The worship of nonHindu deities?

[Kalidas]

I know people from many religions worship Hindu deities (namely pagans) but does it ever go the other way around? Like a Hindu worshiping Egyptian deities or Greek or Celtic pagan etc etc. Its not something I am considering and want "permission" just curious if it ever happens an what's your opinion on it?

 

[Ashoka]

Welllll I sometimes pray to Kuan Yin, Green Tara and Medicine Buddha. I also have a thing for the Irish Gods (Brigid especially won't leave me alone. Maybe it's my Irish heritage?).

I personally don't see any harm in it. As long as the other gods are getting along.

Namakar

 

[Jainarayan]

Welllll I sometimes pray to Kuan Yin, Green Tara and Medicine Buddha....

Same here. I have Daoist deities and Buddhist deities (buddhas and bodhisattvas) in my shrine in addition to the Hindu deities. From Buddhism I have Green and White Tara, Medicine Buddha, Manjushri, Guanyin and Avalokiteshvara, Shakyamuni Buddha; from Daoism I have The Three Pure Ones, the Eight Immortals, The Jade Emperor and Guanyu. Why? They are all different facets, aspects and characterizations of the One. In fact, in Shingon Buddhism, there is an almost one-to-one correspondence between the Shingon deities and Hindu Deities.

I personally don't see any harm in it. As long as the other gods are getting along.

Namakar

Exactly. By "getting along", for me it means that they are complementary and supplementary to each other... like Yin and Yang, different parts of the whole, and non-dual.

 

[Fireside_Hindu]

I don't personally, but I did go to an Indian Hindu friend's house and noticed that she kept statues of Angels in her home. Not on the shrine but in the family room. That's the closest thing I can think of that I've had experience with.

I don't see a problem with it per se. As long as it doesn't lead to internal confusion. For me I know it would. But that's just me

Shanti :camp:

 

[Vinayaka]

I know people from many religions worship Hindu deities (namely pagans) but does it ever go the other way around? Like a Hindu worshiping Egyptian deities or Greek or Celtic pagan etc etc. Its not something I am considering and want "permission" just curious if it ever happens an what's your opinion on it?

Mostly just with western converts or adoptives from other places. I have never met an Indian Hindu who would do it, or does it. Just no point really. Our own Gods are plenty enough and more. It leads very much towards syncreticism or universalism.

 

[Viraja]

I used to love Jesus... sometimes I tune into the Catholic channel at TV (EWTN?) and repeat along the prayers said by the nun-sisters.

And that's not the end.. I used to keep the 'Kaaba' - the Black stone that Muslims pray to in my shrine because saint Madhwacharya declared that 'their god (Islamic god) is HIS god' and Kabirdas used to say that Sri Rama is Allah. BUT, nowadays I am not keeping this image of the Kaaba in my shrine simply because I have been offlate constantly reminded of how much India and Hindus suffered (and still are suffering) at the hands of tyrant Muslim invaders...

When young, my mother had some major fracture and was admitted to the hospital. there used to be a small shrine of mother Veilankanni (Mary) at the hospital since it was run by Christian Mission. I remember praying there and visiting the Veilankanni church several times.. this was when I was just 7 yrs old.. for some reason, my family didn't continue making church trips for long..

I enjoy watching the cartoon movies on Jesus's tale broadcasted during Christmas times.
(But these days I wonder if he really existed for it wouldn't be the intention of any divine to let a saint suffer torture like he did - no offence meant to anyone!).

 

[Jainarayan]

Keep in mind it's not God who committed the atrocities. It's his misguided and ignorant followers. They use God as an excuse.

 

[Kalidas]

Keep in mind it's not God who committed the atrocities. It's his misguided and ignorant followers. They use God as an excuse.

I wish more people would see that.

 

[Kalidas]

It leads very much towards syncreticism or universalism.

You say that almost like its a bad thing.

 

[Madhuri]

I've only known of Hindus doing this if they become syncretic. Like Hindu Wiccan or something. Otherwise I don't think there is any need to for most Hindus. And someone like myself would see the gods of other cultures as being other names for the same entities (like Zeus and Indra or Poseidon and Varuna).

 

[Ashoka]

and someone like myself would see the gods of other cultures as being other names for the same entities (like Zeus and Indra or Poseidon and Varuna).

ha. I kind of believe this. It keeps things simple, at least for me. There's only one sun, so Surya, Helios, Sunna, Bel, etc are all the same god with different names and myths. The ancient Greek pagans and followers of the ancient Roman Religion believed this (and many recons still do).

So in other words, to someone who sees them as being the same entity, Zeus is what the Greeks called Indra, Eos is who who they called Ushas, Hecate is a name they use for Dhumavati, and Vesta was the way they saw Agni. It works for other deities as well; in Shinto, Tsuki-Yomi, the moon, is how they depict Chandra, the moon. Or, the Goddess Tlazotleotl of Aztec/Toltec beliefs is another name for the Goddess Rati. The horned God Cernunnos of Gaul is their way of honoring Shiva as the God Pashupati.

Hope that kind of makes sense.

Namaskar

 

[Madhuri]

Hope that kind of makes sense.

Namaskar

Yes, and that's exactly how I see it too

 

[bp789]

In my experience, it's pretty common in India for religious and political leaders to say things such as how all religions are the same or how Shiva, Krishna, Allah, and Jesus are all the same God. I know of Hindus that have no problem praying at churches, mosques, gurudwaras, and other religious places. However, while it seems that many Hindus accept that the Gods of all other religions are the same God, I don't think a lot of Christians and Muslims are buying it, aside from a few liberal sects like Ismailism or Sufism. Another example I can think of is the saint, Shirdi Sai Baba. He tried to bridge the gap between Hindus and Muslims and he practiced a form of Hindu-Muslim syncretic religion, yet if you look at Shirdi Sai Baba's followers today, the vast majority of his followers are Hindus and there aren't many Muslims that accept his message.

Of course there are some exceptions. In my Hindu tradition, those that come from Muslim or Christian families (who make up merely a tiny minority) aren't required to stop going to the church or mosque. In one of the...sermons(?) I guess, one of the swamis was talking about a devout follower who came from a Muslim family and would visit the temple frequently, but they never stopped him from being Muslim though. He would pray at the temple, while also doing his namaz five times a day. For the swamis in our tradition, that was something to be proud of. Interestingly, typically in my tradition, Muslims, Christians, or Parsis that come pray at our temple aren't considered Hindus, but they're merely called the Muslim devotee or the Parsi devotee, despite them praying at the temple.

 

[Vinayaka]

You say that almost like its a bad thing.

Not bad bad, but possibly very confusing. All for what? Curiosity? Like I said before, if you have to add to your religion, then you must see something missing in your religion. I personally just don't see anything missing. Went to a sponsored homa tonight. Our temple had 300 people on a regular Tuesday night. That's Lord Ganesha for you. And He did it without anyone else's help. Amazing.

 

[Kalidas]

Not bad bad, but possibly very confusing. All for what? Curiosity? Like I said before, if you have to add to your religion, then you must see something missing in your religion. I personally just don't see anything missing. Went to a sponsored homa tonight. Our temple had 300 people on a regular Tuesday night. That's Lord Ganesha for you. And He did it without anyone else's help. Amazing.

That sounds awesome. I ACTUALLY have a Saturday off so I can actually go and visit the temple near by and now I'm being told nope because I have to stay home to help my fiances dad with their car

 

[Viraja]

The way I see worshiping non-Hindu deities is that, I'm just sending a token of respect to them, just a very minimal one, because by chance I came to know about their greatness (for example: Jesus). It is the same token of respect with which I worship deities belonging to other sects within Hinduism itself, such as various Shaiva and Shakta deities, since I am primarily Vaishnava. This respecting of other deities, the way I see it, does not clash with my worship of my primary ishta-devata since I love him more than any other deity.

 

[Jainarayan]

...someone like myself would see the gods of other cultures as being other names for the same entities (like Zeus and Indra or Poseidon and Varuna).

:yes: In that case it's a redundancy. I have a small brass murthi of Surya, but I would not have a replica of the Colossus of Rhodes (Helios, the sun) for two reasons: the redundancy and because Surya "speaks" to me, Helios does not. Likewise Indra and The Jade Emperor. I see them as the same, with The Jade Emperor winning out. In Hinduism we worship the deities in multiple forms: Rama, Krishna, Narasimha, Vishnu; Durga, Kali, Ambika; et al. However, they are different aspects and facets of the same deity, not a redundancy. Avalokiteshvara and Medicine Buddha represent a facet of compassion and healing, respectively, I find lacking in Hinduism.

 

[Jainarayan]

I know of Hindus that have no problem praying at churches, mosques, gurudwaras, and other religious places. However, while it seems that many Hindus accept that the Gods of all other religions are the same God

I can appreciate someone who is not Christian going into a Christian church, in the absence of another house of prayer to pray to God. After all, God is everywhere from the grandest temple to the lowliest back alley brothel, as I say. Only by an extreme, and I do mean extreme, stretch of even my imagination, could I reconcile or compare the sacrifice of Jesus (if I were to believe he is God) to the sacrifices Krishna and Rama made. Rama basically gave up his (royal) life and family to live austerely, endure personal tragedy, then return triumphantly and gloriously. Krishna willingly accepted Gāndhārī's curse to die like an animal. Jesus willingly accepted dying an ignoble death. I'm not drawing a comparison, we already have a **** storm thread about that.

 

[Jainarayan]

The way I see worshiping non-Hindu deities is that, I'm just sending a token of respect to them, just a very minimal one, because by chance I came to know about their greatness (for example: Jesus). It is the same token of respect with which I worship deities belonging to other sects within Hinduism itself, such as various Shaiva and Shakta deities, since I am primarily Vaishnava. This respecting of other deities, the way I see it, does not clash with my worship of my primary ishta-devata since I love him more than any other deity.

^ This too. :yes:

 

[Ashoka]

Sometimes, there are deities that don't match up, as Jainarayan said. For example, there is no Hindu God or Goddess (That I have found) who presides over the datura flower. Grandmother Momoy of the Chumash Native Americans in Coastal California, would then be a deity in and of herself, as She presides over this plant

Also, local deities would fall into this category. Hapi, the Nile River God, is "unknown" to the Hindu pantheon, as would be the Goddess Pele of Polynesian mythology, as she rules a specific volcano in Hawaii. Personally, I would call them Devas as well, just Devas that are too local and not known to the Hindu pantheon. Even the Ancient Greeks believed this, worshiping the "Unknown God" that they did not recognize in the Greek Pantheon.

The world is full of Devas and Devis

Namaskar