Calling "traditional" Hindus

[wundermonk]

This is an OP requesting "traditional" Hindus to identify themselves. I am just curious and I also have a few questions regarding whether you follow certain practices that I believe should be followed by "traditional" Hindus. We can get to such practices in due course.

Also, please clarify what makes you "traditional".

Thanks.

[Necromancer]

Namaste.

I was going to give this another few days, but after 5 days with @ 90 views and no replies, I though it is 'safe'.

After the backlash against neo-Hinduism and Webimpulse's thread about Deities being displayed in a Museum as being 'non-Traditional', I am surprised that nobody has classified themselves as being a 'Traditional Hindu' yet.

I don't know what kind of Hindu I am, if I can even be classed as a 'Hindu' at all.

I worship Lord Shiva as being a 'Hindu God' but apart from that, I don't follow any precepts of Hinduism whatsoever.

Yes, I am also still debating with myself (apart from what is written/said) whether or not there's any such animal as 'neo Vedanta' being that Vedanta is Vedanta...the end of the Vedas...the end of knowledge.

Whether that is 'new' or 'old' is rather a moot point as far as I am concerned.

Aum Namah Shivaya

[TrikonaBindu]

What happened to Necromancer's post that suddenly vanished within the past half hour? If not for her post, I wouldn't have responded at all. Oh well....

Namaste Wundermonk.

Can this call for traditionalists be answered if the category is “Hinduism,” an artificial construct imposed upon a conglomerate from practical necessity, arising from significant contacts with cultures/religions of non-Bharatiya origin? No doubt there is a common interest in defending/defining ourselves in the interface with a sometimes hostile and generally uncomprehending outside world. So, provisionally, we accept to be in the tent of “Hinduism,” at the recurring cost of passionate disagreements and mutual contempt that (sadly) is exemplified at times even in this well-run forum.

Perhaps if we were more modest in our attempts to define Traditionalism, focusing on the separate sampradayas, the possibility to locate our position in that continuum might come within reach. Yet even then, the sampradayas themselves are always to some degree in a state of fluidity due to the effects of time and circumstance.

I myself am traditional only to the extent that I am attached to particular Devata (together with their typical modes of worship) and also I persistently pursue a certain line of theology developed/developing in Shaivam. Were it not for those enduring interests, which are specific not broad, what would I a casteless Westerner have to do with Hinduism? Simply I would respect the Hindu conglomerate from a distance as I do other long-standing religious/cultural traditions.

Pranam.

[satay]

Admin Note

Namaste,
Originally I thought Necro's response was not in line with the OP but after rereading the OP, I will allow it.

What happened to Necromancer's post that suddenly vanished within the past half hour? If not for her post, I wouldn't have responded at all. Oh well....

[shiv.somashekhar]

This is an OP requesting "traditional" Hindus to identify themselves. I am just curious and I also have a few questions regarding whether you follow certain practices that I believe should be followed by "traditional" Hindus. We can get to such practices in due course.

Also, please clarify what makes you "traditional".

Thanks.

Seeing that hardly anyone has replied, it may perhaps be of help if you define Hindu and "traditional". There is no official definition for Hindu and therefore, there cannot be one for "traditional" Hindu either, which makes this a difficult exercise.

[ShivaFan]

Namaste

Nevermind "traditional", I have been seeing this refernce to "OP".

What is an OP?

Back to Hindu, traditional seems appropriate for me, but I don't think we need to definte traditional but only Hindu (with no moniker attached). There was a thread on this (define Hindu) and I thought the definition was to accept (1) the Vedas as Divine. But I have used the term "Modern Hindu" to describe myself, which means the common Hinduism as practiced by many in India since the Hindu revival movements of the Middle Ages, and having a focus on one of the Trimurti such as Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva rather than for example Agni or Yayu (Whom we still cherish since Vedic times). So that's me. Modern Hindu.

All victory to Modern Hinduism!

Om Namah Shivaya

[smaranam]

After the backlash against neo-Hinduism and Webimpulse's thread about Deities being displayed in a Museum as being 'non-Traditional', I am surprised that nobody has classified themselves as being a 'Traditional Hindu' yet.

Namaste

That is because the traditional Hindus have been either ignoring this particular topic, spend very little time here, or do not feel the need to identify themselves.

While i respect the sincere efforts of those who have made these classifications, and think this topic definitely has its place to preserve the authenticity of our Dharma,
i personally have been just passing by/skipping this and many other topics here involuntarily. (not on purpose).

*While dharma rakshA is important, there are others here good at it, who are doing it.

Also, those involved in this study may put any label on me as long as it is technically unbiased and correct by their scholastic standards. It will not make me feel either good or bad.

_/\_

om namo bhagavate vAsudevAya

[Eastern Mind]

This is an OP requesting "traditional" Hindus to identify themselves. I am just curious and I also have a few questions regarding whether you follow certain practices that I believe should be followed by "traditional" Hindus. We can get to such practices in due course.

Also, please clarify what makes you "traditional".

Thanks.

Vannakkam: Frankly, my dear, I don't care what I'm called, and that's why I haven't been posting on this thread. As Smaranam indicated. it won't affect my behavior one iota.

But for the record, others (I know that's not what you asked) have called me ridiculously orthodox, and still others say I'm a new-age nutcase. So take from it what you will.

I also don't think it's really a debate worth having, as some will connote it to 'better' or some other comparative, and I don't see any real value in that, or how it may help any of us learn.

Aum Namasivaya

[Sudas Paijavana]

delete

[Sudas Paijavana]

delete