Non-Religious Hindus

[MahaHrada]

You obviously do care this is why you are spouting the propoganda of AIT here that 3500 years ago(1500BCE) the Vedic people came to India and mixed with their agamaic/tantra and yoga traditions. This is exactly what Christian missionaries who devised the AIT theory said. Today we know it is bullshit, the Vedic people have been in India since the beginning of Indian civilization approx 10,000 years ago. That is indeed what Indian history itself says. The Vedic people never talked about coming from anywhere outside of the Indian subcontinent. The idea that they are outsiders is just the imagination of Christian missionaries - which you obviously subscribe to.

There are many different ethnics and spiritual traditions that make up Bharata Dharma, not all of them are vedic. Only a small percentage of Indians are allowed to study the Vedas and the brahmin community is only a tiny minority following their own rules, besides that exist many other sampradyas as ancient as the vedic, that do allow all people of all communities regardless of birth or gender to develop spiritually within their traditions, that is what i write, this has absolutely nothing to do with any invasions or christian missionaries. I respect the vedic community, i just do not follow their regulations and do not think these are superior to other traditions.

[Surya Deva]

Yes, and I recognize them: Buddhists, Jains and arguably Sikhs. The times have changed today, anybody can study the Vedas, including non-Indians.

[Amala]

Very nice insight, EM. Couldn't agree more. I agree that sometimes the intellectual grows out of proportion to the intuitive, and thus covers it. I have to get in touch with it more, nowadays, myself.

A good quote by Einstein that might shed even more light:

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.
We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."

I also agree! Thanks for the quote! :-)

[mradam83]

Namaste,

I wonder how many folks in the forum consider themselves Hindus, but not religious. I count myself amongst those.

I think of Hinduism as having a religious sense and a more philosphical sense. The latter being more loose, holding to similar concepts as the religion, but the rules turn into possiblities, but not the only choice. I like to think of the story of the berries that were tasted by the bhakti before being offered to Rama. The spirit of devotion is central for me and the variation of expression feels honest. My daughter always brought me pictures and stones and flowers. My son would do tasks for me. Both provided the same, in their own wonderfully unique ways.

I don't want to get into a debate on semantics (however if others want to...)...I'm just interested the sense that folks have of themselves (if they do) as non-religious Hindus. Thank you!

Om shanti om

Namaste.

Great topic. I'm only a beginner so I don't feel I can actually say with all certainty I'm a Hindu yet.

However, I do share a lot of the beliefs in common so far with Hindu's and I would say My beliefs are so far more of a religious-philosophical nature in a similar way to how Taoism likely is seen in the lives of your average Taoist.

I don't know if I'll ever see the gods as actual entities, at present I am starting to see them as a representation of a core part of Brahman.

As I said, I am only starting out so this is a very beginners take, but one I thought is worth sharing.

Thank you and Namaste.

[philosoraptor]

It is often from a comparison to the abrahamic religions that Hindus start developping an aversion to the word religion. This makes as much sense as someone who didn't like one or two movies, develops an aversion to movies in general, but goes to another one he does like and says, "I am not watching a movie, I am only watching recorded images on a screen".

Very well stated. Agree 100%