Loving Ganesha: Chapter 21 (section 4) - Hinduism: The Greatest Religion in the World--Hindudharmah Mahattamo Visvadharmah

[Guest guest]

font-family:Arial">Namaste all,

font-family:Arial">

font-family:Arial">The fourth section of chapter 21 of Loving Ganesha, from

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/books/lg/lg_ch-21.html

font-family:Arial">

12.0pt;font-family:Arial">Om Shanti

font-family:Arial">

font-family:Arial">Neil

font-family:Arial">

font-family:Arial">

font-family:Arial">

font-weight:bold">Hindu Views of the Divine

In

Hinduism it is believed that the Gods are living, thinking, dynamic beings who

live in a different world, in an inner world in the microcosm within this world

in which there exists a greater macrocosm than this visible macrocosm. For the

Hindu, surrender to the Divine Will that created and pervades and guides the

universe is essential. The Hindu believes that these beings guide our

experiences on Earth, actually consciously guide the evolutionary processes.

Therefore, he worships these beings as greater beings than himself, and he

maintains a subjective attitude toward them, wondering if he is attuned with

these grand forces of the universe, if his personal will is in phase with what

these great beings would have him do. This gives birth to a great culture, a

great attitude, a great tolerance and kindness one to another. It gives rise to

humility in the approach to life -- not a weak or false humility, but a strong

and mature sense of the grand presence and purpose of life before which the

head naturally bows.

There are

said to be millions of Gods in the Hindu pantheon, though only a few major

Deities are actually worshiped in the temples. That God may be worshiped as the

Divine Father or a Sainted Mother or the King of kings is one of the blessings of

Hinduism. It offers to each a personal and significant contact, and each Hindu

will choose that aspect of the Deity which most appeals to his inner needs and

sensibilities. That can be confusing to some, but not to the Hindu. Within his

religion is monism and dualism, monotheism and

polytheism, and a rich array of other theological views.

God in

Hinduism is accepted as both transcendent and immanent, both beyond the mind

and the very substratum of the mind. The ideal of the Hindu is to think of God

always, every moment, and to be ever conscious of God's presence. This does not

mean the transcendent God, the Absolute Lord. That is for the yogi to ponder in

his contemplative discipline. That is for the well-perfected Hindu who has

worshiped faithfully in the temples, studied deeply the scriptures and found

his satguru. For most Hindus, God means the Gods, one of the many

personal devas and Mahadevas which prevail in our religion. This

means a personal great soul which may never have known physical birth, a being

which pervades the planet, pervades form with His mind and Being, and which

guides evolution. Such a God is capable of offering protection and direction to

the followers of Hinduism. The Hindu is supposed to think of God every minute

of every day, to see God everywhere. Of course, most of us don't think of God

even one minute a day. That's the reason that each Hindu is obliged to conduct

or attend at least one religious service, one puja or ceremony, every day in

his temple or home shrine. This turns his mind inward to God and the Gods.

Hinduism,

Sanatana Dharma, is an Eastern religion, and the Eastern religions are very

different from those of the West. For one thing, they are more introspective.

Hinduism gave birth to Buddhism, for Buddha was born and died a good Hindu. And

it gave birth to other religions of the East, to Taoism, to Jainism, to Sikhism

and others

font-family:Arial">

font-family:Arial">

font-family:Arial">

font-family:Arial">

font-family:Arial">

font-family:Arial">

font-family:Arial">

font-family:Arial">

font-family:Arial">Loving Ganesha by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

font-family:Arial">

font-family:Arial">Web sites: http://www.hindu.org/

& http://www.himalayanacademy.com/

email: contact (AT) hindu (DOT) org

Himalayan Academy

Kauai's Hindu Monastery

Arial">107 Kaholalele Road

Kapaa, HI 96746-9304

font-family:Arial">