Gauracandra Posted August 22, 2003 Report Share Posted August 22, 2003 I figured I'd ask this question. A Jewish poster has been using the word G-d instead of God. My question is why? I know that many orthodox Jews do this, as you run across this alot on various forums. But it seems to me to be ritualism without purpose. The - in G-d is just as much a symbol as the O is in God. So you aren't avoiding saying the name of God. You're just playing games with the name of God. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 22, 2003 Report Share Posted August 22, 2003 do not be cruel :-) it is not a very important subject ... god is not a name of god..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priitaa Posted August 22, 2003 Report Share Posted August 22, 2003 Wtih all due respect, I did not interpret his inquirey as cruel. I thought he was just trying to figure it out. What I was told once, and correct me if I am wrong, is that they do not say the entire word "God" because they cosider Him to be so pure and so potent, that out of humility they do not feel pure enough to say "God." Of course, in Krishna consciousness we understand that the only way to get purified is by chanting Gods Names, but we can respect other paths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 22, 2003 Report Share Posted August 22, 2003 there was the emoticon :-) and the devotee was saying that "So you aren't avoiding saying the name of God. You're just playing games with the name of God." it is not exactly a caress...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priitaa Posted August 22, 2003 Report Share Posted August 22, 2003 Oh, that's true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 22, 2003 Report Share Posted August 22, 2003 I use the name of G-d with a hyphen. It is a Jewish tradition based on our school of mysticism, the Kabbalah. Contrary to what many people believe, Judaism is not completely materialistic (just a joke). We have a school of mysticism that actually seems to derive or to be strongly linked to Hindouism (yes Sir). This is one of the reasons I have a lot of respect for Hindouism, and I am interested in learning more. I believe that all religions refer to the same reality, but with a different approach. We must be very careful and tolerant before judging other religion"s interpretation of reality, and be conscious that many people think OUR religion does also contain elements other may find "weird". Jewish mysticism is the main link between us and G-d. Most of the rites have been dictated by Him to us through the means of mysticism. Mysticism is the most effective way to communicate with G-d. There is one concept in the Kabbalah that says that all things vibrate with their own energy, and that there are special connections between those objects from which emanate equal vibrations or between objects from which emanate harmonical vibrations. For instance, some stones, numbers, herbs and attitudes may vibrate in harmony and be related that way. If Hindouism does have similar concepts, I would be grateful to hear about them. The name of G-d, written on a paper, does project into the whole universe primarily the energy of G-d. And since we don"t have any control over all the pieces of paper that bear His name (could be burnt or thrown in the garbage) we prefer to avoid writing His full name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 22, 2003 Report Share Posted August 22, 2003 Hi Guest, what does the Kabbalah tradition consider to be the principal name of God? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gauracandra Posted August 23, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2003 Thanks for the explanation. I've asked this in the past but never got much of an answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priitaa Posted August 24, 2003 Report Share Posted August 24, 2003 We have a school of mysticism that actually seems to derive or to be strongly linked to Hindouism (yes Sir). This does not surprise me, tho it does fascinate me. Could you explain how mystic Judiasm is related to mystic Hinduism? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 25, 2003 Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 << The name of G-d, written on a paper, does project into the whole universe primarily the energy of G-d. And since we don"t have any control over all the pieces of paper that bear His name (could be burnt or thrown in the garbage) we prefer to avoid writing His full name >> Thanks for the above explanation. here iw how the vedic people think. - god is a generic word, not a name of god. - the pare or the madeau on which the workd god is written is just a medium for communication between people. mis-spelling causes mis understanding or failure in communication. - as is known, a picture or a statue is more than thousand words. therefore, we strive to make best pictures or statues, but can accept happily even ugly picture or statues of god because we know that god can take any form, and god is every where and in everything any way. teh statue however cannot be4 accepted for worshipping as god unless it is made by an artist according to shastra, and till an advanced aacharya or devotee does prana prathistha (invocation of god or presence of god) into the moorti. yes, we however do not like to see a paper with god's name, or a moorti destroyed. this is sentiment, not gyana. but it is necessary too. jai sri krishna! - madhav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yasodanandana Posted August 25, 2003 Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 "yes, we however do not like to see a paper with god's name, or a moorti destroyed. this is sentiment, not gyana. but it is necessary too" no sentiment, it is intelligence and rationality!!!... god has no limits or boundaries, god and his name are the same, god and his picture or statue are the same... so it is a big sin to destroy and blasphemy them of course the name of krsna is a proper deity only if written in devanagari that is a sacred alphabet, even if one must show respect to god's name in any other alphabet all this is valid also for saint's name, in vrindavan there are many NAMA samadhi (= the written name of a disappeared vaishnava) and they are sacred as Pushpa Samadhi (the one with the garland weared by the vaishnava at the time of passing) and the "regular (o do not remember the exact name)" samadhi with the body or the ashes of the vaishnava so with sacred names we have the same respect of our jewish friend, but we consider more important the urgent need to spread it to save the world and ourselves, than the fear of make offence so we write KRISHNA, RADHA, GOVINDA, VISHNU ecc and we go chanting these names in the streets of the world Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theist Posted August 25, 2003 Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 of course the name of krsna is a proper deity only if written in devanagari that is a sacred alphabet, even if one must show respect to god's name in any other alphabet Only sanskrit? Please explain further. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yasodanandana Posted August 25, 2003 Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 in my opinion, and i ask the help of other devotees, devanagari is a writing belonging to the spiritual world, and it is REAL, so it has a value in itself krishna written in roman charachters became a spritual reality only when it is speaked it is relevant also that roman charachters have many pronunciations examples: in italy , for people who does not knows english the writing KRISHNA sounds like KRISSNA... if you want the right pronunciation from my 70years old mother you must write CRISCNA, but very often, the best you can obtain is KRISSNA a chinese, reading KRISHNA will say KLISHNA (no joke!) if would be possible to use the "sigma" charachter, there would be also some funny things from greece Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theist Posted August 25, 2003 Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 I must admit I remain unconvinced though. I will need more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yasodanandana Posted August 25, 2003 Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 "I will need more info. " me too...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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