Are Hindu Deities real or just concepts??

[Desert Snake]

Of course. But do you expect to find any statement about the existence of deities that is not an opinion?

Huh? That wasn't my issue with his comments.:no:

 

[Valjean]

The deities can be either -- your choice. They're your creation, after all.

We generate -- dream -- our own subjective realities -- time, cars, teapots, &c.
There are different realities in different levels of consciousness. Dreams, for example, are real while we're dreaming them. but when we wake in the morning to third state consciousness it's immediately obvious that they were illusory. Likewise, when we wake from this state it'll be clear that our present waking state is just another level of self generated illusion.

If we choose to create a God, that God can be as real as our spouse or TV set is -- subjectively real but objectively illusory.
When we eventually wake to a higher state, the illusory nature of our God and TV will be immediately obvious.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Are the hindu Deities real, or just concepts/ideas? And by real I mean actual Deities......not just 'real concepts'..

I don't see how any god can be more than a concept.

They are very much real. You can find Shiva meditating on the top of Himalayan peaks with Parvati preparing his marijuana brew. You can find Vishnu in Thirupati, Nathdwara, Dwarika, or Vrindavana, wherever he happens to be at that time (on Holi, you can certainly find him in Mathura). You can find Durga in Kolkata, Murugan in (Vinayaka will tell you where, he keeps a tab on him, I suppose mostly in Palani), and Ganesha in Mumbai. They work closely with their devotees. The devotees do not even allow their Gods to rest with the result that Jagannatha sometimes falls ill and goes to his aunt's place to recover.

 

[LuisDantas]

Huh? That wasn't my issue with his comments.:no:

It was not?

 

[Desert Snake]

It was not?

No. It was the assumption that I was somehow asking the 'wrong' question or similar tone. Also, he doesn't speak for others, especially since he doesn't have Hinduism listed next to his religion.

 

[zenzero]

Friend Vinayaka,

If you've seen them, felt them, noticed them, communicated with them, heard them, how is that any different than saying another person is 'just a concept' ?

Everyday in dreams we do such activities; does it mean they are real?
The mystics call this world as an illusion then how can the illusory humans create anything real? It is only a mystic who understands forms to be formless and formless to be forms'; and to be a mystic, is to be awakened!

Love & rgds

 

[Vinayaka]

Disciple, were the answers you received from Hindus helpful at all, or did it just muddy the idea for you? I'm curious as to whether or not answering helps someone understand another POV any better.

 

[Desert Snake]

Disciple, were the answers you received from Hindus helpful at all, or did it just muddy the idea for you? I'm curious as to whether or not answering helps someone understand another POV any better.

Yes, it helps. At least in this case, with the useful answers...in fact, this is one of the more informative threads, period, imo.

 

[Vinayaka]

Yes, it helps. At least in this case, with the useful answers...in fact, this is one of the more informative threads, period, imo.

Thanks for the feedback then. In Andhra Pradesh, the Tirupati Devasthanam (a temple for Vishnu) averages a million people a day. In Tamil Nadu, at Palani, a shrine to Murugan, the crowd averages 400 000 per day. Likewise, throughout India and elsewhere, the Hindu devotees throng to temples. Probably 90% absolutely believe in the mystic reality, and the rest are tagging along with family for the experience.

I took my (western raised) daughter to Palani, and although she's more or less an agnostic, whenever I ask, "if we could go there in an hour, without the plane flight, the India experience, etc., would you come?" She always says, "absolutely'.

Many otherwise non-religious folk say they feel 'something' at these powerful ancient shrines.

 

[chinu]

Are the hindu Deities real, or just concepts/ideas?


And by real I mean actual Deities......not just 'real concepts'..

According to me..
They are actual-programs(software)designed by supreme God to control the work of creation. They don't have any body (Hardware).

 

[Jainarayan]

Many otherwise non-religious folk say they feel 'something' at these powerful ancient shrines.

I don't doubt that. There was a study done in which it was allegedly (I always hedge my bets) shown that in large group gatherings, specifically religious ones, the equipment has picked up and recorded unusual amounts of energy. Either the crowds are generating it, or are attracting it. It didn't matter what religion it was, because at these gatherings, the focus was on God, not on the tenets, rules, regulations or specific beliefs of the religion, but on God. I don't doubt or dismiss the idea that the energy can linger and affect even the non-religious people.

 

[Desert Snake]

According to me..
They are actual-programs(software)designed by supreme God to control the work of creation. They don't have any body (Hardware).

Yeah makes sense.

 

[chinu]

Yeah makes sense.

But not without frubals

 

[Desert Snake]

But not without frubals

i'm out..

 

[chinu]

i'm out..

You are making Gods angry

 

[Breathe]

This people believes they are real. I can't intellectualize it, but I feel it. I toyed with Pure Land Buddhism, but did not feel any reality in the buddhas and bodhisattvas I feel with Krishna, Hanuman, Shiva, et al. I've had experiences that re-inforces my belief in them.

I think this is the key to belief actually. Experiences. I could write several books probably on experiences with God and Gods.

But at the same time, its fully understandable that not all people have had these experiences, or even ones that are close.

Thank goodness for differences. (Else we'd have nothing else to talk about.)

I don't doubt that. There was a study done in which it was allegedly (I always hedge my bets) shown that in large group gatherings, specifically religious ones, the equipment has picked up and recorded unusual amounts of energy. Either the crowds are generating it, or are attracting it. It didn't matter what religion it was, because at these gatherings, the focus was on God, not on the tenets, rules, regulations or specific beliefs of the religion, but on God. I don't doubt or dismiss the idea that the energy can linger and affect even the non-religious people.

Entirely these posts.

I suppose all I can really add is 'define 'real''. It sounds like a bit of a cop-out, to some, but it is in my opinion something that needs to be explained.
But for me, yes, the Hindu gods are real to me, though as forms of the One. Even if they were only as the creations of humans trying to reach the gods, or as the projection of God reaching humanity in forms accessible to them, they would still be 'real', just in a different way.

That energy of the gods, the Source of them, that which is beyond explanation but can be experienced and felt? That is absolutely real, in this one's humble opinion.

 

[Desert Snake]

Entirely these posts.

I suppose all I can really add is 'define 'real''. It sounds like a bit of a cop-out, to some, but it is in my opinion something that needs to be explained.
But for me, yes, the Hindu gods are real to me, though as forms of the One. Even if they were only as the creations of humans trying to reach the gods, or as the projection of God reaching humanity in forms accessible to them, they would still be 'real', just in a different way.

That's a different question, so I don't really agree. if I asked that specific question, it would be specific.

 

[StarryNightshade]

Are the hindu Deities real, or just concepts/ideas?


And by real I mean actual Deities......not just 'real concepts'..

It depends on the school as well as the Individual Hindu.

For me, personally, the Devas are all characterizations of Brahman. However, that doesn't make them any less real for me.

 

[Desert Snake]

It depends on the school as well as the Individual Hindu.

For me, personally, the Devas are all characterizations of Brahman. However, that doesn't make them any less real for me.

Hmm thanks for your answer, yes, I would classify that under the 'real' category as well.

 

[Vinayaka]

I don't doubt that. There was a study done in which it was allegedly (I always hedge my bets) shown that in large group gatherings, specifically religious ones, the equipment has picked up and recorded unusual amounts of energy. Either the crowds are generating it, or are attracting it. It didn't matter what religion it was, because at these gatherings, the focus was on God, not on the tenets, rules, regulations or specific beliefs of the religion, but on God. I don't doubt or dismiss the idea that the energy can linger and affect even the non-religious people.

I've also had the rare opportunity to stand alone with no crowd at one of these massive temples. (Brihadeeswara) Energy was the same. The crowd has an energy too, but its a different energy than the one coming from the inner sanctum.