Officially a Hindu?

[Guest guest]

Namaste all...<br><br>I realize this is a little

off topic for this board, so please forgive me for

that in advance, but I don't know where else to look

to help my friend.<br><br>A friend of mine came to

me looking for help, and I could not answer her

queries with any amount of certainty. <br><br>Putting all

spiritual philosophies aside, what is the official

"definition" of a Hindu? Does the government of India have a

definition of what makes a Hindu? If a girl marries a Hindu,

is that girl then considered to be of that boy's

family, thus Hindu (even if she was not born into a Hindu

family herself)? Are there any Hindu texts that condemn

marrying "outside of your religion"? How do people view

conversion (I know this one is a big topic!)?<br><br>Please

feel free to send any responses via email to

sugarandbrine if you feel it is inappropriate to post your

responses here. Thank you in advance. <br><br>With

love,<br>Erica

[Guest guest]

There is a wonderful friend of mine who has

written a very simplified version of what "Hindu" is all

about. It is called, "Am I Hindu?" and is a Hindu

primer. It is written by Ed.Viswanathan, ISBN number is

1-879904-06-3. I highly recommend it, as I had many of the same

questions you have asked here. <br>For instance he explains

that a Hindu marriage is not merely between boy and

girl, but a union of the two families. <br><br>A

definition for me of what a Hindu is, is someone who has

chosen by free will to study and live by the Gita and

the Vedas. It is not one who blindly follows any type

of ritual or ceremony, although these may help one

as part of the living of Hinduism, but are not

totally necessary. It is not giving up anything in the

name of Hinduism either. It is simply living according

to the Vedas and other sacred texts. It is a way of

life, NOT a religion.<br><br>How should one view

conversion? Who cares what others think. Hinduism to me is a

very personal choice and it is none of my business

what others think of my choices. Their thoughts do not

play into my free will/choices of how I live. I am a

westerner, who studies on her own, with no physical guru

(the divine is my guru, I need no physical form)and

very little knowledge of ritual. It is walking the

walk....not just talking the talk to me. Sure, I have a long

way to go, but for me....i know in my heart of hearts

this is the way for me.<br><br>See if you can find

this book, I believe it will help with many of the

questions you have posed here. In love, mirabai

[Guest guest]

Thank you.<br><br>I actually own and have read

the book you recommend. I don't remember exactly what

it states, but I will look again this evening.

Thanks!<br><br>I guess the information I am looking for is less

about living and more about practical proof. Like I

said, I know this club probably wasn't the best place

to look, but I didn't know where else to go. I was

told once that the government of India had a

definition; I am trying to find if that is the case or

not.<br><br>Thanks again.<br><br>With love,<br>Erica

[Guest guest]

Hi Erica<br><br>There is no official definition

of Hindu. We also do not want the Government of

India to come out with one. You are a Hindu if you call

yourself one.<br><br>1. Hinduism has Sashthras or the Law

books, which were written about 1500 years back. They

lay down the laws governing the life of Hindus. These

books prohibit marriages outside Hinduism. But very few

Hindus live according to these rules, which are totally

inappropriate in the 21st century.<br><br>2. A girl does not

become a Hindu automatically by marrying one.<br><br>3.

Legally there is a procedure for changing your religion.

You have to publish it in an official notification

called a gazette. For changing your religion in the

passport you have to go in for publication in Newspapers.

But I do not think this is applicable to

Foreigners.<br><br>4. To be considered a part of the family you do not

necessarily have to be a Hindu. It depends on the attitude of

the family. I have nephews and nieces from all

religions and different ethnic groups. They are all

considered part of the family. When my son gets married, his

wife will become a member of the family whatever may

be her religion or nationality. <br><br>Personally I

believe that you should not change your religion just

because you want to get married to someone belonging to

another religion. Sometimes we do not even know to what

religion the girls/boys whom my nephews/ nieces got

married belong. Does it really matter?<br>About a couple

of months back my niece got married to a Muslim boy

of Pakistani origin. Two separate marriage

ceremonies were conducted. One in the Muslim tradition and

another in the Hindu tradition. Invitations were sent for

both the ceremonies to all the people. Of course the

uniting factor was that both were Canadian citizens

living in U.S.A.<br><br>5. About conversions there is a

lot of hype. But this is more of an issue for the

politicians for getting votes. Among the common man this is

not an issue at all. I remember when I was young my

father used to tease our tenant farmer by asking him

whether he is Samuel or Subramanian (Hindu name). He

changed his religion so often that we lost count. I am

only quoting this to show that to most of us Indians

it does not matter at all.<br><br>6. Do not go by

anyone's definition. According to the definition of our

friend mooncavecrystals I am not a Hindu. Officially I

am a Hindu because both my parents were

Hindus.<br><br>7. Marriages are between two individuals, and the

union of two families etc. etc. does not apply now when

families are scattered all over the world. Again it boils

down to the attitude of the families.<br><br>8 Arya

Samaj and some other Hindu organizations perform

conversions and issue a certificate. Arya samaj's certificate

is widely accepted. Though many people believe that

that conversion to Hinduism is not as per the

scriptures conversions have been taking place all along.

There is a temple of MAA in Hinglaj near Karachi. This

is a Sakthi Peetha. This place is sacred both to

Hindus and Muslims. Muslims all along have managed the

place. So when Hindu Pilgrims go they were converted to

Islam before being allowed into the temple. When they

came back they got themselves reconverted to Hinduism.

This is history. <br><br>There are some voluntary

organizations in U.S.A who counsel people in such situations. I

will try to get the details and mail to you. But I am

sure by now you would be upto your ears regarding this

subject.<br><br>Sankar

[Guest guest]

Myth Number 4 5 6 - Hindus Believe in 1 Billion

Gods<br><br>After reading about the myth number one I am sure,

it<br>will be more easy to talk about this one. One

billion<br>gods (notice the case of letter "G"?) arise out

of<br>Hindu habit of personifying everything. Each

discovery<br>made about nature had to be understood and

remembered.<br>So when the iron age society noticed that during

rain<br>and thunder go together that had to co-relate

the<br>personification of rain (the rain-god) and make<br>thunder his

weapon. And soon right from concepts like<br>"profits in

business", direction, state of morning sky<br>to wind were

personified and tales, myths and stories<br>woven about them.

>From grand mother to children to<br>theirs these

stories passed and were assimilated. All<br>Hindus have a

favorite god. Often indirectly<br>reflecting an aspect of

nature they love and hence<br>reflecting their own

personality. But these are god<br>that represent nature and

processes of nature. So when<br>you hear Hindus have One

billion gods, invoke the<br>"reflections on a society"

aspect of Hinduism in you<br>mind and understand, Hindus

understood one billion<br>aspects of nature and still

remember that heritage.<br><br>For Hindus, there is only

one God. Who was there<br>before world were created,

before time had started,<br>before the universe as we

know existed and will be<br>here when all this is

gone. The nature of which, all<br>Hindus

ponder.<br><br>Myth number 7 8 9 - Hinduism will lead me to

nirvana<br><br>If you read Hindu philosophy and religious

practices<br>of some saints, you will realize that you may

just<br>need idle all to attain nirvana. <br><br>Hinduism does

not give a rule book that will tell you<br>what is

karam, what is dharam, what does sound OM<br>mean, what

is _the_ mantra for you, what is tanta or<br>how to

use a yantra, etc. No saint ever _told_ what<br>all

is this world about. <br><br>What you will find is

ample of suggestions, methods,<br>experiences and

paths. Hinduism is about personal<br>journey of

discovery of self. The power of mind<br>within, the expanse

of soul within and strength of<br>life

within.<br><br>Remember Hinduism evolved as a society. It had

many<br>people with different temperament in it. And it

was<br>contributions of such diverse set of people that<br>helped

Hinduism attain such diversity of culture,<br>language and

practices. Contributed to by people of<br>diverse gifts,

Hindusim has a facet for every<br>personality. It allows

you to look at religion as<br>philosophy or follow

rules of culture and traditions<br>religiously and

strictly. It has many paths for you to<br>pick from to lead

yourself to attaining knowledge.<br><br><br>A Greek

Tragedy<br>=================<br><br>So how come Hinduism is so misunderstood?

<br><br>Unfortunately looters are not interested in knowing<br>how the

family is doing? Or did the celebrations of<br>last big

festival go? Most of the people who came to<br>India in

ancient times were either looters or people<br>feeling

looters. Unfortunately even in not so very<br>past, modern

visitors have behaved such. And let us<br>face it.

Hinduism is complex. It is an assemblage of<br>ages of

philosophy, religious beliefs and society that<br>has seen

times when pyramids were built to when the<br>society

entered space.<br><br>How come Hindus lead such miserable

lives? <br><br>I will re=phrase this question. How come

Indians lead<br>such miserable lives? This is not a forum

to discuss<br>this issue. We need to meet in some

"effect of<br>colonial rules", "effect of bad social

administration"<br>or some similar club to discuss this

issue.<br><br>How come the society decayed? <br><br>See the answer

for above.<br><br>If you have any question, comments

or remarks, feel<br>free to reply. If you need help

in understand<br>something you heard in light of

"Philosophy, Religion,<br>Society" rule, let me know. I can

try to help you<br><br>HTH,<br>Voux

[Guest guest]

>>I guess the information I am looking for

is less about living and more about practical

proof.>><br><br>We've had some wonderful reponses to your question,

Erica. I was however wondering what you mean by

"practical proof"? Are you talking about external symbols or

certificates? I'm not sure I understand.

<br><br><br><br>_/\_<br><br>Uma

[Guest guest]

hi erica,<br><br>good question. Before

questioning this, i think it is better to understand that

there is no such religion as Hindu. All the traditional

indians who are not christians and moslems and parsees

and baudhists are Hindus. At the time of

independence, even jains and sikhs used to identify themselves

as hindus.(as if jains and sikhs are sects among

Hindus and not seperate religions)Even tribals who

worship primitive gods identify themselves as Hindus. If

u really question their identity as Hindus, do u

know that even lingayats( which is a major caste now

in one of the southern states) and brahmos are not

Hindus, as they came out of the caste system of

Hinduism?<br><br><br><br>Further, as far as i know there is no definition of a

Hindu. Explaining the statement above that there is no

religion , infact which can be precisely called as

Hinduism, there was only sanatana dharma which gives the

basic principles of living and religious rites. This

part of religon has got nothing to do with in which

gods u believe. Some people may believe in vishnu and

krishna (vaishnavas)and some people in siva(saivaites),

some others in devi( devi bhaktas), some people

believe in ganapati( ganapatyas) and some believe in

tantric rites. (kshudras)<br><br>It might be of interest

to u to know that Ravana who do not strictly come

under Aryan race ( as per modern thinkers) is an expert

on Vedas and six schools of Philosophy. Of course,

he also was an expert in music. <br><br>And,

charvaka and baudhism which are anatma vadas- which do not

agree with the vedic concepts of existence of god and

atman are accepted long ago as part of

hinduism.<br><br>The Hinduism is an ocean. Everything else is only a

brook.<br><br>kishore

[Guest guest]

Really wonderful reply.<br><br>The perfect points made r regd the union of two

families through marriage and Hinduism being a way of life and being an

attitude.<br><br>loved it<br><br>kishore