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Thread: Defending Hindu Dharma against the Onslaught of Adharmic Religions

  1. #61
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    Re: Defending Hindu Dharma against the Onslaught of Adharmic Religions

    Quote Originally Posted by Gotam View Post
    Namaste Saidevo,
    Discovering, partly thanks to you, how missionaries in India behave, has convinced me that the clergy´s modesty in Europe is due to their having no more impact here. If their power was not broken, my country of origin (Northern Belgium) would again be what I called it when I was young: a colony of the Vatican.
    Namaste Gotam,

    This is the general truth. Shri Krishna destroying his own yadu vansha is not time or place constrained. Arrogance of Ego is broken by Ishwara irrespective of place and time.

    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.

  2. #62
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    Re: Defending Hindu Dharma against the Onslaught of Adharmic Religions

    Namaste Atanu,

    I would neglect my duty if I spent more time on HDF in the near future, so I´ll be brief. Thank you for the references, I shall look them up by the time I´m back here.

    Without knowing what you refer to, I think I can already say this: when I was arrogant in my own life, this happened when I felt weak, never when I felt strong. I think the more we identify with our ego, the weaker we turn out to feel, at least that is the outcome when we make a minimal effort of introspection. Perhaps you would agree that the less we are aware of our connection with God or Universe, the more we are at risk of feeling weak, and the weaker we are indeed. Now I think the more people misbehave, the more this could be an indication of inward weakness. A simple and obvious observation we can all make in daily life is that people who are really certain of their words and claims don´t need to convince others. The case of Christians who think they are saving their own soul by "saving" other people´s souls (one of those many similarities with Hinduism: rightly understood, this could have been like karma yoga, I think, but in practice, it is the opposite) is of course more complicated, but still, there must be a terrible fear, a fear of insignificance, punishment, humiliation, whatever: some depressing saMskAra at work in many a missionary. Hindus having developed the most refined and realistic system of psychology found in any culture, I wonder if understanding the opponent´s problem should not be a subject of your discussion here, and of your action, because what some if not all of these people do is infecting others with their own inner misery. The help they need may simply be to feel your opposition, but it could be something else as well. Sorry if you have already discussed this, I have not read it all. I think there is a field there in which Hindus are really very strong.

    Om shantih.

  3. #63
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    Re: Defending Hindu Dharma against the Onslaught of Adharmic Religions

    This news item gives an idea of the extent of activity of the Western religious forces in India and of the effect of Hindu reaction to it. Still a long way to go!

    Five lakh Christians, Muslims reconverted to Hinduism: Togadia
    http://www.dailypioneer.com/156744/F...m-Togadia.html

    Five lakh Muslims and Christians have been reconverted to Hinduism in the last decade, claimed VHP international general secretary Praveen Bhai Togadia, addressing the Dharma Raksha Nidhi programme at the Civic Centre on Sunday.

    In Sundargarh district alone, out of 10 per cent Christians, nine per cent has already been reconverted to Hinduism, he further bragged. It is possible due to the Rs 100 crore annual budget service of the VHP against the 65,000 crore annual budget of Christian missionaries for proselytisation programme in India, he said.

    He said India has 23,000 tribal villages, out of that Rs 100 crore budget, for free schooling of tribals students, at present 145 tribal hostels are run by the VHP where 5,000 tribal students receive free studentship and lodging and boarding. In Orissa, 1,500 such schools are being there and there are plans to expand the network. He extorted the Hindu household to give a handful of rice and Rs 1 per day to expedite the noble cause.
    रतà¥à¤¨à¤¾à¤•à¤°à¤§à¥Œà¤¤à¤ªà¤¦à¤¾à¤‚ हिमालयकिरीटिनीमॠ।
    बà¥à¤°à¤¹à¥à¤®à¤°à¤¾à¤œà¤°à¥à¤·à¤¿à¤°à¤°à¤¤à¥à¤¨à¤¾à¤¢à¥à¤¯à¤¾à¤‚ वनà¥à¤¦à¥‡ भारतमातरमॠ॥

    To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.

    --viShNu purANam

  4. #64

    Re: Defending Hindu Dharma against the Onslaught of Adharmic Religions

    Perhaps christians and many indifferent Hindus might object to a thread such as "Defending Hindu Dharma against the Onslaught Adharmic Religions." Would a thread title"Cautioning Hindus about proselytization strategies of Christianity" be more acceptable? The article below would fit beautifully into such a thread. (Merely a wry comment...please retain the thread title as it is). Ohmshivaya

    ------------------------------------
    Atma Jyoti Ashram: Sannyasins or Swindlers?
    14/06/2009 14:28:31



    By Swami Devananda Saraswati


    In Catholic Ashrams: Sannyasins or Swindlers, Sita Ram Goel describes the Christian missionary strategists’ plan to infiltrate Hindu society and gain the confidence of the people: “Christianity has to drop its alien attire and get clothed in Hindu cultural forms. In short, Christianity has to be presented as an indigenous faith. Christian theology has to be conveyed through categories of Hindu philosophy; Christian worship has to be conducted in the manner and with the materials of Hindu puja. Christian sacraments have to sound like Hindu samskaras; Christian churches have to copy the architecture of Hindu temples; Christian hymns have to be set to Hindu music; Christian themes and personalities have to be presented in styles of Hindu painting; Christian missionaries have to dress and live like Hindu sannyasins; Christian mission stations have to look like Hindu ashramas. And so on, the literature of Indigenization goes into all aspects of Christian thought, organization and activity and tries to discover how far and in what way they can be disguised in Hindu forms.”

    Sita Ram Goel wrote this in 1988, and he would not be surprised to learn that Christian priests and monks in America have adopted the very same tactics to attract a whole generation of American youth interested in Hindu spirituality, back to Christianity. The leader in this movement today is Abbot George Burke of Atma Jyoti Ashram in Cedar Crest, New Mexico. He is better known on the Internet as Swami Nirmalananda Giri.

    Atma Jyoti Ashram was originally called Sri Isha (=Jesus) Jyoti Sannyas Ashram and was located at Borrego Springs, California. Fr. George Burke is a Greek Orthodox Christian priest, and if reports are correct most or all of the community of brothers attached to him are Christian priests.

    On one of his visits to India, Fr. George met with the Bengali saint Ananda Mai Ma. She instructed him to remain in the Christian religion and continue with his Christian practices. This is not unusual advice from a Hindu guru. In spite of their enlightenment, most of them are grossly ignorant of Christianity’s ideology and imperial designs, and of its triumphant, sectarian prayers and bloody rituals. They will advise their foreign followers to remain in the religion of their forefathers, not realizing the negative consequences of their thoughtless words.

    This kind of advice is insincere and irresponsible, especially when it is made to foreign seekers who take the guru’s instruction as divine word. Christianity is based on a false doctrine of vicarious salvation, and there is nothing in Hindu scripture or the ancient Rishi tradition to support the ill-conceived advice handed out to foreign seekers by Hindu teachers who do not want to take spiritual responsibility for their charges.

    However, Ananda Mai’s instruction suited Fr. George and his followers to a T, and they quoted her later as their authority to don the ochre cloth of Hindu sannyasis and adopt the Sanskrit titles and names of Smarta Dasanami monks. The fact that Ananda Mai Ma was not an initiated Dasanami sannyasi herself and had no authority to give her followers ochre cloth or Dasanami titles did not deter them in the impersonation drama. They continued to perform the bloody sacrifice of the Christian Mass in secret, even as they presented themselves in public as simple, unaffiliated Hindu monks. It was the old fraud of Robert de Nobili and Henri Le Saux being repeated again on an unsuspecting public, only this time it was an American not an Indian public that was being duped by the persuasive snake oil salesmen.

    At one point in their career, while they were still the Sri Isha (=Jesus) Jyoti Sannyas community in Borrego Springs, they were caught out in their charade by non other than the Shaiva Siddhanta Church in Hawaii. The brothers did carpentry for a living, being followers of the Carpenter, and one of the items they produced for sale was a Roman cross with the sacred Hindu word-symbol Om nailed to its cross bars. They sent a sample to Hinduism Today with the hope of attracting sales. They got instead a negative response and a return of the obscene article. Hindus, even modern American Hindu converts, are deeply offended by this kind of syncretism and do not understand the appeal it has for New Agers and gay Christian priests who flaunt it on their cassock fronts as a sign of their radical universalism.

    The Catholic writer S. Kulandaiswami has said vis-à-vis Fr. Bede Griffiths and his bastardized Om-on-Cross iconography: “Ritual, rites, [and] ceremonies in Hinduism have not been changed to suit the whims of modern innovators. Griffiths, by superimposing the sacred word Om on a Cross imagines he has created a new spiritual phenomenon. On the contrary he confuses and insults both Hinduism and Christianity. He fails to realize that by such acts he is neither enriching Christianity nor honouring Hinduism. One has to respect the unique rites and rituals of each religion, which placed in another context, will be meaningless and confusing. In a later debate published in the letters column of the Indian Express, Chennai, in 1989, the Hindu correspondent S. Venkatachalam wrote: “It is highly outrageous and objectionable to compare … Hindu leaders and religious heads with the Christian missionary experimentalists like Bede Griffiths, Hans Staffner [and the] Christian missionary Fr. Henri Le Saux, the so-called Abhishiktananda…. Swami Vivekananda, Gandhiji, Ramana Maharshi and Paramacharya of Kanchi never resorted to such experimentation of a “cocktail religion” or “masala and kichidi religion” by mixing religious symbols, donning the dress of [a Christian] father or [Muslim] mullah, building church-like or mosque-like temples, fabricating Bible- or Quran-like Hindu slokas, or asserting that Rama or Krishna or Shiva is the only God and by accepting Him alone one can get salvation.”

    The Sri Isha (=Jesus) Jyoti Sannyas Ashram brothers did not succeed in pedalling their original handcrafted Om-on-Crosses to the Hindus of Hawaii then, but in their new incarnation as the sadhus of Atma Jyoti Ashram they have succeeded in getting advertising space in Hinduism Today and the sponsorship of Ramana Ashram in Tiruvannamalai. All this and more, yet they remain so far as we know Christian priests in orange robes with false Sanskrit names and titles, the usual New Age bells and beads added. They are quite a success in Christian duplicity if not in true Hindu spirituality.

    The sponsorship of Ramana Ashram and the publication of the Atma Jyoti Ashram brothers’ articles under assumed Hindu names in the Ramana Ashram journal Mountain Path is not really surprising. Sri Ramana Ashram is a family business headed by a hereditary trustee. The current president is the Advaita Vedanta paralogist V.S. Ramanan. The ashram was declared a non-Hindu institution in 1963.

    Though Ramanan is the editor of Mountain Path as required by law, the de facto editor is the Australian theosophist Christopher Quilkey. He is a disciple of the anti-modernist French Sufi Rene Guenon, and is assisted by the American Catholic Benedictine monk Brother Michael. Brother Michael divides his time between Shanti Vanam near Tiruchirappalli, the Benedictine hermitage of the notorious Christian missionary Fr. Bede Griffiths, and Ramana Ashram in Tiruvannamalai. He is a Catholic priest and will say Mass whenever and wherever the Catholic spirit moves him, including Ramana Ashram and other places of Hindu pilgrimage and worship. His other duty is to vet articles sent to Mountain Path for publication and forward them on to Christopher Quilkey in Kodaikanal for acceptance and publication. Ramanan shows little or no interest in the articles that are selected for publication, and though the ashram follows Vedic Brahminical traditions and can afford to employ a professional, it is not able to find and keep a responsible and dedicated Hindu editor for its magazine.

    Ramanan appears to be in a state of denial regarding Christians in his own ashram and missionaries in general. He writes, “There is no doubt that Christianity has, over centuries been a proselytizing religion and some of the preachers had indulged in scurrilous propaganda against Hindu beliefs and mores. But there is nothing to worry. The worst is over and the Vedantic Truth is eternal and imperishable. I know a number of Christian priests who revere Hinduism and Vedanta. It is well known that Westerners are increasingly being drawn to Yoga and Vedanta which Swami Vivekananda called the “Religion of the Future.”

    Nothing to worry, eh? The worst is over, eh? Either Ramanan is a fool or he is in league with the Christian missionaries who publish in the ashram journal.

    The first articles to appear in Mountain Path by an Atma Jyoti Ashram member were by a Catholic priest who resides in Tiruvannamalai and calls himself Swami Sadasivananda Giri. The articles were inoffensive enough, but because it was known to a number of sadhus and Ramana Ashram devotees that the author was in fact a Christian priest masquerading as a Hindu sannyasi, the matter was brought to the Ramana Ashram president’s attention with the request that Sadasivananda be identified by his real Christian name and titles to Mountain Path readers.

    The letter was ignored, and when the April-June 2009 issue of Mountain Path appeared, it was discovered that not only did Swami Sadasivanand’s article appear without proper identification, but an article by Fr. George Burke, the Greek Orthodox abbot of Atma Jyoti Ashram in New Mexico, was also included under the name Swami Nirmalananda Giri. The request to identify the Christian contributors to the journal was not only denied by the Ramana Ashram president Ramanan, but a strong message of contempt and scorn for Hindu sannyas traditions was given out by the Mountain Path editor and his dubious, uncommitted assistants.

    The problem of Christian priests and missionaries masquerading as Hindu sannyasis is an old one in India. The impersonation drama was first carried out by Robert de Nobili in Madurai in in the 17th century. It was continued and made notorious by Fr. Bede Griffiths (aka Swami Dayananda) in the 20th century, though his collaborator the French Benedictine monk Fr. Henri Le Saux was without doubt the most successful Hindu sadhu impersonator. He is known to this day by his adopted Sanskrit name Swami Abhishiktananda, and had non other than the late Swami Chidananda Saraswati of Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh as a patron.

    The new twist in the criminal impersonation of Hindu sadhus, is that Christian priests in the US are adopting Hindu names and dress in order to deceive and entrap America seekers who have already rejected the false doctrines and superstitions of Christianity, in the hope of bringing them back to Jesus and the Church.

    Missionary activity in India has peaked under the benevolent gaze of the Christian-Congress UPA regime of Sonia Gandhi. Andhra Pradesh is now said to be 30% Christian and growing, with Tamil Nadu following closely behind. Both states will soon rival Kerala with their Christian populations. The real problem is not missionaries flashing American dollars or dressing up as sadhus in order to deceive unsuspecting villagers. Christians in India are doing what Christians have always done throughout history: they are subverting and subsuming the non-Christian cultures and societies that they are not able to conquer by force. The real problem is with Hindu leaders--political, social, cultural, and religious leaders. They are first of all in a state of denial, unwilling or unable to admit the Christian threat and the grave implications it has for Hindu civilization and society. Or, like the editors of the Ramana Ashram journal Mountain Path, they take the out-dated, irresponsible, and non-Vedic theosophical view that all religions are one and the same anyway, so what does it matter if a few million villagers become dollar Christians. Or, and this is especially true of Hindu religious leaders, they recognise the Christian threat but are not sufficiently equipped or knowledgeable to counter it. Unlike Christian priests who study Hindu scriptures and doctrines in depth for years, they have never read the Bible or studied the imperialist Christian ideologies that have be formulated out of the Bible story. They are helpless, and they are made even more helpless by their own superficially understood and secularised doctrines of an abstract, impersonal, and all-pervasive Brahman godhead.

    Every popular religious teacher in India today espouses some form or other of Advaitic philosophy. Even the popular Chennai Christian newspaper Deccan Chronicle carries a weekly “spiritual” column of secularised Neo-Vedantic commentary called “Vedanta Rocks”. This demytholised Vedanta with its abstract terminology and concept of Oneness is the great love of the modern Indian secular sophist or Jesuit-trained Christian casuist. They can turn these Hindu concepts and ideals any which way they like and use them for any amoral purpose when they are taken out of their original Hindu religious context.

    Most modern Indian religious teachers do take Advaita Vedanta out of its original Vedic religious context, and in so doing they give a potent weapon to the enemy with which to attack Hindu religion and undermine Hindu society and culture. Sita Ram Goel, in Catholic Ashrams, writes: “[T]he literature of Indigenisation provides ample proof that several Hindu philosophies are being actively considered by the mission strategists as conveyors of Christianity. The Advaita of Shankaracharya has been the hottest favourite so far. The Vishistadvaita of Ramanuja, the Bhakti of the Alvar saints and Vaishnava Acharyas, the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Vichara of Ramana Maharshi are not far behind.”

    The medieval Acharyas and more recent teachers of Vedic spirituality like Ramana Maharishi, were able to know without difficulty the religious identity and affiliations of their disciples. They did not have to search out and verify their students’ political and religious backgrounds. This is no longer true today. Hindu society has become secularised in the cities and teachers are faced with multicultural audiences from different countries and traditions. It is therefore incumbent on all Hindu gurus in India and abroad, to put their philosophical teaching into its original religious context so that it cannot be distorted and abused by Hinduism’s scholarly Marxist and Christian enemies.

    Apostle Paul and the Early Church Fathers conquered ancient Greece by forcibly secularising Greek society. They divided the unity of Greek religion and mythology from Greek philosophy and philosophic terminology. They then secularised and appropriated Greek philosophic terminology and took the Greek religious concept of an Unknown God for themselves. The religious vacuum that followed in Greek society was then filled in with the Jesus cult and other Christian superstitions. Indian bishops are perpetrating the same apostolic fraud today when they claim the Tamil Shaivite saint Tiruvalluvar was a disciple of the legendary St. Thomas. They then add to their cultural crime by claiming Tiruvalluvar’s “secular” ethical treatise Tirukkural as their own sectarian Christian book.

    This is how ancient Greece became a Christian country, and it is how modern India is fast becoming a Christianised Hindu country. The difference is that in modern India, it is well-meaning and ill-informed Hindu spiritual teachers and ashram administrators who are assisting the Christian predators in the downfall and obliteration of Hindu religion and culture.

    Perhaps we are mistaken; perhaps we have been misinformed about Atma Jyoti Ashram and its abbot Fr. George Burke. Perhaps he and his brother disciples have converted to Hinduism and gone through Vedic samskaras of purification and name change under the guidance of a Hindu priest. If that is the case, then let them produce their certificates of de-baptism and apostasy from the Christian religion. And as they claim to be Smarta Dasanami sannyasins with Giri titles, let them produce their certificates of sannyasa from a recognised Dasanami mahamandaleshwar and math. They can post these important documents of religion on their website. We will then give them our blessing, for their good sense in religion and spiritual endeavour, and hold our peace.

    source: http://www.haindavakeralam.com/HkPag...ID=8810&SKIN=C

  5. #65
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    Re: Defending Hindu Dharma against the Onslaught of Adharmic Religions

    Quote Originally Posted by ohmshivaya View Post
    . Ohmshivaya
    Quote Originally Posted by ohmshivaya View Post
    Atma Jyoti Ashram: Sannyasins or Swindlers?
    14/06/2009 14:28:31
    By Swami Devananda Saraswati

    On one of his visits to India, Fr. George met with the Bengali saint Ananda Mai Ma. She instructed him to remain in the Christian religion and continue with his Christian practices. This is not unusual advice from a Hindu guru. In spite of their enlightenment, most of them are grossly ignorant -----

    This kind of advice is insincere and irresponsible, ----

    Every popular religious teacher in India today espouses some form or other of Advaitic philosophy. ----

    Most modern Indian religious teachers do take Advaita Vedanta out of its original Vedic religious context, ------.”


    Perhaps we are mistaken; ------let them produce their certificates of sannyasa from a recognised Dasanami mahamandaleshwar and math. They can post these important documents of religion on their website. We will then give them our blessing, for their good sense in religion and spiritual endeavour, and hold our peace.


    Namaste,

    I did not know that sannyasa is proven by a certificate. Swami Devananda, himself a son of a canadian priest, not only demolishes his christian opponents but also demolishes many hindu gurus. He writes this also:


    Thank you for the copy of C
    hristianity in a different Light,, which I have read from cover to cover. You are one of the very few Hindu writers working today who has understood the truth about Christianity and the insidious influence it has had on our educated and governing classes. I particularly appreciate your criticism of Yogananda Paramahansa of California. For the last hundred years our mahatmas (including Mahaatma Gandhi) and god men have misled the people --------


    Swami Chidananda of Shivananda Aashram at Rishikesh is a prime example of this kind of Christianized Hindu sadhu who has gained a world following by undermining the very integrity of Hindu Dharma.

    My best wishes, and Sri Devi’s blessings, on your good work for Dharma.
    - Swami Devananda Saraswati Letter 29-10-2004


    The canadian sadhu, whose real name is not known, does not leave any sadhu of last hundred years, including Mahatma Gandhi. May be he knows better than all and Hindus need him?


    Om Namah Shivaya

    Last edited by atanu; 15 June 2009 at 08:58 PM.
    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.

  6. #66

    Re: Defending Hindu Dharma against the Onslaught of Adharmic Religions

    [quote=atanu;29010][/font]
    I did not know that sannyasa is proven by a certificate...
    Of course, it is not; but Swami Devanandaji is questioning the leanings of this new crop of Christian gurus, who have suddenly mushroomed everywhere, donning saffron robes, holding Sanskritized names, borrowing scriptural phrases and teachings from Hindu texts, all to slowly introduce christ into the naive Hindu society.

    Swami Devananda expresses legitimate concern. He is also NOT, by any means, the only Hindu swami or guru or even the only Hindu to express such concerns, over the rapid Christianization of India, particularly in some states such as Tamil Nadu and Andra Pradesh, using precisely the inculturation methods described in the article (and in other articles found in the links below). Recently, Kanchi Perivaar, Swami Jayendra Saraswati ji, also came out with firm rejoinder to the Catholic church along similar lines after an interfaith religious dialogue initiated by the Catholic Church.

    http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=633

    For more opinions and reports on the strategies adopted by Christianity to Christianize India, one may find the following articles informative. It is possible that many Hindus, particularly non-Indians, are genuinely unaware or ignorant of the socio-political and economic strategies adopted by the church (of all denominations) and Christian organizations in many non-Christian developing countries around the world, in order to Christianize these societies. Many others may simply be in denial; yet others just plain foolishly obstinate (they simply cannot accept that they have been wrong all along about Christianity, or face up to their responsibility for having allowed christianity to commit atrocities against Hindus right under their noses, while they looked sheepishly away, muttering "all Gawd is one.").

    http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=630
    http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=632
    http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=634
    http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=631
    http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=638
    http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=641


    Swami Devananda is correct when he laments about Hindus trying to interpret the Bible and Koran solely from a Hindu perspective, without understanding that the two religions and their scriptures were not conceived and written by Hindus. These two religions were conceived and built on exclusivism. One needs to stop analyzing these two religions and their books from the point of view of Hinduism, and instead see them in the light of the socio-political and cultural context underlying the creation of these two institutions (Christianity and Islam) and their purport.

    It is ironic that many Hindus today insist that they have understood or unlocked the ‘wholesome truth’ contained in the Bible (or Koran) when devout Christians (or Muslims),worldwide, including their spiritual leaders, and societies that have been practicing this religion from the time of its inception, have been unable to decipher the bible’s alleged ‘deeper’ meaning.


    Swami Devananda, himself a son of a canadian priest, :
    In his website, Swami Devananda talks about his background briefly.

    http://hamsa.org/contact.htm


    Does it matter what his father was, or wasn’t? That point is irrelevant...


    ...not only demolishes his christian opponents but also demolishes many hindu gurus.


    What exactly has he demolished, other than exposed the truth. If that is to demolish, we may need more such demolitions. What he has observed and investigated in his extended travels throughout India, particularly Tamil Nadu, and in-depth research is very much in line with what other historians, social scientists, Hindu Acharyas, and common Hindus have observed and commented on. The new crop of Indian gurus, gallivanting around the world gathering international devotees, particularly celebrities – the Deepak Chopra kind- all seem to be in a hurry to distance themselves from the ‘Hindu’ label once they have peddled the Hindu ‘wares’ to the western and westernized Indian audiences at large. OHMYGOSH! Hinduism!- that forbidden word.

    Swami Devananda’s writings on the manipulation of the Hindu society by Christian religious leaders and organizations echo what others such as Sri Sita Ram Goel, Vama Deva Shastri (Sri David Frawley), Sri Stephen Knapp and academician Koenraad Elst have observed, and researched and wrote on.

    For example, Koenraad Elst writes:


    Seldom have I seen such viper-like mischievousness as in the most recent strategies of the Christian mission in India. It is a viper with two teeth. On the one side, there is the gentle penetration through social and educational services, now compounded with a rhetoric of "inculturation": glib talk of "dialogue", "sharing", "common ground", fraudulent donning of Hindu robes by Christian monks, all calculated to fool Hindus about the continuity of the Christian striving to destroy Hinduism and replace it with the cult of Jesus. This is not to deny that there are some Indian Christians who sincerely believe that the denomination game is outdated, that we should go "beyond the religions" and mix freely with non-Christians without trying to change their religious loyalties; but they do not represent official Church policy. On the other side, there is a vicious attempt to delegitimize Hinduism as India's native religion, and to mobilize the weaker sections of Hindu society against it with "blood and soil" slogans. Seeing how the nativist movement in the Americas is partly directed against Christianity because of its historical aggression against native society (in spite of Liberation Theology's attempts to recuperate the movement), the Indian Church tries to take over this nativist tendency and forge it into a weapon against Hinduism. Christian involvement in the so-called Dalit ("oppressed") and Adivasi ("aboriginal") movements is an attempt to channel the nativist revival and perversely direct it against native society itself. It advertises its services as the guardian of the interests of the "true natives" (meaning the Scheduled Castes and Tribes) against native society, while labelling the upper castes as "Aryan invaders", on the basis of an outdated theory postulating an immigration in 1500 B.C.

    ...does not leave any sadhu of last hundred years, including Mahatma Gandhi.


    How in the world does one arrive at that conclusion, from the article above? Has Swami Devananda attacked Paramaacharya of Kanchi, or his successors at the Kanchi math; has he attacked any of the Shankaracharyas of the other Shankara maths; has he attacked Sri Ramana Maharishi; or Swami Sivananda; or Sri Aurobindo; Swami Vivekananda; Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa? He has not even condemned a controversial guru like Sai Baba of Puttaparthi. On the contrary, Swami Devananda upholds the honesty and integrity of the ancient masters, and denounces some types of contemporary gurus - particularly the bogus kind that uses Hinduism as a crutch to prop up Christianity in the country - and the current management of many of the ashrams of the enlightened masters.

    The sad truth is that many contemporary Indian gurus base their spiritual foundation on the tenets of Upanishads/Vedanta/ and Gita, but once they have acquired a very large international following openly disassociate themselves from Sanatana Dharma (or Hinduism) as if it was a plague.

    About two years ago, I had experience with one upcoming guru and his group. This contemporary ‘spiritual’ guru has his base in Tamil Nadu. His emissaries (disciples who allegedly have been bestowed the spiritual ‘powers’ directly by him to initiate others into his fold) travel around the country canvassing patronage, by conducting some kind of initiation ceremony (kind of induction into his ‘group’) for a fee, while he personally travels abroad to conduct these courses. Ever curious, I attended a course in India after paying the necessary fee. The emissary conducting this particular session, a young lady who sparkled (with enlightenment) like a 5 watts bulb, starts of by dramatically declaring that it is waste of time and unnecessary to go to ‘temples’ or ‘places of worship’ (she, of course, carefully refrains from mentioning ‘’church’’ and ‘’mosque’’).

    Of course, one knows that in Hinduism it is not essential to visit temples to achieve enlightenment, or God’s grace, or to express one’s affiliation with Hinduism, unlike in Christianity and Islam. But one has to also understand that temples are just not for praying casually, fulfilling a vow, or visiting for social reasons, or even to outwardly express one's Hindu identity; but many of the ancient temples in India are concentrated energy centres. Rituals, prayers, and mantras as per the Agama shastras have been performed continuously for hundreds of years, making these places powerful energy centres. In addition, many great Hindu Sages and Acharyas from time immemorial, so to speak, have visited, prayed and performed rituals in these temples, further strengthening the energy concentration in these places. When one prays or meditates in such places, one taps inadvertently to this energy.

    The organization of this upcoming guru also clearly states that they don’t follow any particular belief system or tradition. Yet, every philosophy that this guru propounds is taken from some aspect of Hinduism. Interestingly though, this guru and his ashramites are not above performing rituals, and praying and meditating on the lingam in the ashram premise. Apparently this structure exudes energy. Thus, according to this group’s logic, it is desirable to pray to the lingam put up by the guru, but it is ‘pointless’ to pray to the lingam or deity in the temples?

    Not surprisingly, his method of un-tagging himself from Hinduism seems to have won the approval and endorsement of the anti-Hindu chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M Karunanidhi, and his Christian daughter. These two who have never previously endorsed or spoken kindly of any Hindu guru sings praises of him. According to their public statement, this guru is unique because he does a lot of social work? Huh? Am I missing something here?

    There are so many well-known and ancient Hindu ashrams/mutts throughout India and particularly in Tamil Nadu (example, the Kanchi Math, RamaKrishna Mutt) that have been very active in social work and have extended poverty elimination programs and health care services for the poor and the needy, and run educational institutions, and having been doing so for many decades now. Yet, Karunanaidhi and his political party has always shown contempt and disrespect for these institutions and their heads primarily because they carry their Hindu identity. An institution that carries a Hindu tag is source of annoyance for the christian church and institutions.

    Many of the new age gurus not only distance themselves from Hinduism, they go overboard by quoting few phrases here and there from the bible, relate stories about alleged Jesus’s deeds and what jesus is alleged to have said (curiously, these stories are not found in any mainstream Christian denomination in the west or in India). I’m sure none of these gurus have ever read the bible from front to back (or even back to front.). Yet, somehow they are all experts on the bible, and know exacly what Jesus said or didn’t ‘said.’

    These gurus are in such hurry to dissociate themselves from ‘Hinduism,'' and the ‘Hindu’ label probably because they don’t want to annoy the christians and muslims among their devotees. Thus, it would seem that for political and economic reasons, after stealing everything from the various Hindu sects and philosophies –yoga, ayurveda, Vedanta, Shaivism, Advaita, and Gita - these gurus sing out that they and their institutions are not in any way associated with Hinduism.

    Contrast the actions of these contemporary Indian gurus with that of Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, who despite setting up his ashram exclusively in the west, openly and proudly wore his 'Hindu' tag till his very last days on the physical plane - never afraid to talk proudly about Hinduism and never shirking from educating others on Hinduism. His successor, monks, and devotees around the world also wear their hindu-shaivite tag proudly. The Satguru and his monks have numerous accomplishments to their credit, that have benefited not only Hinduism and Hindu society worldwide but also spiritually impacted non-hindus. They have also won numerous international awards and recognition for their contributions. Yet, they did all this as "Hindus." Paramaacharya, despite being an enlightened soul, never felt the need to shun his Hindu identity till the very end. So too Swami Vivekananda, Swami Sivananda, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa…and the list of old Masters who continued to serve the people and the world as ‘Hindus’ goes on.

    Why then cannot these contemporary Indian gurus feel the need to disassociate themselves Hinduism? Because they are only half-realized and cannot hold a candle to the great masters, and need christian endorsement to survive? Or are they hypocrites, and economic and political opportunists playing the field, where Christian donors and Church dictate the conditions of their existence and survival. Or is it their penchant for collecting jet-setting crowds, and international recognition and awards, that induces them to shun the very belief system from where they shamelessly steal their philosophies and teachings.


    ...Hindus need him?

    What kind would you rather Hindus have?

    The ambitious kind that collect the Hindu masses, lead them right up to the top of the cliff, and shove them off? The-shameless-peddler-of hindu-wisdom-but-mocks-hinduism-Deepak-Chopra kind? Indian society, and the world, could probably do with a few more swamis such as Swami Devananda than, I repeat, these new age, economically and politically ambitious Indian Gurus that mushroom throughout the country stealing from hinduism and then claiming that they have discovered a new spiritual technique. Am I repeating myself too much? – Good!

    I close off my rather lengthy and probably tiresome comments, with the following observations by the Paramaacharya (Sage of Kanchi) in ‘Hindu Dharma’ (translations from the Tamil ‘Deivathan Kurul’):


    “One big difference between Hinduism and other faiths is that it does not proclaim that it alone shows the path to liberation. Our Vedic religion alone has not practiced conversion and the reason for it is that our forefathers were well aware that all religions are nothing but different paths to realise the one and only Paramatman. The Vedas proclaim: "The wise speak of the One Truth by different names. " Sri Krsna says in the Gita: "In whatever way or form a man worships me, I increase his faith and make him firm and steady in that worship. " And says one of the Azhvars: "Avaravar tamatamadu tarivari vahaivahai avaravar iraiyavar". This is the reason why the Hindus have not practiced- like adherents of other religions- proselytisation and religious persecution. Nor have they waged anything like the crusades or jehads.

    Our long history is sufficient proof of this. All historians accept the fact of our religious tolerance. They observe that, an empire like Srivijayawas established in the East, people there accepted our culture and our way of life willingly, not because they were imposed on them by force. They further remark that Hinduism spread through trade and not through force…

    …All religions that practice conversion employ a certain ritual. For instance, there is baptism in Christianity. Hinduism has more ritual than any other religion, yet its canonical texts do not contain any rite for conversion. No better proof is needed for the fact that we have at no time either encouraged conversion or practiced it.

    When a passenger arrives at a station by train he is besieged by the driver of the horse-cart, by the rikshavala, by the cabbie, and so on. He hires the vehicle in which he likes to be driven to his destination. It cannot be said with reason that those who ply different vehicles are guilty of competing with one another for the fare. After all it is their livelihood. But it makes no sense for the adherents of various faiths to vie with one another to take a man to the one and only destination that is God…. “



    I wonder whether, in your opinion, Hindus would need someone like the Paramaacharya too….


    Ohmshivaya

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    Re: Defending Hindu Dharma against the Onslaught of Adharmic Religions

    Quote Originally Posted by ohmshivaya View Post
    I wonder whether, in your opinion, Hindus would need someone like the Paramaacharya too….

    Ohmshivaya
    Namaskar Ohmshivaya,

    Thanks for the detailed write up. You are correct that I would stick to Paramacharya.

    Om Namah Shivaya
    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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    Re: Defending Hindu Dharma against the Onslaught of Adharmic Religions

    Fresh light on the arrest of and case against the Kanchi Seer

    Prof. Vaidyanathan exposes the nexus between the pseudo-secular state of India and the Abrahamic religions in a bid to destroy our Hindu dharma and culture, in this telling article. Please go through it and share it with others to spread the word:

    Secular assault on the Sacred
    R Vaidyanathan, 06 Sep 2009
    http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicD...le.aspx?id=790
    रतà¥à¤¨à¤¾à¤•à¤°à¤§à¥Œà¤¤à¤ªà¤¦à¤¾à¤‚ हिमालयकिरीटिनीमॠ।
    बà¥à¤°à¤¹à¥à¤®à¤°à¤¾à¤œà¤°à¥à¤·à¤¿à¤°à¤°à¤¤à¥à¤¨à¤¾à¤¢à¥à¤¯à¤¾à¤‚ वनà¥à¤¦à¥‡ भारतमातरमॠ॥

    To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.

    --viShNu purANam

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    Re: Defending Hindu Dharma against the Onslaught of Adharmic Religions

    I think a rule should be made barring people from directly copying big blocks of text, since it is very difficulst to read. Please everyone summarise what you have to say and then post.

    For defending Hindu Dharma, what I feel we need to do is to get rid of the Hindu secular beliefe. You know that all religions are equal and stuff. Not through violence and anyother method that is not beffiting of Hindu. But by bring clarity of thought among the young Indians.

    1. People should be educated about the difference between religion and dharma.
    2. The positive and scientific side of the Hindu Dharma should be presented. Don't just go ablout blah blah about how great is Hindu God. People who have little knowledge of Hindu Dharma don't like it.
    3. Discourage people from following all those men who stand up and say that they are great Hindu gurus. It must be realized that most of them especially in the rural are fake and illiterate Hindus follow them blindly.
    4. The above can be done that people should allways look up into the Gita for solutions.
    5. If possible get that big blocks of Mughal histories removed from history text books.
    6. One of the main things form a Hindu RTI group that files complains, and have legitimate lawyers to fight court battles. For eg in 1995 a complaint was filled by a hindu against giving away of funds for Haj to muslims because it was against constitution but the case was never taken up.

    What I want to say it, speak the language of youth. I am the youngest memeber on this site, just 16. I know how my generation thinks. They don't want so many gods and it is very difficult to explain that it is a actually spritual energy that can be represented as none, any or multiple forms. And most of them are bored of religion, they don't want anything to do with it.

    If you want to save Hindu Dharma you have to capture their imagination. They want science and so lets give them science that is Hindu science. Present Hindu Dharma as metaphysics and not religion.

    I am not saying that lets indulge into politics but we should use Indian laws to protect our Dharma. The common Hindu cannot afford allienate himself from politics, we have to use every govt law to counter what that is being done against us. We have to have a legal battle.

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    Re: Defending Hindu Dharma against the Onslaught of Adharmic Religions

    Quote Originally Posted by ohmshivaya

    It is ironic that many Hindus today insist that they have understood or unlocked the ‘wholesome truth’ contained in the Bible (or Koran) when devout Christians (or Muslims),worldwide, including their spiritual leaders, and societies that have been practicing this religion from the time of its inception, have been unable to decipher the bible’s alleged ‘deeper’ meaning.


    These stupid fellows(sorry) are the biggest stumbling block in opposing the attacks on Hinduism.Their numbers are not many but they are the most vocals and their capacity to hog the lime light is not something that cannot be wished away.

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