-intellectual, doing, not thinking, and all that. Sounds astonishingly simple, yes. Thinking certainly takes all the fun out of it.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by Honza

But I cling onto my Western understanding of others
and a separate and objective God.

I have not read the 2 pages here...so someone may have said this.
I don't wanna say anything but, Krishna was a sep person.
And he said in the Gita...Perceive Me in every thought....there has to be an obj and a subject, right?
So you're fine.
Ramakrishna said...I want to taste the sugar, not be the sugar.

Also, get the word 'worry' out of your vocabulary, that's an order!

[Jainarayan]

I daresay that Hinduism is largely devotional to one or several aspects of God, rather than intellectual, philosophical or metaphysical. I don't think we can explain the thousands, millions, hundreds of thousands of Hindus who crowd temples daily and at festivals if bhaktimarga wasn't the overwhelming practice. My path is also bhakti - or so I like to think, I'm not the best bhakta in the world. I can grasp the idea of a universal and cosmic oneness between all creation, but I can't get my head completely wrapped around Advaita, and I don't try anymore. I drove myself to mental chaos trying to get my head wrapped around it. It takes away from devotional practice. Alan Watts's writings certainly didn't clarify things. Viśiṣṭādvaita and/or acintyabhedābheda (they're not all that different... "do you want Coke or Pepsi?") suit my brain better. So, I'll echo others and say Hinduism is a huge buffet, ala carte.

[JosephineB]

The thing is, staying as you are has its advantages doesn't it.

[NoOne]

The term "Hindu" is meaningless. It simply denotes someone that lives beyond the Indus river, irrespective of religion (from a Western perspective).

The correct term should be "Dharmist", someone that takes their eternal spiritual duty and calling seriously. Anyone who acknowledges and worships the gods is a Hindu really, basically anyone who is a polytheist and doesn't believe in the inane idea of "One God".

All the murders, bombings, beheadings, etc... we are seeing daily in our world seem to be coming from people who believe their god is better than the gods of others, in fact He (and it's always a He) is the only one in existence.

The strength of Dharmists comes from the fact that they acknowledge the many faces of the divine in all its manifestations and don't try to murder others for their different deity or slightly different interpretation of the same deity.

[Vinayaka]

Originally Posted by NoOne

The term "Hindu" is meaningless. It simply denotes someone that lives beyond the Indus river, irrespective of religion (from a Western perspective).

The correct term should be "Dharmist", someone that takes their eternal spiritual duty and calling seriously. Anyone who acknowledges and worships the gods is a Hindu really, basically anyone who is a polytheist and doesn't believe in the inane idea of "One God".

Still, whether we like it or not, we're stuck with it, as it's been in use for so very long. When driving along a road, and you see a different looking building, if you said it's a Dharmist temple, nobody would understand, or if you referred to yourself as a Dharmist, same thing. I'm personally comfortable with the term Hindu merely because it's the commonly used term for Sanatana Dharma.

[Altair]

Originally Posted by NoOne

Anyone who acknowledges and worships the gods is a Hindu really, basically anyone who is a polytheist and doesn't believe in the inane idea of "One God".

I don't think being a polytheist makes one a Hindu, because Hinduism has its own distinct gods such as Vishnu and his many incarnations, and also has rather elaborate views on reincarnation that we do not see in European polytheism, if at all. There are polytheisms across the world, present and past, that do not believe or do not mention such things as 'samsara', 'karma', 'moksha', nor by other names. There are cycles, yes, but Hinduism has a distinct character. Though it’s always fascinating to look for similarities!

There are Greek philosophers who believed in reincarnation, but it's not in the cosmology of their ancient culture. There are some loose stories here and there, people mentioning 'reborn'. In any case, it's too little to go by to make a bold claim that Hinduism has the correct answers to the cycle of reincarnation. I think that would be premature. It may also have been brought to Europe through trade. As for those philosophers, I don't recall those philosophers being proper polytheists but I'll have to check that again..

Also.. there are Hindus who are not quite ''polytheist'', Hindus who believe all gods are just different forms of one true god, such as Krishna, or in other belief systems they mention Brahman, usually as an impersonalist ''Force''..

Originally Posted by NoOne

All the murders, bombings, beheadings, etc... we are seeing daily in our world seem to be coming from people who believe their god is better than the gods of others, in fact He (and it's always a He) is the only one in existence.
The strength of Dharmists comes from the fact that they acknowledge the many faces of the divine in all its manifestations and don't try to murder others for their different deity or slightly different interpretation of the same deity.

Yes, it's usually monotheism and a male god..

But there's also Hindu nationalists though who are known to resort to violence..