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Hindus should restart worshipping Indra
- Thread starter ThunderRD
- Start date
Sure, I have a really bad internet connection on my phone right now, but I'll get it when I get on the computer.
Here it is. It is closed because it got nasty. http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/hinduism-dir/137538-dir-proselytization-forum.html
Kalidas
Well-Known Member
So let me get this right. There were people who believed in advaita(the idea that we are.in fact Brahman) and thought it was THE ONLY way to be a Hindu? How ironic considering If you believe you are in fact Brahman then any belief in the divine would essentially be going to the same source, heck that wholeTHIS IS THE ONLY WAY argument would strengthen the ego.
Trust me, it's not just advaitins. Any and all sects have a few that think theirs is the only way. There are also some who are very adamant that their way of practising all at once (Hindu universalism) is the only way.
Maya3
Well-Known Member
I loved how he commented on my ego and then said this in his next breath:
Originally Posted by Surya Deva
Btw
Often people who make comments about peoples egos, have a bit of ego themselves
"
I clearly am more knowledgeable than you in Advaita, having studied it deeply for about 15 years and attended the most prestigious institute of Advaita in India and learned under some of the best swamis. So please do not pretend to know Advaita, when you clearly have made wrong statements about it."
Maya
Originally Posted by Surya Deva
Btw
Often people who make comments about peoples egos, have a bit of ego themselves
"
I clearly am more knowledgeable than you in Advaita, having studied it deeply for about 15 years and attended the most prestigious institute of Advaita in India and learned under some of the best swamis. So please do not pretend to know Advaita, when you clearly have made wrong statements about it."
Maya
Kalidas
Well-Known Member
Wow now THAT is a big ego.
Kalidas
Well-Known Member
Trust me, it's not just advaitins. Any and all sects have a few that think theirs is the only way. There are also some who are very adamant that their way of practising all at once (Hindu universalism) is the only way.
Well I know its not just them. I was just shocked because the very nature of being an advaitin contradicts what they were preaching. Oh well lesson learned "don't act like them " lol
My lesson was just a reinforcement of "Don't get into it." This was more about intellectualism than advaita. When a person gets intellectual and argumentative, it is very difficult to dig yourself out of it. So therefore tread with caution on a personal level so you don't go in the same direction. You lose focus in sadhana, you can't concentrate at temple, your japa ends up in thinking mode, (even to the point that you forget your mantra) instead of repetition of the mantra, etc.
So it's not criticism. It's learning from observation. I was there once too ...willing and ready to argue with anyone over anything. Mystics don't argue, so how can one even start to call himself or herself a mystic and then get into some heated argument?
SuryaDeva was a gift from God, and frankly. I wish we had more like him, because he makes you think. So do some others. Read, listen, make up your own mind, be open.
Kalidas
Well-Known Member
I think understand you. Its okay to want to know things but don let your search for knowledge make.you lose sight of why your searching in the first place.
Kalidas
Well-Known Member
Do you agree with him, or are you just happy with the "lessons" he has taught us.
I think few, if anyone agreed with him. But if we don't learn the lessons his presence, and others like him teach us, it's going to keep happening. I should take my own advice because too often I take the bait and get reeled in.
I believe God Siva is all and in all. Everyone is God. I did not agree nor disagree with Him. Some points I agreed with, some I disagreed with. In the end, it was dispassionate observation, and lessons. There are several colours of Smarties in all packages.
TTA also has some really good points to offer. The lessons come from all sources. Its not the sources that are important, but the lessons. In my version of Hinduism, there is little room for hate.
Edited: You're not really tolerant until you can tolerate the intolerant.
Last edited:
Kalidas
Well-Known Member
Question vinayaka. How do most advaitins view the deities? I have always wondered. I have my own ideas but the idea of us all being Brahman and yet worshipping deities still confuses my poor brain. Lol
Nice edit I like that.
I don't actually know, but most I have met view deity worship with respect, or at least, or at least respect others who do. They will also come to temple to worship, but not quite in the same bhakta way some of us would.
We had a respected Vedantin send us a long letter on how to make sure Vedanta was the cornerstone of our temple's constitution, back in the early days of the temple I attend. We refused him. I don't think he quite got us. Still he gave us a sizable donation ($1000 if I remember right) in support, as I recall, even after we wrote him to say we were okay without Vedanta in the constitution.
On the other note, one cannot confuse rudeness with being wrong philosophically.
Kalidas
Well-Known Member
I don't actually know, but most I have met view deity worship with respect, or at least, or at least respect others who do. They will also come to temple to worship, but not quite in the same bhakta way some of us would.
We had a respected Vedantin send us a long letter on how to make sure Vedanta was the cornerstone of our temple's constitution, back in the early days of the temple I attend. We refused him. I don't think he quite got us. Still he gave us a sizable donation ($1000 if I remember right) in support, as I recall, even after we wrote him to say we were okay without Vedanta in the constitution.
On the other note, one cannot confuse rudeness with being wrong philosophically.
Can one be like an vedantin that performs bhakti? I mean like me personally I believe we are Brahman (small parts of a big whole) yet I still worship and pray to Kali. That's kind of why I asked that question.
Gosh I hate questions more fitting for a scholar, so I'm sure one will come along and correct me.
I believe in Advaita at the core, but not in the relative reality of every day existence. It's the path that isn't Oneness. So it's duality to reach non-duality. I guess eventually you start seeing God within yourself, but in the meantime, cause you're not inner enough to do that, you need Him outside too.
Kalidas
Well-Known Member
Gosh I hate questions more fitting for a scholar, so I'm sure one will come along and correct me.
Sorry lol. But you actually answered perfectly...for a non scholar
. But I get what your saying. There is a difference between what we "know" and what we feel. Until we can feel the divine in everything and anything it is better to show devotion and faith so that we may grow spirtualy and reach that point of "true knowledge". But vinayaka thanks for the answer it made perfect sense to me.
Kalidas
Well-Known Member
Now this leaves one wondering (an by one I mean me lol) what exactly ARE the deities? Creations of the divine to help us know the divine, basicly out own creations to help us realize there is no duality. Or are they kind if like the "duel part" of the divine. Like the divine manifested while we are not...."complete" almost like divine babysitters sort of. Or are they completely non exist any just figures of our imagination to help us add form to the formless.