Re: Labels and Practice
Originally Posted by
rmystic
Namaste
There are a couple of things that I have been struggling about concerning the path of Sanatana Dharma and they are the usage of labels and the practices that a person does.
I've read a few webpages and then threads on this message board about who is a Hindu (or adherent of SD). Here are some of the answers to this question that I've come across:
- One who reverently accepts the Vedas
- One who accepts even a few chapters of a text (Purana, Upanishad, etc)
- One who was born into a Hindu family
- One whose origin is on the other side of the Indus
- One who is in contact with a Guru
My question is this: who/what is the correct authority on who is a Hindu?
Namaste mystic,
I see that your questions are unanswered for sometime and thus though I am not the correct person to answer such questions, I venture to add a few points. More appropriate answers should be forthcoming.
By definition, a Hindu is an individual who accepts the religious guidance of the Vedic scriptures. This is the constant guide. Other definitions are more or less political or less accurate.
What I should be interested in is actually: can I say that I follow Sanatana Dharma?
You certainly can. You can visit a local temple of your area, if available, and seek guidance from the priest. It is always better to be guided.
There are people who see no harm in someone like myself meditating on Aum and then there are those who believe that I must not do this practice. As for the use of Sri Ram as a mantra, I cannot see why anyone (if anyone is at all) opposed to it. I've read that any mantra has no value to the user whatsoever if they did not receive it from a Guru.
One must not discuss or divulge one's mantra indiscriminately. There are complicated reasons for this. While it is certainly true that a mantra is almost useless without a diksha from a Guru, yet you are free to totally surrender at the feet of God and then it is His responsibilty. Also there are vedic mantras like Gayatri, Mrityuonjaya, and few others that by their very vibrations are said to induce changes and lead one to the correct path. I think that loving acceptance of a vedic mahamantra is submission at the feet of Lord.
My main reason on why it is certainly fine for anyone to meditate on Aum (Pranava Yoga) is that the sacred syllable itself
is the very Paramatma that resides in this body which is the temple of God and the breath makes its sound according to Upanishad(s). Why need permission to meet that when it must then be your birthright?
IMO, It is a question of authority. An order passed by a clerk and by the CEO will have different weightage; a clerk's dictum no one will follow. We at our present level cannot even imagine the difference between the minds of a sage and a common man. A sage has the power to quieten most turbulent of minds. That power a common man certainly lacks. So, accepting superiority and bowing down to Guru is a strict requirement. But yet again, you can surrender without any question at the feet of Rama. Then you must unquestioningly accept what God gives.
Om
That which is without letters (parts) is the Fourth, beyond apprehension through ordinary means, the cessation of the phenomenal world, the auspicious and the non-dual. Thus Om is certainly the Self. He who knows thus enters the Self by the Self.
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