Why Hinduism?

[firedragon]

Here's a list I found of common untranslatable words.

Non-Translatable Sanskrit words

My God. They have put some of the stupidest English words there to say "not equal to".

The problem with translators is that they want one word for one word. It's dumb.

But, the problem also is if you go to use sentences per word, no book will ever get translated. It's a give and take situation.

 

[LuisDantas]

While that is true, there are also a lot of significant differences in meaning that are really not obvious. It may be difficult to find someone to explain the concepts, let alone translate them.

 

[George-ananda]

So Brahman was there before creation? By creation I am referring to the universe.

We might say the universe is a thought-form of Brahman. A play/drama that he thought.

 

[firedragon]

We might say the universe is a thought-form of Brahman. A play/drama that he thought.

You mean it's a Maya.

 

[firedragon]

Yes. Bodhidharma was instrumental in the creation of both Kung Fu and Zen Buddhism.

An admirable person by any measure, even if his existence as such is perhaps questionable.

I never thought of that. I only knew that he took the Indian martial arts to china and taught it to monks there. I mean at least as a legend. I didn't know he taught them Buddhism. Thanks for that information.

Even his name bodhi dharma means the way or philosophy of the bo tree which is completely a Buddhist tradition. So this makes a lot of sense. If he was just a legend, it still makes sense.

 

[George-ananda]

You mean it's a Maya.

YES. Brahman thinks the play/drama and rays of his consciousness play the roles.

We are rays of Brahman under the illusion (Maya) that everything is separate.

 

[firedragon]

YES. Brahman thinks the play/drama and rays of his consciousness play the roles.

We are rays of Brahman under the illusion (Maya) that everything is separate.

Okay. So we are actually separate from Brahman, not his own murti. But we think we are because that's how it appears to us which is a maya. Is that correct?

No wait. I think I misrepresented you. We are NOT separate from Brahman. We are a part of him. The Maya is that we are separate but we are Brahmans Maya. Emanating from Brahman himself. Is that correct?

 

[George-ananda]

Okay. So we are actually separate from Brahman, not his own murti. But we think we are because that's how it appears to us which is a maya. Is that correct?

No wait. I think I misrepresented you. We are NOT separate from Brahman. We are a part of him. The Maya is that we are separate but we are Brahmans Maya. Emanating from Brahman himself. Is that correct?

You're correction is correct. We are not separate from Brahman. But Maya gives us the illusion of separation.

 

[firedragon]

You're correction is correct. We are not separate from Brahman. But Maya gives us the illusion of separation.

Amazing george. Thank you. I would like to know more. So I will follow through with what you said with some material I could find.

If you could recommend, please do. A book I mean by a Hindu scholar or something.

Thanks again. This is amazing.

 

[George-ananda]

Amazing george. Thank you. I would like to know more. So I will follow through with what you said with some material I could find.

If you could recommend, please do. A book I mean by a Hindu scholar or something.

Thanks again. This is amazing.

Good wishes, my friend. Gosh, there is so much and what will strike a chord with you is impossible to know. I would say search the internet for Advaita and Nondualism and browse and go deeper where you are intrigued.

You can PM me questions at any time.

 

[firedragon]

Good wishes, my friend. Gosh, there is so much and what will strike a chord with you is impossible to know. I would say search the internet for Advaita and Nondualism and browse and go deeper where you are intrigued.

You can PM me questions at any time.

Hmm. So this is the advaita philosophy.

I have some literature on the advaita brother, but I have not studied them. The thing is, searching the internet will lead me to websites of one particular school of thought. But not "YOUR" school of thought. So that's the reason I ask for your own reading material. Do you understand what I mean?

Lets say I speak to one person from the advaita school who says Samkara's philosophy is followed in advaita, someone else will say the advaithins were there before samkaracharya and all advaita is not samkara and all samkara is not advaita. And all advaita are not vedanta and all vedanta are not advaita. Each person may have his own profound philosophy and interpretation. Just look at what you said above George. It was fantastic. As far as I remember no one has ever explained things the way you did to me. Do you understand? So there is nothing like directly referencing what you would recommend.

Another philosopher may have another source of information and that may give a bit of a different perspective. That's the value if "vidya".

It's a good life. Thank you so much. And I will take you up on your kind offer. I will PM you for any questions.

 

[Aupmanyav]

It is humans who do meditation and each Samadhi, not Brahman. But I do not think the non-existent phase is clear to eve them. Everything has to arise at one time and there should be a reason for arising. So what is it for God or even Brahman, IMHV, the sole constituen of all things in the universe.

 

[sun rise]

Here's a list I found of common untranslatable words.

Non-Translatable Sanskrit words

That's an interesting list. But at least some of the "is not equal to" such as dharma and karma can have closer definitions but not one word ones. Moksha can be translated as "liberation" not "salvation" so the "is not equal to" seems attuned to Christianity rather than strict Sanskrit to English.

 

[Aupmanyav]

So there is nothing like directly referencing what you would recommend.

If you care, I would suggest this for Sankara's advaita: A History Of Indian Philosophy Vol.1 : Dasgupta,surendranath : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

I do not think anyone can equal Surendranath Dasgupta's scholarship on the subject. A click on the link will open the relevant chapter.

 

[sun rise]

'Sai Babas' of any kind - Puttaparthy or Shirdi, the first two were preachers and the last one a mendicant. So also, the Brahmakumaris. They do not belong to traditional Hinduism.

You're point is one I share - they do not belong to traditional Hinduism which is itself a collection of many ideas. (Shirdi) Sai Baba could be considered closer to Kabir in that both had Hindu and Muslim disciples. Sai Baba apparently spoke in terms of the Quran to his Muslim followers and Hindu sources to those followers.

 

[Vinayaka]

My God. They have put some of the stupidest English words there to say "not equal to".

The problem with translators is that they want one word for one word. It's dumb.

But, the problem also is if you go to use sentences per word, no book will ever get translated. It's a give and take situation.

But sadly, in interfaith discussions, we have to deal with this kind of silliness.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

But sadly, in interfaith discussions, we have to deal with this kind of silliness.

A tangent. For me as Danish the problem is that some of my texts are in Danish, so I can't even quote them, since they are not translated.

 

[Vinayaka]

A tangent. For me as Danish the problem is that some of my texts are in Danish, so I can't even quote them, since they are not translated.

You bring up such an excellent point as to how vast all this linguistic differences really are. Heck there are physical objects and things (like snow) than some languages have no words for. But abstract concepts ... that's gotta be a whole other ball game.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

You bring up such an excellent point as to how vast all this linguistic differences really are. Heck there are physical objects and things (like snow) than some languages have no words for. But abstract concepts ... that's gotta be a whole other ball game.

Here is an everyday word that is unique to Danish - hygge. And that isn't even an abstract - it is a feeling.

 

[Vinayaka]

Here is an everyday word that is unique to Danish - hygge. And that isn't even an abstract - it is a feeling.

I googled ... a beautiful concept . All I know about Denmark came form the children's novel Number the Stars. It sounds like a wonderful country.