Hinduism: Ask your Questions

[Sonic247]

If many Hindus are vegetarian then why does that god with all the arms have a necklace of human skulls, are the Gods less enlightened than man?

 

[Surya Deva]

Sonic,

Thanks for the question. I kind of answered a similar question to yours earlier. The 'gods' are not distinct entities, they are aspects of one formless and absolute supreme being. They represent its various energies, potencies and forms. The depictions of the 'god' are symbolic and are not to be taken literally. They need to be read symbolically.

The deity you mention wearing a necklace of human skulls is Kali. Kali represents time(kali means time) and is an aspect of material nature which destroys all evil. The skulls represent the skulls of many wicked men who Kali has devoured. In India, one of the forms of a woman is "Kali" that is when she becomes a force of destruction and is terrible to all wicked men.

The many Hindu goddesses are all aspects of material nature(what is called variously Prakriti, Aditi) there is Kali(the fierce), Durga(the powerful), Ila(Mother Earth), Lakshmi(Wealth), Saraswati(knowledge). In Hinduism, it is the feminine principle which governs all power, wealth, knowledge and nature.

Material nature in turn is an aspect of the absolute/supreme being(Brahman) The other aspect is spiritual nature. The Hindu gods are all aspects of the spiritual nature. There is Brahma(creator), Vishnu(preserver) and Shiva)destroyer). They are the masculine principle.

If you are astute you would probably notice that roles of the gods correspond to the goddesses. This is because they always come in pairs. This is one main theme of Hinduism, masculine and feminine always work together, and are equal and opposite.

 

[siddhartha200]

Hi Suraj. Truly a terrific thread. It was quite educative and informative on Hinduism, and I truly admire your patience and proactivity in dealing with many highly intolerant, bigotted, ugly fanatics in this thread spouting all kinds of nonsense to malign Hinduism, and in the process making a grand advertisement to all of the gross intolerance of their own religions.

Your patient example is in itself a great lesson in the true teachings of Hinduism, and it is for this reason that Hinduism has created great world-shakers like the Rishis, Krishna, Buddha,Ramana Maharshi, Aurobindo, Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and others who are respected and revered all over the world.

Thanking you very much for this superb thread .

Lots of love...

Siddhartha.

 

[Don Penguinoini]

I agree, Suraj has been very patient, something i think he acquired while posting here.

 

[Surya Deva]

Thank you Siddharth and welcome to the forum

 

[Surya Deva]

Luminous, what does that mean and how is that a question for this thread?

 

[want to be hindu]

If many Hindus are vegetarian then why does that god with all the arms have a necklace of human skulls, are the Gods less enlightened than man?

I would like to add to what Suraj said.

If we look at the belief systems of other faiths and judge them by are own paradim it leads to great confusion and misunderstanding. When Hindus first came into contact with the Christian west many saw the christian ritual of the Lords supper as teaching cannibalism . We both know that this view totally misses the mark.Communion is a very beautiful teaching of the Lord Jesus's life and his sacrifice for mankind. If we judge others by our own systems of thought ,we become unable to understand the belief of others. I am not saying you are doing this. I am just sharing my thoughts.

 

[want to be hindu]

i though this is a place where we can discuss things not tell each other what a "good" religion your religion is, no one has come here for that, i know what a religion islam is and i do not need someone who "respects" my religion to tell me how "good" it is or how much they "respect" it. i've heard that before. nor should you expect me to say "i love your religion" what sort of a bull would that be, we all know that no one has more respect for other religions than his (the one he follows) so who came here for some false praises tell me, i will make praises to it untill my praises will reach heaven itself, but whats the point in that if i don't care about it that much.

I do respect the faiths of others. My sect of Hinduism teaches that If anyone wants to find the truth, God will show him/her the way. Who am I to tell you that you are wrong if you are a kind loving person. I do believe that my path is the best for me. I try hard not to judge the paths of others if they are a good neighbour.

I know of at least one of my sects orphanage. When a Muslim child comes to them they raise him as a Muslim. This is not Bull.

In the earliest scripture known to humans the Veda it says."TRUTH is ONE; sages call it variously." In other words, God is one; people following different faiths, worship God in different forms. To the Hindu TRUTH, or the ULTIMATE REALITY (or the popularly known concept of GOD) is the Sanskrit word Brahman. We believe that their are many paths to the same place.

we have come here to oppose each other, learn more things in more detail, to challange ourselves, but i guess some are here to accuse muslims of lies. thats understandable, we have been through that before. we do not need people to tell us of their respect.

I do not come here to oppose anyones faith. I am here to see if my world view will stand up to questioning. I do believe that is long past the time in Human history that we need to treat others with respect. All we have to do is look at the past to see what this lack of respect brings. War, Hate, and Genocide are just a few friuts of the tree of religions folks who oppose each other.We must all stand together for good and agianst evil.

all the best wishes, and i wont write here anymore i see i am not welcome nor is any other muslim.

Muslims are welcome but we must all try to understand each others view and stop seeing others views in the worse possible light.

 

[Luminous]

No, animals cannot get acted upon on by Karma. See a thread I started in the Hinduism forum called "Hindu prescription for life" Animals only act out from their nature and thus they are NOT caught up in the karmic loop. But humans act out of intention and knowledge. If you can with good intention and knowledge go and beat some random and innocent person up, you will be free from karma.

But just try it and see that no matter how much you try to convince yourself that it is a good act, you won't be able to. It goes against your nature.

Don't animals have intention and knowledge?

Don't people have a nature?

Animals at large are driven by instincts, as opposed to choice. They are also not capable of conceiving moral abstracts, and we are. We have a very different nature to say a scorpian.

Dog Saves Other Injured Dog Lying On A Highway (VIDEO)

"WOW.

Does this make you see dogs, or animals in general, differently than you did before?

This video really touched me, and also begs the questions of what emotions dogs and other animals have."

 

[Surya Deva]

I have always maintained that Luminous. I definitely believe animals are capable of acting morally. In fact I just had this discussion in another thread as well. I said they are not capable of "moral abstracts" an animal does not say, "It is my duty" or "Should we kill one to save 1000" its morality is an instinctual thing, not an intellectual thing. We are different because we are intellectual.

 

[S-word]

I am surprised at the enormous amount of disinterest in this religion with the non-Indian members(Even in the Hinduism forum the majority of posters are of Indian origin) and yet it's the third largest religion in the world and one of the oldest, if not the oldest religion in the world.

I am sure there must be some questions about Hinduism that people may want to ask. I invite people of all religions, especially Christians and Muslims to ask me questions on Hinduism. Anything you want to know.

It benefits us both. You get to learn about Hinduism and I get to sharpen my answering skills

I will get back to you when time permits as I have need of an advisor who is well versed in the Hindu religion, untill then it's nice to talk with you,

 

[Arnack]

Why does one, whom is intelligent and thinks logically, would believe in "Hinduism", which could easily be compared to any mythology, such of that of the Norse, Greeks, Egyptians, etc.
I am not ridiculing this religion- I just don't understand. It is an extremely old and antique religion, which were myths created by migrating Aryans.
Where's the proof?
Where's the logic?

Now don't misinterpret. The Hindu religion is personally the most fascinating and most helpful religion I have studied.

 

[Surya Deva]

Hi Arnak,

I am busy at the moment, but I will respond to your question soon. I don't mind your question at all, I don't mind any question really, as long as it is sincere.

I will give you a short answer: An intelligent and logical person would be more drawn in by a religion like Hinduism. I promise to expand on this later.

 

[want to be hindu]

Dog Saves Other Injured Dog Lying On A Highway (VIDEO)

"WOW.

Does this make you see dogs, or animals in general, differently than you did before?

This video really touched me, and also begs the questions of what emotions dogs and other animals have."

Fubals to you. This video was great.

 

[Valjean]

Why does one, whom is intelligent and thinks logically, would believe in "Hinduism", which could easily be compared to any mythology, such of that of the Norse, Greeks, Egyptians, etc.
I am not ridiculing this religion- I just don't understand. It is an extremely old and antique religion, which were myths created by migrating Aryans.
Where's the proof?
Where's the logic?

Now don't misinterpret. The Hindu religion is personally the most fascinating and most helpful religion I have studied.

Are you asking for objective evidence of Hindu mythology?
There is none, and it's not intended to be "logical." Few Hindus believe in it the way Christian fundamentalists accept Bible stories. It's a subjective mythology. Each of us chooses what symbols to use to further our own spiritual growth, and we accept that they're symbols -- tools.

 

[Arnack]

Are you asking for objective evidence of Hindu mythology?
There is none, and it's not intended to be "logical." Few Hindus believe in it the way Christian fundamentalists accept Bible stories. It's a subjective mythology. Each of us chooses what symbols to use to further our own spiritual growth, and we accept that they're symbols -- tools.

I see-
Do Hindus actually believe that all the Gods exist? Or do they believe that it is all just one entity- a spiritual force in the universe?

 

[Valjean]

Hinduism isn't a homogenous religion and it has no orthodox canon. No-one can speak for 'all Hindus'.

That said, speaking from a commonly accepted theologic perspective:
There is real, and there is Real. There is a subjective reality, which is generally accepted to be illusory and self-generated, and an Objective Reality, which is generally understood to correspond to the Manyworlds interpretation of Quantum Theory.

What we experience in everyday life -- people, things, time, events, changes... Gods -- is a subjective, dreamed reality. It's understood intellectually, by the dreamer, that it's a dream and hence, a subjective illusion. But it must be treated as if it were an actual reality because it's the only perspective we currently have.

So, yes, the Gods dreamed by any particular individual are treated as (subjectively) real, but understood, metaphysically, to be illusory and a self-created.

As we dream the world, we dream the Gods. As a dream is subjectively real to the dreamer, so are the Gods

 

[Luminous]

Hi Arnak,

I am busy at the moment, but I will respond to your question soon. I don't mind your question at all, I don't mind any question really, as long as it is sincere.

I will give you a short answer: An intelligent and logical person would be more drawn in by a religion like Hinduism. I promise to expand on this later.

Arnak: this is a complete lie. hinduism is full of myth and the such that are not even believed to be true by hindus, they are meant to teach certain things. however, hindu philosophy and hindu religion are very different things. if one were to be a religious hindu it would not be too different from being religious Norse, Greek, Egyptian, etc.

 

[want to be hindu]

Are you asking for objective evidence of Hindu mythology?
There is none, and it's not intended to be "logical." Few Hindus believe in it the way Christian fundamentalists accept Bible stories. It's a subjective mythology. Each of us chooses what symbols to use to further our own spiritual growth, and we accept that they're symbols -- tools.

I believe that Mythology is to Philosophy what poems are to prose.

 

[want to be hindu]

I see-
Do Hindus actually believe that all the Gods exist? Or do they believe that it is all just one entity- a spiritual force in the universe?

I can not tell you what all Hindu's believe. Some Hindus are Monotheists, some are Monists, there are even some that are Atheists. I have not yet known one Hindu who has spent any time looking in to his faith that is a polytheist.There are must be some polytheist Hindus also. Hinduism is a very big tent full of many Ideas and practices.

You must remember that the Lord Buddha was a Hindu. All Buddhists were Hindu's for 200 years after the death of the Lord Buddha. You can find all the teachings of the Buddha in the scriptures of the Hindus before the time of the Prince Siddhartha.

I am a Monist I believe that Brahman ( or God )is the ground of all being.

I also believe that our mythology has a very complex meaning to it.

Let use just take one book the Chandi that is part of the Markandeya Purana.This story is all about the Mother Goddess killing demons. If you just picked up this book you would ask yourself why would anyone think this book is scripture? Its just about the Goddess's kicking the butts of bad guys.You would be wrong.

The real meaning of the book is an explanation of the delusion we all live in and how to purify our egos so we can go beyond our mind.Each demon is a bad thought or a bad way of living.

In fact each word can be seen in at least 5 different ways according to the Hindu philosophical school you are a member of. At first glance you would miss all of the truth of this text.