Most of the Hindus are sometimes ashamed to say that they are Hindus. This is because we don’t know the answers for lot of questions about our own religion asked by other religion persons or atheist (who don’t believe in god). People laughed at us for worshiping elephants and snakes. This blog is not to make a regular Hindu to a fanatic Hindu but to make him understand who he is and what the Hindu religion is about. I am trying to answer very common questions about Hinduism which we may struggle to answer.
Why we worship so many gods?
Every Hindu home has multiple god images. Every Hindu or Hindu group has/have favorite gods. This makes everybody including Hindus to think that they have multiple gods to worship. Contrary to prevailing misconceptions, Hindus all worship a one Supreme Being, though by different names. This is because we have different languages and cultures have understood the one God in their own distinct way. Just like other religions we have denominations-—Saivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism and Smartism. For Sai-vites, God is Siva. For Shaktas, Goddess Shakti is supreme. For Vaishnavites, Lord Vishnu is God. For Smartas—who see all Deities as reflections of the One God—the choice of Deity is left to the devotee.
For us God is not far away, living in a remote heaven, but is inside our soul, in the heart and consciousness, waiting to be discovered. This knowing that God is always with us gives us hope and courage. Knowing the One Great God in this intimate and experiential way is the goal of Hindu spirituality.
Do you we believe in reincarnation?
Carnation means body. Reincarnation means into the body again or reborn again. A hindu believe everything is in cycle. Meaning anything that begins have an end, and an end have beginning again. Even universe will end as nothing but very small particles and slowly those small particle combine back to form the universe again. Westerner were initially could not understand this concept. No recent scientific hypothesis is saying that universe will end in black hole and disappear but will form back as universe again- Black hole/ Big Bang theory.
For us the soul is kept on going in a cycle. It will leave the body and reenter into the new soul. The goal of the Hindu is salvation meaning preventing rebirth.
What is Karma?
Karma is the basic law of action. Our actions, both good and bad, come back to us in the future, helping us to learn from life's lessons and become better people. This is like applying Newton’s 3rd law of action in the spiritual life- For every action there is opposite reaction. Result of your action/ activity is Karma. If you do good action you will get good Karma and if you do bad action/activity you will get karma. Bad karma’s pull your current and future life down and good karma lifts it up.
Because we Hindus understand karma, we do not hate or resent people who do us harm. We understand they are giving back the effects of the causes we set in motion at an earlier time. The law of karma puts man at the center of responsibility for everything he does and everything that is done to him.
Why do we worship cows?
The answer is yes. The cow is a symbol of the Earth, the nourisher, the ever-giving, undemanding provider. The cow represents life and the sustenance of life. The cow is so generous, taking nothing but water, grass and grain. It gives and gives and gives of its milk, as does the liberated soul give of his spiritual knowledge. The cow is so vital to life, the virtual sustainer of life, for many humans. The cow is a symbol of grace and abundance. Veneration of the cow instills in Hindus the virtues of gentleness, receptivity and connectedness with nature.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, "One can measure the greatness of a nation and its moral progress by the way it treats its animals. Cow protection to me is not mere protection of the cow. It means protection of all that lives and is helpless and weak in the world. The cow means the entire subhuman world."
Are we idol worshippers?
We do not worship a stone or metal "idol" as God. We worship God through the image. We invoke the presence of God from the higher, unseen worlds, into the image so that we can commune with Him and receive His blessings.
Another way to explain icon worship is to acknowledge that Hindus believe God is everywhere, in all things, whether stone, wood, creatures or people. So, it is not surprising that they feel comfortable worshiping the Divine in His material manifestation. The Hindu can see God in stone and water, fire, air and ether, and inside his own soul.
Hindu yogis don’t worship any idol in order to reach the god. He can see the god everywhere. He never believes in idol worship. Only lay man like as see the god through the idol image not the sages or yogis
Are we forbidden to eat meat?
Hinduism teaches vegetarianism as a way to live with a minimum of hurt to other beings. But in today's world not all Hindus are vegetarians.
Hinduism gives us the wisdom to make up our own mind on what we put in our body, for it is the only one we have—in this life, at least. Vegetarians are more numerous in the South of India than in the North. This is because of the North's cooler climactic conditions and past Islamic influence. But eating less meat makes you feel good and think right.
What is our holy book?
Our holy book is Vedas. The Veda, which means "wisdom," is comprised of four ancient and Holy Scriptures (Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva) which all Hindus revere as the revealed word of God.
Why Hindu men/women wear pottu/bindhi or vebudhi?
The dot worn on the forehead is a religious symbol. It represents divine sight and shows that one is a Hindu.
Men and women of a particular religion wishing to identify themselves to one another often do so by wearing distinctive religious symbols. Christians wear a cross on a necklace. Jewish boys wear small leather cases that hold scriptural passages, and the round cap called yarmulka. Sikh men wear their hair in a turban.
Are the Hindu gods are really married?
Yes, it is true that God is often depicted with a spouse in our traditional stories. However, on a deeper philosophical level, the Supreme Being and the Gods are neither male nor female and are therefore not married. God is everywhere seen as the beloved, divine couple. Philosophically, however, the caution is always made that God and God's energy are One, and the metaphor of the inseparable divine couple serves only to illustrate this Oneness.
Why we worship so many gods?
Every Hindu home has multiple god images. Every Hindu or Hindu group has/have favorite gods. This makes everybody including Hindus to think that they have multiple gods to worship. Contrary to prevailing misconceptions, Hindus all worship a one Supreme Being, though by different names. This is because we have different languages and cultures have understood the one God in their own distinct way. Just like other religions we have denominations-—Saivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism and Smartism. For Sai-vites, God is Siva. For Shaktas, Goddess Shakti is supreme. For Vaishnavites, Lord Vishnu is God. For Smartas—who see all Deities as reflections of the One God—the choice of Deity is left to the devotee.
For us God is not far away, living in a remote heaven, but is inside our soul, in the heart and consciousness, waiting to be discovered. This knowing that God is always with us gives us hope and courage. Knowing the One Great God in this intimate and experiential way is the goal of Hindu spirituality.
Do you we believe in reincarnation?
Carnation means body. Reincarnation means into the body again or reborn again. A hindu believe everything is in cycle. Meaning anything that begins have an end, and an end have beginning again. Even universe will end as nothing but very small particles and slowly those small particle combine back to form the universe again. Westerner were initially could not understand this concept. No recent scientific hypothesis is saying that universe will end in black hole and disappear but will form back as universe again- Black hole/ Big Bang theory.
For us the soul is kept on going in a cycle. It will leave the body and reenter into the new soul. The goal of the Hindu is salvation meaning preventing rebirth.
What is Karma?
Karma is the basic law of action. Our actions, both good and bad, come back to us in the future, helping us to learn from life's lessons and become better people. This is like applying Newton’s 3rd law of action in the spiritual life- For every action there is opposite reaction. Result of your action/ activity is Karma. If you do good action you will get good Karma and if you do bad action/activity you will get karma. Bad karma’s pull your current and future life down and good karma lifts it up.
Because we Hindus understand karma, we do not hate or resent people who do us harm. We understand they are giving back the effects of the causes we set in motion at an earlier time. The law of karma puts man at the center of responsibility for everything he does and everything that is done to him.
Why do we worship cows?
The answer is yes. The cow is a symbol of the Earth, the nourisher, the ever-giving, undemanding provider. The cow represents life and the sustenance of life. The cow is so generous, taking nothing but water, grass and grain. It gives and gives and gives of its milk, as does the liberated soul give of his spiritual knowledge. The cow is so vital to life, the virtual sustainer of life, for many humans. The cow is a symbol of grace and abundance. Veneration of the cow instills in Hindus the virtues of gentleness, receptivity and connectedness with nature.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, "One can measure the greatness of a nation and its moral progress by the way it treats its animals. Cow protection to me is not mere protection of the cow. It means protection of all that lives and is helpless and weak in the world. The cow means the entire subhuman world."
Are we idol worshippers?
We do not worship a stone or metal "idol" as God. We worship God through the image. We invoke the presence of God from the higher, unseen worlds, into the image so that we can commune with Him and receive His blessings.
Another way to explain icon worship is to acknowledge that Hindus believe God is everywhere, in all things, whether stone, wood, creatures or people. So, it is not surprising that they feel comfortable worshiping the Divine in His material manifestation. The Hindu can see God in stone and water, fire, air and ether, and inside his own soul.
Hindu yogis don’t worship any idol in order to reach the god. He can see the god everywhere. He never believes in idol worship. Only lay man like as see the god through the idol image not the sages or yogis
Are we forbidden to eat meat?
Hinduism teaches vegetarianism as a way to live with a minimum of hurt to other beings. But in today's world not all Hindus are vegetarians.
Hinduism gives us the wisdom to make up our own mind on what we put in our body, for it is the only one we have—in this life, at least. Vegetarians are more numerous in the South of India than in the North. This is because of the North's cooler climactic conditions and past Islamic influence. But eating less meat makes you feel good and think right.
What is our holy book?
Our holy book is Vedas. The Veda, which means "wisdom," is comprised of four ancient and Holy Scriptures (Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva) which all Hindus revere as the revealed word of God.
Why Hindu men/women wear pottu/bindhi or vebudhi?
The dot worn on the forehead is a religious symbol. It represents divine sight and shows that one is a Hindu.
Men and women of a particular religion wishing to identify themselves to one another often do so by wearing distinctive religious symbols. Christians wear a cross on a necklace. Jewish boys wear small leather cases that hold scriptural passages, and the round cap called yarmulka. Sikh men wear their hair in a turban.
Are the Hindu gods are really married?
Yes, it is true that God is often depicted with a spouse in our traditional stories. However, on a deeper philosophical level, the Supreme Being and the Gods are neither male nor female and are therefore not married. God is everywhere seen as the beloved, divine couple. Philosophically, however, the caution is always made that God and God's energy are One, and the metaphor of the inseparable divine couple serves only to illustrate this Oneness.
Vedanta is the essence of Vedas. Bhagavath Geetha is the essence of Vedanta. The song below, Bhaja Govindam was written by Athi Sankaracharya is the essence of Bhagavath Geetha. This song also has English subtitles.
No comments:
Post a Comment