Dear friends i am pasting this article for spiritual souls to read it a nd appreciate it and introspect.This was written by Sri Satguru Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Founder of Hinduism Today, a weterner who has adopted hinduism.How well he has interpreted which we as indian has failed:-
The Hindu enjoys all the facets of life as transmuted into a religious expression in art. The Hindu's art is a religious art--drawing, painting and sculpture of the Gods, the devas, and the saints of our religion. The music is devotional and depicts the tones of the higher chakras, echoes the voices of the Gods; and the dance emulates the movements of the Gods. We are never far away from sights, sounds and symbols of our religion. A mountaintop represents Lord Siva; a hill represents Lord Murugan, Karttikeya; and sugar cane fields represent Lord Ganesha. Everything that one sees on the planet represents something religious. Art is not merely for egotistical and existential self-expression, but for spiritual expression, done consciously in service to the Divine. That is why one seldom sees or even knows the name of the artist of the great Hindu artistic creations. The artist is not creating in order to become famous or rich. He is surrendering his talents, serving his Gods and his religion through his art, and his art takes on a certain sacredness. One great joy that the Hindu has is the appreciation for all other religions. Hinduism is theocentric, that means God-centric, whereas most other religions are prophet-centric, revolving around the personality of some living person or some person who once lived in history and interpreted religion to his culture in his time. Hinduism has no founder. It was never founded. It has neither a beginning nor an end. It is coexistent with man himself. That is why it is called the Sanatana Dharma, the Eternal Path. It is not one man's teaching or interpretation. It is not limited to a single facet of religion, but consists of the entire spectrum, seen in its various components as if through a prism. It does not say that this religion is wrong and this one right. It sees God everywhere, manifesting all the great religions. The Hindu can appreciate Buddha without becoming a Buddhist. He can understand Jesus without becoming a Christian. Therefore, the joys of all the religions of the world become the joys of the Hindu. But as Hindus, we must first think of the joys and happiness within our own religion. Consider our blessings. Come closer to the Gods of our religion. The many Gods are in the Western world now and have circumferenced the planet with their shakti of radiant rays that penetrate with spiritual power, bringing harmony and culture, balancing out the dharma of the planet. Hinduism is such a great religion. All practicing Hindus are very proud of their religion. Unfortunately, these days too many born into the religion are not all that proud to be Hindus, but this is slowly changing. Hindus are now welcoming into their religion others who are, of their own volition, adopting or converting into the Sanatana Dharma. They are proud enough of their faith to want others to share its wisdom, its mysticism, its scriptures, its broadmindedness, its magnificent temples and its final conclusions for all mankind. To all Hindus, who today are found in every country on the Earth, I say: Courage! Courage! Courage! Have the courage to know beyond a doubt that Hinduism is the greatest religion in the world. We must be proud of this. Hinduism Cannot Be Destroyed: It is false to think that one has to be born a Hindu in order to be a Hindu. That is a concept postulated by certain caste-based Hindu lineages and reinforced by the Christians in their effort to hinder the growth of our religion, to deprive it of new life, to hold it down while they in turn try to convert Hindus en masse to their religion. Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), a Hindu monk and missionary who wrote extensively on the Hindu Dharma, when confronted by this same issue in the West would explain how Hindus who have been converted by force should not be denied an opportunity of returning to their ancestral religion. As for the case of those not born into Hinduism who might be interested to join it, he simply said, "Why, born aliens have been converted in the past by crowds, and the process is still going on." Dr. S. Radhakrishnan (1888-1975), the distinguished Hindu philosopher who became the second president of India, confirms this view in writing, "In a sense, Hinduism may be regarded as the first example in the world of a missionary religion. Only its missionary spirit is different from that associated with the proselytizing creeds. It did not regard as its mission to convert humanity to one opinion. For what counts is conduct and not belief. The ancient practice of vratyastoma, described fully in the Tandya Brahmana, shows that not only individuals but whole tribes were absorbed into Hinduism." During the era of India's domination by alien religions, when Hinduism was scheduled to be destroyed, the attack was to be carried out in three ways. The first strategy was to convince the women to abandon their age-old stri dharma--of maintaining the home, its purity and ways of worship--thus drawing them away from the household in order to receive a so-called "higher education " or to teach in alien religious schools, thus denying future generations the mother's religious counsel and grounding in the dharma. The second strategy was to overtly break down the various castes of temple priests by enticing them to accept other, often higher paying, occupations, thus leaving the temples unattended. The third strategy was to convince Hindus that they had inherited a crude and outdated religion. This last attack was accomplished mainly through ridicule, by ridiculing every aspect of the religion that could possibly be ridiculed. For example, those who slandered Hinduism claimed it has no sacraments. Why, Hinduism has more sacraments, more sacred rites and ceremonies for its members, than perhaps any other religion in the world. These sacraments include the namakarana samskara, name-giving sacrament; annaprashana, first feeding; karnavedha, ear-piercing; vidyarambha, commencement of learning; vivaha, marriage; and many others. Though India was politically dominated for generations by adherents of alien faiths, and though every attempt was made to discourage, weaken and crush the native religion, the carefully calculated, systematic assault failed to destroy Hinduism. Hinduism cannot be destroyed. It is the venerable eternal religion, the Sanatana Dharma. But it was an effective campaign that has left in its wake deep samskaric patterns, deep subconscious impressions, which still persist in the minds of the Indian people. It is going to be difficult to completely eradicate these impressions, but with the help of all the millions of Hindus throughout the world, in adhering to and extolling the benefits and joys of Hinduism and the gifts which it holds for mankind, this is possible and feasible, within the range of accomplishment, perhaps within this very generation.
RE:Hinduism a way of life
by rajesh bsr on Apr 23, 2007 02:53 PM Permalink
God to know your intrest in hinduism. You know this is one religion which has got infinite gods, saints, dharmas & on & on. For a common man it's difficult to choose the god.most of the gods are involved in all kinds of activities which a common man is involved.eg(voilence,sex (including promiscuous),jelousy,anger,& so on. I know a furious god who cut's of his own son's head just because he didn't allow to enter while his mom was having bath.This is degree of anger or voilence some god inherit. There many instances like this which cannot be listed here.You can justify by saying respect, commitment etc etc. But this is not acceptable for a god stature. it's very difficult to find a god without any of these qualities.They are very similar to a common man. I don't see these so called god's can ever set a example to mankind. In my opinion it's a total confusion here.
can u suggest a god who has some principles & commandments & who himself is a eg for it. I think Love is the biggest essence in any religion. Sincearly Loving some one who is against you is great form of love. The more greatest way of love is sacrifice.
Please sugggest any religion which offer this god.
I see you have too much of love,respect,etc to your religion. you do not know, somewhere in you, you have devloped a hatredness towards other religion(people). This can only help to give birth to terrorism what we are seeing in India,Iraq,Pakistan,palestine& US & so on...
So just don't love/brag/ preach to much about religion/god. just love one onother as you love yourself. no religion is greater than humanity. Just beleive there is one god, who is beyond everything, who created the universe& definetly don't posses any of the bad human qualities. He just beyond everything & he is filled with enormous love if you follow his principles. For the good principles he has already installed that software in you. ask your conciousness, you will know it unless you become the victim to the religious based evil virus
RE:Hinduism a way of life
by rajesh bsr on Apr 24, 2007 11:58 AM Permalink
as i said you have devloped a great love for your religion. you love your religion more than yourself. This is the exact why there is a hatredness in you for other religion/people.
In the past Invasion was a trend amoung empires,dynasty,kingdoms.During invasion ,they used to kill people. this is history. there is no point unecessarily sit & dig about past & pinpointing the religions. It's like digging a corpse. Instead try to think why people use to invade, what was the cause & think how these can be prevented in today's world. BTW i'm not naming any god here & i don't want to do. iT's tooo immature to do so. I don't talk of specific god/religion here & i also think it's not right to brag/love one's religion
RE:Hinduism a way of life
by rashmi sahu on Apr 25, 2007 01:28 PM Permalink
I have a great love for sanatan Dharma and Nation.This spiritual understanding has helped me a lot and evovled me as an individual.Further it has made me to speak up against any thing wrong , the price of which i pay.But i believe now follow truth and stick to it, God is there.Help others not to cheat, try to help poors which i do in all my capacity as an individual and as part of a system.The problem comes when you preach but not follow, that is the case with most of us , best moment comes to me when my men look up to me.
RE:Hinduism a way of life
by rashmi sahu on Apr 24, 2007 10:42 AM Permalink
Dear As per vedas there is only one God who nurses destroys and creates.Vedas talk of only one almighty form less God interestingly Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva by these sanskrit names one god is referred to in Vedas.Our ancestors used to keep the name their progenies from these vedas. They all were philosher of vedas and yoga, they were consulted by even Kings for guidance and conduct.There used to be shstrath among them to come to a conclusion note not imposition of thoughts.However LOrd Rama, Hanuman and Loed Krishna were highly advanced souls who have studied this knowledge from respective Gurus. I hope You all know.Vedas do not talk of idol worship.
RE:RE:Hinduism a way of life
by Shambu on Apr 24, 2007 11:36 AM Permalink
How was America converted to Christianity? The natives were systematically hunted by Columbus & co and they spread their faith of LOVE. There are so many good things inherent in Hinduism. We have many Gods what is your problem in it?
RE:Hinduism a way of life
by rajesh bsr on Apr 24, 2007 12:49 PM Permalink
there is no problem for me. I'mjust saying my opinion as Hinduism(religion) is not the way of life. instead Loving one onther is a way of life. beacause where love prevails, there is no jealous,violence,greedy,horror,hatred,cheating. It's peace everywhere.I'm sure we all seek peace. all thae vedas,bible,quran are based on one word finally called Love which many people still have failed to understand, instead just fight in the name of religion by claiming my "religion is way of life" and not yours. ranting pages together. There no need to complicate & confuse ourselves to such a extent where we find ourselves unable to accept the truth.
RE:RE:Hinduism a way of life
by Shambu on Apr 24, 2007 01:51 PM Permalink
You're right in a way. How many people in this world can love others simply like that without expecting anything? Do you think all are so mature enough to practice the kind of love you talk about.
All religions are corrupt today. People interpret the holy texts to suit their needs.
There is no use fighting about religions, since it has been the major cause of all wars in history. All i am saying is do not find fault with other religions as you cannot comprehend it in whole. Follow your way and find the truth.
Don't he a hindu try to be Lord krishna. Don't be a christian try to be Lord christ. Dont be a muslim try to be Prophet.
Spirituality is the need of the hour and not religion.
