How to help Hinduism

[Jack_Ripper]

I am a Hindu from India and i am studying in High School. Every time i check any map which describes about the distribution of religions across the world, i get disappointed to see that Hinduism is only prevalent in India and around. There may be some here and some there elsewhere, but still it doesn't come into competition with Islam and Christianity( I am not criticizing any religion).

Why is it so? When Buddishm from India can travel miles, why couldn't Hinduism spread when it is there for years. And in India also, i think the Hindu population is going down, i am not sure how much, but i can feel it.
Help me friends. I am confused about it.

P.S. You can also add your views and suggestion to many such confusions and problems in my forum(check the signature link)

 

[zenzero]

Friend Jack Ripper,
Firstly, Religion is to do with distributing the INNER self with consciousness.
If one can do that then automatically by default it gets distributed in the outer world.
It is only when again many number of enlightened persons flower in India that surely India will regain its former glory.
However, in the inner world it is all the same. It makes no difference that you follow sanatan dharma or buddhism or christianity or any other religion; provided you are enlightened.
Love & rgds

 

[Surya Deva]

Hey Jack,

There is a thread on this forum, "Prejudice against Hinduism" discussing similar problems. The truth is Hinduism, despite being the third largest religion and the oldest religion in the world is very marginalized and misrepresented. It is a beautiful and colourful religion and should get its due. In ancient time it was the religion of the world spread throughout the world.

The solution is for Hindus to spread this religion. To be actively involved in spreading their religion around the world. But Hindus will need to take responsibility for this to happen.

 

[Jack_Ripper]

Friend Jack Ripper,
Firstly, Religion is to do with distributing the INNER self with consciousness.
If one can do that then automatically by default it gets distributed in the outer world.
It is only when again many number of enlightened persons flower in India that surely India will regain its former glory.
However, in the inner world it is all the same. It makes no difference that you follow sanatan dharma or buddhism or christianity or any other religion; provided you are enlightened.
Love & rgds

Yes, i agree to that. But we do have people who only look at the name of the religion to decide about the person- Whether he is a muslim or hindu(example), and not the inner self of the person.
There is one thing that i strongly believe and i am forced to, is that we, the people and children of god are divided and discriminated because of our religion.
If we could have one primary religion, then i think the world will be more friendlier and peaceful. It's because of the namely no. of religions that people have started having different believes and they show their belief in action( terrorism and riots for example).

The large no. of religions trouble me, if only we could have one religion, i THINK we could be one united nation.
I may be wrong, so please take the pain for correcting me.
thnks in adv.

 

[Don Penguinoini]

Numbers have never been the most important thing.

Jack, the most important to realise is that personal religion is something which should be a relationship between God and you. If there were 10 or 100000, worship between god and yourself should never be different.

It has never been a big thing to go out and spread the word of Hinduism. People are either attracted to Hinduism or born into it or not. I do think that is there not enough awareness of Hinduism in the west, but I am not concerned about that, at the moment i think the most important thing is to be a religious person.

Oh, and i am in High school too 13 years old, me

 

[zenzero]

Friend Jack _ripper,
This itself is karma.
Some or born to spread ONE particular religion some to understand what all religions mean and transcend the mind itself the very root of all religions.
so nothing to thanks anyone for anything; however, don't be an extremist doing anything even spreading of what you like but always be balanced is my advice.
Love & rgds.
n.b. never been discriminated as love all religions equally and all humans as equals.

 

[want to be hindu]

I am a Hindu from India and i am studying in High School. Every time i check any map which describes about the distribution of religions across the world, i get disappointed to see that Hinduism is only prevalent in India and around. There may be some here and some there elsewhere, but still it doesn't come into competition with Islam and Christianity( I am not criticizing any religion).

The new religions Buddhism, Christianty and Islam trys to convert people. Buddhism less then the other two.

The old Faiths Zoroastrianism,Judaism and Hinduism dont believe in making converts is importent.

And in India also, i think the Hindu population is going down, i am not sure how much, but i can feel it.
Help me friends. I am confused about it.

I would not worry about Hinduism it has been around forever It will out live all of us.

Islam is the fastest growing major faith world wide but Hinduism is growing faster then Christianity.( not that I care about numbers) In the U.S. Hinduism is growing very fast. So dont worry about it just enjoy.

Ps do you like living in the U.S. How is school different in the US and India.

 

[Valjean]

Islam and Christianity are proseletising religions. They actively seek converts.

Hinduism doesn't generally seek converts, in fact, there is controversy over weather one not born an Indian can even "become" a Hindu. It's not surprising that it's largely confined to India.

 

[Surya Deva]

Hinduism doesn't generally seek converts, in fact, there is controversy over weather one not born an Indian can even "become" a Hindu. It's not surprising that it's largely confined to India.

I am aware of this controversy Seyorni. I do feel a bit left out when socialising with common Hindu people, because though I consider myself Hindu, I don't think they consider me to be a real Hindu because I am not born Hindu. Although I probably am much more knowledgable and passionate about their religion than them.

The mindset that one must be born Hindu can only be a real Hindu is unfortunate and needs to be dispelled. For Hinduism to survive as a world religion it needs to be possible for people to convert to it, as I have. This means Hindus actively converting people in the world. For this to take place Hindus will need to make more efforts in representation of their religion and advertising of their religion.

 

[Don Penguinoini]

For this to take place Hindus will need to make more efforts in representation of their religion and advertising of their religion.

We dont seem to agree

I do not see the point in Hinduism having to advertise its religion. Hinduism cannot be advertised. You may see the ISCKON society advertising, then the Swaminarayans say they are wrong, then non-believers have a twisted view of Hinduism altogether.

I also do think religion is a personal thing, and does not require you to go out and convert people.

That is just me. I have never cared for converting people. But when i was in primary school (4-11) My vegetarianism became popular, and we had days where all my freinds (all white) did not have ANY meat for lunch at school

 

[Surya Deva]

I do not see the point in Hinduism having to advertise its religion. Hinduism cannot be advertised. You may see the ISCKON society advertising, then the Swaminarayans say they are wrong, then non-believers have a twisted view of Hinduism altogether.

I also do think religion is a personal thing, and does not require you to go out and convert people

It is not religion which is a personal thing, it is spirituality which is personal. Now the mindset that religion is personal and nobody should be converted is exactly the mindset I want to change in Hindus today

Why should we convert people to Hinduism? 7 reasons...

1) The ancients did. At one time Hinduism was spread throughout the world, it was a global religion and the our ancients actually went about the world converting people to Hinduism. It's remnants can still be seen in the Gnostic and Pagan traditions that remain. Hinduism is the mother of all these traditions.

2) If we do not convert people to Hinduism it will become marginalized. This is kind of what has happened in the world today. All other religions are represented and protected, but Hindus gets discriminated against. Most people still believe in myths about Hinduism.

3) It will become extinct. If we do not covert new people to it, it will remain a remote religion practiced only by some and gradually be replaced either with a new religion or a religion that perverts it. That's kind of what is happening in India today Hinduism is just about idol-worshipping, superstition, puranic mythology and more and more Hindus are being denied the right to know about their religion.

4) It is the truth and we need the truth to prevail. We shouldn't be selfish we should recognise that billions of people in the world belong to false religions(Sorry I am not politically correct ) and to save them we need to invite them to a true religion. The Risis did not just gain enlightenment and leave; they remained and spread their religion

5) Numbers is power. The more Muslims you have the more power and influence they have in society. In the world, Christianity and Islam have the most power and they have a lot of influence in the world. For Hindus to have power they need the numbers as well so they can have influence in the world, else they will become powerless.

6) Everything Hindu is the best Hindu art, Hindu science, Hindu ethics, Hindu life, Hindu Philosophy deserve to be the model the world is run by, especially India itself. This is not going to happen until Hindus in large numbers represent and promote all these aspects.

7) The Hindu religion being practiced all over the world will eradicate poverty, war and replace it with a global family practicing vedic ideals. The other religions breed war or breed apathy. Hinduism on the other hand is proactive in solving problems.


The idea that Hinduism has no conversion is a myth(probably a myth spread by Christian Missionaries to ensure they get no resistance, while they convert away )
Look at the Risis, they went about spreading their teachings; So did the Buddha, Mahavira, the Sikh Gurus. In modern times Yogananda and Swami Vivekananda went as far as USA to spread their religion.

In fact I have read in Hinduism that he who has knowledge and does not share it will soon lose that knowledge and it considered a big sin in Hinduism to not share your knowledge, your truths with others.

I think today Hindus are just Hindu's for the namesake, but they don't actually do anything that makes them Hindu. The majority of them haven't even read the Gita

 

[Don Penguinoini]

.

We shouldn't be selfish we should recognise that billions of people in the world belong to false religions(Sorry I am not politically correct ) and to save them we need to invite them to a true religion.

5) Numbers is power. The more Muslims you have the more power and influence they have in society. In the world, Christianity and Islam have the most power and they have a lot of influence in the world. For Hindus to have power they need the numbers as well so they can have influence in the world, else they will become powerless.



7) The Hindu religion being practiced all over the world will eradicate poverty, war and replace it with a global family practicing vedic ideals. The other religions breed war or breed apathy. Hinduism on the other hand is proactive in solving problems.


The idea that Hinduism has no conversion is a myth(probably a myth spread by Christian Missionaries to ensure they get no resistance, while they convert away )


I think today Hindus are just Hindu's for the namesake, but they don't actually do anything that makes them Hindu. The majority of them haven't even read the Gita

5) Not so really. Jews are among the most powerful men in the world, they are not the largest religion in teh world. A million sheeps vs 1 man with a tank...Who will win?

The top quote) Hinduism does not say itself that it the true way to god. It says that there are many ways to god, all these religions are just different paths. There cannot be one way to god, otherwise we just another western religion.

7) Hinduism has no eradicated poverty in India. War used to happen in the golden age of India, no religion can stop war.

I have not read the Bhagwad Gita, am i not a real Hindu?

I think you over-generalise too much, and you are starting to sound more and more like a Televangelist.

 

[Valjean]

Hinduism is such a crazy-quilt of odd ideas it's hard to imagine how a Hindu "missionary" would present it.

There was an explosion of Hinduism in the US in the sixties and seventies, as the ideas of people like George Harrison, Ram Das and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi swept through the youth culture.
They weren't actively proseletising, the ideas just had a magnetic attraction.

 

[Surya Deva]

5) Not so really. Jews are among the most powerful men in the world, they are not the largest religion in teh world. A million sheeps vs 1 man with a tank...Who will win?

Yeah, but their religion is not the most powerful is it my little friend? Moreover the Jews and the Christians are very closely linked. It could be said the Judo-Christo tradition is the most powerful in the world.

I think numbers is important obviously, but it is not the only criteria of power. If you have a certain critical amount it is enough to have power. The problem in is there is not enough Hindus which reach the critical amount in the world. This is why Hinduism remains only limited to India.

The top quote) Hinduism does not say itself that it the true way to god. It says that there are many ways to god, all these religions are just different paths. There cannot be one way to god, otherwise we just another western religion.

This is actually a myth, a misinterpretation of a quote in the Bhagvad Gita, which you admit yourself you have not read. It says that all paths of dharma lead to god, it does not say all religions lead to god. Those paths are Bhakti, Karma, Jnana. The Gita actually says some paths are demonic and Hindus have traditionally regarded foreign religions as adharmic(not dharmic)

In fact in the Vedas you will regularly come across statements like, "This is the only path, I know of no others" "Follow this path and you will attain immortality" The Vedic Risis's would not have agreed with many religions today. They would have been rejected as religions of Asuras. In fact I am starting to think from my research that the Asura religion was the original semitic religion(Interesting: Assiryan, Ashurism and Asura)

7) Hinduism has no eradicated poverty in India. War used to happen in the golden age of India, no religion can stop war.

Yeah, but Hinduism is not in power today. When Hinduism was in power India was the wealthist country in the world this is a solid fact. It was incredible prosperous. Yes, it was not immune from war, but war was much less common. India has had a relatively peaceful existence.

I have not read the Bhagwad Gita, am i not a real Hindu?

That is a very good question and the only answer I can give is I don't know. I say don't know because maybe you not have read it but still practice a Hindu life based on those tenets in it.

Hinduism is very different from other religions. You can't just BE Hindu and nor can you just be born into it. Simply saying "I worship Rama, therefore I am Hindu" is not enough. It does if you say the equivalent in Christianity, "I worship Jesus, therefore I am Christian" in Islam just accepting Allah and doing Namaz is enough. In Hinduism it is more complex: it is about doing and living a Hindu life. That is called Yoga:

Do you practice Yoga(Jnana, Bhakti, Karma?) If not, how can you say you are a Hindu? Living your life according to the Vedas makes you a dharma magee(a follower of sanatana dharma) if instead you live your life like everybody else, consumerism, playing football with your mates, and going to school and becoming a software engineer or doctor(an Indian thing ) then there is nothing Hindu about you.

I think today Indians living in India are very materialist. They might be 80% Hindu but that does not actually make them truly Hindu. Going to a temple and worshipping an idol is not Hinduism. Hindusim is something to be lived. I think Want to be Hindu will tell you more about this than I can.

 

[Surya Deva]

Hinduism is such a crazy-quilt of odd ideas it's hard to imagine how a Hindu "missionary" would present it.

It is true Hinduism is a very complex religion and has a myriad forms, as multifarious as the manifestations of being it has. However underlying all these complexities are simple truths which are its main tenents. This is what Hindu missionaries concentrate on. If I pick up a good book on Hinduism here are the common things discussed:

YOGA, VEDANTA, GITA, DHARMA, KARMA

These have now become known as the major Hindu things. The myths of Hinduism being a polytheistic entity with millions of cults and gods, no set texts is being replaced today with with the idea that Hinduism is a monistic and mystical religion founded in the Vedas. It certainly does have definitive scriptures, philosophies and theology.

There was an explosion of Hinduism in the US in the sixties and seventies, as the ideas of people like George Harrison, Ram Das and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi swept through the youth culture.
They weren't actively proseletising, the ideas just had a magnetic attraction.

Yes definitely. In fact the spread of Hinduism in the West began as early as the 19th century, not because of proseletising, but Hindusim had such magnetic attractiveness to the West. It's way of life, its philosophies and its history attracted massive academic and cultural interest in the West. They went onto translating the Upanishads, the Gita and this had massive influence on many philosophers, poets, writers and scientists. Another huge and controversial topic was emerging that the Hindus may actually be the ancestors of Europeans. It was a common thought then that that science, philosophy, mathmatics and civilisation itself was born in India and many people started reverring India as the motherland.

This is part of the reason why it was then demonized by Christian Missionaries. To accept India as the cradle of civilisation and Hinduism as the mother religion was completely against the whole notion which underpinned European society that the white man was superior which justified colonialism. So a new wave of scholarship began to demonize Hinduism. It was no longer looked at with reverence after that, instead it was disparaged as being a primitive, oppressive and barbaric religion. They also stripped of being indigenous by claiming its founders to be nomadic tribes from Europe which destroyed the darker-skinned Dravidians of the Indus Valley. They were primitive bards that worshipped pagan gods and sacrificed animals. They were not even willing to credit India for her philosophy, they argued it was inspired by Greek philosophy. In short it was a very racist movement, but which was very powerful and influencial, and the history it wrote has been taught in the world even up until the 21st century. It has only been recently challenged and changes are being made very quickly(but not universally)

There are many things that are emerging now in Indological studies

1. No Aryan Invasion. The Aryans are indigenous to India
2. The IVC is either post-vedic or within vedic times.
3. The Mahabharata is a likely real event
4. Indian migrations around the world
5. The Europeans are descedents of Indian migrants
6. India is the cradle of civilisation and Sanskrit is the mother of Indo-European languages
7. Hinduism is about 10,000 years old.

 

[Hema]

There is a large Hindu population in my country Trinidad & Tobago. This is in the West Indies. Brian Lara of cricket fame is from Trinidad, LOL. That's how we usually get people to know where we are. In the days of colonialism, our ancestors were brought from India to work in the sugar cane plantations. I think Hinduism is not as widely distributed as other religions because we have never been the types to preach our religion to others. What we live by is Sanathan Dharma. This is an eternal law that has always been in existance and will always be.

 

[zenzero]

Friends,
Have been going through all the posts here from Suraj's to Don's to Seyorni's, Hema's.
Like to present it in another fashion.
The whole existence is just MAYA a play thing or LILA. Out of Nothing came Forms and no-forms. Out of the forms humans evolved. The human stage in the evolutionary process is of great significance as it is only humans in the whole of existence which can merge back to its source which none other forms can as those forms have to evolve to human birth get enlightened, merge and get out of this cycle of births and deaths.
After humans evolved slowly it dawned that their is something in humans which is the developed MIND which when active keeps them away from their merged state and it is during the vedic period that many mind researchers [meditators]wrote their experiences those when compiled became the basis of Sanatan Dharma [possibly the oldest mind researchers [meditators] on earth. Similarly other meditators became enlightened in different parts of the globe and they have been found a different WAY/PATh/RELIGION which is helpful in merging with existence/god/etc.
Though am born in a Sanatan Dharma family which to me is the mother of most religions. Religion personally is just a PATH or WAY and prefer not to use the word Hinduism as it is the most derogating word used by everyone even by the people of the land which gave birth to Sanatan Dharma and later fell so low to accept the word HINDUISM given to them by an outsider who never understood what sanatan dharma is and went around the globe talking about hinduism as a pagan religion and too this day none as able to get out of this trap. Rather some people are getting more into it by trying to spread this misnomer further.
However, the main reason for this is that though have been born in India in a family following sanatan dharma am not restricted by it or by existence to follow only ONE path/way/religion to get back to the source/ to be enlightened/ to merge. In practice it is Buddha's methods that find more useful but am not a buddhist either. have studied in a catholic school and love Jesus but am not a christian. eat beef have muslim friends and love them equally but am not a muslim.
Am just a being a human being whose only goal is to merge with the whole whatever way/path/religion it maybe. This is true of every human being be it today or tomorrow. All the differences that appears are only of the MIND which few are to see or understand but subsequently all differences will disappear from this universe and humans will evolve to its next stage of evolution which will be nearer to gods.
Kindly meditate over this.
Love & rgds

 

[Don Penguinoini]

Originally Posted by Suraj
Yeah, but their religion is not the most powerful is it my little friend? Moreover the Jews and the Christians are very closely linked. It could be said the Judo-Christo tradition is the most powerful in the world.

I think numbers is important obviously, but it is not the only criteria of power. If you have a certain critical amount it is enough to have power. The problem in is there is not enough Hindus which reach the critical amount in the world. This is why Hinduism remains only limited to India.

Im not one to comment on the links between Judaism and Christianity, but Israel (a mainly jewish nation) is surrounded by Muslim nation, who are mainly despise the Jews.
They have stood strong in the face of all these nations, without huge number.

Quality over quantity.

Originally Posted by Suraj
This is actually a myth, a misinterpretation of a quote in the Bhagvad Gita, which you admit yourself you have not read. It says that all paths of dharma lead to god, it does not say all religions lead to god. Those paths are Bhakti, Karma, Jnana. The Gita actually says some paths are demonic and Hindus have traditionally regarded foreign religions as adharmic(not dharmic)

As much as i would love to disagree on this point, i simply cannot because you know more than me since you have read more scriptures than me, so you win on this won.

Originally Posted by Suraj
Yeah, but Hinduism is not in power today. When Hinduism was in power India was the wealthist country in the world this is a solid fact. It was incredible prosperous. Yes, it was not immune from war, but war was much less common. India has had a relatively peaceful existence.

India is not a Hindu country anymore, it cannot be. Therefore in largely multi-cultural nation one religion presiding over the other is not fair. Other faiths would not have their say. That, is not right.
War was very much common in those time, kings in that day always set out to conquer new land.
Ashok, was a king who turned Buddhist, he had a great kingdom, prosperous. He was a Buddhist and was considered the greatest king of the world, he was Buddhist, not Hindu.

Originially Posted by Suraj
Do you practice Yoga(Jnana, Bhakti, Karma?) If not, how can you say you are a Hindu? Living your life according to the Vedas makes you a dharma magee(a follower of sanatana dharma) if instead you live your life like everybody else, consumerism, playing football with your mates, and going to school and becoming a software engineer or doctor(an Indian thing ) then there is nothing Hindu about you

Please keep this in your mind, im 13, you have a MUCH greater understanding of our religion than i do, or at least i think so.
I do live my life like everyone else, because i am everyone else. I do play football with my mates, does this make me a bad Hindu, or just simply not Hindu at all?

Sorry for such a late and poor reply, i had replied previously, but my computer just turned of at that time (convinent, huh?)

It may look like i am critiscising Hinduism, but i am not, really, i love my religion, i just think that sometimes, Suraj can be biased.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Please keep this in your mind, im 13, you have a MUCH greater understanding of our religion than i do, or at least i think so.

At the moment what your parents say is 'dharma' for you. There are no better friends than one's parents.

 

[Don Penguinoini]

At the moment what your parents say is 'dharma' for you. There are no better friends than one's parents.

Im not too sure in what type of spirit that was meant, i think its good.

Thank you, and very true. My mum and dad are religious, so i guess some of it has rubbed of on me.