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sanjaya
03 November 2009, 09:04 PM
Hi. The past couple days I've been reading a lot of posts here, and this seems like a rather active Hindu forum. I would like to introduce myself.

I am a Hindu by birth. My parents are both from India, but I was born and raised in the US. Unfortunately they didn't teach me their native Tamil, but they did raise me Hindu. When I was a boy my family used to be fairly religious (as they still are). We did Satyanarayana puja every full moon day, and visited temples whenever possible. Of course my dad also told me all of the Hindu stories about the devas, and the rishis and kings of ancient India. All the way through high school I didn't take it very seriously, and when I was in college I even explored other religions (e.g. I read the entire Bible, parts of the Qu'ran, and various other religious writings, attended a church, and did several other things). A few months ago when I was visiting my parents I found my mom's Bhagavad Gita and read a few chapters out of it. I was amazed by the Gita's combination of simplicity and profundity, as well as Sri Krishna's appeals to reason as well as faith. Since then I've decided to start looking at my own religion a lot more seriously.

Hinduism is indeed a rich and deep faith, and I would like to converse with other Hindus to learn more about Dharma. Though I was raised Hindu, I'm really a beginner at this, and I've noticed that there are quite a few knowledgable people here. In particular, I see many Western people who have come to practice Hinduism later in life, and yet their knowledge of this faith is vast. I'm sure I could learn much from these posters.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to meeting everyone here!

Onkara
04 November 2009, 03:12 AM
Welcome Sanjaya
I enjoyed your detailed introduction. I look forward to reading your posts and learning with you.

I started with the Bhagavad Gita and find peace when I return to read it again.

I would be interested to know if there is any area of phiosophy or worship in general which attracts you more strongly.

devotee
04 November 2009, 04:38 AM
Namaste Sanjaya,

Welcome to HDF ! :)

OM

Eastern Mind
04 November 2009, 07:09 AM
sanjaya: Your situation is quite common. Whenever there is migration of culture, often some or all gets lost. Your own Tamil people had it happen to them in Mauritius, Fiji, South Africa, and elsewhere during British colonialism and indentured labour. The people look and act Tamil, but can`t speak the language.

I have witnessed today's experience first hand. I first met Tamils (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) some 35 years ago, who had just arrived from India or Sri Lanka. Because the community was so small, getting a Tamil class going was difficult. Some people tried for awhile. (I attended for about a month, before realising I just wouldn't have the time for it.) Only a few showed up. People were just too busy with the stresses of everyday life. This is the same for all linguistic groups from India, not just Tamilians.

Bit this can also be a good thing. When you finally do 'come back' as you have now, it is with an open mind, a clear subconscious that doesn't have the superstition part in it. You can begin programming it with the religion anew, with a more advanced mind. I'll give you a humourous but sad example of what I mean.

Back when I was a volunteer pandaram priest at the beginning of our temple here, a young boy came up to me and called me 'God'. Apparently whay had happened was the parents had told him that they were going to 'see' God when they went to temple. Since I was always there, he just assumed that I was God. The Ganesha statue had meant nothing to him. This had gone on for about 6 months. Most parents, yours included, I'm guessing, just didn't realise that they had to do far more instructing in religious ways than they themselves had back home. In India its all over the place. Here you have to seek it out.

So in order to start afresh, after the sojourn into the world, you need an experience of some kind. Yours was realising that Hindu scripture just made a ton of sense. For others it is a mystical experience, or a realisation, especially when children are born, that religion was an important part of who they are, and they want to keep it that way for their children.

So welcome back, and I hope you learn a lot here.


Aum Namasivaya

Anbe Sivamayam Satyame Parasivam

goodlife
04 November 2009, 07:50 AM
HI Sanjaya

Welcome to HDF family. Hope to see you around more often.

goodlife

sanjaya
04 November 2009, 11:01 AM
Thank you all for introducing yourselves. Good to meet all of you!


Welcome Sanjaya
I enjoyed your detailed introduction. I look forward to reading your posts and learning with you.

I started with the Bhagavad Gita and find peace when I return to read it again.

I would be interested to know if there is any area of phiosophy or worship in general which attracts you more strongly.

As far as philosophy goes, it's amazing to see how the values and traditions that my family has instilled in me flow natually from Hinduism (shouldn't be surprising, but again, I'm new to this faith). For example, Hinduism teaches pretty strongly about the centrality of one's parents in one's life, and the importance of honoring them. I vaguely remember the story my dad once told me about how Ganesha beat his brother Muruga in a race around the world by running around his parents. More recently, I've read the Sanskrit saying about how one's priorities should be ordered in life: matha, pitha, guru, deivam (mother, father, guru, God). I'm also very interested in the Hindu understanding of adharma, or what Westerners might call sin. In Hinduism there is a sense of absolute morality, and of right and wrong. But I appreciate how God doesn't always view sin as an offense against his character, and only responds with harsh judgments when the magnitude of a bad deed requires it. Even then, I've been told that anyone who is killed directly by God receives moksha instantly.

As far as worship goes, I like the various pujas that are common in our faith, and the way that they engage many of our senses via mantras, incense, and the taking of prasadam. In this way Hinduism seems both logical and experiential. Hinduism involves a lot of lofty philosophy, but it also has a correspondence to reality, i.e. spiritual truths can be experienced personally.


sanjaya: Your situation is quite common. Whenever there is migration of culture, often some or all gets lost. Your own Tamil people had it happen to them in Mauritius, Fiji, South Africa, and elsewhere during British colonialism and indentured labour. The people look and act Tamil, but can`t speak the language.

I have witnessed today's experience first hand. I first met Tamils (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) some 35 years ago, who had just arrived from India or Sri Lanka. Because the community was so small, getting a Tamil class going was difficult. Some people tried for awhile. (I attended for about a month, before realising I just wouldn't have the time for it.) Only a few showed up. People were just too busy with the stresses of everyday life. This is the same for all linguistic groups from India, not just Tamilians.

Bit this can also be a good thing. When you finally do 'come back' as you have now, it is with an open mind, a clear subconscious that doesn't have the superstition part in it. You can begin programming it with the religion anew, with a more advanced mind. I'll give you a humourous but sad example of what I mean.

Back when I was a volunteer pandaram priest at the beginning of our temple here, a young boy came up to me and called me 'God'. Apparently whay had happened was the parents had told him that they were going to 'see' God when they went to temple. Since I was always there, he just assumed that I was God. The Ganesha statue had meant nothing to him. This had gone on for about 6 months. Most parents, yours included, I'm guessing, just didn't realise that they had to do far more instructing in religious ways than they themselves had back home. In India its all over the place. Here you have to seek it out.

So in order to start afresh, after the sojourn into the world, you need an experience of some kind. Yours was realising that Hindu scripture just made a ton of sense. For others it is a mystical experience, or a realisation, especially when children are born, that religion was an important part of who they are, and they want to keep it that way for their children.

So welcome back, and I hope you learn a lot here.


Aum Namasivaya

Anbe Sivamayam Satyame Parasivam

Hi Eastern Mind, thank you for sharing your experiences. It's good to know I'm not an exceptional case, here. I get the feeling I could learn a lot from you.

sunyata07
04 November 2009, 01:11 PM
Hello Sanjaya,

It sounds like you'll really enjoy it around here. The discussions here on HDF cater wonderfully to all - the newcomer, the revisiting spiritual aspirant and the versed scholar. It is great to hear how much you appreciate the religion you were growing up with and have decided to delve further into its sea of treasures! I look forward to talking with you on the boards.

Namaste.

Abominable Snowman
05 November 2009, 10:35 PM
Salutations! Namaste. :)