What Makes a Hindu a Hindu?

[Poeticus]

There have been many debates since the time when I joined. The DIR was not always blue.

...Nor does a DIR need to be blue in
order for the rule of "no debate in
a DIR" to stand valid and applicable.​

 

[Vinayaka]

Friend Vinayaka & Aupmanyav,

Simply show me what are the limitations as per Hinduism which does not encompass or where any human being on earth does not qualify to be a 'Hindu'.
If there is any such boundary then do share.

Love & rgds

(Most) Christians believe that the only way to salvation is through the prophet Jesus Christ. If you want to call that a Hindu belief, then be my guest, but nearly all Hindus, and absolutely all Christians would differ with you. But I won't sit here and debate you, as debate is also against the rules of this Blue DIR.

Living adharmically like raping and pillaging your neighbours would be frowned upon by almost all religions, including Hindus. But if you want to assert that raping and pillaging is a common practice to Hindus, go ahead. But you would be vastly outnumbered by the people who think otherwise.

As with Poeticus, I an suspecting you're not even a Hindu now, but a troll attempting to start ridiculous inane controversies.

 

[Ravi500]

As with Poeticus, I an suspecting you're not even a Hindu now, but a troll attempting to start ridiculous inane controversies.

I find Zenzero to be a very,very wise poster, and his inputs valuable. Hence I would request all to be patient with him .

He is of Hindu origin, I believe from reading his posts, now deeply into Buddhism though.

I am also interested in an answer to his question. :namaste

My own educated answer to Zenzero, is that there is no limitations in Hinduism which would prevent any human being on earth from becoming a Hindu.

I am interested in any views that may differ.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I agree with Ravi. Your assessment of Zenzero is not correct.

...Nor does a DIR need to be blue in order for the rule of "no debate in a DIR" to stand valid and applicable.

Who has made it blue - you people, not me. You cannot stand any divergent views. That is not Hinduism.

 

[Poeticus]

Who has made it blue - you people, not me. You cannot stand any divergent views. That is not Hinduism.

Aup, I could care less if you are an "atheist Hindu".
The conversation isn't on you and your views; this
digression is purely on what a DIR entails - and
that would be the simple fact that there is no
debating allowed in a DIR, whether the color of the
DIR be blue or green.

ps - The phrase, "you people", is pejorative and
offensive, in terms of parlance. In a mature and
well-rounded dialogue, it is left out since it entails
negative connotations.​

 

[Aupmanyav]

The phrase, "you people", is pejorative and offensive, in terms of parlance.

That the DIR had to be made blue just because of me was pejorative and offensive to me too. It was not because of me but because of your intolerance which is not advocated in Hinduism. This is a religion which prays 'ma vidvisha vahi'.

 

[Poeticus]

That the DIR had to be made blue just because of me was pejorative and offensive to me too. It was not because of me but because of your intolerance which is not advocated in Hinduism. This is a religion which prays 'ma vidvisha vahi'.

Aup, the DIR was not turned blue
because of intolerance. It became
blue because an overwhelming
majority of Hindus on RF voted for
it to become blue.

It's called democracy.​

 

[Aupmanyav]

The voters should have understood the implications. They voted just like Indian voters without realizing the consequences. From a free discussion forum it became a closed controlled forum. Hinduism is known for its freedom and acceptance of various views. It became like the Islamic forum. Even the Christian forum is not like that. Do you think there is no differences of views in the Christian forum? You think it is an achievement (which you so happily celebrated)?

 

[Poeticus]

The voters should have understood the implications. They voted just like Indian voters without realizing the consequences. From a free discussion forum it became a closed controlled forum. Hinduism is known for its freedom and acceptance of various views. It became like the Islamic forum. Even the Christian forum is not like that. You think it is an achievement (which you so happily celebrated)?

Aup, an overwhelming majority of the Hindus on
RF are Western, non-Indian Hindus. Furthermore,
any statements of discontent regarding the actions
of the administrators of RF should be discussed
with the administrators of RF in the site feedback
area.​

 

[Vinayaka]

My own educated answer to Zenzero, is that there is no limitations in Hinduism which would prevent any human being on earth from becoming a Hindu.

I totally agree with this.

And I've had many discussions with Zenzero, most of them quite circular.

The approach of absolute reality mountaintop perspective is something most Hindus and Buddhists would attain to at some point. It's roughly termed simplistic Advaita. Indeed, at the Ultimate level of awareness merging into Brahman, it is just monism. It's all same, all same. There is no religion, no karma, do differences, etc.

But the problem I and others have with this approach is that it isn't practical. It doesn't answer a seeker's questions, it doesn't give any suggestions on how one might become this state of mind. And therefore, although at an ultimate level it's true, it's not really very applicable in day to day life, when tears flow, bones break, anger happens etc. Most seekers want answers, not some rather vague advaitic statements that reflect a deeper realisation attained by many of our greatest seers.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Please show me scriptures that says 'rapists' are not considered 'hindus'.

A rapist may have been born in a Hindu family, but he is 'adham', did not follow 'dharma' (which would be for a man to save a woman in such a situation), he is 'pashavika', a 'pashu' and not a human, because his 'manushyata' has ended. He is no more a hindu, he is a 'pishacha' (paishachika). I would think that the punishment for such a crime in traditional Hinduism would be death. Exile or ex-communication would not be enough. If the person then marries the raped women, it would be termed as 'pishacha vivaha' or something like that, but one which was never praised in Hinduism.

 

[Ravi500]

You are a famous man, Mr. Amarnath. You seem to believe in a very special philosophy, but to me it simply is a Lokyaata belief, with the Brahman word thrown in to mislead people.

User:Aupmanyav - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wow, Aups. I knew you would go far, but I didn't know you would go this far !!

You have certainly outdone yourself this time.


Usually wiki pages are created by writers for famous people of substance who have enriched the world with their achievements and efforts.

This is the first time, I have seen someone trying to attain fame the other way around, by writing his own wiki page.

I guess there is a first time for everything. Lol.....

On a hilarious note, after reading this yesterday and ROFL , I had a very funny image of Krishna dressed in denim and a black leather jacket, playing a prank on Aups and then dancing with Michael Jackson to the soundtrack of Thriller, with the rest of us as support dancers, teasing Aups.

Lol...I guess I am also going crazy.


I do pray that the sweet Lord Krishna will bless all over here with true jnana and bhakti...including Aups.

 

[Poeticus]

Wow, Aups. I knew you would go far, but I didn't know you would go this far !!

You have certainly outdone yourself this time.


Usually wiki pages are created by writers for famous people of substance who have enriched the world with their achievements and efforts.

This is the first time, I have seen someone trying to attain fame the other way around, by writing his own wiki page.

I guess there is a first time for everything. Lol.....

You are surprised?​

It's common knowledge here on RF that Aup edits many
Wiki articles pertaining to various Hinduaic concepts and
beliefs. This was the second wave of damage to his
credibility, the first being the incessant and almost insane
supporting of Tilak's Arctic Aryans.​

 

[Aupmanyav]

Usually wiki pages are created by writers for famous people of substance who have enriched the world with their achievements and efforts.

You misunderstand, Ravi. It is not a 'Wiki page'. It is a 'Wiki user page', where those who are registered users of Wikipedia are free to describe there views, that is what I have done. There are hundreds of such Wiki user pages in Wikipedia. If you search for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amar_Nath_Reu, you would not get any page, just click that and find out (though my grandfather has a page there, Bishweshwar Nath Reu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). That too has not been created by me but some other history researcher. I, sure, do not deserve a Wiki page.

I had a very funny image of Krishna dressed in denim and a black leather jacket, playing a prank on Aups and then dancing with Michael Jackson to the soundtrack of Thriller, with the rest of us as support dancers, teasing Aups.

Pranks with Aup is OK. Krishna was all the time into it, but Krishna and Michael Jackson (that overdone monkey) do not jive together, and I resent any such reference.

 

[Aupmanyav]

It's common knowledge here on RF that Aup edits many Wiki articles pertaining to various Hinduaic concepts and beliefs.

I used to do that, Poeticus. But there are some people at Wikipedia, sort of a coterie, who have monopolised the Hinduism article, and insist on calling Hinduism as a Vedic religion. I do not support that view. In the end I had to abandon that effort. I have not made any edit in Wikipedia for quite some time. You can find here when I visited Wikipedia talk and for what purpose: talk: Aupmanyav - Search results - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. These days I visit Wikipedia only for checking on various articles.

 

[Makaranda]

Aupmanyav,

On your wiki page, you say:

I believe that the energy that constitute my body might have been created by expansion of space (Zero Point Energy) 14 billion years ago in a big bang. Though I am not sure about it and I comfortabe in waiting for further developments in science. When we die, our identity ceases and the energy in our body get recycled. They were part of millions of living and non-living things before I was born; and after my death, they will again become part of millions of living and non-living things.

May I ask, then, what are you? Are you as good as the body?

 

[Poeticus]

I used to do that, Poeticus. But there are some people at Wikipedia who have, sort of a coterie, monopolised the Hinduism article, and insist on calling Hinduism as a Vedic religion.

Just as how you have a right to call yourself
a Hindu Atheist, they have every right to call
or treat Hinduism as Vedic (which isn't far off
the bat). While support for Hindu Atheism
cuts off the bat's edge into the wicket keeper's
gloves, those monopolizers have scriptural
backing that makes their point(s) run to the
boundary like a new ball being straight drive-d
by Lara.​

 

[Aupmanyav]

No poeticus, I wrote to the writer of the page, a person calling himself Sushruta, and requested him to edit the name of my grandfather in the article. My grandfather signed his name as Bishweshwar Nath Reu instead of Vishweshwar Nath Reu. Sushruta made the change of spelling. Here is the message that I wrote to Sushruta (you can find this on his talk page half way down at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:SUSHRUTA) and his reply on my talk page (second from the last at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Aupmanyav). I reproduce both here to clear your doubts:

"Hi, Sushruta
I am Pt. Bishweshwar Nath Reu's grand son (Amar Nath Reu). Thanks for starting the biographical page. I would add to the information. IMHO, Granddad is important for two things, translation of B.G.Tilak's two books in hindi ("Orion or the Antiquity of Vedas", and "Arctic Homes in Vedas"), an idea which unfortunately has not been researched much; and writing "BishweshwarasSmriti", I think the latest of hindu smritis, which incorporates modern science (92 elements, Big-Bang, Evolution, Paleontology, etc.) and modern social thought (acceptance of untouchables as equals, widow-remarriage, etc.). Also note that the correct spelling of his name is "Bishweshwar" Nath Reu.
With regards.
Aupmanyav (talk) 14:23, 19 September 2010 (UTC)"

"Thank you for your message.
Sorry for the delay in replying to your message. It is indeed a pleasure to hear from the grandson of Pandit Reu. Apologies for the misspelling of Bishweshwar, in my defence, it was the Library of Congress which started me down that path. Thanks for all the new information on Pandit Reu, my knowledge of this field is not as detailed as I would like it to be. I hope you would do me the honor of adding this information to Pandit Reu's page.
With best regards
SUSHRUTA (talk) 03:03, 9 December 2010 (UTC)"

I do want to add a few things, but have not done so till now. The glaring short-coming of the page is absence of any reference to his last book, 'Vishweshwara Smriti'. I had added my grandfather's photo, but for some reason which I do not understand, Wikipedia has removed the photograph.

 

[Ravi500]

Krishna was all the time into it, but Krishna and Michael Jackson (that overdone monkey) do not jive together, and I resent any such reference.

And I resent calling MJ or any other human being a monkey as well in a derogatory sense, not that I am being disrespectful to primates. Whether Krishna jives with you or MJ, you will know when you disembody.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Aupmanyav, on your wiki page, you say:
(whatever)
May I ask, then, what are you? Are you as good as the body?

I am Brahman, Makaranda. You too are that (Tat twam asi). All things in the universe are that (Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma). Nothing else exists in the universe other than Brahman. Am I as good as my body? I am not two things that I can compare one with the other. Have I not said that I am an advaitist?