12-21-2006, 03:01 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-vishwas+Dec 21 2006, 12:44 AM-->QUOTE(vishwas @ Dec 21 2006, 12:44 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In Chauriberhampur village, on the outskirts of Kendrapada town,
Dalits built their own Shiva temple in April after being denied entry
into the local temple.
They appointed a Brahmin as priest at their temple and allow people
from upper castes to enter and worship.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think this is how Hinduism acts, slowly and over a span of generations. As a community becomes more Hinduized, it builds its own temples, and as its own status rises with respect to other communities, they patronize its temples, and in return, it is allowed to enter their temples.
Hinduism today is having to deal with different kinds of forces:
1. A very intrusive legal code, which forces existing communities to allow everyone into temples, who calls himself a Hindu.
2. A very impatient westernized non-local Hindu population, which seeks to mobilize Hindus without accounting for their differences.
We simply aren't willing to allow the processes to Hinduism to work their logic. They are too slow for our tastes and our idealism.
[right][snapback]62299[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Who is a Hindu is a very difficult question to answer more so than who is a Christian or a Muslim. But even without any set rules (unlike in Islam where you have to offer namaz five times a day), Hindus are very religious. A day at Tirupati, Sabari Mala or Vaishno Devi will easily prove the point. In Hindu temples there is aarti twice a day, daily and everyday there is some attendance.
Who is a Hindu. Philosophically speaking they are those who
1. Belive in the Vedas
2. Believe in birth-rebirth cycle
3. Believe the ultimate aim is moksha by getting out of this birth-rebirth cycle
The way to moksha are many and Hinduism is very inclusive to a variety of ways. As they say the end or truth is one, the ways to reach are many - Ekam sat vipra bahuda vadanti. So you can go to temples or you can stay at home or in forest or go to work, if you realise the Self, as mentioned in Gita or Upanishads, you then have realised the Ultimate. So its not necessary or particular to go to temples. Though going to temples is a strong way of being religious, which is something within the grasp of the masses. I myself am struggling to understand and realise this Self, so bcos I can say all the above things doesn't make me a gyani. So I'm not trying to sermonise, I'm also thinking and strugling like most people. I'm not able to let go my ego. I think I am part of the mass. When I do my work or anything else, I'm not able to shake of my ego. Going to temple makes me think on the spiritual side.
So basically in Hindusim each person will have his own way of reaching towards moksha and each will be in various stages of it. Some may not even know about things like moksha, they are just born Hindu, some try to understand Hinduism thru stories in Mahabharata, Ramayana and the Puranas, some try to delve deeper on a more conceptual basis and discover terms like moksha, Vedanta, Advaita etc and ideas therein, some go further and understand the wisdom behind it, others practice it. As they say some real gyanis just understand on basis of one word, others require to read all the commentaries to understand it, still others dont even grasp that there is something to be understood. But what is common in Hindu religion is that we let each person reach It in his or her own way, while giving the broad guidleines, which is not what is there in Islam and Christianity which say there is one way and one way only and it is their way.
Most of us look at Hinduism like the proverbial story of blind men understanding the elephant. The danger in todays times is the moral fibre of the nation is getting destroyed. Anti-Brahminism is only a facet of this. Our politicians are the first and foremost people who don't have any idea about Hinduism, whether they are right wingers or others. Such people are making policies to that is shaping India today while what they are doing is destroying our moral fibre. What all of them require presently is an introduction to Upanishads.
Are the Brahmanas of today truly Brahmanas. We have to understand that the society has to be guided forward by us. Most of us including myself are only born Brahmanas, maybe we can do Sandhyavandanam, change our thread once an year but thats it. What we require today is the likes of a Shankaracharya or Vivekananda or Buddha a morally great figure to shape the society and reguide us, rejuvenate us. Are people going to temples only out of ritualistic belief or to pass in an exam or to get a job or to get something or the other or is there a higher end. Somebody who can make us realise there is a higher end and guide us towards it.
Dalits built their own Shiva temple in April after being denied entry
into the local temple.
They appointed a Brahmin as priest at their temple and allow people
from upper castes to enter and worship.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think this is how Hinduism acts, slowly and over a span of generations. As a community becomes more Hinduized, it builds its own temples, and as its own status rises with respect to other communities, they patronize its temples, and in return, it is allowed to enter their temples.
Hinduism today is having to deal with different kinds of forces:
1. A very intrusive legal code, which forces existing communities to allow everyone into temples, who calls himself a Hindu.
2. A very impatient westernized non-local Hindu population, which seeks to mobilize Hindus without accounting for their differences.
We simply aren't willing to allow the processes to Hinduism to work their logic. They are too slow for our tastes and our idealism.
[right][snapback]62299[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Who is a Hindu is a very difficult question to answer more so than who is a Christian or a Muslim. But even without any set rules (unlike in Islam where you have to offer namaz five times a day), Hindus are very religious. A day at Tirupati, Sabari Mala or Vaishno Devi will easily prove the point. In Hindu temples there is aarti twice a day, daily and everyday there is some attendance.
Who is a Hindu. Philosophically speaking they are those who
1. Belive in the Vedas
2. Believe in birth-rebirth cycle
3. Believe the ultimate aim is moksha by getting out of this birth-rebirth cycle
The way to moksha are many and Hinduism is very inclusive to a variety of ways. As they say the end or truth is one, the ways to reach are many - Ekam sat vipra bahuda vadanti. So you can go to temples or you can stay at home or in forest or go to work, if you realise the Self, as mentioned in Gita or Upanishads, you then have realised the Ultimate. So its not necessary or particular to go to temples. Though going to temples is a strong way of being religious, which is something within the grasp of the masses. I myself am struggling to understand and realise this Self, so bcos I can say all the above things doesn't make me a gyani. So I'm not trying to sermonise, I'm also thinking and strugling like most people. I'm not able to let go my ego. I think I am part of the mass. When I do my work or anything else, I'm not able to shake of my ego. Going to temple makes me think on the spiritual side.
So basically in Hindusim each person will have his own way of reaching towards moksha and each will be in various stages of it. Some may not even know about things like moksha, they are just born Hindu, some try to understand Hinduism thru stories in Mahabharata, Ramayana and the Puranas, some try to delve deeper on a more conceptual basis and discover terms like moksha, Vedanta, Advaita etc and ideas therein, some go further and understand the wisdom behind it, others practice it. As they say some real gyanis just understand on basis of one word, others require to read all the commentaries to understand it, still others dont even grasp that there is something to be understood. But what is common in Hindu religion is that we let each person reach It in his or her own way, while giving the broad guidleines, which is not what is there in Islam and Christianity which say there is one way and one way only and it is their way.
Most of us look at Hinduism like the proverbial story of blind men understanding the elephant. The danger in todays times is the moral fibre of the nation is getting destroyed. Anti-Brahminism is only a facet of this. Our politicians are the first and foremost people who don't have any idea about Hinduism, whether they are right wingers or others. Such people are making policies to that is shaping India today while what they are doing is destroying our moral fibre. What all of them require presently is an introduction to Upanishads.
Are the Brahmanas of today truly Brahmanas. We have to understand that the society has to be guided forward by us. Most of us including myself are only born Brahmanas, maybe we can do Sandhyavandanam, change our thread once an year but thats it. What we require today is the likes of a Shankaracharya or Vivekananda or Buddha a morally great figure to shape the society and reguide us, rejuvenate us. Are people going to temples only out of ritualistic belief or to pass in an exam or to get a job or to get something or the other or is there a higher end. Somebody who can make us realise there is a higher end and guide us towards it.