I will tell you why I am angry at the New Age and Hinduism.

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by Altair

These days many spiritual people are big on Hindu thought, and often on here, anyone questioning Hindu concepts of karma, samsara, moksha, and guru's will have a hard time avoiding personal attacks from people who believe in these things. It tends to be more subtle than any argumentative 'jihad' you get from monotheists, but there's definitely an ''aura'' of 'only Hindu conclusions are correct'.

I stand by what I said, Hindu beliefs are what other religions were at other times. It is of course a specific interpretation of Hinduism, but it's almost impossible to have a conversation about spiritual topics without a majority here tell you that you simply have to accept core tenets of Hinduism, and questioning it in any way means you're ''ego''. So convenient for those that believe in it. It stifles discussion.

Who is this "majority" on here telling you to accept the core tenets of Hinduism and if so, why am I basically the only one in the Hindu Forum if that be the case? I would love to discuss the tenets of Hinduism with another soul on here...been waiting for that opportunity for the past four years.

Firstly, I don't equate the New Age with Hindu thought. The New Age movement may have borrowed some concepts from Hinduism, but when interpreted through the medium of Western society, much of it became lost in translation.

Secondly, I will never force Hindu tenets on anyone but I will make corrections according to scripture if I notice any discrepancy between an unsupported claim and factual evidence and of course that is going to stifle conversation if the claimant expects their faux pas to go unnoticed so they can control the discussion based around a loaded, biased premise...sorry about that.

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by Altair

These days many spiritual people are big on Hindu thought, and often on here, anyone questioning Hindu concepts of karma, samsara, moksha, and guru's will have a hard time avoiding personal attacks from people who believe in these things. It tends to be more subtle than any argumentative 'jihad' you get from monotheists, but there's definitely an ''aura'' of 'only Hindu conclusions are correct'.

I stand by what I said, Hindu beliefs are what other religions were at other times. It is of course a specific interpretation of Hinduism, but it's almost impossible to have a conversation about spiritual topics without a majority here tell you that you simply have to accept core tenets of Hinduism, and questioning it in any way means you're ''ego''. So convenient for those that believe in it. It stifles discussion.

Some people might object to your 'inspired words', but one only has to examine the last 10 posts and one might come to the conclusion that Altair has 'become the enemy'. I have felt I have been put in that category numerous times when some posters have tried stirring hatred toward me by writing that I an a denier, "FALSE NEWS", "FOX NEWS", etc.. Surprisingly, the ones doing these personal attacks are Hindus or have Hindu leanings.

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

Some people might object to your 'inspired words', but one only has to examine the last 10 posts and one might come to the conclusion that Altair has 'become the enemy'. I have felt I have been put in that category numerous times when some posters have tried stirring hatred toward me by writing that I an a denier, "FALSE NEWS", "FOX NEWS", etc.. Surprisingly, the ones doing these personal attacks are Hindus or have Hindu leanings.

Which could also possibly have LESS to do with my religion and MORE to do with my gender... that's if we are going to "blame" anything other than the fact that I simply don't like you as a person...which has NOTHING to do with my religion. See, I am not making this an issue here, you are by talking trash to support your cause.

However, I am noticing that whenever and wherever these disagreements occur, it is always... ALWAYS the men vs the women rather than non Hindu vs Hindu. I watch all those you have issues with on here and we are ALL women! (Janielee, Josephine, Sky, Shivani) and Altair is the same! Go figure.

*reports thread*

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

Which could also possibly have LESS to do with my religion and MORE to do with my gender... that's if we are going to "blame" anything other than the fact that I simply don't like you as a person...which has NOTHING to do with my religion. See, I am not making this an issue here, you are!

However, I am noticing that whenever and wherever these disagreements occur, it is always... ALWAYS the men vs the women rather than non Hindu vs Hindu. I watch all those you have issues with on here and we are ALL women! (Janielee, Josephine, Sky, Shivani) and Altair is the same! Go figure.

*reports thread*

You promised you would not reply to my post.

Please honor your own word.

[Lynn]

Hello

If you have agreed to avoid discussions with another please respect in that space. If this continues to be an issue I will step in and take actions.

Best to agree to disagree and leave each other be.

Lynn
SF Admin

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

You promised you would not reply to my post.

Please honor your own word.

I am not going to just sit back and watch you criticise what I have written in the last 10 posts and then blaming it on my religion without having any right of reply or defense of my position so that whatever you say can go unchallenged, so, you can just get lost..and that's got nothing to do with me being a Hindu.

[Altair]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

Some people might object to your 'inspired words', but one only has to examine the last 10 posts and one might come to the conclusion that Altair has 'become the enemy'. I have felt I have been put in that category numerous times when some posters have tried stirring hatred toward me by writing that I an a denier, "FALSE NEWS", "FOX NEWS", etc.. Surprisingly, the ones doing these personal attacks are Hindus or have Hindu leanings.

It can be people of any religion, and depending on context, there's always a religion that tends to dominate the spiritual climate.

I am not here to be an ''anti-Hindu'' and if it appears that way it's only as a consequence of the dominant themes here. I recall in other places I was mostly questioning Christianity because it was a bigger thing there. I question beliefs, religions, cultures etc. and I've always done that. Even so, I respect Hinduism just like other religions, recognizing it has pearls that are beneficial to people, such as yoga and other practices. It also offers a wealth of information about a specific area on Earth, which has priceless historical and cultural value. But I exercise my freedom to question commonly held beliefs or explore and doubt religious concepts and conclusions.

My pet peeve here, and hopefully there are some people that see it, is with religious universalism.
Today people say they 'experience' the truth of Hinduism because that's the climate and the dominant force in globalizing spirituality. But the rainforest shaman experience(d) other things, ayahuasca will give them visions of spirits and rainforest animals. Some Norse believed they'd go drinking in the halls of Valhalla instead. It wasn't about caressing cows and playing the lute for Krishna, no matter how desperate some (mostly Vaishnavists) want to pretend there was some kind of global Vedic civilization. That's what I call anti-intellectual, purposefully not recognizing differences in the name of an agenda. This is why I liken it to colonial Christians that use(d) any local river flood story as 'proof' of Genesis or saying Native Americans are a ''lost tribe of Israel'', all with the means to collect these people. I've noticed opportunistic guru's and other religions do the same. Any experience of bliss and peace will be the ''beginnings of your journey towards liberation, to be free of samsara.'' It's like there's no faith without cultural baggage. I'm not at all suggesting the cultures are bad, but they are often unwilling to recognize their bias..

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by Lynn

Hello

If you have agreed to avoid discussions with another please respect in that space. If this continues to be an issue I will step in and take actions.

Best to agree to disagree and leave each other be.

Lynn
SF Admin

Sorry Lynn.

I just made that last post as you were typing your response on this thread.

I have left it alone before, but John never does..this has gotta be a mutual thing for it to work...got any suggestions which can help?

[Shivani Devi]

Nevermind, I will just confine all my activity to the Hindu forum in future and if the staff wish to take any punitive action with respect to myself, they can make sure I can only post in that section if I am ever tempted to stray outside of it.

So, if anybody wishes to discuss Hinduism and have a REAL talk about it, instead of apportioning blame to that religion for all their woes in life, you know where to find me.

...and those who are Hinduphobes will avoid that section anyway, so it is a win/win.

I'm done here.

[7luminaries]

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

Nevermind, I will just confine all my activity to the Hindu forum in future and if the staff wish to take any punitive action with respect to myself, they can make sure I can only post in that section if I am ever tempted to stray outside of it.

So, if anybody wishes to discuss Hinduism and have a REAL talk about it, instead of apportioning blame to that religion for all their woes in life, you know where to find me.

...and those who are Hinduphobes will avoid that section anyway, so it is a win/win.

I'm done here.

Shivani not to contradict anyone here on what they have stated or prefer, but I certainly hope you feel free to go anywhere on the forums and speak your piece, just as others do.

There is a big spectrum of belief, and I think it is very important for all of us to confront and engage *courteously* with those who are different and who disagree, without expecting that others will or should agree -- and you excel at that . Of course not all folks respect one another's humanity so it is challenging at times.

What you have to say has value and I appreciate it as I do many others, some of whom I feel are not as tolerant of those who disagree or are not like them. Your right to your opinion is as valid as anyone else's. I feel like we lose something very precious when anyone's voice is not free to be heard and accepted, so I hope you post away

Peace & blessings
7L