Ask the Hindu / Indian Guy

In My Humble Opinion
41

Kaje:

 What u seem to be suggesting is that Hinduism has a problem coz it has a framework consisting of Monkey-Gods and the like. And thats missing the point entirely.

 The mythology is not Hinduism. What u r suggesting is like saying that the idol of God is God Himself. These are stories, epics that depicts the struggles of Good and Evil. And the defenders of Good are worshipped. The Monkey-God was a defender of Good. Thats why he is worshipped. But he is proxy for the One God, a representation of the Eternal Truth.

 Though Buddhism and Hinduism share some of the core concepts they are not entirely the same. There do exist some differences. The chief among them being that Buddhism  has a different concept of the atman or the soul.

 I dont think Hinduism will decline. Its a very attractive philosophy and it has survived almost 4000 years now. I think the main strength lies in the fact that there are no fixed do's and don't laid down. However, u are responsible for every action. Good karma will lead to moksha or relief from this earthly cycle. Bad karma will mean that ur atman will suffer. This resonates with the idea of morality and duty each of us follows. These core belief are very strong in Indian society even today.
42

xanakis:

First, I dont think Hinduism says anything marijuana.
Sorry to dissapoint u folks :wink:

About Kashmir, let me first state that anything I say here is strictly my opinion and if need be we can open up a new thread to discuss the issue.

There's a democratically elected state government operating in Kashmir. Any idea of an independent Kashmir has to originate from that forum. I believe, there is already an option for an autonomous Kashmir.

But at the same time any such decision cannot be pursued under the threat of terrorism. That is unacceptable from India's point of view. Which brings us to Pakistan which also has vested interests in Kashmir.

As far as India is concerned, Pakistan's interference in Kashmir is unacceptable. Pakistan has provided support for terrorists to infiltrate into Kashmir. As recently as the Kargil incident, there have been instances of Pakistan-supported terrorists trying to occupy Indian held territory.

Considering the existing picture, I’d say its very important for the terrorism to stop before there are any more talks on the issue.

43

pennylane:

IMO, what u got was an uttappam. Its rather smaller than the dosa, but thicker and sometimes it has tomato or onions or fried potato toppings.

Jackknifed Juggernaut:

I really appreciate ur input. I’ll soon be posting about how the cultural Hindu society and the philosophical Hindu teachings are different and the reasons for such a divide. Thanks for posting … :slight_smile:

xanakis:
I think the line of thought for Hinduism is as follows:

Whether its ok or not to use marijuana is ur own decision. After having considered all the pro’s and con’s, if u honestly believe that u do not harm urself or any of ur fellow living beings, explicitly or implicitly, by using marijuana, then u r right to use it. If u use it even while knowing that it can cause harm to a fellow living being, then its bad karma. So u decide :slight_smile:

44

As a buddhist guy, allow me to clarify a bit further.

When the Buddha taught, he used the words and concepts he had been raised with and that were easily understood by the people around him. Hinduism, as I understand, changed a lot since 500 bce, and most historical essays I’ve read refer to the main religion of the time as Brahmanism.

So while both religions talk about things like karma, it’s very important to understand that Buddhism and Hinduism view such concepts from a different perspective.

Buddhism claims that “there is no Atman, nor Brahman.” That is, there is no God, nor soul. Or more precisely, the two are the same and to see them as different is wrong and ultimately the source of all suffering. At the time of the Buddha, this statement was considered fairly shocking, I believe.

I think that the extravagant mythology is an aspect of Indian culture first and foremost. TruthFinder what do you think? Buddhist sutras, especially the later ones have very, how shall I say. . . “out there” imagery.

About onions and garlic.
Buddhist monks and nuns aren’t allowed to eat them either. One reason I’ve heard and read a few times is that according to traditional Indian medicine, they aren’t all that good for you. There is another reason, I believe, though. Practicing yoga/meditation/zazen with a bad breath is a lot more unpleasant that you might think.

Well anyway, that’s in my experience.

Thanks for the thread!:slight_smile:

45

Like I promised, This post is about the origins of Hindu religious culture and Hindu philosophy and the percieved differences between them.

The origins of Hinduism are said to lie in the way of life of the Aryans. There is no central holy book of the Hindus nor are there any founders of the religion.

 The earliest written texts which describe this way of life are the Vedas. The Vedas are 4 holy books written sometime between 1000BC and 150BC. The primary contents of the Vedas are a hymns praising the Gods and the Aryan way of life. They also throw light on the social structure of the times. However, the more metaphysical aspects of Hinduism are not made explicit in these texts.

Next we have the Upnishads and the Manu Smriti. These texts came after the Vedas and were more like elaborations and clarifications of the Vedas. Its like people were expanding the basic philosophies and rituals found in the Vedas.

In the Upnishads, we have a much more elaborate description of rituals and expected behaviour of good men. And a lot of philosophical explanation is given for the same.

The Manu-Smriti is another such interpretations of Vedic scriptures. Its more of the same stuff. It lays down the rules, describes do’s and don’t and so forth.

The ritualistc aspects of Hinduism today find origins in the Vedas, the Upnishads and the Manu Smriti.

The last great text is the Bhagvad Gita. This is unique among all the texts as it almost exclusively elaborates on Hindu philosophy. The whole meta-physical concept is at its most developed state in this text. However, It does not discount any of the Vedic rituals or practises. The Bhagvad Gita is like the sophiticated philosophical complement to the ritualistc Vedas and Upnishads.

Now the various Hindu practises like the caste system, The secondary role of women, the aversion to meat except during sacrifices, aversion to onion,garlic etc( coz they spring for impure substances), the various hymns and rites , all spring from the Vedas and the Upnishads. These have evolved into the Hindu culture of today.

The ideas of Hindu philosophy stem mainly from the later Bhagvad Gita and some of the Upnishads. This IMO, is the root of the differences between practised Hindu culture and Hindu philosophy.

In addition to these texts, there are scores of various sects and sub-sects which have been following their own customs and rituals and social structure, presumably ever since Aryan times. And all of these are clubbed under the umbrella of Hinduism since some of the core concepts of karma(fate), dharma(religion), and kartavya(duty) tend to be the same.

I hope this helps in clearing things up.

U can also look at
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/index.htm

for some of the sacred texts.

47

Sure!

But you are 11 years late.:frowning:

48

Do we call this a jombie?