Religious Freedom from Hindu perspective

[nitetrogen70]

so there are levels of each god ?

 

[kingkobra]

so there are levels of each god ?

there is only one god in vedas which has many names...highest name means name that has highest meaning...

 

[KS]

I do not quote just the restriction on beef alone - Other two examples which come to my mind is the strict vegetarianism followed by certain Hindus though there are stories that in olden days even sages used to eat meat if offered to them(e.g. Agastya vs Vathapi asura story) - other one is from my own experience - my father's anchestors have been praying to a local deity - pork is strictly banned in our home due to certain beliefs associated with that deity.

I believe(though I do not have concrete proof) that these restrictions is the main reason, the diet of the Indians - especially south Indians - came to be dominated by the Carbohydrates instead of a balance in the food groups which leads to type 2 diabetes and other diseases as they age.

I dont know man. Maybe Brahmins have that strict regulations. In our community we eat everything except beef

Except Brahmins and some other castes almost all the other south indian hindu castes eat non-veg. Ofcourse there might be personal choices also among others not to eact non-veg, but I'm a bit generalizing. I'm a south indian too.

 

[Bang Galore]

there is only one god in vedas which has many names...

Not quite correct. The Rg veda has many names of different Gods. I don't quite understand this obsession with trying to make all Hinduism monotheistic. It both is & isn't, parts of it are very atheistic in nature (the upanishads have plenty of examples of that). Shankaracharya was both accepting of the worship of Gods while essentially being dismissive of the same in his philosophical teachings. The argument was that not all can comprehend & understand the complicated concepts put forth & if they wished, they could continue to pray in whatever temple & to whatever form since it was essentially an harmless exercise; pointless but harmless!

 

[nitetrogen70]

Not quite correct. The Rg veda has many names of different Gods. I don't quite understand this obsession with trying to make all Hinduism monotheistic. It both is & isn't, parts of it are very atheistic in nature (the upanishads have plenty of examples of that). Shankaracharya was both accepting of the worship of Gods while essentially being dismissive of the same in his philosophical teachings. The argument was that not all can comprehend & understand the complicated concepts put forth & if they wished, they could continue to pray in whatever temple & to whatever form since it was essentially an harmless exercise; pointless but harmless!

hmm so are you implying that there are parts of your religion that have more then 1 god while some parts have 1 god name

 

[kingkobra]

Not quite correct. The Rg veda has many names of different Gods. I don't quite understand this obsession with trying to make all Hinduism monotheistic. It both is & isn't, parts of it are very atheistic in nature (the upanishads have plenty of examples of that). Shankaracharya was both accepting of the worship of Gods while essentially being dismissive of the same in his philosophical teachings. The argument was that not all can comprehend & understand the complicated concepts put forth & if they wished, they could continue to pray in whatever temple & to whatever form since it was essentially an harmless exercise; pointless but harmless!

vedas clearly mention in many verses that there is only one god which must be worshiped...western translators have translated very pathetically...

read the following right translations:

Yajurveda 40.1:
This entire world is embedded within and managed by the One and Only One Ishwar. Never dare do any injustice or desire riches through unjust means. Instead follow the righteous path and enjoy His bliss. After all He alone is source of all bliss!

Rigveda 10.48.1:
Ishwar alone is omnipresent and manager of entire universe. He alone provides victory and eternal cause of world. All souls should look up only to Him in same manner as children look up to their Father. He alone provides for our sustenance and bliss.

Rigveda 10.48.5
Ishwar enlightens the entire world. He is undefeated and undying. He is the creator of the world. All souls should seek bliss through seeking knowledge and acting thereupon. They should never shun the friendship of Ishwar.

Rigveda 10.49.1
Ishwar alone provides true knowledge to truth seekers. He alone is promoter of knowledge and motivates virtuous people into noble actions to seek bliss. He alone is the creator and manager of the world. Hence never worship anyone else except one and only Ishwar.

Yajurveda 13.4
There is One and only One Creator and Maintainer of the entire world. He alone is sustaining the earth, sky and other heavenly bodies. He is Bliss Himself! He alone deserves to be worshipped by us.
Atharvaveda 13.4.16-21
He is neither two, nor three, nor four, nor five, nor six, nor seven, nor eight, nor nine, nor ten. He is, on contrary, One and Only One. There is no Ishwar except Him. All devatas reside within Him and are controlled by Him. So He alone should be worshipped, none else.

Atharvaveda 10.7.38
Ishwar alone is greatest and worth being worshipped. He is the source of all knowledge and activities.

Yajurveda 32.11
Ishwar resides at each point in universe. No space is devoid of Him. He is self-sustaining and does not need help of any agent, angel, prophet or incarnation to perform His duties. The soul which is able to realize this One and only One Ishwar achieves Him and enjoys unconditional ultimate bliss or Moksha.


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there are many names of ishwar mentioned in vedas and fools ignore these verses and think that all those names are separate gods..

 

[BelligerentPacifist]

That's dualism(dvaita). Not many Dharmic schools of thought are interested in god in a dualistic sense.
...

I was talking to someone who on this forum professed to be a believer as a Christian, and I was reminding the gentleman about something we both agree on.

However, I don't think you and I are reading my sentence the same way. I meant it just as I said it, our selves have all those spiritual colours that God gave us out of his own template, e.g. He can be kind, and THEREFORE so can we.

...
I don't think Dharmic traditions are a matter of discussion for Philosophically ill equipped people especially for people who grew up in an abrahamic cultural set up. (God-Message-messenger-book-end days..so on...)

I don't think ANY tradition could be discussed here on this defense forum by people who're poorly equipped with theological training and frankly inclination.

But you can't hold our growing in a different tradition as a logic. Why can't there be among us those that studied (to some extent) and liked what they saw?

Thanks.

 

[BelligerentPacifist]

i'm a bit confused exactly what is the name of the hindu god ?

Maybe if you had a less provincial mind you might've asked "what is the name by which Hindus call God?"!

 

[BelligerentPacifist]

Can you start a beaf slaughter house and still be hindu?

Yes.
Hinduism works differently. You could have a theological model antagonistic to mainstream Hindu doctrine and still be a Hindu, as far as I know.

 

[SQ8]

Interestingly.. I had a debate earlier with somebody on the idea of worshipping different dieties and animals such as the cow in Hinduism.. and his claim was that in the purest and earliest forms these never existed.. rather were incorporated from conquered people as the Aryan invasion spread..
That the crux of Hinduism is still Ishwar.. the one who is constant. Again.. that was one persons PoV.
Also.. Hinduism isnt the only religion to worship a cow..
The Israelites did so with the golden calf DURING the tenure of the prophet Moses.

 

[majesticpankaj]

Interestingly.. I had a debate earlier with somebody on the idea of worshipping different dieties and animals such as the cow in Hinduism.. and his claim was that in the purest and earliest forms these never existed.. rather were incorporated from conquered people as the Aryan invasion spread..
That the crux of Hinduism is still Ishwar.. the one who is constant. Again.. that was one persons PoV.
Also.. Hinduism isnt the only religion to worship a cow..
The Israelites did so with the golden calf DURING the tenure of the prophet Moses.

the reason for worshiping cow is as our mother feed us during our childhood but a cow feed us all our life. In Hinduism... we worship all the living beings who bring good for us. That is why we have the same respect for our elders, teachers etc...that we have for God.

 

[Black Widow]

Can you start a beaf slaughter house and still be hindu?

I am not Hindu Mulla so I don't know. But as far as I know Hinduism never disassociate one from it. It doesn't say if you do something, you will not be Hindu. Years ago I owned a truck, I carried leather (Skin of Cow,Sheep,goat,pig etc).

I am still Hindu.

 

[Nair saab]

Hinduism Says u Pray in which ever Way if u Pray with atmost Devotion even if u Pray a Stone God will listen ur prayers...

Other way is Karam... If u full Fill ur Duties & Stand always for Righteous what may ever happens even if u Go against Gods Will for it... then Ur the Blessed ... Doing ur Duties & Standing for Righteous has Much value than Praying for 24 Hours a Days...

Example - Once Narab Muni asked Lord Vishnu who is his Best Devotee ... Lord Vishnu Points a Farmer working in Field on earth ... when Narad Muni watched the Farmer Day whole day he He just said the Name of Narayana ( Lord Maha Vishnu) Once in a Day after Completion of all his work on Farm...

Narab Muni Got Furious & Argued With Vishnu How can the Farmer be the Best Devotee of Lord Vishnu when he takes the Lords Name just Once in a Day while Narad Muni Himself Keeps on telling Narayan Narayan 24 hours a Day ... on hearing this Lord Vishnu Give Narda with a Vessel Full of oil upto the brim & asks Him to Go around the temple in that village three times in pradakshanam (circumambulatin) and come back But Don’t spill even a drop of oil...

when Narad returns completing his Task ... Lord Vishnu asks him "Oh Narada while completing the Task i have given How many Times Did u take my Name" Narada replied " not even Once Since u have Given me a Task" ... Then Lord explained " Oh Narada. That farmer is poor, works hard all day, looks after his family and still remembers me once a day. All you had to do was carry a pot of oil thrice around a temple and you didn’t think of me even once. Who do you think is truer devotee"

 

[russellpeters]

I often have people asking me why do Hindus worship Sun, Cow, etc.

One must understand that there is difference between the abrahamic idea of worship and the dharmic idea. Dharmic method says wherever there is sacredness, wherever there is purity, wherever there is love, that is worshipable. because these are the qualities of God, in such things the qualities of God are manifested.

When we worship or pay respect to the cow, it is with the understanding that she is even like a mother to us and that motherly love is a divine quality. when we worship it, we worship the divine quality in the cow. That divine quality has come from God. Everything created by a divine God is divine.

And the God says in the Bhagvad Gita, Wherever whatever is worshipped, it comes to me.

What you worship is immaterial, that quality of worshipfulness is the real thing. That is why Buddha removed God from religion, but his religion has been the most peaceful. Because he has emphasized worshipfulness over worship, prayerfulness over prayer..

Ultimately Vedantic doctrine doesnt consider that creation and creator are different things. Hindus hold the universe to be a manifestation of the divine, and hence praying is important, not to what you pray. Because ultimately all things are manifestation of Brahman only.

There is a similar tenet in Sufism. It is called Wahdat al-Wujud...unity of existence. Hindus will very quickly relate to it.

 

[Black Widow]

it's a misnomer that there's a purest or earliest Hinduism. There's no such thing called purest or earliest. It's a constantly changing Philosophy. Vedas are NOT religious scriptures. There are some Vedic traditions just like there are other non Vedic traditions. Some people quote Bhagavat geeta as equivalent to scruiputes in Islam or Christianity or other book based religions. However, it's false too. Just like you can't define who is a hindu, You can't say this is Hinduism, let alone Purest or earliest .

I agree with you, nothing can be purest. But I think Hinduism (descendant of sanatanism) is oldest coz we don't know any religion older that it. We can give it benefit of doubt. I agree Vedas are not religious script and Geeta is not text book of Hinduism.

We can not bind a vast culture in book. Like we can not define food/cloth and living style of ppl in 100 page book. Agree with you that we can not define hinduism as well coz, for that we need a book.. and Hinduism is not Bookish religion.

you gotta know Indian History especially societal history to understand Dharma.

Agree

Hinduism today is different from say 18th century.

Agree, that's the beauty of hinduism, Its Pragmatic and evolutionary. It heel it self (through reformers). Its flexible and expandable..