new_earth
10 August 2010, 09:10 PM
I just joined here after reading ALL DAY. There is very deep and complicated discussion in these forums :eek:
I am from New Jersey in the USA. I am not Indian...I grew up here, I am just a white female (ok, German, Hungarian, and some other stuff). I wasn't raised with any specific religion, so I sought out spirituality on my own. For a long time I just considered myself spiritual/new age, then I found the New Thought Movement, and joined a Religious Science church (can be found on wikipedia, it is somewhat of a mix of mystical Christianity and Hinduism). I have been a member there for two years and still love it. You might all find a lot in common with the information on beliefs, concepts, etc.
In the last 2 years, I started receiving Oneness Blessings (deeksha) through our church minister. I know some people in India and that area might be against it, but I have experienced it for two years and find it very profound and changed me a lot spiritually. I became a Blessing Giver this past January, and through the whole process (since most of it is based on Hindu concepts and was started by people from India), I became highly interested in Hinduism, more so than I ever was.
I was instantly most attracted to Vishnu, and then it went to Krishna, and has been that way for a while now. I looked into ISKCON, and while I am thankful for the message they are spreading, it seems WAY to strict and dogmatic for me, personally. And most of all, when I read that they no longer consider themselves Hindu, I was actually feeling angry. How can you take all these things from Hinduism and then say you are not Hindus? Anyway...
I started to put pictures of Krishna around me, in my bedroom, on my wall, my favorite quote from Bhagavad Gita on my wall (finished that book in TWO DAYS it was so good!) and am still slowly reading a translation of the Upanishads.
After I read Bhagavad Gita and put up all my pictures, I went to sleep the following night and instead of dreaming, I was half awake and half asleep and all I could feel was love from God. I was sighing and smiling in my sleep, like I was literally in heaven. That took me even closer to Krishna.
Now last night Ganesha was in my dream, just looking at me with a serious expression. Lots of other things seem to be popping into my life relating to Hinduism, so somehow I stumbled to these forums and hope to learn more. Nice to meet all of you, sorry this was so long! :)
I am from New Jersey in the USA. I am not Indian...I grew up here, I am just a white female (ok, German, Hungarian, and some other stuff). I wasn't raised with any specific religion, so I sought out spirituality on my own. For a long time I just considered myself spiritual/new age, then I found the New Thought Movement, and joined a Religious Science church (can be found on wikipedia, it is somewhat of a mix of mystical Christianity and Hinduism). I have been a member there for two years and still love it. You might all find a lot in common with the information on beliefs, concepts, etc.
In the last 2 years, I started receiving Oneness Blessings (deeksha) through our church minister. I know some people in India and that area might be against it, but I have experienced it for two years and find it very profound and changed me a lot spiritually. I became a Blessing Giver this past January, and through the whole process (since most of it is based on Hindu concepts and was started by people from India), I became highly interested in Hinduism, more so than I ever was.
I was instantly most attracted to Vishnu, and then it went to Krishna, and has been that way for a while now. I looked into ISKCON, and while I am thankful for the message they are spreading, it seems WAY to strict and dogmatic for me, personally. And most of all, when I read that they no longer consider themselves Hindu, I was actually feeling angry. How can you take all these things from Hinduism and then say you are not Hindus? Anyway...
I started to put pictures of Krishna around me, in my bedroom, on my wall, my favorite quote from Bhagavad Gita on my wall (finished that book in TWO DAYS it was so good!) and am still slowly reading a translation of the Upanishads.
After I read Bhagavad Gita and put up all my pictures, I went to sleep the following night and instead of dreaming, I was half awake and half asleep and all I could feel was love from God. I was sighing and smiling in my sleep, like I was literally in heaven. That took me even closer to Krishna.
Now last night Ganesha was in my dream, just looking at me with a serious expression. Lots of other things seem to be popping into my life relating to Hinduism, so somehow I stumbled to these forums and hope to learn more. Nice to meet all of you, sorry this was so long! :)