Post 124:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->I[/I]f an "ABCD" youth asks me where s(he) can find the inside scoop on what Hinduism says, in particular, to treat depression arising from, say, being in the middle of a Hurricane-hit city, where should I guide him/her?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->If an authentic situation, then guide them to the Gita.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->That would be exactly the wrong thing to do, and yet so typical of the attitude that too many Hindus take towards practical application of our religion.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Weren't you the one <i>asking</i> what to do? My suggestion to you has worked for all young Hindus I know, so it's not at all 'the exactly wrong thing to do'. Of course, have to allow that your circle of friends could well be very different.
My Hindu acquaintances are like me: they're all born and brought up in India and have very knowledgeable Hindu parents (Karnatakan Coorgis, Bunts and Veerashaivas; Sri Lankan Tamil Pillais and others, Reddys from Andhra, Kerala Nairs and Menons, Jats from NW, and a whole host of Tamil communities). Maybe that is what is needed for the average Indian to have an understanding of their Dharma: a Hindu upbringing and atmosphere, which gives them an inbuilt sympathy for Hindu material and the right state of mind to understand their heritage correctly.
Perhaps without the proper Hindu upbringing, chances are a bit slimmer not to turn out like a stunted tree?
You admitted by your question that you don't know what works. From experience, I know the effect the Gita has on Hindus who want to know more about Hindu Dharma. I lent out a simple translation that I have in my book collection first to two and then later, on request, to so many of my Hindu friends. They think it made Hindu Dharma very clear to them, although not all bits are equally instantly comprehensible IMO.
Most of them now understand it better than I ever did <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> - but then, let's face it, they <i>are</i> all cleverer.
Then I lent out other shloka books I had (which include English translations) and some of them photocopied it, scanned it - some even typed it out by hand - and sent it off to their friends. They treasure this stuff as their rightful heritage. A few then looked about and acquired translations in their own language and passed that around their community. And I'm still talking about people around my generation and younger.
My shloka CDs (including all my Tamil ones!) and often my sister's - hope she never reads this - have been borrowed by countless friends and were avidly listened to. People ended up buying copies, as too also that brilliant Telugu 'Sampoorna Ramayanam' film I'd lent around.
Since my initial 'sharing', others have been sharing equally valuable Hindu materials with me. So my own collection of shlokas has been growing thanks to them. A number of them have learnt all kinds of complicated things: like how to properly do Navarathri and Shivarathri puja (the way our grandparents' generation did!); a number have started to learn Samskritam (not me - I will someday).
Maybe giving the Gita <i>is</i> a sink or swim issue: perhaps some do take to it like a duck to water and some don't. I recall that the Gita itself says something about that. You won't know unless you try, best not to discount it prematurely.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->I[/I]f an "ABCD" youth asks me where s(he) can find the inside scoop on what Hinduism says, in particular, to treat depression arising from, say, being in the middle of a Hurricane-hit city, where should I guide him/her?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->If an authentic situation, then guide them to the Gita.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->That would be exactly the wrong thing to do, and yet so typical of the attitude that too many Hindus take towards practical application of our religion.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Weren't you the one <i>asking</i> what to do? My suggestion to you has worked for all young Hindus I know, so it's not at all 'the exactly wrong thing to do'. Of course, have to allow that your circle of friends could well be very different.
My Hindu acquaintances are like me: they're all born and brought up in India and have very knowledgeable Hindu parents (Karnatakan Coorgis, Bunts and Veerashaivas; Sri Lankan Tamil Pillais and others, Reddys from Andhra, Kerala Nairs and Menons, Jats from NW, and a whole host of Tamil communities). Maybe that is what is needed for the average Indian to have an understanding of their Dharma: a Hindu upbringing and atmosphere, which gives them an inbuilt sympathy for Hindu material and the right state of mind to understand their heritage correctly.
Perhaps without the proper Hindu upbringing, chances are a bit slimmer not to turn out like a stunted tree?
You admitted by your question that you don't know what works. From experience, I know the effect the Gita has on Hindus who want to know more about Hindu Dharma. I lent out a simple translation that I have in my book collection first to two and then later, on request, to so many of my Hindu friends. They think it made Hindu Dharma very clear to them, although not all bits are equally instantly comprehensible IMO.
Most of them now understand it better than I ever did <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> - but then, let's face it, they <i>are</i> all cleverer. Then I lent out other shloka books I had (which include English translations) and some of them photocopied it, scanned it - some even typed it out by hand - and sent it off to their friends. They treasure this stuff as their rightful heritage. A few then looked about and acquired translations in their own language and passed that around their community. And I'm still talking about people around my generation and younger.
My shloka CDs (including all my Tamil ones!) and often my sister's - hope she never reads this - have been borrowed by countless friends and were avidly listened to. People ended up buying copies, as too also that brilliant Telugu 'Sampoorna Ramayanam' film I'd lent around.
Since my initial 'sharing', others have been sharing equally valuable Hindu materials with me. So my own collection of shlokas has been growing thanks to them. A number of them have learnt all kinds of complicated things: like how to properly do Navarathri and Shivarathri puja (the way our grandparents' generation did!); a number have started to learn Samskritam (not me - I will someday).
Maybe giving the Gita <i>is</i> a sink or swim issue: perhaps some do take to it like a duck to water and some don't. I recall that the Gita itself says something about that. You won't know unless you try, best not to discount it prematurely.