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Hindu influence in the West on the rise
Related to country: India

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Hindu influence in the West on the rise
www.amiahindu.com

I happened to come across many blogs where many are concerned about the interest in Hinduism in US and other western countries, after Rajan Zed, director of interfaith relations at a Hindu temple in Reno , Nev. , offered an official prayer in the U.S. Senate in July. He did the same in the Nevada State Assembly as well as at the California Senate.

Many do not know that one cannot stop the spread of Hindu concepts and ideals due to

1. Hinduism is a culture and not an organized religion like Christianity or Islam.

There are two very important cultures in this world today. One is Judaism and another is Hinduism. All western religions like Islam and Christianity came from Judaism. All eastern religions like Buddhism, Sikhism and to some extent Jainism came from Hinduism.


2. It has no hidden agenda or motive expect to spread truth.

All Hindus scriptures discuss about TRUTH and how to search after truth. Hindu scriptures state "self-realization" is the ultimate goal of every human being, whether the person is a Hindu or not."


3. As Rig Veda 89-1 states, it welcomes truth from every side.

Beauty of Hinduism is that it accept truth from very many sources. Hinduism is the result of deep meditation of Rishis, who searched after truth through out their lives.

4. It does NOT proclaim monopoly on GOD or TRUTH or SALAVTION.

No where in the Hindu scriptures, you will read that Hindus alone have monopoly on God or salvation. Hindu scriptures state, any person who searches after truth will ultimately attain self realization, whether that person is a Hindu or not.

Voltaire in Essay on Tolerance wrote: I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death, your right to say it. Hinduism is the symbolic representation of what Voltaire wrote.

Aa no bhadraah kratavo yantu vishvatah

" Let noble thoughts come to us from every side".


5. Absolute FREEDOM OF THOUGHTS & ACTIONS is the cardinal principle of Hinduism.

Even an atheist can condemn Hinduism and later can proudly proclaim he or she is a Hindu. In fact, unlike all religions and cultures in the world, Hinduism had an atheistic philosophy called CHARVAKA philosophy founded by Charvaka who rejected existence of God. Charvaka died in bed. He was not killed by any one. He died in bed due to old age.

6 Hindus do NOT actively convert people from other religions to Hinduism.
It is unheard of Hindus trying to convert others to Hinduism , since Hinduism is a culture with many religions in it. Of course, today HINDUISM TODAY Magazine and Arya Samaj convert people who are sincerely interested to become Hindus.

The more any one tries to suppress Hinduism the more it will spring back like a coiled spring.

In my book AM I A HINDU? I wrote:

“ Even if some one kill every Hindu on earth and burn every book on Hinduism, this “thought process” we call Hinduism, will come back to life again within few years, may be with a different name, since Hinduism, is the relentless search after truth.”



January 9, 2008 | 8:02 AM Comments  1 comments

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Heaven & Hell in Hinduism
Related to country: India

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

" Heaven & Hell" concepts are very important in Islam and Christianity. "ORIGINAL SIN" is not even acknowledged by Judaism, the mother culture/religion of Christianity or by Islam which is the sister religion of Christianity

So HEAVEN & HELL are NOT important in eastern religions.

www.amiahindu.com

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Once in NY Times square, a preacher told me

" Ed, being a Hindu, You will go to hell" ....

I answered:

" Dear Sir, why should I go to a Christian hell, when we Hindus have seven hells to go to."

Poor preacher was speechless. Poor preacher does not know the fact that Hindu Puranas talk about SEVEN HELLS.....hahahaha Hindus have SEVEN HEAVENS , SEVEN HELLS and SEVEN EARTHS......

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Swami Vivekananda wrote :

"In India, the idea of the goal (salvation) is this: There are heavens, there are hells, there are earths, but they are not permanent. If I am sent to hell, it is not permanent. The same struggle goes on and on whatever I am. How to go beyond all this struggle is the problem ........ The Indian idea is not to go to Heaven. Get out of this earth, get out of hell, and get out of heaven! What is the goal? It is freedom! You must be free" (Complete Works 6:57)

1 In Rig Veda, heaven is the place Devandra lives and Hell is the place where Yama lives.

2 Only thing I infer from reading Vedas & Upanishads, is that heaven [ SWARGA ] and hell [ NARAGA ] are NOT permanent places where the soul rests but “way stations” for short sojourn.

3 After that immortal soul comes back to earth to continue life. Immortal soul [Atman ] governed by GUNAS take birth in appropriate bodies. After exhausting karmas immortal soul [Atman] merges with God.

4 So at the end every one of us, even the worst among us will merge with God. That is the beauty of the Hindu salvation or Hindu Self-Realization. By complete change of consciousness from material to spiritual, a man, irrespective one is Hindu or not will finally attain salvation. Nobody is denied salvation in Hinduism.

5 Even Lord Krishna states in the Bhagavad Gita, that "heaven" and "hell" are not permanent places where soul stays, but only temporary stations where soul rests.


6 Man’s problem is his ignorance of his true nature that he is the immortal soul due to MAYA [illusion] and until and unless he realizes that he is the immortal soul – ATMAN within and not the perishable body, he will continuously undergo going to heaven & hell.

7 Adi Sankara stated, even celestial beings crave to have a human body since only being a human one can attain self-realization. Dealing with karmas can be done only through a human body.

8. Conclusion: A human being should not waste time thinking about heaven and hell. He or she should concentrate on "Spiritual Maturity".

9 Do everything in your power to elevate yourself spiritually. It does not matter what religion or culture you follow. As long as you open up to truth and follow one of the four methods taught by Hindu scriptures, Jnana Yoga; Karma Yoga; Raja Yoga or Bhakti Yoga, you will attain self-realization.

www.amiahindu.com


January 7, 2008 | 9:30 AM Comments  1 comments



Sati or Suttee - The Most Horrendous Act
Related to country: India


Sati or Suttee

Sati or suttee is the most horrendous act of widows killing themselves jumping into the funeral pyre of their dead husbands, sometimes willfully and sometimes forcefully by others.

Believe it or not Sati has nothing to do with Hinduism. To say, Sati is a part of Hinduism is exactly like saying “Salem witch hunt” and Spanish killing of Mayas have something to do with the immortal teachings of the Jesus Christ.

There is not even one scriptural statement in Vedas or Upanishads or two epics concerning SATI.


How does the name Sati originate?

The name Sati originated from the name of Sati, the last daughter of Daksha Prajapathi, who was born from the thumb of Lord Brahma. King Daksha had 100 daughters all of them except Sati married other Prajapathis, who are also the sons of Lord Brahma. Sati, against the wishes and command of her father king Daksha married Lord Siva.

King Daksha once conducted a very grand Yajna [prayer & sacrifice] to which almost all the relatives and dignitaries were invited, except Sati and her husband Lord Siva. Sati went to the Yajna [prayer & sacrifice] uninvited, against the wishes of her husband Lord Siva. King Daksha did not even recognize his daughter Sati when she appeared at his palace gate. Sati felt insulted beyond her wildest imagination. Struck by profound sorrow, Sati killed herself by self-immolation. This suicidal act of act of Sati or Dashayani [daughter of Daksha ] has nothing to do with her husband Lord Siva. She did that since she could not take the humiliation.

MANU SMRITI or the Code of Manu:

Sage Manu was India’s code giver and in his book Manusmriti has dealt with almost everything one can think of. There is no mention of Sati any where in Manusmriti.

RIG VEDA:

Some argue Rig Veda sanctions Sati based on a verse 10.18.7. This verse is part of the funeral in Hinduism. Text only state that widow should sleep next to the body of the dead husband as an act of last saha saya [sleeping together]. The texts continuing to this text never mention any act of Sati.

So according to the funeral hymns in RIGVEDA, the ceremony is widow sleeping next to the corpse of the dead husband and then being allowed to marry anyone she pleases.

RAMAYANA:
In Ramayana, after Lord Rama's father king Dasaratha died, none of his three wives practiced Sati.
In Ramayana, when the monkey-king Bali died, his wife Tara did not commit Sati. Instead she married his brother Sugreeva. When the demon king Ravana got killed, his wife Mandodhari did not kill herself.

MAHABHARATA:

Kaurava princesses:

There is not even one act of Sati in the whole epic poem of Mahabharata where thousands of men got killed. Even though one hundred Kaurava Princes including Duryodhana were killed, not even one Kaurava princess committed Sati. I The acts of Lord Krishna killing themselves after the demise of Krishna have nothing to do with SUTTEE.

Lord Krishna’s wives:

All those wives of Lord Krishna were Apsaras, [celestial beings who were born on earth to help Krishna to kill all demons. Once Krishna left, there were no need for them stay on earth. That is the reason why they killed themselves after Krishna went back to Vaikunda, the abode of Lord Vishnu.

Queen Madri:

Queen Madri, the wife of King Pandu jumped into the funeral pyre of the fallen husband and killed herself. But her suicide has nothing to do with Sati. She felt she was responsible for the death of her husband who had been cursed by a dieing saint to die, if he ever had an intercourse.

What happened to King Pandu was not Madri’s fault, still Madri killed herself out of remorse. Madri begged her husband to control himself but of no avail. King Pandu had another wife Kunthi and she did not kill herself. That clearly shows Madri’s suicide has nothing to do with Sati.


Savitri, the legendry heroine of Hinduism

When Savitri's husband Satyavan died, the god of death Yama came to take the soul of Satyavan. Savitri engaged Lord Yama in a debate and Yama was forced to let go Satyan. During this episode there was absolutely no mention of Savitri committing Sati. That thought never occurred in her mind. Instead Savitri tricked Yama in bestowing life to his fallen husband.

Then from where did Sati came from?

Suttee had its roots in Greece. Pyre services similar to Suttee were prevalent among Germans, Slavs and other races besides Greeks. The practice of SUTTEE came to India through KUSHANS in 1 A.D.

Who Practiced Sati in India?

It was RAJPUTS a warrior tribe who were descendants of KUSHANS and who were very fanatic Hindus and who were extremely monogamous who practiced SUTTEE.

Why did they practice Sati?

Rajputs were in constant wars within themselves and were also war with Moslems. So there were thousands of young widows and they feared that it is dangerous to have thousands of young, extremely beautiful widows running around and they went were the extreme measure of eliminating them. Moslems were also in the same plight and they took care of the problem of young widows by each man having four wives.

What happened to Sati?

In 1829, British government in India, outlawed SUTTEE as a criminal offense. Suttee was never ever practiced in South India. Copycats appear now and then, but believe me vast majority of people have nothing to do with SUTTEE.

If Sati was part of Hinduism, thousands of widows should have been killed all over India. That never ever happened. We have no history to prove other wise.


February 7, 2007 | 12:36 PM Comments  1 comments

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