Hinduism: Ask your Questions

[Surya Deva]

There are three major way to salvation, called Yoga(literally, union with god) in Hinduism, as told in the Gita:

BHAKTI: The path of devotion to god. Always chanting his name, always remember him, thinking about him, seeing him everywhere. Almost being compleltely intoxicated by god. Notable Bhakti Yogis include Guru Nanak, Kabir, St Francis of Assisi, Mirabhai

JNANA: The path of knowledge. To be always be seeking god through knowledge. To meditate, analyse reality and to find him through pure logic(considered the most difficult path) Notable Jnana Yogis include Ramana Maharishi, Swami Vivekananda, Adi Sankaracharya, Swami Krishnananda, Buddha.

KARMA: The path of action. To be doing the will of god at all times. To do your duties(your dharma) this include charity, compassion, doing good deeds in general. Ones dharma is given in the Hindu scriptures: the duty of a Brahmana(intellectual) is to teach wisdom; the duty of a warrior is to fight for righteousness; the duty of a king or ruler is to administer fair justice; the duty of a merchant/trader is to create goods for society; the duty of a labourer is to work for the others. There are sub divisions: the duty of a parent is to bring up their children well with good values; the duty of a husband is to support the family; the duty of wife is to manage the family; the duty of a student is to devote their life to study and observe self-control(brahmcharya, including vows of celibacy) the duty of children is to respect and look after their parents; the duty of a friend is to faciliate the growth of their friends; the duty of a brother is to protect his sister; the duty of a sister is to give emotional support to her brother.(Thus the Hindu model of society is one based on harmony, everyone looking out for each other)

Notable Karma Yogi: Arjuna

Although these Yogas are all different, they entail similar elements. A Bhakti Yogi is also very well known for his deeds and knowledge. A Karma Yogi can also be well known for their knowledge and devotion and Jnana Yogi can also be well known for this devotion and deeds. The Yogi minds are alike. The end result is the same.

 

[Surya Deva]

Another question!
How many people are believed to have compiled the Holy Texts? Both scholarly and from traditional belief?

The Vedas have been compiled by hundreds of Risis(of which 21 are women Risis) and they belong to different clans. The traditional knowledge says that there use to be gatherings of these wise sages in meetings of the wise. These events often involved Yagnas, where the Risis would sit around the altar and chant the Vedic Mantras together. Originally the Vedas were an oral tradition, preserved by meticuous laws that preserved the mantras perfectly. At some point they were redacted and written down. The history of the origin of the Vedas itself is shrouded in mystery. It is thought that they were revealed to the Risis in deep meditation, but how this revelations came together to form the Vedas is a big mystery. The history of the Vedas itself is shrouded in mystery. The dating can range from anywhere between 4000 years ago to 10,000 years ago, and still it is inconclusive.

I personally believe the Vedas belong to prehistory before the ice age. I believe this because the level of sophistication of their thought is a huge anachorism. The fact that the Indus valley civilisation began creating sophisticated cities so fast at an age when humans were remerging from their caves, suggests preknowledge. I believe the Vedas are the surviving records of a pre-ice age civilisation, that have survived through an oral tradition.

 

[zenzero]

Friend eselam,
God is a concept developed by humans not by a seperate group of humans.
Besides humans have developed another concept by default called satan which comes as soon as god/allah/bhagwan is called.
Personally have no concept and so have no god or satan.

There are people on this forum who follow one particular way/path/religion but everyone agrees that god is one for all humans called by different names.

Now it is your turn.
Love & rgds

 

[Breathe]

The Vedas have been compiled by hundreds of Risis(of which 21 are women Risis) and they belong to different clans.

Wow.
What about "caste", can I ask?

The dating can range from anywhere between 4000 years ago to 10,000 years ago, and still it is inconclusive.

Wow. How can they find such a thing out, though? What method of dating would they use?


To all your post, just wow

 

[Surya Deva]

Wow.
What about "caste", can I ask?

The castes were mixed. It is said in our scriptures that ones caste was not based on ones birth, but on ones merits in their life. All of the Vedic Risis are considered Brahmanas, but they had to earn that caste. There are plenty of cases of Shudras(worker caste) becoming Brahmanas.

Wow. How can they find such a thing out, though? What method of dating would they use?

The methods all have their flaws. The lower bracket 4000 years ago was based on unscientific methods of dating, kind of ad hoc dating, relying on biblical chronologies, Aryan invasion theory and beliefs in the world being created 6000 years ago. Although these dates, despite their unscientific origins, are the most reported.

The other kind of dating employed is mathematical and astronomical. The Vedas and other Hindu scriptures mention certain astronomical events which correspond to dates as far as 8000BCE. Although the flaw here is it based on interpretative analysis of Hindu texts and the same astronomical events could have occurred in a more earlier past.

The third kind of dating is archeological. It is based on textual references in the Vedas. It describes the geography of the land with a great river that is flowing in it called the Saraswati. The geography is identical to India's and there was a great river that flowed in it and dried up around 2900BCE. This means the Vedas have to be many millenia older. The only problem is this too is based on interpretative analysis. Is the Vedas really describing a river, or is it a metaphor. Saraswati is also used in the Vedas to mean speech and inspiration.

In any case all the features of the Vedas can be found the Indus valley civilisation. So it strongly believed by Hindu scholars today the Vedas are either anterior to the IVC or contemporous with it, putting it in the same 10,000 year timeframe(consistent with astronomical evidence)

The fourth kind of dating is by tradition. Tradition dates the Mahabharata and the birth of Krishna to 3120BCE. The archeology of the IVC matches the descriptions given in classical Sanskrit texts of India. But tradition also dates the Ramayana over 1 million years ago!!! In the time of the Mahabharata, the Ramayana was considered a very ancient event. The Vedic Risis lived during the time of the Ramayana. There is debate on the historicity of the Ramayana though.

The fifth kind of dating is based on foreign historical records. The greeks record a continous linage of Hindu kings going back to 6000BCE. The Egyptians claim their ancestors came from a land which sounds like India, and they had a caste system just like India.

So in conclusion there really is no conclusive dating. The most reasonable I guess is the Vedas being anterior to or contemporary with the Indus valley, so up to 10,000 years old.

 

[Don Penguinoini]

hang on a second Don, are you saying that all cows and other house pets become humans if they "behave" themselvs. and so does a snake if it doesn't bite and/or kill a human
and if i eat an animal i become an animal afterwards right, is that what you are saying (not necessaraly the same as the one i ate but an animal in general)

Eselam, i do not know, to be honest. MAYBE it is possible for an animal to think about its own action, probably not, but once again, i dont know.

 

[want to be hindu]

\
sorry for the miss understanding but thats what was said on tv man. like i said before i respect your religion you don't have to worry on that part.

Thank you:rainbow1:

 

[want to be hindu]

The castes were mixed. It is said in our scriptures that ones caste was not based on ones birth, but on ones merits in their life. All of the Vedic Risis are considered Brahmanas, but they had to earn that caste. There are plenty of cases of Shudras(worker caste) becoming Brahmanas.



The methods all have their flaws. The lower bracket 4000 years ago was based on unscientific methods of dating, kind of ad hoc dating, relying on biblical chronologies, Aryan invasion theory and beliefs in the world being created 6000 years ago. Although these dates, despite their unscientific origins, are the most reported.

The other kind of dating employed is mathematical and astronomical. The Vedas and other Hindu scriptures mention certain astronomical events which correspond to dates as far as 8000BCE. Although the flaw here is it based on interpretative analysis of Hindu texts and the same astronomical events could have occurred in a more earlier past.

The third kind of dating is archeological. It is based on textual references in the Vedas. It describes the geography of the land with a great river that is flowing in it called the Saraswati. The geography is identical to India's and there was a great river that flowed in it and dried up around 2900BCE. This means the Vedas have to be many millenia older. The only problem is this too is based on interpretative analysis. Is the Vedas really describing a river, or is it a metaphor. Saraswati is also used in the Vedas to mean speech and inspiration.

In any case all the features of the Vedas can be found the Indus valley civilisation. So it strongly believed by Hindu scholars today the Vedas are either anterior to the IVC or contemporous with it, putting it in the same 10,000 year timeframe(consistent with astronomical evidence)

The fourth kind of dating is by tradition. Tradition dates the Mahabharata and the birth of Krishna to 3120BCE. The archeology of the IVC matches the descriptions given in classical Sanskrit texts of India. But tradition also dates the Ramayana over 1 million years ago!!! In the time of the Mahabharata, the Ramayana was considered a very ancient event. The Vedic Risis lived during the time of the Ramayana. There is debate on the historicity of the Ramayana though.

The fifth kind of dating is based on foreign historical records. The greeks record a continous linage of Hindu kings going back to 6000BCE. The Egyptians claim their ancestors came from a land which sounds like India, and they had a caste system just like India.

So in conclusion there really is no conclusive dating. The most reasonable I guess is the Vedas being anterior to or contemporary with the Indus valley, so up to 10,000 years old.

Frubals for this thread

I think it is safe to believe that parts of the Vedas go back to the end of the neolithic do to much of the astromical references in the Rig Veda. I love the Idea that these traditions are still alive today. Hinduism gives mankind a systematic belief system that was continuously used before the dawn of human civilization.
This is important not only for Hindus but for all people Atheist and religious alike. This is proof that Humans have always strived for ethics and understanding the meaning of life.

 

[Gharib]

Friend eselam,
God is a concept developed by humans not by a seperate group of humans.
Besides humans have developed another concept by default called satan which comes as soon as god/allah/bhagwan is called.
Personally have no concept and so have no god or satan.

There are people on this forum who follow one particular way/path/religion but everyone agrees that god is one for all humans called by different names.

Now it is your turn.
Love & rgds

no no you are wrong, it's not the humans that developed god, it's god that developed the humans.
thats right there is the sheytan/satan/devil and i'll tell you this: before Adam (as) was created by Allah the shaytan used to live in heaven and no one ever worshiped Allah more than the devil, but when he was tolled by Allah to accept prophet Adem (as) as a smarter being then himself, he refused and said that i'm made from fire while he is made from mud (earth) and so the sheytan became an enemie of Allah and an enemie of humans.
ok it's not the name that's the big problem, it is the way that you/everyone else worships him.
no offence by this but i'll just try to explain
we muslims do not make anything equal to Allah, where as the hindu religion consideres the idols to be of equal value to Allah/god/bhagwana, i mean thats the reason why you worship them right.
i hope this is what you are looking for as an answer to your question or statement

 

[Don Penguinoini]

we muslims do not make anything equal to Allah, where as the hindu religion consideres the idols to be of equal value to Allah/god/bhagwana, i mean thats the reason why you worship them right.
i hope this is what you are looking for as an answer to your question or statement

We have told you time and time over, eselam.

The IDOL IS A REPRESENTATION OF GOD, IT IS NOT ACTUALLY GOD ITSELF. WE KNOW GOD IS ABOVE ANYTHING WE CONCIEVE IT TO BE.

Please Eselam, leave out the idols.

 

[zenzero]

Friend eselam,
Sorry personally am not looking for any more answrs as what had to be found has been found and which have already mentioned.

o no you are wrong, it's not the humans that developed god, it's god that developed the humans.
thats right there is the sheytan/satan/devil and i'll tell you this: before Adam (as) was created by Allah the shaytan used to live in heaven and no one ever worshiped Allah more than the devil, but when he was tolled by Allah to accept prophet Adem (as) as a smarter being then himself, he refused and said that i'm made from fire while he is made from mud (earth) and so the sheytan became an enemie of Allah and an enemie of humans.
ok it's not the name that's the big problem, it is the way that you/everyone else worships him.
no offence by this but i'll just try to explain
we muslims do not make anything equal to Allah, where as the hindu religion consideres the idols to be of equal value to Allah/god/bhagwana, i mean thats the reason why you worship them right.
i hope this is what you are looking for as an answer to your question or statement

From your post it is clear that allah is not the same as god or bhagwan or any other name humans call him by.
Surely those followers of other religions will know that allah is not the same as allah is a unique individual seen by none but blindly accepted by many.An with that knowledge there cannot be any sharing or discussion on topics where god is discussed.
Thank you.
Love & rgds

 

[Don Penguinoini]

Thing that surprises me, is that Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world, yet most people are so ignorant of it.

 

[Reiðrœska]

What happens depends on your past karma. Your soul(which is esentially what you are, not the body) reincarnates into new body depending on your karma.. The more bad karma, the lower down the food chain you go. Vice versa for good karma...

Life's ultimate goal is to break free from this chain of rebirth. To attain Moksh.To be with God.

A bit like in Buddhism? I see, thanks. What is above human? Does it go from human to Moksh?

 

[Surya Deva]

Yep, there is nothing above human in evolution. The human is the summit of evolution. I think would be quite interested in Prabhat Sarkar's Neohumanism philosophy, which basically says "Human life is about becoming human" just because we are born in human bodies does not mean we have realised our humanity.

 

[Don Penguinoini]

A bit like in Buddhism? I see, thanks. What is above human? Does it go from human to Moksh?

Well, not like Buddhism, its the other way round, Hinduism existed before, but it doesen't matter

No earthly form is above the human form, since we are the most rational and intelligent life form. The moksh itself is not a form, its like a state in which a person may reach, but it requires hard work and devotion. It is very difficult.

To be honest, i do not know what actually happens at Moksh, or what you become, it is like a state of enlightenment. When you reach this state, your soul is broken from the rebirth cycle.

 

[Breathe]

Thing that surprises me, is that Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world, yet most people are so ignorant of it.

I suppose I'm not surprised, but I am saddened that such a rich, beautiful religion with such a lot of history has so little knowledge about it. Hopefully that won't be so soon

 

[zenzero]

Friend Odion/Don/others,
Though am born in a family following Sanatan Dharma and have nothing against it or any other religions and also understand that Sanatan dharma means the ETERNAL law into which all other religions can find itself to fit into.
Personally do not follow any one religion at the same time admire and respect all because finally they all reach the same place.
However, taking freinds Don's comment and friend Odion's response, must say that everything moves in circles.
India was the most advanced civilisation at one time and so was its culture and religion.
Though the cycle went downwards and slowly moving upwards.
It is sure that once again the cycle will turn full circle for India and its culture/religion/etc will again be at the top. We just saw today that the Hindus are forming a global association for the spread of religion besides economically India is on the upswing.
Soon we will not only find the nose pins on fashion street but everything Indian will be at the position it had thousands of years ago.
There is nothing to be sad or happy about anything as ones mind needs to be free of all thoughts to be enlightened.
Love& rgds

 

[Don Penguinoini]

I suppose I'm not surprised, but I am saddened that such a rich, beautiful religion with such a lot of history has so little knowledge about it. Hopefully that won't be so soon

Maybe Hindu's need to step out of the shadows. But people are not interested...

 

[Breathe]

I hope so zenzero, I really hope so

 

[Breathe]

Maybe Hindu's need to step out of the shadows. But people are not interested...

You're right. People are not interested. People are often too focused on their material goods nowadays. Religion is frowned upon where I live, especially.