Guest guest Posted March 26, 2003 Report Share Posted March 26, 2003 Dear list I like to share my experiences of portraying Hinduism in the UK. The experience today was unusual and can best be described as 'Close encounter of the third (unwanted) kind'. When I give talks at Universities, I have observed a very tiny minority of Muslim students in the audience. They normally ask very sincere questions and are satisfied when offered straight forward explanations. This afternoon I was conducting a talk on the Hindu theory of Reincarnation at Kingston University. In the middle of the talk, about twenty Muslim youngsters walked into the auditorium. The atmosphere immediately became charged up; all the Hindu youngsters in the audience became nervous - expecting a confrontation. Nobody wanted to raise a smile even if I made some light hearted comments! A very sad sight! It was clear that the Hindu youngsters were feeling very intimidated. At the end of the talk the only questions that came, were from the Muslim contingency. The Hindu guys were too nervous to ask any questions, - in case Hinduism shows up poorly! The purpose of the series of questions that were fired at me was not to learn about the subject matter. The questions can best be described as an attempt to overwhelm the speaker by bombarding him with many multiple layered questions encased in high sounding phrases. I operate under the shadow of the spiritual genius called Vivekananda who thrived on such encounters and enjoyed quick fire repartee. So, taking a lesson from my master I responded. In my reply, I deliberately used very esoteric language, drawing from many cross disciplines like Cosmology, Psychology, Quantum mechanics & Theory of Evolution. After responding, I pointedly asked ... Now, have I not answered all your questions well? They did not respond... as they had no idea what had hit them : ) Finally, at the end of the session one of the guys came over to me to complain that Hindus should not eat plants. -- Reduced to scrapping the bottom to find a flaw in Hinduism! In my response I was very careful not to de-mean Islam. That would be playing to the lowest common denominator. jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 27, 2003 Report Share Posted March 27, 2003 Namaste Jay, I believe everyone has experienced rude encounters to some degree, the Muslim youth have probably had their share. This karma as it relates to reincarnation is an interesting study for me personally and the group karma (Hindu and Muslim) is certainly being worked out in this process. My Guru has always encouraged us to Stand Strong for Hinduism and their is no doubt in my mind that the Hindu youngsters understand that strength and should feel less intimidated in the future. OM Shanti Kanda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 27, 2003 Report Share Posted March 27, 2003 Dear Jay, Thanks for sharing this with us. I too find that people often ask questions less for real knowledge, but instead with the intention to demean or belittle. I agree that by not operating at the lowest common denominator, we set our religion at a better example. Thanks. anita Vivekananda Centre [vivekananda] 26 March 2003 23:25list[sri Ramakrishna] Hinduism in the UK Dear list I like to share my experiences of portraying Hinduism in the UK. The experience today was unusual and can best be described as 'Close encounter of the third (unwanted) kind'. When I give talks at Universities, I have observed a very tiny minority of Muslim students in the audience. They normally ask very sincere questions and are satisfied when offered straight forward explanations. This afternoon I was conducting a talk on the Hindu theory of Reincarnation at Kingston University. In the middle of the talk, about twenty Muslim youngsters walked into the auditorium. The atmosphere immediately became charged up; all the Hindu youngsters in the audience became nervous - expecting a confrontation. Nobody wanted to raise a smile even if I made some light hearted comments! A very sad sight! It was clear that the Hindu youngsters were feeling very intimidated. At the end of the talk the only questions that came, were from the Muslim contingency. The Hindu guys were too nervous to ask any questions, - in case Hinduism shows up poorly! The purpose of the series of questions that were fired at me was not to learn about the subject matter. The questions can best be described as an attempt to overwhelm the speaker by bombarding him with many multiple layered questions encased in high sounding phrases. I operate under the shadow of the spiritual genius called Vivekananda who thrived on such encounters and enjoyed quick fire repartee. So, taking a lesson from my master I responded. In my reply, I deliberately used very esoteric language, drawing from many cross disciplines like Cosmology, Psychology, Quantum mechanics & Theory of Evolution. After responding, I pointedly asked ... Now, have I not answered all your questions well? They did not respond... as they had no idea what had hit them : ) Finally, at the end of the session one of the guys came over to me to complain that Hindus should not eat plants. -- Reduced to scrapping the bottom to find a flaw in Hinduism! In my response I was very careful not to de-mean Islam. That would be playing to the lowest common denominator. jay Sri Ramakrishnaye NamahVivekananda Centre Londonhttp://www.vivekananda.co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 29, 2003 Report Share Posted March 29, 2003 Reminds me of the case when Swami Vivekananda was forced to stand on a Barrel and speak by some Gun totting fanatical Christians in Texas. Despite eggs and tomatoes being thrown at him, thorugh sheer courage, managed to perplex, pacify and amazing the crowd, with divine words. Vijay Dear list I like to share my experiences of portraying Hinduism in the UK. The experience today was unusual and can best be described as 'Close encounter of the third (unwanted) kind'. When I give talks at Universities, I have observed a very tiny minority of Muslim students in the audience. They normally ask very sincere questions and are satisfied when offered straight forward explanations. This afternoon I was conducting a talk on the Hindu theory of Reincarnation at Kingston University. In the middle of the talk, about twenty Muslim youngsters walked into the auditorium. The atmosphere immediately became charged up; all the Hindu youngsters in the audience became nervous - expecting a confrontation. Nobody wanted to raise a smile even if I made some light hearted comments! A very sad sight! It was clear that the Hindu youngsters were feeling very intimidated. At the end of the talk the only questions that came, were from the Muslim contingency. The Hindu guys were too nervous to ask any questions, - in case Hinduism shows up poorly! The purpose of the series of questions that were fired at me was not to learn about the subject matter. The questions can best be described as an attempt to overwhelm the speaker by bombarding him with many multiple layered questions encased in high sounding phrases. I operate under the shadow of the spiritual genius called Vivekananda who thrived on such encounters and enjoyed quick fire repartee. So, taking a lesson from my master I responded. In my reply, I deliberately used very esoteric language, drawing from many cross disciplines like Cosmology, Psychology, Quantum mechanics & Theory of Evolution. After responding, I pointedly asked ... Now, have I not answered all your questions well? They did not respond... as they had no idea what had hit them : ) Finally, at the end of the session one of the guys came over to me to complain that Hindus should not eat plants. -- Reduced to scrapping the bottom to find a flaw in Hinduism! In my response I was very careful not to de-mean Islam. That would be playing to the lowest common denominator. jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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