Hindus and the Race Question

[Indra]

Namaste,

Is race a issue for you?
Are you proud of your race?
Do you feel kinship for other humans of hindu race?
When you look at hindu faces do you consider them your brothers just because of their race?
Are you "diffident" of white,negroe and mongol people?

What has hinduism with race?

[indianx]

Is race a issue for you?

Nope, within or without the context of religion.

Are you proud of your race?

I'm not sure what race I am. I think, like, perhaps, most people, I see myself as a human being first.

Do you feel kinship for other humans of hindu race?

I don't think being Hindu (an adherent of Sanatana Dharma) has anything to do with race. I feel kinship with people of different religions, in the broader sense.

When you look at hindu faces do you consider them your brothers just because of their race?

This is not a particularly answerable question. I will say that I feel more of a kinship when I'm with Hindus, than perhaps when I'm outside and just associating with arbitrary people. But, I want to move past that and see the God in everyone. But, race doesn't enter into this equation. I'm not a Hare Krishna, but I visit a local Hare Krishna temple for the sake of convenience and there are plenty of African-Americans and whites, who all share our bhakti for Lord Krishna.

What has hinduism with race?

I don't think the practice of Hinduism has anything to do with race. Sanatana Dharma generally translates into the eternal and universal truth. So, it has to apply to everyone. I know that most practitioners of Hinduism are from the Indian subcontinent, but that has more to do with the fact that Hindus generally don't proselytize and propagate their beliefs to the extent that some of the other religions do. But, historically, there have been Hindu kingdoms, who through trade and expansion, have spread Hinduism to other parts of South Asia. Bali, even though it's situated in now Muslim Indonesia, for example, is still overwhelmingly Hindu. And you'll find many surviving temples from Laos to Malaysia.

[Indra]

I'm not a Hare Krishna, but I visit a local Hare Krishna temple for the sake of convenience and there are plenty of African-Americans and whites, who all share our bhakti for Lord Krishna.

If i find a Krishna temple, i may visit it. I serve Lord Krishna =
Lord Kris(t) hna and then i will be among hindus. What Hare Krishnas exactly do? How they worship, what they believe? I believe there is only ONE god and he is KRIST = KRISHNA.... The hindus knew about KRISHNA = KRIST, the ONE GOD!!! I could google but its more interesting to here it from a adherent himself.

[dhruva023]

If i find a Krishna temple, i may visit it. I serve Lord Krishna =
Lord Kris(t) hna and then i will be among hindus. What Hare Krishnas exactly do? How they worship, what they believe? I believe there is only ONE god and he is KRIST = KRISHNA.... The hindus knew about KRISHNA = KRIST, the ONE GOD!!! I could google but its more interesting to here it from a adherent himself.

krist is not equal to krishna.
please read gita or mahabharat and compare it to bible,
in gita he talks about karma. but in bible jesus, didn't talked about any thing about karma.
virtulay, all the avtar of vishnu has talked about karma.

[Indra]

krist is not equal to krishna.
please read gita or mahabharat and compare it to bible,
in gita he talks about karma. but in bible jesus, didn't talked about any thing about karma.
virtulay, all the avtar of vishnu has talked about karma.

Can you please explain karma.... i know i could google but its more fun to learn it from others on a forum...

[dhruva023]

Dear Indra,

I don't qualify to explain the karma, because i haven't read or studied enough, but i will try my best.

In chapter 4 of gita, keshav says, there are 3 type of karma,
Akarma, Karma, and Sakarma.
Akarma is when a person do something for himself that hard others around him. (*Samaj (Sanskrit Word )).
Karma is when a person do something for his selfness, it is not harming other.
Sakarma is when a person do something which will help others. (Samaj)


In short
There are many responsiblity that you hold when you born as a human on earth. Following those responsiblity in propar way is Karma.

*Samaj: Samaj means the living things around you, including animals and Plants.



Please correct my undestanding if i am wrong by any mean.

[devotee]

Can you please explain karma.... i know i could google but its more fun to learn it from others on a forum...

Namaste Indra,

Karma means "action". The theory "Karma" says that "whatever we do gives birth to whatever happens to us" --- i.e. getting birth in a good or bad family/body/environment, talent, chances in life etc. ! Your present condition is because of your past karmas & your future condition will depend upon your present karmas. One karma creates conditions for another karma & this constitues an infinite cycle. We can't get rid of karmas until we get enlightenment or become Jnani. Till that time, there is no way stopping karmas & its giving births to further karmas & so on ... Only when "you" "attain" "Knowledge" .... all karmas are destroyed & the being (which you call as "I" ) becomes free from bondage of this world/re-births & the laws of karmas.

OM

[Arjuna]

I don't think being Hindu (an adherent of Sanatana Dharma) has anything to do with race.

In theory – yes. In actual practice in India – it has.
If a white person tries to enter main shrines of several temples (mostly south Indian), he may not be allowed because of his skin color, although the sign simply says "Non-Hindus not allowed". Even if this white person puts on Hindu dress, tilaka, says he/she is Hindu and behaves as one. Requirement for being allowed is a certificate of being a Hindu! I wonder how one may get a certificate from some authentic Guru who has no ashram and stuff... At the same time such "certificate" can be easily bought for a small baqshish from numerous "swAmis" and "bAbAs" for whom Hinduism is a business. Nothing of this sort can happen, say, in a church...

Last time i visited Kapalishvara in Madras i had to show a paper from a friend of my Guru to get a pass...

[ohmshivaya]

Last time i visited Kapalishvara in Madras i had to show a paper from a friend of my Guru to get a pass...

Not surprising, is it? Considering the number of western missionaries and evangelists roaming the country to convert the flock and 'harvest souls?" Entry into temples would be just the thing they would want, wouldn't they? What better place to pass out pamplets threatening enternal damnation to those that didn’t accept christ, and openly ridiculing Hinduism.

Banning entry of foreigners (starting from the time of Mughal invasions and continuing to the British era of "enlightenment") who, time and time again, have plundered and looted Indian society, not to mention shown complete disrespect for indigenous faiths, seems like the only logical course, doesn't it? You, as a non-Indian, may not agree with this policy, but in my opinion, it was seen as necessary, considering the hostility Hinduism faced in the past, and continues to face even today, from many other faiths.

Granted there are small, but growing, number of non-Indian hindus, who sincerely love Sanatana Dharma, and might be disappointed that they are not allowed freed entry into ALL hindu places of worship. But these are also mature and enlightened individuals who know and understand enough of Indian history to appreciate the problems posed by christianity’s messengers (evagelists and missionaries, especially from the west) in India. They too have vocalized these concerns. Some names that come immediately to mind - Pandit Vamadeva Shastri ( David Frawley), Dr. Koenrad Elst, Dr. Frank Morales, Stephen Knapp, etc.

Most temples DO allow tourists to enter the temple to see the carvings and architecture, through the walk-ways. One can see bus-loads of non-Indian tourists arriving at large famous temples throughout Tamil Nadu. But they will not permit tourists to enter the inner chambers where the worship services are performed. What exactly would the point be, in allowing non-believers to enter the worship areas meant for hindu worship?

While a few of the non-Indians may be sincere Hindu devotees, who sincerely desire to take part in the worship services (and these are often better hindus than Indian hindus simply because they have greater appreciation and understanding of the hindus rituals and practices than their Indian hindu counterparts); others will want to enter just out of idle curiosity; yet others to criticize, mock, and condemn the rituals, and abuse Hinduism. It is particularly the 3rd Group that temple authorities are most probably wary of.

Two years ago, I took a Dutch acquaintance, a former Catholic, to visit a small local temple in Haridwar during his visit to India to see the country, and later kicked myself for having done so. The man kept pointing at sculptures and dieties with his FOOT, when asking questions about them, with complete disrespect and indifference. When I politely told him each time to, please NOT point his feet at anything inside the temple, he shrugged off my requests like it was something “bizarre” and “weird” to show respect to "sculptures." So much for cultural and religious sensitivity!

While using the color of skin as a yard stick might seem a crude way to filter out a hindu from a non-hindu, it is so far the only easy way for the temple authorities to make a decision, (other than demanding bogus ''certificates'' - which you seem to have gotten with no problems). In the past, very few non-Indians who practiced hinduism in the west openly claimed their hindu identity, for fear of being discriminated by their christian families, freinds, colleagues, and community. But now, there is a growing numbers of non-Indians in the west who openly profess to be hindus. But this group is still substantially very small, that it would be hasty for any temple authority to automatically assume that a non-Indian wanting to enter an Indian temple would be hindu.

It may take time before ALL Indian temples change their policy of allowing non-Indians to enter the worship areas; but until such time, what’s stopping a true seeker in HInduism from his spiritual path. Hinduism is NOT like Christianity, that demands attendance in church every Sunday for mass worship, in order to be called a good hindu. Temple visit is but one way of inculcating spiritual discipline, but it is by no means the only way. And there are plenty of temples that WILL allow entry of non-hindus; otherwise I personally wouldn’t have been able to take so many non-Indian, Hindu friends and family to many temples around India.

[Arjuna]

I was speaking of those westerners who do observe proper customs, including behavior, dress and religious attributes (tilaka, mala). This is different from mere tourists, not to say of offenders U mention. It's OK to throw out of a temple anyone who intently offends Hindu religion. But it's not OK to prevent a person from entrance just 'coz of his/her skin color.