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Hindu Monotheism
- Thread starter duvduv
- Start date
According to the description on the video, the Vedas have Shiva worshiping Vishnu as the Supreme Deity, Narayana, who himself presumably has the power to create, dissolve and recreate just as a supreme God would be expected to in any religion.
Doesn't "Sanatana Dharma" Hindu worship allow for the concept of the conduit to be done even without any statue?? It's very interesting the way you describe it, because in the Bible when Moses was up at the mountain his brother was forced to make a golden calf, which our commentaries explain was not God or Moses, but merely a CONDUIT of spirituality to lead them. But of course this was deemed a grave sin and it was destroyed when Moses returned.
Does the Bhagavad Gita make room for advancing without the need of images even for sensory human beings?? And how is an avatar conceived of having "more" spirituality than any other human if Brahma/Narayana fills all creation, including every human being??
And how does Krishna end up specifically as Vishnu/Narayana as a focus even among those who recognize Vishnu as Narayana?
Krishna, Vishnu, Narayana, Narasimha, Rāma are one and the same. It’s a personal preference as to which becomes one’s focus. It’s something the devotee feels, probably through prompting by God.
It’s not an impossibility, just difficult for many.
An avatar in Vaishnava context and beliefs is human or semi-human form Vishnu takes. Avatar means “descent”. He says that from age to age when righteousness declined and unrighteousness increases he descends and takes birth to re-establish order. He is after all, the preserver. This is what he does.
You’ve also been told that there’s no correlation between Abrahamic religions and Hinduism.
That said, yes people can meditate on the Unmanifested, i.e. Brahman. But I don’t think anyone worships Brahman. There are no temples or pujas (worship rituals) for Brahman. Meditation on Brahman is to obtain knowledge and thereby obtain moksha, liberation from rebirth.
There are many writings in which the different gods “worship” each other. Rāma, who is Vishnu, prays to Shiva for help in his (Rāma’s) quest to rescue his wife Sita (incarnation of Lakshmi, Vishnu’s wife).
When Shiva loses his mind and damn near destroys the universe in grief over the loss of his wife Sati, the gods pray to Vishnu to intervene and try to calm Shiva down.
When Vishnu goes on a rampage as Nsrasimha after accomplishing his task, the gods pray to Shiva out of fear of the now out-of-control Vishnu.
The gods pray to Maa Parvati and give her all their weapons in a horrific battle against a wily demon. Badda-bing badda-boom, Maa Parvati transforms into Maa Durga and starts to kick demon butt.
It’s not that any one god, goddess is any more supreme or superior than another. They are all forms of God. These are stories that aim to teach us that everything is interconnected and all things rely on each other.
And btw, Shiva and Vishnu, not only being flip sides of one God (called Harihara), are by another story, brothers-in-law. These are not necessarily literal, but teaching stories.
What I find confusing is that I have read that each was already described to have been an ordinary human being, and is then conceived of as the Supreme God under different names and personalities. How are Hindus able to keep track of all of this complexity?! With us it's so simple and easy: one supreme God to serve, follow his laws, and that's it.
Why would keeping track be necessary?
Actually most don’t try to keep track of anything. The confusion in non-Hindus and new Hindus arises because information is all too readily available. Most Hindus are raised in a family tradition passed down for generations, with a family deity and rituals. Most Hindus have never read the Vedas or Puranas. They know of the major deities because of the temple but that’s probably the extent of it.
Because there are so many recorded stories, names, roles, philosophies and teachings to keep track of to understand the religion. And popular descriptions of Hinduism that always remind you that there are "300 million deities"!
To me that sounds comparable to an expectation of known all the story of some other religion and of its cultural impact.
It is just not necessary. Not for the actual practice.
How boring and bland!
By the way, orthodox Jewish laws are far from simple.
What is boring?
About Jewish laws you have a point. Unfortunately people don't spend enough time studying. Why is it that popular discussion of Hinduism must always mention that there are 300 millon deities? Did anyone ever count them all?!
Besides, it's really not all that complicated to an insider. Any trades person would know way more stuff within his field.
But the individual only needs a couple, maybe 10 at the most. Sure it's complicated if you look at the entire system. Looking at a single organism in a complex ecosystem is far simpler, and that's what Hindus do. We all narrow it down a ton. I've never read the Gita, never been to a Kali temple, etc. Trying to understand it all would just create confusion, so we use intelligence to not go there.
That's just false. Popular understanding within Hinduism, no? Discussion from outsiders trying to find criticisms, yes.
In my experience only non-Hindus say that.
Having a God with no variation in manifestation or in form with a single set of immutable laws seem to be boring, bland and constraining. Very contrary to the immense and rich diversity that is the mark of this universe and all life in it.