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Need Help In Understanding Hinduism

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grainne

Member
I loved the thread on Science and Vedanta, if my memory serves right. But I was not able to grasp much of it.

I can tell you what I believe and don't believe, but at the same time I have doubts about certain things.

I cannot accept the God of Christianity because of the cruelty that this God has. I cannot accept that Christ is a savior. I don't believe in avatars. I wish to believe in the soul, I wish to believe that we are one with all. I do feel that there is a higher Consciousness, but only because while in meditation my mind expanded, and I was enveloped in Love, at that moment I believed it to be God. Now I don't know what it was, but I know that the mind can expland and experienced this, and that it was real.

I ask, where did this Love come from. The Buddhists say within me. I could not buy that. Perhaps, I thought when my mind expanded I was in touch with All that is, but then if Brahman is not these things, if that One Consciousness is not this, then what is? And perhaps this One Conscousness that created (as some quantum physicists believe) also has Love and Hate within it, which would explain that the Christian God is correct after all, and that we being this God is the reason why we love and hate, and how some of us struggle to surpass this hate.

I hope I am making sense. My mind is little in these things. How often I wish that I were an intellectual, but I try.

I know one thing for sure. Prayers do not get answered and there is no God that intervenes with those on this earth. My prayers were not answered as a Christian, nor as a Hindu, and not as a Buddhist. In prayer you are alone, and so you have to create your own world, and I have mostly learned to do it through positive thinking.

But I desire to believe in reincarnation and maybe karma. I once had a lot of love for God, and that was shatterred, then years later I came to Hinduism and my love for a God was renewed, and I had my experience. Then I came to Buddhism and was told that my experience was an hallucination, and that meditating with the mind expanding could cause insanity. I left Buddhsim. I left religion. I miss Hinduism. Positive thinking can not take away missing God.
 
S

santdasji

Member
Katha Upanishad (2.3.8-9) wherein it says: “Beyond the Brahmajyoti (nirguna or formless Brahman of the monist) there is the Great Purusha viz., Purushottama God who is all-pervading but having sat-chit-ananda--transcendental embodiment. He who realizes this Purushottama-tattva is finally liberated. Attaining a spiritual body he renders eternal service to the Purushottama [Supreme Being]. The Transcendental Personality of Godhead is beyond the purview of occult vision.
 
Freelancer7

Freelancer7

Active Member
grainne said:
Then I came to Buddhism and was told that my experience was an hallucination, and that meditating with the mind expanding could cause insanity. I left Buddhsim. I left religion. I miss Hinduism. Positive thinking can not take away missing God.
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I feel sorry for the Buddhist that may have pulled you away from your closeness with God through Hinduhism. Dreams, hallucinations, visions, daydreams are a creation, whether bad or good, light or dark, loving or evil, they can happen to oneself as a guide, as a pathway of education to oneself. If you have found God through a religion then you have reached a certain stage of enlightment, only being true to your inner emotion of your inner voice can you take things further if you so chose to do so. The most imporant thing for you I personnaly believe now is to listen to your Heart, do not listen to your head, listen to you Heart.
 
Aupmanyav

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
Grainne, why should the world be as you desire? Why do you wish to believe in soul? Fear of death? With what you would wish to be one? Only the humans, or animals, vegetation, non-living substances? If you are one with all things, even with dust, then you would not fear death, because that is what we would all be after death. Our books said 'Sarve Khalu Idam Brahma' (All things are Brahman). Brahman is energy/substance which constitutes everything in the universe, the substrate of the universe, it is not a God.

Why should there be a higher consciousness? Consciousness is a very temporary thing and it does not last beyond the body. It is this temporary consciousness of our mind that makes you love and hate. The oneness and love you felt during meditation is only the effect of cessation of noise created by thoughts that occupy mind. But that is only a mirage, oneness has to be realised intellectually. Hinduism considers Brahman as 'nirguna', without attributes; it has neither love nor hate.

Brahman does not need prayers. Actually Mundaka Upanishad says, 'In darkness are those who worship the manifest, in greater darkness are those who worship the unmanifest'. Prayers have no effect other than that of a placebo, just as the idea of God is. Yes, denial of God leaves a big hole in the minds of those who were once believers, one needs to be strong to face it.
 
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Eddy Daze

whirling dervish
I have heard that ther are about 150 versions of the Gita in English, so the philosopies will differ depending on the translator
 
Valjean

Valjean

Veteran Member
Premium Member
santdasji said:
I have Prabhupads .Cant go wrong.
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Among the several Gitas I've read, Swami Prabhupad's is the most aberrant. I do like the format, showing the original text, transliteration, translation and purport. But even a casual reading reveals that the translation often seems to have little relationship to the original/transliteration, and where the Swami-ji comes up with some of the purports I have no idea.

Why is this translation so wildly different from the others? Is everyone out of step but Johnny?
 
E

Eddy Daze

whirling dervish
Seyorni said:
Among the several Gitas I've read, Swami Prabhupad's is the most aberrant. I do like the format, showing the original text, transliteration, translation and purport. But even a casual reading reveals that the translation often seems to have little relationship to the original/transliteration, and where the Swami-ji comes up with some of the purports I have no idea.

Why is this translation so wildly different from the others? Is everyone out of step but Johnny?
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Probably because Prabhupada lived the life he preaches, and wrote the books to spread Caitanyas mission, I would say the other authors were doing it for other reasons.

Watch Prabhupadas videos, listen to his tapes and you will see that he defeats all arguments put forward by these types of philosophers
 
Wannabe Yogi

Wannabe Yogi

Well-Known Member
Seyorni said:
Among the several Gitas I've read, Swami Prabhupad's is the most aberrant. I do like the format, showing the original text, transliteration, translation and purport. But even a casual reading reveals that the translation often seems to have little relationship to the original/transliteration, and where the Swami-ji comes up with some of the purports I have no idea.
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I agree it seems like Prabhupad's translation takes a lot of twisting to come up with his translation.

I like Swami Tapasyananda Translation.

He breaks each word down to the meaning and gives a great commentary.
 
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