Tirisilex Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 I've been reading alot getting myself all educated as much as I can.. and I believe that my beliefs fall under the category of Smartism and I hold the Bhagavad Gita as the supreme text.. But I have also read that people not born in India cannot be considered as Smarta.. soooo... Can I be one or not? I study all religions but I find Hinduism my love.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaisersose Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 I've been reading alot getting myself all educated as much as I can.. and I believe that my beliefs fall under the category of Smartism and I hold the Bhagavad Gita as the supreme text.. But I have also read that people not born in India cannot be considered as Smarta.. soooo... Can I be one or not? I study all religions but I find Hinduism my love.. Strictly speaking, you do not. But then, you do not have to label yourself as Smartha, just because your beliefs are simlar to Smartha beliefs. Labels by themselves have no value other than what we attach to them. Some people are very hung up with labels like Vaishnava, Shaiva, etc. But that is more out of petty thinking than anything else. You certainly do not want to jump on that bandwagon. If you do, next thing you know, you will be arguing in support of labeling Jesus as a Smartha! Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadhaMukunda Posted September 4, 2008 Report Share Posted September 4, 2008 I agree with kaisersose on this. A more general name is Sanatana Dharma. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravindran Kesavan Posted September 4, 2008 Report Share Posted September 4, 2008 Dear Tirisilex, Being Indian or not is not the determining feature wether you are a Smarta or not. In fact true Vedic thought is non-perochial and universal in its vision and teaching. Basically Smarta is one who takes veda and the related texts as their basis and is an Advaidin. If you find by inclinitation and belief that you are a Smarta then you are. (I am sure you must have studuied the full meaning and implication of this category. Wikipedia has an article on it). If you think you are one - if you represent that brand of philosophy - then you are one. Regards, K.Ravindran. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srikanthdk71 Posted September 4, 2008 Report Share Posted September 4, 2008 Smarta beliefs pertain to Smritis and not to any particular sect. Kaisersose is correct and I too believe that the brains given to us are for our use and not to hang behind somebody elses brains and get labelled as a Shaiva or a Vaishnava. People get stuck in the barriers they have drawn for themselves and you will be killing your own conscience time and again. Sanatana Dharma as suggested by RadhaMukunda is an apt word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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