short email

[Guest guest]

HI group

Bill

I wrote a LONG LONG email on how to go to a temple and what to do.

Unfortunately it is lost somewhere in cyber space. I am thinking

about putting that on my web page so I will tell you when it is there.

I wanted to see when you joined this list and in your intro you wrote

this

"I am not a Hindu and do not wish to disrespect Hinduism by mixing it

or confusing it with Christianity."

I am not sure if anyone has replied to this statement, but I wanted

to!

By mixing Christian concepts with Hinduism, I feel, does not

disrespect Hinduism, but strengthens it. I am not sure though if the

opposite is true.

Hinduism is NOT a religion it is a way of life. It got termed as a

religion when missionaries came in India and when Hinduism sprouted

off into Buddhism, Jainism and other similiar paths to Hinduism.

Hindus (people of India) needed to be differentiated from others

(i.e. those who were monotheist or beliving in organized religions)

hence, the term Hindu became known as a religion. It is confusing

for us who haven't been born in India or Indians who have 'converted'

out of Hinduism (this is why on my homepage I state that I have not

converted because Hinduism is not a religion to be converted into

because it encompasses all faiths and Gods.)

I am not sure if this makes any sense. But This is why Hindus are so

open to other religions (and sometimes not so much so from other

religions to Hinduism). Hinduism does not have missionairies or

anything like this. Those people you may meet on the street with the

Gita are Hare Krishnas (not true Hindus). There are also some Hindu

groups that are claiming they are soldiers of God and would raise

arms to protect India. These are revolutionary groups, and do not

represent what Hinduism really is.

 

I will email more later,

Jennifer

[Guest guest]

> I wanted to see when you joined this list

 

[you are very nice to check this. thanks. SMILES]

 

in your intro you wrote this "I am not a Hindu and do not wish to

disrespect Hinduism by mixing it or confusing it with Christianity."

I am not sure if anyone has replied to this statement, but I wanted

to! By mixing Christian concepts with Hinduism, I feel, does not

disrespect Hinduism, but strengthens it. I am not sure though if the

opposite is true.

 

[Well, here is my experience on this. With Christianity, it seems the

best encounters between religions is at the individual level, and

usually surrounding human problems, like hunger, abuse and situations

where Christians and non-Christians are striving for the same goals,

and therefore, have alot of mutual encounters. Another great inroad

to interreligious experience is monasticism. I don't know how that

works for Hindus, but Catholic monks and Buddhist monks have become

much more enriched in the practice of monasticism by sharing,

especially when it comes to meditation.

 

I think that Hindus and Christians are starting to dialogue more, but

it is difficult since Christianity has such bold claims that sound

very exclusive, and in some ways, might be. I feel that where Hindus

and Christians might really share and learn and grow, would be in the

area of prayer. I think that each of these traditions has such a

richness in the prayer department. Much meaning and even form can be

shared. I know in India this exchange is already occurring, and most

likely has been for years. Another area I think that can bring us

closer is our holy texts. I already shared with this group in my post

#'s 88-89 the comparison of some texts, which show how our

conceptions of god are similar.

 

What we need now are individuals who will step up and fill in the

silence with a rich, senstive dialogue, and a hunger for truth. This

doesn't mean that we'll all suddenly agree with each other, or that

we will have to water down our traditions to acheive some 'forced'

unity. What it means is that we will begin walking together,

appealing, each in our own traditions, to the Mystery that we

originated from, with humility and kindness. When we approach an

apparent contradiction, or even an actual contradiction, hopefully we

will reach beyond it to the more mysterious reality that informs us

in various ways in both our traditions.

 

I for one have been brought closer to God through studying Hinduism.

Through learning about Hinduism I have come to appreciate

Christianity in a whole new light. I have also come to see how

insights from Hinduism help me to round out my Christian faith and

make it more real.]

 

> Hinduism is NOT a religion it is a way of life. It got termed as a

> religion when missionaries came in India and when Hinduism sprouted

> off into Buddhism, Jainism and other similiar paths to Hinduism.

> Hindus (people of India) needed to be differentiated from others

> (i.e. those who were monotheist or beliving in organized religions)

> hence, the term Hindu became known as a religion. It is confusing

> for us who haven't been born in India or Indians who

have 'converted'

> out of Hinduism (this is why on my homepage I state that I have not

> converted because Hinduism is not a religion to be converted into

> because it encompasses all faiths and Gods.)

 

[i see--to me I always thought of it as a spirituality that simply

formed in a part of the world and now wanders the world. Hope I'm not

being reductionist here.]

 

> I am not sure if this makes any sense. But This is why Hindus are

so

> open to other religions (and sometimes not so much so from other

> religions to Hinduism). Hinduism does not have missionairies or

> anything like this. Those people you may meet on the street with

the

> Gita are Hare Krishnas (not true Hindus).

 

[oh, I know. ]

 

Thanks, Bill

[Guest guest]

Bill, I like what you have said here

 

 

> I for one have been brought closer to God through studying

Hinduism.

> Through learning about Hinduism I have come to appreciate

> Christianity in a whole new light. I have also come to see how

> insights from Hinduism help me to round out my Christian faith and

> make it more real.]

 

But I am wondering how has studying Hinduism made Christianity seem

more real?

 

I do want to say one thing that may be related to this, though.

 

I was raised with a mother who was religious and a father who was an

atheist. As a teenager, I rebelled my mother and followed my

father. It was only in college after I started studying Hinduism I

believed in God again but in a different way.

 

The thing I wanted to say really is that due to that rebellion I kind

of rejected Christmas for a long time. Celebrating it out of some

kind of ritual rather than the true spirit (I am sure many Hindus are

like this but it is more obvious since there are so many rituals).

This year I want to really try to celebrate christmas like it is

supposed to be celebrated. I want to try to go to church and read

the bible.

 

Jennifer

[Guest guest]

> I do want to say one thing that may be related to this, though.

>

> I was raised with a mother who was religious and a father who was

an

> atheist. As a teenager, I rebelled my mother and followed my

> father. It was only in college after I started studying Hinduism I

> believed in God again but in a different way.

>

> The thing I wanted to say really is that due to that rebellion I

kind

> of rejected Christmas for a long time. Celebrating it out of some

> kind of ritual rather than the true spirit (I am sure many Hindus

are

> like this but it is more obvious since there are so many rituals).

> This year I want to really try to celebrate christmas like it is

> supposed to be celebrated. I want to try to go to church and read

> the bible.

>

> Jennifer

 

 

Jennifer, I would encourage you doing this as long as it seems a

natural part of your spirituality. For me, I observe the Christian

holidays and many of the Jewish ones as well, which I feel go with my

traditions. For the Hindu festivals, when I hear of them I try to

read something about that festival and to keep the central themes in

my mind. I don't wroship as a Hindu perse, but I learn from those

festival times, since the consciousness is focused during those

times. Also, per me learning more about god from Hinduism, what I

meant by that was that I have certain Christian beliefs, that through

familiarity lose their power sometimes--but, coming in contact with

Hinduism I can reacquaint myself with concepts that inform my

religion and see my own religion in a whole new light, once again

powerful and lucid. This especially came to me with Hanuman and Rama,

which has strong similarites to the Old Testament characters Jonathan

and David. Hanuman, in his fidelity to Rama, is much like Jonathan in

his unwavering devotion to David. This brings to mind the concept of

devotion and reminds me of the way we Christians are supposed to be

devotees of Yesu, but often we grow lax. It is Hanuman's zeal and

consistency that put me on the map back to Yesu. There are more

examples, but for this post, Hanuman will suffice. He is such a

bright beacon, when you focus on him all you see really is Rama, and

everything connected to Rama, for Hanuman lives to exalt Rama. The

neat thing about the Hindu gods from my understanding is that the

more you know a god, the more you know God. Am I oversimplifying

here. To me Hanuman and Rama are Shiva encountering Vishnu as if in a

mirror. This all says something to me about God's completeness.

Forgive me if I'm getting this all wrong, but somewhere beyond my

understanding the mystery can sew itself up. I'm not going to unravel

anything too much. Hope that helped you see how knowing Hinduism has

helped me as a Yesu-bhakta.

 

Thanks, Bill

[Guest guest]

Bill

HI.

I understand what you mean now and you are right that I should only

worship if it comes from my heart. I am hoping that it will. That

may be why I sounded a bit doubtful to my plan.

Again, I agree with your Hanuman story and how getting to know

various Hindu gods, you get to know GOD. I was just reading

Ramakrishna's story and this is why I came down to email. Actually

the book said that Ramakrishna was praying hard to Kali for two hours

on the prayer rug then I remembered the email I sent about temples.

There is a question .. I suddendly remembered the email I sent about

temple worship and it dawned on me in that strange second that email

was sent -- but only to you! Which still puzzles me since I posted

it from the website. Anyhow I wanted to know if you still had that

email so you could post it to the group in case anyone else here is

interested in that.

Another thing in Ramakrishna's story which parellels to you saying

getting to Know God through Hindu Gods is Ramakrishna says that ALL

GOD IS ONE, but know I understand really, I mean they described in

the book the reason that Hinduism has so many GODS, that reveals all

the personalities of a person. I tend to believe that because it is

said throughout a Hindu's life they make like to worship different

GODS depending on what they want to pray for or what is their

personality at the time. So Ramakrishna says though it seems

Hinduism has so many GODS it really has one broken up into various

personalities, both male and female. He also said that due to this,

Hinduism has is all encompassing, giving role models for the perfect

father, perfect mother, perfect daughter, perfect son, and most

interestingly, perfect friend! This reminded me of your previous

post about friends. I asked this in India to this person I know who

is very well read in Hinduism. He could not answer this.

Anyhow that is all for today.

Jennifer