RE:hindus are godly
by sridhar gorantla on Apr 21, 2007 11:12 AM Permalink
ONLY HINDUS ARE NOT GODS. EVERY ONE AND EVERYTHING IN THIS WORLD IS GOD. ITS JUST THAT THE INDIVIDUAL ENTIRY DOESNOT REALIZE THIS TRUTH. THIS IS THE ESSENCE OF THE VEDIC KNOWLEDGE. WAKE UP PEOPLE. READ THE BOOK "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Swami Paramahamsa Yogananda and realize the value of the Indian vedic knowledge that has produced Lord Christ or Lord Krishna like saints in every generation, while the rest of the world has seen only very very few christ like saints. http://www.crystalclarity.com/yogananda/index.html Here is the online link to this book and also the acclaims worldwide that this book is gaining irrespective of the race, nation, culture e.t.c differences, since if we take off the veil of maya or satan or saitan, we see everyone and everything as one and the same as that of the all pervading divinity. Until then, the illusion of maya will illude you endlessly in to its trics and keeps you away from realizing the all pervading divinity. Until one realizes this all pervading divinity, he has to be slave to nature.
RE:hindus are godly
by rashmi sahu on Apr 21, 2007 12:17 PM Permalink
There are three theories regarding god and soul.first is adwaitwad, for which shankracharya was the proponent, as per this god and soul are one.second dwaitwad as per this god and soul are different,this theory was propounded by saint madhvacharya.third is traitwad, there are three different things whoch will always be there while destruction and evolution of creation soul,prakriti and god, vedas support this theory.Soul are uncountable but fixed in number.The for vedas deal with different topics eg 1. Rig Veda gives knowledge of science, matter of the universe like sun, moon, air body etc., etc.,
2. Yajurveda gives knowledge of all the deeds and duties to be performed by men or women, students, leaders, king, agriculturist etc., etc., etc.,
3. Saamveda gives knowledge how to worship God who gives peace and long happy life etc. In this way, details of Yoga philosophy, qualities, Supreme deeds and nature of the God is also given.
4. Atharvaveda gives details of God, medical science and details of medicine etc., are given. Four Vedas (knowledge direct from God) are sufficient but based on the knowledge of four Vedas, six shastras (Sankhya, Nyay, Yog, Vedanta, Vaisheshik, Mimansa), eleven Upanishads - Prashn, Kath, Ken, Ish, Mandukya, Mundak, Etreye, Tetiriyo Chhandogya, Bridarnayk, Shwetashwar; Shatpath Brahmin Granth, Nighantoo, Valmiki Ramayan, Mahabhart (Bhagwat Geeta being extract of Mahabhart's Bhisham Parv) and in Sanskrit grammar - Ashtadhyai and Mahabhasya but a devotee can achieve the motto only by listening four Vedas from his Guru and by following the preach of his Guru.
RE:hindus are godly
by sridhar gorantla on Apr 21, 2007 07:02 PM Permalink
Dear rashmi, Here is what the essence of the entire vedic knowledge that I came to know about partly by reading Autobiography of a yogi, partly by my own experiences and partly by listening to the saints say in their own words: In the initial stages of regaining the lost divinity (or we can say initial stages of finding GOD) , an individual sees the entire world as being disconnected and seperate from self. As one progresses towards with the aim of finding GOD, the inidvidual starts observind that there exists a universal power that is far more powerful than oneself and than any other individual. As the individual progresses further, one starts realizing that he/she is part of this universal power. This is the middle level stae of enlightment. As the person progresses even more, the person attains the higher stages where in, there is no difference between self and the all pervading universal power. This is the final stage. This final stage is called the mukti stage. Ofcourse, there are specific intermediary stages between these three stages, and specific names to these stages are given to these. Also, there are specific testable & verifiable criteria in the spiritual world, which is the best way true saints will use to evaluate anyones enlightment levels.
By the way, Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says that, knowledge that is known by a person by a mere reading of books is good, and knowledge that is known by listening to someone who experienced what it means is better & the knowledge that is known by a person by SELF-EXPERIENCE IS THE BEST.
I think, we should all strive to know ALL PERVDING GOD or DiVINITY by getting spiritual experiences rather than just mere talk about it. This experiences can be in different ways, by means of devotion, by means of selfless service or work without expectation, by means of Yoga/meditation technics, by way of analysis e.t.c or a combination or by a combination of all of these depending on mood of ones own mind. Since the moood of the mind doesnot stay in one single state all the time, different types of methods of enlightment techniques were framed. GOD BLESS ALL.
RE:hindus are godly
by rashmi sahu on Apr 22, 2007 08:47 AM Permalink
dear sridhar, i never new these things in the quest of truth and in the process of knowing the aim of life i have learnt these things.Aim of life is not only to study, education, gain employment and marriage but to realise god and help people in your capacity.Further in india still being passive ,system, has become corrupt due blindedness of people so i in my capacity, for people under me i try to follow correct things and teach others, finally it is left to individuals.i am in defence and next two years will retire.in this part of jouney i have a wonderful husband a soulmate.certainly gods grace.i will certainly aspire for higher things once i am free.In defence you r tied down a littele.But for prayers never
RE:hindus are godly
by sridhar gorantla on Apr 22, 2007 12:40 PM Permalink
Respected madam, We salute you for your service to mother India(by being in defense) and we respect your thirst for spiritual enlightment at the same time inspite of being so busy. Hats off. GOD WILL DEFINITELY BE WITH THOSE WHO ACTIVELY SEEK HIM/HER INSPITE OF PERFORMAING ALL THE WORLDLY DUTIES. THESE ARE THE WORDS OF SWAMI RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA AND SRI SHARADA MATAJI. GOD BLESS US ALL.
RE:hindus are godly
by surajit som on Apr 21, 2007 10:25 AM Permalink
do we see the the shadow of hitler("we are exclusive people ,all others are inferior and therefor they should be ruled by us")? enough of such trash .just read some elementary articles on genetics. all of us ,including our forefathers who were supposedly "rishis" , descended from apes!!!!hitler was "lucky" ,there was no genetics at that time. unfortunately we have it now!!!
RE:hindus are godly
by Richard Branson on Apr 21, 2007 11:16 PM Permalink
the ramayana also mentions about co-existence of apes and man. thus informing the world of what you now claim as Darwinian knowledge. Lord Rama reached Lanka with an army of Vanars (apes). Also mentioned are exquisite species of other beasts. This gives the first message of environmental conservation that today environmentalists stress. The Scripture also proves that all creatures have equal right to God. And God loves all creatures equally.
RE:hindus are godly
by stav on Apr 25, 2007 01:04 AM Permalink
Neti_net is not the definitionof Brahma, its rather the process of investigating the self, which is Brahma !! am I right ?
article by bs prakash is good to read. it can be understood how difficult to define indianness. but don't you think it is our characteristic that even in diversity we stood unitedly almost always? we are the different world of our own. the whole world has to fathom it, if they can. why should we bother?e
At young age i was very atheist and very proud of my thought. I never used to visit temple neither paid any attension to learn anything about our past. I don't know when first i got to know about Indian Philosophy but when i started reading it i found that it is for all type of person being intellectual or non intellectual. When i started reading more and more i really started understanding why different concept was put to suit different kind of people. It may be that during yound age i might me more inclined towards knowledge path but ost of surrounding was following Bhakti marg. When i started reading scripture's sublime philosophy i was amazed. I also learn that something in life is not very easy to understand sitting outside. Like i never understood meaning of selling your share at right moment while making loss unless i entered the market and made lossed myself. I realised after many experiance in life that how much difficult it would be for the person who would have realised the God but can not explain to others because it is not possible unless he follows the same path. When is started following real dharma i began to understand how difficult it is to speak truth or follow Ahimsa. It is path of Brave soul. It is not for wekperson or it is not to escape from something. At a same time it is true that many of the people are following so called Dharma to escape from something and we need to think of a system where everyone gets proper knowledge about Dharma. We also need to cleanup bad things which has entered into Dharma by some way like casteism. I found every one of my friend talking about how bad reservation is and at a same time we upper class people can't see that even today in our temple we appoint Temple's Pujari on basis of his birth but not on basis of his character. i'm sure there are many good people in lower cast and many bad in upper cast. We upper class should start bridging gap at social grass root level to erdicate this caste problem and we should be ready for some sacrifice at our end as our fellow brother who has suffered so far and are still suffering in villages get Justice.
RE:Dharma is for brave soul
by sridhar gorantla on Apr 21, 2007 11:05 AM Permalink
Dear alpesh patel, HERE IS THE GOOD EXPLANATION OF INDIAN CASTE SYSTEM IN ITS ORIGINAL FORM. This original division of people in to 4 different types is purely based on character and nothing else. This is excerpted from the world famous spiritual masterpiece "Autobiography of a Yogi" by "swami paramahamsa yogananda". Here is the explanation given in the foot note of the books chapter number 41. The link to this book online is at http://www.crystalclarity.com/yogananda/chap41.html
Above book is the spiritual masterpiece and here are the acclaims that this book gained worldwide:
http://www.srf-yogananda.org/special_ancmnts/ayanniversary/intro.html ------------------ Inclusion in one of these four castes originally depended not on a man's birth but on his natural capacities as demonstrated by the goal in life he elected to achieve," an article in East-West for January, 1935, tells us. "This goal could be (1) kama, desire, activity of the life of the senses (Sudra stage), (2) artha, gain, fulfilling but controlling the desires (Vaisya stage), (3) dharma, self-discipline, the life of responsibility and right action (Kshatriya stage), (4) moksha, liberation, the life of spirituality and religious teaching (Brahmin stage). These four castes render service to humanity by (1) body, (2) mind, (3) will power, (4) Spirit. "These four stages have their correspondence in the eternal gunas or qualities of nature, tamas, rajas, and sattva: obstruction, activity, and expansion; or, mass, energy, and intelligence. The four natural castes are marked by the gunas as (1) tamas (ignorance), (2) tamas-rajas (mixture of ignorance and activity), (3) rajas-sattva (mixture of right activity and enlightenment), (4) sattva (enlightenment). Thus has nature marked every man with his caste, by the predominance in himself of one, or the mixture of two, of the gunas. Of course every human being has all three gunas in varying proportions. The guru will be able rightly to determine a man's caste or evolutionary status. "To a certain extent, all races and nations observe in practice, if not in theory, the features of caste. Where there is great license or so-called liberty, particularly in intermarriage between extremes in the natural castes, the race dwindles away and becomes extinct. The Purana Samhita compares the offspring of such unions to barren hybrids, like the mule which is incapable of propagation of its own species. Artificial species are eventually exterminated. History offers abundant proof of numerous great races which no longer have any living representatives. The caste system of India is credited by her most profound thinkers with being the check or preventive against license which has preserved the purity of the race and brought it safely through millenniums of vicissitudes, while other races have vanished in oblivion."
Dharma in many places have been confused for religion. Dharma is Righteousness- Dharmo rakshati rakshitahah; Righteousness protects the one who protects righteousness. That's why more than arthasastra, kamasutra it is dharmagyana very intricate.
Purusha Shooktam gives us a hint on casteism:
Let us assume Society as a Body -bhramnosa mukha masitha= The implied meaning is Brahmins or bramhacharis (Bramho acharitha ithi Bramhachari- means one whose conducts befits Bramhan alone is Bramhacharis). People with such pure conducts are face of the society who does planning and interfacing.
- bahu rajanya kritaha= Kshatriyas who focus on body building are for defence aking to arms of human
- Vaishyas are like stomach who are resource allocators
- Padhyagum Shudro ajayatha= Who else Shudras can implement the plans and ideas well
Casteism was for team work " Saha Vavathu" and never meant for rating.
Some crooked and indisposed ppl manipulated pure things like this
RE:Dharma is for brave soul
by sudhanshu shekhar singh on Apr 21, 2007 11:43 AM Permalink
You guyz sound like you are too much into some religious clan. I dont know if you will read this or not, but I just want to say this. The philosophy of of dharma is indeed very intriguing. It all seems so logical and so correct. When we read it, we realize how well it describes the human character, our weaknesses and ways of overcoming them. But all it says is that if one has the appropriate attitude towards different aspects of life, life becomes very simple. All that dharma tries to teach you is to see things in right perspective, so that one doesnt get attached to mundane aspects of life, or one doesnt feel hurt when one has to face the inevitable laws of nature. The concepts of truth, Ahimsa and god are just the means the guyz who proposed these philosophies used to convey their ideas to people. If one gets too much attached to these concepts, one basically loses the gist of the messages, even though one may become a great scholar. Losing that gist, of cultivating the right kind of attitude (which can be done by feeding the mind with right kind of thoughts), just makes one a dogmatic ideology follower. That creates terrorists and other kind of irritating people who think they know whats best for the world (and they do whats the best for the world). But they do not really do that. They just confuse and pollute young minds, make them dogmatic followers like themselves. By the way, a lot of stuff in the scriptures is total crap - a lot of it is just total imagination of some crazy mind (I am talking of the scriptures which claim to be the records of hostory of mankind, history of sat, treta and dwapar yug). Some guyz say that those stories are just symbolic, meant to teach you lessons. But many seriously believe that crap. Now, many people would say - before airplanes were invented, people mocked the idea of human beings flying. But know everybody knows that it works. similarly, since we do not see things like those described in those puranas happening around us, we may think of them as craps. This seems to be a very good logic, but actually it is not. Those who say so, deep down their hearts, know that they are cheating themselves and the other. And one more thing - I did a philosophy course in my undergrad, and the prof told the class - the only religion which is considered to be based on pure logic is buddha dharma - all others are based on some faith or dogma.
i think it is fruitless beyond a point to define "what is indian identity" or India . it is eqally true for other large countries like USA,Russia(remember Churchill's definition?),China etc. much of such debate springs on the assumption that "we"( indians ,American etc , whatever the case )are "exclusive" and "unique" and our "qualities" cannot be possesed by anybody else . further ,that, by implication makes us "superior and blessed " to ANYBODY ELSE.catchy terms are coined to perpetuate images. we are constantly told about american dream. but are indians or others are too wretched to have their own dream? sometimes the stereotype can go to an absurd level.
let us remember that every individual is indeed unique and to that extent any society or country is . but functional uniqueness(or rather its wellbeing) of a country depends on its human conditions above all. on that count we have lot to catch up. that's why ,despite all our "uniqueness" and related numbo jumbo ,most indians would be too happy to escape to greener pastures !!!
Sri Prakash, Wonderful. You have described the inexplicable complexity of Culture of Bhrata Mata in a nutshell. It is similar to the Viswaroopa of Sri krishna shown to Arjuna in the battle field. There is tranquility and turmoil co-existing as pere the Karma balance of the individuals even in the same family. Therefore it is also known as Anirvachaneeyam and Aprameyam, indescribable and immeasurable. Thanks . Pls keep writing more from the foreign soil May God be with you always.
India is another name for Unity in Diversity. Though we have so many problems we can survive. To understand India one should have the cosmopolitan attitude. Otherwise If people view it from different perspective they won%u2019t get the real answer.
RE:The Bitter Truth
by Sunit Kumar on Apr 20, 2007 02:47 PM Permalink
Mr M, i am appalled by ur commment, rather very angry that you take a pot shot, in Europe/ USA there is something called as RACISIM and they are all CHRISTIANS and the middle east every body is following ISLAM and everybody is fighting....u may be a NAV BUDHA, but then u want the reservation too and still remain as a disadvantaged lot !!!
RE:RE:The Bitter Truth
by ashok leyland on Apr 21, 2007 01:08 AM Permalink
I didn't know that it was Hinduism being discussed. Why has abuse button been disabled when the comment is blatantly irrelevant to the issue?
What IS discussed in the article is the diversity of India, well you have just confirmed this thesis. We have all sorts of people, not necessarily good, often desegregating for the country, but there it is. FYI castes exist in all societies, believe it or not, even in the west! Only they attribute it to social status, we to religion. Both are exactly the same, the only difference is that the civil law is paramount there, whereas in India it is not.
RE:The Bitter Truth
by rashmi sahu on Apr 20, 2007 04:29 PM Permalink
Dear friend this reflects your spiritual maturity and narrow mindedness.Human beings under the influence of sttva, tamas and rajas gunas behave differently.sincerely do some yoga.It will help u as an individual and change you as a person
RE:The Bitter Truth
by Balaji Srinivasan on Apr 20, 2007 01:54 PM Permalink
And what about Christianity in India? Roman Catholics, Dalit christians, Nadar christians...All converts like you claim to have moved away from casteism by converting, why are you then still retaining caste based classes in Christianity?
A billion Indians watch indifferently as a 60-year- old battle for truth is smothered. Injustice has a new and most unlikely symbol. But then, there's hope...
One thing that we can definitely say is that the Indian identity supports peace and a non violent and tolerant mindset at its core. The very fact of our survival as a nation with such a high diversity is a testimony to this fact.
