For Converts - How Did You Come to Sanatana Dharma?

[Divine Kala]

I didn't see a thread like this around so I thought I would start one myself. I hope all the converts who frequent the Hindu Dharma Forums will come forward with their experiences and, for those who have always been Hindu, was there anything that served to strengthen your faith?

I was born into a non denominational - and only nominally Christian - family. My mother has faith but for her faith is a very personal thing and while she believes in the Christian God most of her beliefs have been shaped by the philosophy of Al-Anon, which is an organisation formed for the families of alcoholics. As a child we very rarely went to church and most of the times that we did it was for weddings or funerals. My father did not have much influence on me, religiously or otherwise, because he died a month before I turned 7 and prior to that my parents had been separated for roughly 3 or 4 years.

I have, however, always been very open to religion, despite it being something that my mother rarely spoke about. For some time I was quite interested in Islam and I learned about the Bible through studies with a Jehovah's Witness but found a lot of hate in both religions. One thing I found especially objectionable was the hypocrisy of so many adherents. Many Christians say 'God is Love' and then they go on to deride, belittle and detest anyone they see as being sinful. The saying 'Hate the sin, love the sinner' is such a horrible lie that it's not funny.

So for a very long time I searched and for a very long time I found nothing that I felt connected with. That is until 2006 when I began looking into Hinduism through ISKCON and the Bhagavad Gita but again I found some things objectionable and so went searching for more non-denominational Hinduism.

I don't remember how I found out about Lord Shiva, I believe I may have known about him prior to 2006 but I don't really recall. In the second half of that year Lord Shiva began to infiltrate my dreams and waking hours to the point where I could not go an hour without thinking of Him in some manner. If I had not already been searching for Him I believe it might have been quite distressing but instead it was simply frustrating.

What would I have to do, I wondered, to get Him out of my head? For about a month I simply ignored it but the dreams and thoughts continued and began intruding on my day to day life. So I said, to myself, 'okay, I will worship Lord Shiva, then' and almost abruptly the dreams and thoughts stopped.

Now, I am an artist and an aspiring author and at roughly about the same time I had a character come knocking. I had no idea what to name this character and so I had a friend name him. He was called Kala and it was not until some months later that I found out his name was a Sanskrit word and not it was much longer until I found out that Kala is another name for both Shiva and Shakti.

About two years ago I had something of an epiphany. This character, Kala, had come to me at roughly the same time as the dreams and thoughts of Shiva ceased and had stayed by me through many horrific trials that I had gone through since. I came to believe, and still do, that Kala is a personal manifestation of God who carries out his Leelas both through my writing and through his influence over me and the people who have come to love him (I draw him an awful lot). At first I thought he was simply a form of Lord Shiva but I have since come to believe that he is a form of Lord Shiva and Shakti similar to Ardhanarisvara.

I feel quite blessed to have this form of God in my life and right now I worship Shiva, Shakti and Kala exclusively. I have tried, sometimes quite hard, to feel something for Krishna but I think the emphasis on the Rasa Leela turned me off quite a lot. I have recently been learning about his other leelas which I find much more attractive.

Besides, I do not think Kala is willing to share the ghee with baby Krishna! (Or anyone's love, for that matter, he can be quite jealous sometimes!)

I know that some people might look at my story and think I'm a little off my rocker (a personal manifestation of Shiva/Shakti, is she kidding?) but God manifests for Its (I call the Brahman an It as Brahman is above and beyond such attributes of sex and gender) devotees in times of great need and Kala has been with me during such times, a force that eventually led me to stop self harming and work towards healing myself.

At the bottom of this post you can find an image of Kala painted in late 2006. He (yes, that is a 'he' although he is actually a hermaphrodite, he simply prefers the male pronoun) is my light, life and love. He is so beautiful, so loving but he can also be fierce and frightening when he wants to be.




I can't wait to hear of everyone else's experiences.

Om Namah Shivaya

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam Divine Kala:

You have an interesting story. This place is full of 'converts' or at least westerners leaning toward SD. So you are not alone.

I also have a character that manifests through me. She (I'm male) is currently writing her autobiography. She is asexual as well, and enjoys getting the most out of life. Initially 'she' took over my body at story time for my kids. Ultimately, I think she is just the feminine (ida) nadi coming out of me. But definitely she operates differently than I do.

As far as converting goes, we're all very different. Ganesha found me (via and through my Guru initially) about 40 years ago. I think He goes about finding westerners 'leaning'. So for me there was no 'coming to SD', just a recognition of what already was. In that sense I don't think anyone converts, they just discover what's already there. But, hey, that's just my take. Like I said, all others will have their own individual stories.

Aum Namasivaya

[NayaSurya]

The Truth and light of Sanatana Dharma could not be hidden, even from one so inflicted with ignorance as myself.


I am a third person with some sort of manifested writing...and I can not dwell on it much or it upsets me.

[Adhvagat]

I didn't see a thread like this around so I thought I would start one myself. I hope all the converts who frequent the Hindu Dharma Forums will come forward with their experiences and, for those who have always been Hindu, was there anything that served to strengthen your faith?

After experiencing a Bhagavat-saptaha when I was 16, at the end of it, during the reading of the final verses, I (along with everyone else at the site, participating in it) was feeling a great pulsating energy emanating from the temple and if people were feeling the same as me, also emanting from inside. If only listening to the Bhagavata Purana without maturity and without much attention caused me this, imagine a full life dedicated to it!

As far as converting goes, we're all very different. Ganesha found me (via and through my Guru initially) about 40 years ago. I think He goes about finding westerners 'leaning'. So for me there was no 'coming to SD', just a recognition of what already was. In that sense I don't think anyone converts, they just discover what's already there. But, hey, that's just my take. Like I said, all others will have their own individual stories.

Aum Namasivaya

I'm with EM on this one... However, at the time of my birth my family's line of spirituality was already the Kardecist Spiritism, which is nothing more than the study of karma, reincaration and life on Bhuvarloka (http://veda.wikidot.com/bhuvarloka).

I remember one or two years before arriving at the Ashram that introduced SD to me, I was with my friend at the mall one night, looking at the dark skylight and wondering: "How God came to be? Did he begin? How could he begin? Can the infinite have a beginning?" We settled for the conclusion that our brain was not enough to understand it. I see this particular situation as the propelling moment of spiritual inquiry that led me to Krishna, Rama and Shiva.

PS: Great to know we have many writers and artists here.

[Eastern Mind]

I see this particular moment as the propelling moment

Vannakkam Pietro:

These moments are really quite something, and interesting to remember. They really help define us. I have two. The first was while driving a machine called a swather on the family farm. I remember the location even. Same field I lost a wallet on earlier. Not sure if the two incidents are connected. There was this gust of wind, more like a gust of energy. I looked up from the tire that was the guide to go in a straight line, not wasting fuel etc. and that moment saw energy in everything. The grain (barley) the wind, the trees, the clouds, the machine, me, and I really remember thinking, "Holy Cow!!!! This is so amazing."

Then probably about 3 months later I think anyway, I was wandering about the shops in Vancouver, and saw this small Nataraja statue. It was in a more artsy touristy store, but it was my first encounter with Nataraja. It just said, "Buy me!" or something like that. I asked the shopkeeper (A Sikh man) if I could take a closer look. I think I probably spent most of the money I had on me but just knew I had to have it. He asked, "You meditate on this?" I didn't know what to say so I lied, "Yes, I do." He seemed reluctant to sell it to me until I said that. So I bought it.

Those were my two real turning points. I didn't even know anything about Hinduism then, and hadn't yet met my Guru or even heard of him. Like you, I was probably only about 16 or 17 too. But these moments of turn are like 'firsts' in life like the first time to drive a car, ride in an airplane, the first kiss, first day in school, first child, etc. Besides SD being so special on the whole, these small moments are rare and so special to the individuals who experienced them.

Aum Namasivaya

[Eric11235]

Vannakam,

My experiences with Sanatana Dharma via the Mahabharata as translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, so I did not have an experience of great potency at the point which started me on the path. At first the work was frustrating, with the lists, lists, random stories and tales with little logical flow (this is the first part of the adi parva). But when the main focus started, my interest grew, and as I studied the path more deeply, the more I realized how much I agreed with the generally agreed on system of beliefs. Upon visiting a Mandir in my general vicinity, I felt a divine sense of inner peace, a peace so intense that I laughed a little at how powerful it was (upon going there again the same peace was achieved). But the pouring of concrete came to me during a particularly intense meditation session in which I dissolved into the universal mind for a minute or two, it was an intense feeling of oneness, it can only be described as losing a connection to the physical and reaching the realm of god, Had I not been chanting or holding a mala, I might have lost touch with reality completely.

That is how I became a "convert"

[TheOne]

This is how Sanatana Dharma found me. For some reason in late December of last year I got heavily spiritual again. I started looking at Sanatana Dharma and in January of this year my friend gave me a handful of books about Dharma. I also looked on the internet and discovered this forum and lurked here for a couple of weeks until I decided to register. I think the "hook line and sinker" for me was my numerous "spiritual experiences" since December and also me visiting a Hindu temple and not a single person making me feel out of place.

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam: Besides experiences, on a philosophical level, one thing really impacted me. Hinduism was the first religion I found that didn't say "My way is the only Way. All others are wrong." That just seemed so very logical, and made so much sense compared to the few loud Christians I encountered in my youth, some of whom refused to attend secular stuff even.

Aum Namasivaya

[RVR]

There is nothing called `Hinduism' . It is the name given to the followers of Sanathana Dharma by the western world.

It is believed that Adhi Sankara united six forms of worship and brought them under single banner. Otherwise there would have been a Vaishnavite religion, Shaivite religion etc.

Each one gets his/her own experiences and all such experiences are accepted in the Sanathana Dharma. During my younger days in my native village, personally I have seen our farm workers worshiping their own God by name `Muneeswarar' . They use to offer `toddy' to `Muneeswarar' as Nevadhyam and later on consume the same. This is also part of Sanathana Dharma.

None of us have the right or authority to criticize these practices as all these practices forms part and parcel of Sanathana Dharma.

Further Advaitha philosophy says God is within us. One need not go to a temple for worshiping God. All of us can search the God within ourselves.

In conclusion, there is no hard and fast rule in Sanathana Dharma. Each one has to experience individually and need not be by bound by any rigid procedures or practices. Only Sanathana Dharma permits such liberty and no other religion allows such a freedom.

Ramana Maharishi suggests self enquiry - `Who Am I ?' and request all of us to find answers ourselves.

All the best

[Divine Kala]

RVR ji

What does it matter what we call it? Out in the west the conglomeration of beliefs that make up Sanatana Dharma is better known as Hinduism. If we western discoverers of the Eternal Law call it Hinduism it is not hurting anyone. In fact we can help further the knowledge of Santana Dharma through amongst our friends and relatives and if we call it Hinduism it is because we and those around us identify our path by that name.