Sorry for creating lots of short threads. I sometimes feel like I should be keeping all of my questions to a single thread, but, since they're all slightly different, it seems like they all deserve their own. Hopefully I'm not making too much of a mess of the forum in the process.
I really like some aspects of Hinduism, but other aspects really bother me. The Vedas definitely fit into the latter category. I've been having trouble reconciling parts of the Vedas with some of the parts of Hinduism that I like such as the teaching of ahimsa. The ashvamedha sacrifice is especially troubling to me.
With that being said, I thought of something that may help to reconcile this problem and now I'm wondering how well this belief would fit with Vaishnavite Hinduism. I figure I'll throw the idea out there and get some reactions to it.
I wonder if perhaps God, who in this case I'm assuming to be Vishnu, actually hated the idea of animal sacrifices such as the ashvamedha sacrifice, but realized that people in Vedic times were not in a spiritual position that allowed most of them to get beyond such sacrifices at that point. So, to make the best of a bad situation, God revealed the Vedas in such a way as to permit these sorts of sacrifices while also using them to symbolically teach people higher spiritual truths and prepare them to move beyond such things when they were ready.
Then, at a later point in time when people were ready to move beyond Vedic sacrifices, God subsequently incarnated as Krishna and the Buddha in order to emphasize ahimsa and the higher spiritual practices hinted at in the Vedas and finally ween people off of animal sacrifices and other distasteful religious practices. This would help to reconcile both the ideas of Krishna and the Buddha as avatars of Vishnu with their seeming rejection of the Vedas. It would even make sense of the idea of Jesus as an incarnation of Vishnu since, like Krishna, Jesus encouraged people away from the sacrifices and other rituals of the Jewish scriptures and encouraged them to move towards a more personal, direct connection with God, but that's a little beyond the scope of my musings at the present time.
This idea makes some sense to me, but I wonder how well it would fit into orthodox Hinduism. After all, it would imply that the Vedas aren't universally and eternally true, but rather limited guides designed for a very specific purpose during a very specific time in this world's religious development. Though, the Vedas would still, in this view, contain some valuable insight as they would still be demonstrative of a certain mind-set and approach to religion that could continue to inspire people even if the particular rituals and practices set forth within them are outdated and contrary to higher spiritual truths revealed at a later time.
As a Buddhist, I'm not sure if this idea necessarily changes anything for me. The idea of forcing sentient beings to suffer even in the pursuit of higher truths is very problematic and hard to get over. Regardless of my current discomfort though, the idea does intrigue me and seems to offer hope that I may one day be able to come to terms with some of the aspects of Hinduism I find troubling. It would be great if I could do that since I still find myself agreeing more with Hinduism than Buddhism when it comes to certain topics like the soul, the way reincarnation works, God, and so forth. So, I don't know. Would this approach to the Vedas fit with Vaishnavite beliefs, or am I way outside of orthodox Hinduism with this? I would love to hear opinions on the matter from everyone. Feel free to weigh in even if you don't practice Vaishnavism. A diversity of opinions is certainly welcome and would be most helpful.
Also, please note that I'm acutely aware of the fact that attempts of one religion to appropriate or explain away the important religious figures of another religion can be very offensive. As a Buddhist, I have heard some pretty offensive things said about the Buddha from Hindus on some rare occasions, so I am trying to be very sensitive and careful in my handling of this topic. I in no way intend to diminish the role or importance of Krishna, the Buddha, Jesus, or any other religious figure in any way within their associated religious traditions. Quite the opposite. Within this idea, they are accorded tremendously high amounts of respect, admiration, and importance that hopefully does not detract at all from their roles in other religions.
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