Re: White Hindu Converts: Mimicry or Mockery?
Originally Posted by
Jeffery D. Long
I would certainly never argue that any Hindu, whether by birth or by choice, must or should adopt Christ as a form of the divine. Absolutely not! One of the things that I love about this tradition, though, is the fact that we are free to choose how we wish to conceive of the divine: our iṣṭadevatā. One person's gateway to the Infinite is another's "bloody zombie nailed to a stick."
In support of this view, I would cite the following:
ākāśāt patitaṃ toyaṃ yathā gacchati sāgaram
sarvadevanamaskaraḥ keśavaṃ pratigacchati
and:
ye yathā māṃ prapadyante tāṃs tathaiva bhajāmyaham
mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ
I'm not sure about the first verse (need the source), but I can say with confidence that the second verse (which is gItA 4.11 for those who are interested), does not make any allowance for worship of other deities as alternate pathways to worship of Brahman. On the contrary, the differences between Brahman and anya-devatas are stressed throughout the gItA (see below), what to speak of the differences between Brahman and non-Vedic deities.
Also, the Ramakrishna tradition does not actually teach that all religions are "the same." Swami Vivekananda in fact refutes this view in his lecture "The Way to the Realisation of a Universal Religion," as does Pravrajika Vrajaprana in 'Vedanta: A Simple Introduction,' in her chapter on "The Harmony of Religions." The teaching, rather, is that devotion to any iṣṭadevatā, from any religion, can lead one nearer to mokṣa, and that the religions contain insights that can be seen as complementary to one another.
This view and interpretation of the above verses stands in direct contradiction to other pramANas, such as:
antavat tu phalaṁ teṣāṁ tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām |
devān deva-yajo yānti mad-bhaktā yānti mām api || gItA 7.23 ||
which indicates the different destinations that are attained by worshippers of different devatas, who are said to be of meager intelligence. Then again there is gItA 9.23-25 in which Sri Krishna states that worship of anya-devatas is "avidhi-pUrvakam" because He (being Brahman) is the only enjoyer and master of all sacrifices, and again reiterates the view that worshippers of anya-devatas go to the worlds of the anya-devatas in contrast to those who worship Him:
ye ’py anya-devatā-bhaktā yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ |
te ’pi mām eva kaunteya yajanty avidhi-pūrvakam || gItA 9.23 ||
ahaṁ hi sarva-yajñānāṁ bhoktā ca prabhur eva ca |
na tu mām abhijānanti tattvenātaś cyavanti te || gItA 9.24 ||
yānti deva-vratā devān pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ |
bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā yānti mad-yājino ’pi mām || gItA 9.25 ||
Now, you may argue that attainment of deva-lokas is "closer to moksha," but the shAstras do not uniformly endorse that view. See for example
te taṁ bhuktvā svarga-lokaṁ viśālaṁ kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśanti |
evaṁ trayī-dharmam anuprapannā gatāgataṁ kāma-kāmā labhante || gItA 9.21 ||
which indicates the temporary nature of the rewards of anya-devata worship, after the enjoyment of which the soul returns to the world of mortals. This view is also supported in shruti, for example chAndogya upaniShad 5.10.3-6 among others. Thus, we are enjoined in the study of vedAnta to approach and worship Brahman, and not any other subordinate entity, except perhaps as an accessory to the meditation on Brahman.
It is a nuanced teaching, and it is true, and unfortunate, that many oversimplify it into the obviously and empirically false view that all religions "are the same."
All religions are definitely not the same, and all conceptions of the Supreme Absolute Truth are also not the same. In particular, the Brahman of the Vedas does not promise punishments to those who worship other deities, visit plagues on those who do not worship Him, slaughter the firstborn of those races whose rulers enslave his "chosen people," etc. This is merely one among many reasons why one might logically object to the idea that other conceptions of God are in fact valid, alternate conceptions of the one Brahman of the Vedas.
regards,
Philosoraptor
"Wise men speak because they have something to say. Fools speak because they have to say something." - Plato
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