04-14-2007, 02:01 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-sengotuvel+Apr 13 2007, 09:24 AM-->QUOTE(sengotuvel @ Apr 13 2007, 09:24 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->A Hindu is a person who undertands that he is part of creation and all of creation is one with him. <b>He understands that God is everywhere and in every form. </b>To guide him he has a rich hertitage of knowledge in the form of the Vedas and Upanishads. His code of life is guided by the principles of the ideal just and wise human being as described in the Hindu epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The above sounds reasonable except for one point that is often overlooked by most modern Hindus. Hindus really did not have God. They had entities like Ishvara, brahman, Atman, jIvAtaman, devas, dharma etc.
Several modern hindus translate Ishvara and in some cases brahman as God, but these are indequate expressions of the Hindu terms. It should be kept in mind that in some important hindu systems there is no Ishvara either (they are atheistic if Ishvara were translated as God). One of the most important issues is that most Hindu systems explicitly reject an extra-universe creator.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The above sounds reasonable except for one point that is often overlooked by most modern Hindus. Hindus really did not have God. They had entities like Ishvara, brahman, Atman, jIvAtaman, devas, dharma etc.
Several modern hindus translate Ishvara and in some cases brahman as God, but these are indequate expressions of the Hindu terms. It should be kept in mind that in some important hindu systems there is no Ishvara either (they are atheistic if Ishvara were translated as God). One of the most important issues is that most Hindu systems explicitly reject an extra-universe creator.