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Are Hindu Deities real or just concepts??

Vinayaka

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
LuisDantas said:
No. I am curious about things such as how a TV series finished when cancelled, or why people choose a certain name to their children. That is curiosity.

I feel a powerful drive to attempt to read and understand people, their values and their motivations.

That is not just idle curiosity, but rather a necessary concession to the logical consequences of my worldview. People are significant, therefore so are their beliefs, and so are the odds of their accuracy, and also the means by which they reached those beliefs.

How else could I possibly deal with them?
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Yeah, I see your point. I was more that way 30-40 years ago. But now I'm in situation where there are basically only two types of people I have any need to deal with in any significant way. Family, and other Hindus.

But, yes, as a teacher in a multi-ethnic-religious environment, I made a better effort.
 
atanu

atanu

Member
Premium Member
Seyorni said:
Of course. To paraphrase: (Gita IV:24)
Brahman is the offerer. Brahman is thing offered. Brahman is the act of offering. Brahman is the fire in which the offering's burnt.

We have to live in the world we perceive; we have to treat our current level of consciousness as reality even if we understand intellectually that it's maya.

I believe the world is real. I believe the world is illusion. Reality is different in different levels of consciousness. The correct answer to a question changes when answered from different metaphysical levels.

My "ego self," as you say, has created my world. Someday my ego self will transcend that world, though; merge with it, absorb it, expand beyond it.

My current ego self has not, thus far, chosen to make a God. I'm aware that some people do make Gods, and for them those Gods can be (subjectively) real. Someday, though, these people will become their Gods, then transcend them, absorb them and continue to expand beyond them.

In third state their Gods are real. In fifth or sixth state they are not. The reality of Gods -- or teapots -- depends on which level we are asking or answering from.
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Ya. Here the understanding is opposite. In higher states of consciousness the self that says "In fifth state gods are not", will not be real. :)
 
atanu

atanu

Member
Premium Member
disciple said:
O.k. but then you could say there aren't individual emanations or something, who knows, there are different opinions on the thread for example.
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Hinduism, I think, has a difficulty simply because it recognises that there are great differences among individual seekers and their needs and thus has many upayas (paths or methods) and corresponding knowledge, called darsana (the seen).

None of those 'darsanas' are absolute truths. Yet, all darsana-s are tied together by one understanding "What is in consciousness is true, since Consciousness is True".
 
D

Desert Snake

Veteran Member
atanu said:
Hinduism, I think, has a difficulty simply because it recognises that there are great differences among individual seekers and their needs and thus has many upayas (paths or methods) and corresponding knowledge, called darsana (the seen).

None of those 'darsanas' are absolute truths. Yet, all darsana-s are tied together by one understanding "What is in consciousness is true, since Consciousness is True".
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I see. Thanks for that explanation.
 
zenzero

zenzero

Its only a Label
Friend Vinayaka,

Why would anybody who is not a Hindu want to know if Hindu Gods are real or not? That's puzzling.
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Firstly so far it has been established that 'Hinduism' is a 'way of life' , a culture that includes followers of all religions
"Hinduism" or "Hindutva" are not necessarily to be understood and construed narrowly, confined only to the strict Hindu religious practices unrelated to the culture and ethos of the People of India depicting the way of life of the Indian people. Unless the context of a speech indicates a contrary meaning or use, in the abstract, these terms are indicative more of a way of life of the Indian people. Unless the context of a speech indicates a contrary meaning or use, in the abstract, these terms are indicative more of a way of life of the Indian people and are not confined merely to describe persons practicing the Hindu religion as a faith" (Emphasis supplied). This clearly means that, by itself, the word "Hinduism" or "Hindutva" indicates the culture of the people of India as a whole, irrespective of whether they are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews etc.
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Besides, there is no doubt that 'God' is a concept which is used for an understanding and any 'deity' is representational of IT even the 'form' that each one is, IS also representative of THAT concept.
Finally when we humans are all ONE or representatives if THAT only forms being different then why not similar understanding develop as to whether 'deity' are concepts or not?? and such an understanding can only be reached through discussion on the subject.

Personally finding anyone enquiring about various aspect on 'Hinduism' would always attempt to clarify such doubts by setting it to rest such minds by explaining that 'Hinduism' is a 'way of life' which includes the ways followed by followers of any religion/path/way and that there is no difference conceptually amongst any paths/ways/religions.

Love & rgds
 
atanu

atanu

Member
Premium Member
zenzero said:
Friend Vinayaka,

Firstly so far it has been established that 'Hinduism' is a 'way of life' , a culture that includes followers of all religions.
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Where, when, and by whom? Do you really mean to say that Hinduism has no distinctive features that a separate name exists. Or, do you mean that christians and muslims in India are nothing but exactly followers of Hinduism?

Besides, there is no doubt that 'God' is a concept which is used for an understanding and any 'deity' is representational of IT even the 'form' that each one is, IS also representative of THAT concept.
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Whose concept?
 
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atanu

atanu

Member
Premium Member
zenzero said:
Friend atanu,


Sorry, forgot the source which is the Supreme Court of India's judgement available at:
Supreme court judgment: a blow to secular democracy.

Love & rgds
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On the contrary, since we are talking of Hindu Dharma and not Hindutva in Political-Cultural context, the following judgement will clarify your doubts:

https://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=5047

The judgement adopts the following as a working formula:

"Acceptance of the Vedas with reverence; recognition of the fact that the means or ways to salvation are diverse; and the realization of the truth that the number of gods to be worshipped is large, that indeed is the distinguishing feature of Hindu religion. (B.G.Tilak's Gitarahasayal)."
 
zenzero

zenzero

Its only a Label
Friend atanu,

Thank you for the link:
here are few excerpts from the same judgement:
When we think of the Hindu religion, we find it difficult, if not impossible, to define Hindu religion or even adequately describe it. Unlike other religions in the world, the Hindu religion does not claim any one prophet; it does not worship any one God; it does not subscribe to any one dogma; it does not believe in any one philosophic concept; it does not follow any one set of religious rites or performances; in fact, it does not appear to satisfy the narrow traditional features of any religion of creed. It may broadly be described as a way of life and nothing more.
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"From the high spiritual flights of the Vedanta philosophy, of which the latest discoveries of science seem like echoes, to the low ideas of idolatry with its multiflavour, mythology, the agnosticism of the Buddhists and the atheism of the Jains, each and all have a place in the Hindu's religion...
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Love & rgds
 
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