Hindu Teenagers

[eriko]

Here I am going to specifically talk about the people who live in Delhi. I am student and my classroom comprises of around 50 students. Actually, there are 400 students per standard, and I have never come across anyone other than myself interested in Hindu Dharma.

Of course people at the present are very career focused, but still. There are a few things that I have observed in my peers that I would like all the learned men and women to comment on.

First of all, there is ignorance and disinterest. My personal opinion is that many students are not intellectual enough to grasp the finer points of Hindu Dharma, and while others who are intellectual enough do not take interest. I mean Dharma has become some kind of hobby, you like it, you opt for it. Like that.

Secondly, Hindu Dharma holds an extremely special place in my heart (of course its the same with you people, thats why we are all here), but its irritating when people say that All Religions Are One. The point is tolerance for me is, and I assume also for many here, "letting people of different faith existing peacefully without discrimination." Plainly, being content with your own beliefs and accepting others people's as well reserving your opinion. Logically speaking, you accept other beliefs not because they are correct, but because people have the right to form their own beliefs. You respect the other person's religion because you respect his individuality.

Next, there are just too many misconceptions. For example, our class teacher asked us, "Who all believe in reincarnation?" Prior to this question everyone had been quoting various instances of reincarnation, and stuff like that. But when this question was raised, I was the only one who raised my hand. So you see. They take reincarnation to be a religious notion than something that explains the Universe. I mean there isn't anything else that explains it in a better way than reincarnation, and that is why you accept this.

Next, Hindu Dharma is extremely complex, a way of life as many say. So, what most fail to see is that Hindu Dharma is not just a religion (personally, I don't think its a religion at all, but still), but also a science, culture and philosophy. the point is almost everyone is unable to differentiate between the different aspects of Hindu Dharma. Of course I myself am not experienced or learned enough to fully comprehend the above. But at least I know what is that I am talking about and hence I have direction. And you do need a direction in Hindu Dharma to start from because there are just too many different wasy of achieving the same goal.

Then, parents don't take interest. I don't think that I would be jumping onto conclusions if I say that parents are same as there kids.

So overall, its a very radical secularist environment. I think that I have forgotten the exact words for it. Its the same that is happening in the news, in politics and everywhere else, and my point is here is where the problem starts. And since most Hindu organisations I feel ignore the young people of this country, dunno why? Personally, I feel that I have never been taken seriously by adults especially in the matters of religion. I am not complaining, but this means that young people are rarely encouraged to learn about their roots, especially Hindus.

I am not asking for anything specific, but please write your comments or whatever that comes to your mind after reading it. Like are you sad, or happy (of course nobody would be happy)? Or do you think that young minds should be taken seriously, or there are ways to involve young people into Hindu Dharma? Are there any organisations that you know have come up with some novel ideas to involve youngsters? Or you persona; experience with some young people, you kids or someone in the neighbourhood. Just write all that you think can be done, or just share your views.

And one more thing, a few days back I was reading the thread something to do with Universalism of Hindu Dharma, but I have lost it. So anybody, kind enough please give me the link.

[sambya]

most of your points are true . our parents do little to encourage our values specially in matters of religion . specially in an developing economy like ours , which is riddled with employment and educational problems , most parents cannot even think of anything else other than academic career of their kids .

with the rapid rise in globalisation i think there's little to be done to revive interest in relgion overnight within hindu masses . things would take their own turn . however one thing must be remembered here that only a few individuals ever care from true religion(god realization) . that number would not change . the others merely follow some rituals and norms blindly . i think the present generation has given away with the practice of blindly following the norms , like their ancestors , more than anything else .


when someone says all relgions are one , it doesnt mean that they are absolutely identical . it means that they are all searching out for a same truth , but in a different way , through different rituals and even desiring different aspects of the same truth . truth as we all know is one . all religions are different , but they have a basic unity -- that they are all searching for god .

in practical life i have seen the success of iskcon in attracting young crowds . although i differ with many theories of iskcon , i appreciate their success in reclaiming the indian youth to traditional values . i think the cause of this remarkable success is the right packaging of the 'religion' . point to be understood is that , here religion is being used in the sense of 'practising ritualistic religion' .

loud kirtans , carefree dancings , palatable prasadam dristributions , and religious discourses by learned(having prominent educational degrees) young individuals helped a lot to attain this .

however such procedures have their own shortcomings too . a vast majority of individuals join as a hobby , a cult, and then break off after a certain time . many non-adhikaaris get in to the fold and create unwanted disturbances in the order .

so i feel religions should not be preached upon anybody . if he is ready for it , it wil arrive itself for him .

having said that it is also true that its time for hindus to make their culture known to the world . not through 'preaching' as christians did it . but through taking immense pride in their own religion and by practising their own customs . if the society needs hinduism or its values it would adopt it automatically , as is now happening in many parts in west . theories like karma , reincarnations have unknowingly got into the thought process of a large number of western people .

[anupj]

hello eriko,
i also agree with most of the points. and actually i am in a similar situation as you are in, so i can understand what might be going through your mind.
i would like to point out one thing. in my environment i constantly search for people who are interested in humanity, ethics, value system etc. after some conversation with them in matters related to the same, if i find that the person is somewhat interested in the hindu way of living, then i would try to go deeper and try to explain some things about hindu dharma of which he can make sense of. This way i try to create an interest in peoples mind for hindu dharma. So far, in 3 years of search i have been successful in creating an interest in an individual. what i observed was, hindu dharma brought a magnificent change in the guy's thinking, and once he was looking as if he is distracted from path, now he was looking as if he is on the right track, and confident about it. Of course the credit goes to him, and his parents for cultivating good thoughts in his mind from childhood. but i am happy that discussions between us led him to a better life style.
i feel if people indulge in healthy discussions, then surely it would benefit them

regards

anup

[rainycity]

I don't think its unusual for teenagers and young people to be uninterested in spirituality and metaphysics, especially more advanced analysis and study of these topics. There are enthusiastic religious youth, or followers of well known gurus or new age belief systems, but thats quite different. Most teenagers and young people are just interested in having fun, socializing, partying, music, money, sex, relationships etc. The most common attitude of youth today towards spirituality or religion is probably atheism or disdain/irreverance. Idealism among youth is usually political. Or interest in philosophy that has little or nothing to do with spirituality and metaphysics.

[TatTvamAsi]

I don't think its unusual for teenagers and young people to be uninterested in spirituality and metaphysics, especially more advanced analysis and study of these topics. There are enthusiastic religious youth, or followers of well known gurus or new age belief systems, but thats quite different. Most teenagers and young people are just interested in having fun, socializing, partying, music, money, sex, relationships etc. The most common attitude of youth today towards spirituality or religion is probably atheism or disdain/irreverance. Idealism among youth is usually political. Or interest in philosophy that has little or nothing to do with spirituality and metaphysics.

That is the norm for mlecchas. Hindus, I mean humans, who are from a good background, do have and show interest in deeper things.

Many millions of children in India are that way yet quite a few have gone astray due to mleccha (read: western) influence via TV/Internet.

Children reciting Vedas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OCXhxFoGu0

(There are thousands of such schools in India)

Why, there are children in the US reciting Vedas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE_6lFj2aVQ&feature=related

[SethDrebitko]

Hinduism in India will most likely face the challenges which many religions have suffered through increased industrialization and globalization. As society becomes more educated as a whole and the standard of living increases people often begin to question their faith, and many other aspects of their lifestyle. Our generation is a very questioning one, and takes its time methodically observing the choices it has before it and choosing the best.

The thing that Hindus must remember is that they can not aggressively preach and force their thoughts on society. Christianity has walked this path in America and they are paying the price as they often become targets for backwards wrong ways of thinking.

The only thing you can do is:

Lower the barrier to entry by fine tuning the learning tools out there for people.
Talk the talk, but more importantly walk the walk; lead by example, and show that successful happy fulfilled Hindus fit into modern society.
Be open to the hungry masses outside of India who crave God and have become disenchanted by the toxicity of their culture’s faiths.

[sanjaya]

The thing that Hindus must remember is that they can not aggressively preach and force their thoughts on society. Christianity has walked this path in America and they are paying the price as they often become targets for backwards wrong ways of thinking.

This is true. The other thing I think we've got to remember is not to start inventing gimmicks the way evangelical Christianity has. Two of Christianity's strengths has always been its music and artwork. Evangelicals discarded these by removing almost all forms of art, and instituting ridiculous rock concert worship which makes it impossible to take anything seriously. I shudder to think that Hindus may start making "Hindu rock," start wearing faith-specific T-shirts, and otherwise commercialize our religion.

[upsydownyupsy mv ss]

I don't think its unusual for teenagers and young people to be uninterested in spirituality and metaphysics, especially more advanced analysis and study of these topics. There are enthusiastic religious youth, or followers of well known gurus or new age belief systems, but thats quite different. Most teenagers and young people are just interested in having fun, socializing, partying, music, money, sex, relationships etc. The most common attitude of youth today towards spirituality or religion is probably atheism or disdain/irreverance. Idealism among youth is usually political. Or interest in philosophy that has little or nothing to do with spirituality and metaphysics.
I totally 100%. No make that 200% agree. But, teen is the toughest age for philosophies you know. You don't have control over your senses. Eriko buddy, you aren't alone, I'm with you, I'm a 17 year old, but interested in Hinduism, the problem is the interest in philosophy is hard for this age, but not impossible. Most of my age avoid me if I talk "Spiritually". :p I have had the interest in the subject since as far as I can remember anything. You may expect a person to start being spiritual from childhood or an old age (may be they're fed up of worldly pains coming from desires), but rarely for middle aged adults and teens as they have somewhat less control over their senses and indulge in sins of what sort and not.
Good post!

[SethDrebitko]

. I shudder to think that Hindus may start making "Hindu rock," start wearing faith-specific T-shirts, and otherwise commercialize our religion.

I don't think it is wrong to represent your faith, but to try and shove it down peoples throats is to far.

[premeet01245]

thanks for this Discussion. every one should read it.

[Ramachandra]

सीताराम

As a Westerner in Hindu Dharma I am often surprised myself that lots of Indians (not only teenagers, but also adults!) know about Dharma less than ourselves (as for us this is a conscious choice in most cases: before adopting Hindu Dharma many of us really study the Scriptures and different Hindu philosophies - I don't mean of course, those stupid sectarians and hippies, misled by false Gurus). Parents ARE responsible for reading the Ramayana to Indian children at an early age (and not Harry Potter or whatever) and media ARE responsible for showing Hindu Epics movies on TV.

As for Hindu Universalism, I don't think it is a weakness of Hindus, it is their strenght. I would advise everybody to read an extract from the book by His Holiness Jagadguru Shankaracharya from Kanchi Kamakoti on this issue: http://kamakoti.org/newlayout/template/hindudharma.html/1/1/hindu/Religion+In+General

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam Ramachandra:

Well, I guess I'm a stupid sectarian. Thanks for that.

I beg to differ about the knowledge of westerners versus Indians. I think that is a sweeping generalization. There is a lot more to Hinduism than book knowledge. The westerner might be well read, but the Indian knows how to practice the faith. In India, it's everywhere. You can't miss it. Here in the west you have to seek it out. So I would say there are different types of knowledge.

Another thing I have observed is that westerners tend to let you know how much they know, whereas many Indians will sit back and say nothing, because of their natural inborn humility, yet they know a ton of stuff. It's harder to dig it out of them.

Just my POV. Sorry to make generalisations. Of course each individual has his/her own take.

Aum Namasivaya