What do you think?

[Seeker]

Namaste
Imagine the following scenario.
All Hindu sastra are destroyed.
All memories of sastra are wiped from human memory
All things related to Hindus and Hinduism are wiped out ie no knowledge of it remains in this world.
All gurus fake or otherwise have no more knowledge of Hinduism


Would that be considered the end of Hinduism?

Yes it would be end of Hinduism.

But it would not be end of humanity or end of its quest for union with the Divinity.

I have read somewhere the following 'If the span of life on the earth is compressed to a day , then human beings havent appeared well into the last second.'. For a similar analogy, Vedas & Scriptures would have appeared in the last millisecond. It is just a matter of time another group of people will find the truth in another timeframe , and everyone will get a chance to know about the truth in their reincarnation cycles.

Hinduism so far has offered the best tool for the job. There could always be other tools for realizing the Self , which could even be better in the future.

[Seeker]

Namaste,

What in my post was not Hindu?

OM

ANS,

May be MH is satirical.

[Mana]

Namaste All,

I do understand the concerns that you express, from my Western point of view. I see the west at a tipping point, Science is about to admit its affinity with sanAtana dharma, all is becoming very clear to any who chose to look. The materialists are losing their minds, some find a path the others well they burn up.

I have sat and watched this develop over the last 20 years, all very predictable.

Britain and England are 10 years behind America, France is 10 years behind England. It would appear that India is about 50 years behind America; with Bollywood and TV just taking its role in the prime. I don't mean behind in a pejorative manor, only in regard to this cultural shift.

This cycle which is created by wealth is only just starting in India, however, I am not so sure that it can be diverted without major changes. It is created by a rift between generations a gap which opens to split dharma.

But why this split, what might cause this dryness?

I would say that your biggest concern is the rift, and not other religions.

These are just a symptom; cure the problem and they will go away.

I hope that you will not take any offence by my words, that you can see that my observation and perspective is one of a concerned friend, who has found his only thread of solace and lucidity in a very disturbed world in Hinduism and the mathematical forms of sanAtana dharma.

praNAma

mana

[devotee]

Namaste friends,

By reading your responses so far, I am sure, God is doing well and will be able to do His job perfectly well in future even if it happens what Satay has suggested. EM, Believer and other forum members are already planning to do something in this regard and God is already working through them and others in the world.

So, I can relax ! Thank you friends. I am sure SD is in safe hands.

OM

[MahaHrada]

Namaste,

What in my post was not Hindu?

OM

If i look at this posting and look at the terminology it already has the sound and feel of a sunday school sermon: foundation of inner peace, We must have faith, freedom in god, I choose to trust in God, Without God, we are nothing. God is first, always. Let fear not dictate our actions, nor human judgment. etc.

None of these points is part of Hindu doctrine, but all of it is christian mainstream and could have been broadcasted as it is on any christian network. Just add Family and and it will immediately remind one of the style and terminology of Rick Santorums campaign "Family Faith freedom"

Actually praising faith as superior to human judgement is one of the hallmarks of Christianity, "credo est quia absurdum" "I belive because of it being absurd" this is pure unadultered fideism ( a system of philosophy or an attitude of mind, which, denying the power of unaided human reason to reach certitude, affirms that the fundamental act of human knowledge consists in an act of faith, and the supreme criterion of certitude is authority. (Catholic Encyclopedia).)

Already the roman Emporer Julianus who tried to revive ancient paganism and sadly failed, mocked in his criticism of Christianity the insistance that the beliver has to become dumb as a child and must prefer faith over reason.
His book "The arguments of the emperor Julian against the Christians" http://archive.org/details/argumentsempero00romegoog
is enlightening to read even today.

Hindu dharma teaches the opposite: human judgement, discrimination or reason called in sanskrit " Viveka" or "Tarka" is considered way superior to "shraddha" trust or faith, shraddha or trust in the teachings and the teacher is just the first step while the human ability of correct Discrimination or Judgement, between what is real or unreal, is the most important instrument we have to reach atma Jnana, Moksha or Brahmavidya.

That means the christian concept that faith is superior to human judgement, that you preached in your sunday school sermon is the exact oppositte of what Yoga and Vedanta teaches.

Actually the same can be said of almost every sentence. For instance, you say: we have to be established in "freedom in God" that again is a purely christian concept based on the idea that Jesus saves because he died for our sins and therefore can free us from the consequences of our own actions (karma) free us from fear etc.

In Hinduism you do not get any "freedom in God" you have to work out your karma yourself. Indeed Hindu dharma does not at all teach freedom and self expression or whatever rights or privileges one imagines one can get for making "faith" or belief an important aspect in life, here as before Hinduism teaches the opposite not freedom but doing ones duty (dharma) is the pivot of life.

God is always first is another concept that is very important in abrahamic religions. Neither Vedanta and Yoga or Hinduism as such puts the devata or God first, but dharma and moksha, duty and liberation comes first, the concept of God is secondary worship and Japa or Meditation on the devas can help you either by devata anugraha (act of grace) or chitta shuddi, if you are a vedantin (act of purification of ones own mind) to attain the goals of life which are Artha (art, prosperity) Kama (pleasure) Dharma (duty) and finally Moksha, (liberation) also called Atma Jnana (knowledge of the self) or Brahmavidya (science of Brahman). There are even darshanas (philosophies) and paths where there is no necessity to belive in God to accomplish these aims. So the Question is not what is not Hindu about your sermon but what is Hindu, and the answer is not too much.

[kallol]

Namaste
Imagine the following scenario.
All Hindu sastra are destroyed.
All memories of sastra are wiped from human memory
All things related to Hindus and Hinduism are wiped out ie no knowledge of it remains in this world.
All gurus fake or otherwise have no more knowledge of Hinduism


Would that be considered the end of Hinduism?

Dear Satay,

This is nothing new. The TRUTH or what we call as Sanatana Dharama has been discovered by human or equivalent beings again and again. This human race will also end and again there will be new begining.

It comes in cycles of human evolution or at higher level Universe creation. So by design it is supposed to be rediscovered again and again.

It is true for everything - the material science and other sciences or knowledge

[Aum namah Śivāya]

If i look at this posting and look at the terminology it already has the sound and feel of a sunday school sermon: foundation of inner peace, We must have faith, freedom in god, I choose to trust in God, Without God, we are nothing. God is first, always. Let fear not dictate our actions, nor human judgment. etc.

None of these points is part of Hindu doctrine, but all of it is christian mainstream and could have been broadcasted as it is on any christian network. Just add Family and and it will immediately remind one of the style and terminology of Rick Santorums campaign "Family Faith freedom"

Actually praising faith as superior to human judgement is one of the hallmarks of Christianity, "credo est quia absurdum" "I belive because of it being absurd" this is pure unadultered fideism ( a system of philosophy or an attitude of mind, which, denying the power of unaided human reason to reach certitude, affirms that the fundamental act of human knowledge consists in an act of faith, and the supreme criterion of certitude is authority. (Catholic Encyclopedia).)

Already the roman Emporer Julianus who tried to revive ancient paganism and sadly failed, mocked in his criticism of Christianity the insistance that the beliver has to become dumb as a child and must prefer faith over reason.
His book "The arguments of the emperor Julian against the Christians" http://archive.org/details/argumentsempero00romegoog
is enlightening to read even today.

Hindu dharma teaches the opposite: human judgement, discrimination or reason called in sanskrit " Viveka" or "Tarka" is considered way superior to "shraddha" trust or faith, shraddha or trust in the teachings and the teacher is just the first step while the human ability of correct Discrimination or Judgement, between what is real or unreal, is the most important instrument we have to reach atma Jnana, Moksha or Brahmavidya.

That means the christian concept that faith is superior to human judgement, that you preached in your sunday school sermon is the exact oppositte of what Yoga and Vedanta teaches.

Actually the same can be said of almost every sentence. For instance, you say: we have to be established in "freedom in God" that again is a purely christian concept based on the idea that Jesus saves because he died for our sins and therefore can free us from the consequences of our own actions (karma) free us from fear etc.

In Hinduism you do not get any "freedom in God" you have to work out your karma yourself. Indeed Hindu dharma does not at all teach freedom and self expression or whatever rights or privileges one imagines one can get for making "faith" or belief an important aspect in life, here as before Hinduism teaches the opposite not freedom but doing ones duty (dharma) is the pivot of life.

God is always first is another concept that is very important in abrahamic religions. Neither Vedanta and Yoga or Hinduism as such puts the devata or God first, but dharma and moksha, duty and liberation comes first, the concept of God is secondary worship and Japa or Meditation on the devas can help you either by devata anugraha (act of grace) or chitta shuddi, if you are a vedantin (act of purification of ones own mind) to attain the goals of life which are Artha (art, prosperity) Kama (pleasure) Dharma (duty) and finally Moksha, (liberation) also called Atma Jnana (knowledge of the self) or Brahmavidya (science of Brahman). There are even darshanas (philosophies) and paths where there is no necessity to belive in God to accomplish these aims. So the Question is not what is not Hindu about your sermon but what is Hindu, and the answer is not too much.

Namaste MahaHrada,

Let me ask you, then, who are you without God? For myself, if i am merely an expression/manifestation of God, then my thinking that I am separate and can act independently of God would be rather foolish and only strengthen the illusion.

OM

[Eastern Mind]

Namaste MahaHrada,

Let me ask you, then, who are you without God? For myself, if i am merely an expression/manifestation of God, then my thinking that I am separate and can act independently of God would be rather foolish and only strengthen the illusion.

OM

Vannakkam: You asked. MH went out of his way and put a lot of effort into a long and detailed explanation of why he considered your comments more Christian than Hindu. I expected you were going to toss it out regardless. Such is the pointlessness of such debates. Too many people come along proposing they are interested in Hinduism, and then when they get answers they don't like, or ones that don't fit into their world, its all discarded as invalid somehow.

If you have questions about Hinduism, many here would like to answer, and will even take a lot of effort to explain as well as they can the Hindu (at least a Hindu POV, as we do differ from sect to sect) but then you're not satisfied with the answers. So what do you expect from us?

Hindus are nice people, but not so easily swayed into thinking along Abrahamic lines.

Aum Namasivaya

[Aum namah Śivāya]

Vannakkam: You asked. MH went out of his way and put a lot of effort into a long and detailed explanation of why he considered your comments more Christian than Hindu. I expected you were going to toss it out regardless. Such is the pointlessness of such debates. Too many people come along proposing they are interested in Hinduism, and then when they get answers they don't like, or ones that don't fit into their world, its all discarded as invalid somehow.

If you have questions about Hinduism, many here would like to answer, and will even take a lot of effort to explain as well as they can the Hindu (at least a Hindu POV, as we do differ from sect to sect) but then you're not satisfied with the answers. So what do you expect from us?

Hindus are nice people, but not so easily swayed into thinking along Abrahamic lines.

Aum Namasivaya

Namaste EM,

I had no interest in debating, and had no questions about Hinduism per se. I'm quite happy with my path and following my guru's teachings, so it's rare that I look for outside advice now.

I never said it was invalid. It is his opinion of course, and I disagree with it, but that's also my right. I didn't see the need to respond to his points, though I did read them and take them into consideration.

I have nothing but love for everyone here, but I don't agree with everything that is said, especially when other religions are called "garbage." Unfortunately, I see the same intolerance in many here that they rail against in people of other faiths. So no, I cannot agree with that.

But we are all on the same path, even if it has different expressions. For me, what matters most is what God and guru guide me to do in life, and that is all.

OM

[Eastern Mind]

But we are all on the same path, even if it has different expressions.
OM

Vannakkam: You may believe this, but many here would beg to differ ... like me for instance.

What is your goal in life, for example?

Most definitely your concept of 'guru' differs with most as well. Generally, just because you read a swami's book doesn't mean he has taken you on as a sishya, which by definition in most cases indicates a guru-sishya relationship. Forgive me if you have met your guru and he has taken you on as a student.

Aum Namasivaya