Guest dada_rocks Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 The Unity of Religions (HinduDharma: Religion In General) All religions have one common ideal, worship of the Lord, and all of them proclaim that there is but one God. This one God accepts your devotion irrespective of the manner of your worship, whether it is according to this or that religion. So there is no need to abandon the religion of your birth and embrace another. The temple, the church, the mosque, the vihara may be different from one another. The idol or the symbol in them may not also be the same and the rites performed in them may be different. But the Paramatman who wants to grace the worshipper, whatever be his faith, is the same. The different religions have taken shape according to the customs peculiar to the countries in which they originated and according to the differences in the mental outlook of the people inhabiting them. The goal of all religions is to lead people to the same Paramatman according to the different attributes of the devotees concerned. So there is no need for people to change over to another faith. Converts demean not only the religion of their birth but also the one to which they convert. Indeed they do demean God. "A man leaves the religion of his birth because he thinks there is something wanting in it," so you may think. 'Why does the Svaamigal say then that the convert demeans the new religion that he embraces? " I will tell you why. Is it not because they think that God is not the same in all religions that people embrace a new faith? By doing so, they see God in a reduced form, don't they? They presumably believe that the God of the religion of their birth is useless and jump to another faith. But do they believe that the God of their new religion is a universal God? No. No. If they did there would be no need for any change of faith. Why do people embrace a new faith? Is it not because that the continuance in the religion of their birth would mean a denial of the blessings of the God of the new faith to which they are attracted? This means that they place limitations on their new religion as well as on its God. When they convert to a new religion, apparently out of respect for it, they indeed dishonour it. One big difference between Hinduism and other faiths is that it does not proclaim that it alone shows the path to liberation. Our Vedic religion alone has not practiced conversion and the reason for it is that our forefathers were well aware that all religions are nothing but different paths to realise the one and only Paramatman. The Vedas proclaim: "The wise speak of the One Truth by different names. " Sri Krsna says in the Gita: "In whatever way or form a man worships me, I increase his faith and make him firm and steady in that worship. " And says one of the Azhvars: "Avaravar tamatamadu tarivari vahaivahai avaravar iraiyavar". This is the reason why the Hindus have not practiced- like adherents of other religions- proselytisation and religious persecution. Nor have they waged anything like the crusades or jehads. Our long history is sufficient proof of this. All historians accept the fact of our religious tolerance. They observe that, an empire like Srivijaya was established in the East, people there accepted our culture and our way of life willingly, not because they were imposed on them by force. They further remark that Hinduism spread through trade and not through force. In my opinion the Vedic religion was once prevalent all over the world. Certain ruins and relics found in various regions of the planet attest to this fact. Even historians who disagree with my view concede that in the past people in many lands accepted Indian culture and the way of life willingly and not on account of any force on our part. All religions that practice conversion employ a certain ritual. For instance, there is baptism in Christianity. Hinduism has more ritual than any other religion, yet its canonical texts do not contain any rite for conversion. No better proof is needed for the fact that we have at no time either encouraged conversion or practiced it. When a passenger arrives at a station by train he is besieged by the driver of the horse-cart, by the rikshavala, by the cabbie, and so on. He hires the vehicle in which he likes to be driven to his destination. It cannot be said with reason that those who ply different vehicles are guilty of competing with one another for the fare. After all it is their livelihood. But it makes no sense for the adherents of various faiths to vie with one another to take a man to the one and only destination that is God. There is a bridge across a river, consisting of a number of arches, each of them built to the same design and measurement. To the man sitting next to a particular arch it would appear to be bigger than the other arches. So is the case with people belonging to a particular religion. They feel that their religion alone is great and want others to join it. There is in fact no such need for anyone to leave the religion of his birth for another. Nice analogy :wtg: That the beliefs and customs of the various religions are different cannot be a cause for complaint. Nor is there any need to make all of them similar. The important thing is for the followers of the various faiths to live in harmony with one another. The goal must be unity, not uniformity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legend Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts ABEY YAAR itna bada kaun padega? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts simply beautiful..... hope all who are thumping their chests foolishly on youhana's bradmanesque runs would read this.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birbal2 Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts But yet sometimes this tendency makes Hindus appear brusque, uninviting and close minded to many others... Even today non-Hindus are not allowed in the temple of Jagannath Puri... and I have noticed that Indian Temples in the USA make very little efforts to invite and make comfortable non-Hindus There are LOTS of people who are spiritually practicing Hinduism in USA, i.e., believe in Karma, practice Yoga, believe in reincarnation, etc. but who are not "officially" Hindu... These folks need to be invited and made comfortable in our Hindu Temples... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dada_rocks Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts ABEY YAAR itna bada kaun padega? It will take u five minutes and i can assure u will come out of it a better man.. :wtg: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts Lot of native kiwis here have embraced Hinduism. I can clearly say there is one group that is involved in attracting other community people over to Hinudism. I think the group name is ISKON. I have seen those folks also sell (mostly converted native Kiwis) the Hindu holy book. I even know of one family that has named their kid "Hari Krishna" The kid has that pony on top of his head like some of the priests do and is quite religious. It's a shame when they ask few questions relating to Hinduism with us but we are unable to answer them. I also know a good sized group of indigenious Maroi people taken up to Hinduism and they visit Sai Baba near Bangalore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birbal2 Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts Swami Prabhupada the founder of ISKCON was one of the few to evangelize on a large scale in the West. He died few years back and the whole movement is now in turmoil, especially in USA... The other big movement is the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi institute... But what I am talking about is the local Balaji Temple or Swaminarayan Temple... and their LACK of real outreach...though the Swaminaryans have started doing soup kitchens, and blanket drives...etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rohan495 Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts i love hare krishnas though, theyre real devoted hindus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kumble_rocks Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts Baloney! This author is giving such a spin that would rival Fox news when to comes to reporting Real news. And the reason for this spin would be a classical class of sour grapes wherein the author is trying to hide the shortcomings of Hinduism. It is the caste system which prevents Hinduism from converting others into its fold. I have asked this question before to messers D_R and Bheembhai. What caste would you convert them to ? . Also, all our application forms that we need to fill pertaining to eduation , Govt job etc have this question "What religion and caste you belong". What are the new converts going to write here. Also, tell me how many muslims , christians ,buddhism ec convert to Hinduism. The number other way around is staggering.Also , what next by this author. You cannot change your caste of birth ? . Also D_R, their is no archealogical proof that Vedic religion extended in New America, Mexico or Latin America. They have done thorough study of Mayan ,Aztec civilization etc and yes some of them believed in pagan gods because earth wind fire sun was something everybody worshipped , feared ,revered etc. In fact Dravidian civilization believed in them too and I suspect Aryans imposed their gods and whatever Dravidian culture they incorporated was a token gesture and that could explain why pagan gods like indra , Varuna , Surya etc have become secondary gods and not the main ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dada_rocks Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts Baloney! This author is giving such a spin that would rival Fox news when to comes to reporting Real news. And the reason for this spin would be a classical class of sour grapes wherein the author is trying to hide the shortcomings of Hinduism. It is the caste system which prevents Hinduism from converting others into its fold. I have asked this question before to messers D_R and Bheembhai. What caste would you convert them to ? . Also, all our application forms that we need to fill pertaining to eduation , Govt job etc have this question "What religion and caste you belong". What are the new converts going to write here. Also, tell me how many muslims , christians ,buddhism ec convert to Hinduism. The number other way around is staggering.Also , what next by this author. You cannot change your caste of birth ? . Also D_R, their is no archealogical proof that Vedic religion extended in New America, Mexico or Latin America. They have done thorough study of Mayan ,Aztec civilization etc and yes some of them believed in pagan gods because earth wind fire sun was something everybody worshipped , feared ,revered etc. In fact Dravidian civilization believed in them too and I suspect Aryans imposed their gods and whatever Dravidian culture they incorporated was a token of gesture and that could explain why pagan gods like indra , Varuna , Surya etc have become secondary gods and not the main ones. You wold not have been more ill-informed expect a detailed response pretty soon .. you have raised many questions at one go i will take some time in answering them all :wtg: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dada_rocks Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts Meanwhile Khushwant Singh in some article soemwhere wrote hindus are the least informed about their religion in the world . he wasmentioning in a gathering of intellectuals he asked people to nae 5 upnishads noone could do that.. So let us see how many of us at least could name five upnishads. No googling please.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kumble_rocks Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts Baloney! This author is giving such a spin that would rival Fox news when to comes to reporting Real news. And the reason for this spin would be a classical class of sour grapes wherein the author is trying to hide the shortcomings of Hinduism. It is the caste system which prevents Hinduism from converting others into its fold. I have asked this question before to messers D_R and Bheembhai. What caste would you convert them to ? . Also, all our application forms that we need to fill pertaining to eduation , Govt job etc have this question "What religion and caste you belong". What are the new converts going to write here. Also, tell me how many muslims , christians ,buddhism ec convert to Hinduism. The number other way around is staggering.Also , what next by this author. You cannot change your caste of birth ? . Also D_R, their is no archealogical proof that Vedic religion extended in New America, Mexico or Latin America. They have done thorough study of Mayan ,Aztec civilization etc and yes some of them believed in pagan gods because earth wind fire sun was something everybody worshipped , feared ,revered etc. In fact Dravidian civilization believed in them too and I suspect Aryans imposed their gods and whatever Dravidian culture they incorporated was a token of gesture and that could explain why pagan gods like indra , Varuna , Surya etc have become secondary gods and not the main ones. You wold not have been more ill-informed expect a detailed response pretty soon .. you have raised many questions at one go i will take some time in answering them all :wtg: Devout muslims can say the samething about you. I will also try respond whenever I got some free time. Also , I would like add a disclaimer. My writing and debating skills are nowhere comparable to you or Bheembhai. So , easy on the English please !. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anakin Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts I can give you a preview. The aryan invasion theory is baloney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kumble_rocks Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts I can give you a preview. The aryan invasion theory is baloney Then why do we have Dravidian Languages , Dravidian Party etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anakin Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts Huh!! It was the other way around dude. Many ancient civilizations did integrate dravidian ideology and language. And scientists did prove the aryan invasion myth with genetics not very long ago. BTW guess who invented that theory in the first place. The same race who tried to dig up fake fossils to prove they were the first people on the earth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kumble_rocks Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts Huh!! It was the other way around dude. Many ancient civilizations did integrate dravidian ideology and language. And scientists did prove the aryan invasion myth with genetics not very long ago. BTW guess who invented that theory in the first place. The same race who tried to dig up fake fossils to prove they were the first people on the earth Their are many theories. I suspect Dravidian people all belonged to a mixture of Caucasian and East Asian race, but still were the original inhabitants of India and the so called Aryans were Nomadic tribes having the skill of riding horses and they came from Central Asia and Persia. Also, many people in India STILL BELIEVE in this theory. Go and ask any dude in Delhi or Punjab and most will reply that Dravidians are different race. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anakin Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts That's a good point really. I have talked to some people from Punjab and they refuse to believe scientific evidence. You can't argue with that mentality. But if you ask the western language experts, they'll tell you how latin and ancient languages derived from Sanskrit. I even heard a theory which says aryans were actually ancient indians and names like iran and ireland came from some of them who traveled that far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dada_rocks Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts I can give you a preview. The aryan invasion theory is baloney Then why do we have Dravidian Languages , Dravidian Party etc I don't know man i thought u were beter debater than this so since there exists dravidian langauge and dravidian party hence there was aryan invasion sometime back in past.. how did u jump to this conclusion.. Wher i come from in bihar people speak maithili and in UP people speak avadhi should I concludle one of them atatcked other and imposed their language.. :wall: Let me give you little lowdown on aryan invasion theory .. please note it's theory provide me even a single arhcaelogical or for that matter any tangible proof other than pontification of some big names like Romial Thapar and that Harvard guy basd on philology. Philology once agai at best is a theory. So this baloney got currency in days of british , keeping pace ith their age-old divide and conquer policy they floated it bought some big names and there u go viola. No archaelogical proof was asked or volunteered. See in this idelogical war I find british being clever folks have done more damage than 1000 years of muslim rule. Muslim folks could not think on that scale they did bodily harm by usual method whereas westernes' inasion brought ideological harm.. If you have asked me about this aryan invasion few years back all my defence would have ended at the sentence that since there is no archaeological proof for any kind of invasion and we have had the tradition of accepting every kind of differing view in our fold so the idea of invasion doesn't sound tenable. But good for me world populations's genome mapping has given me another tool to debnk this baloney of a theory called aryan invasion. Sometimes back you must have seen the face of genetic Adam ( he presumably lived in tanzania arica) on Times magazine's cover. Well that was the culmination of the gene-mapping project. Basicallay what science has done is mapped the human migration pattern all over the globe on the basis of mtDNA. I don't want to go on on this topic it might get boring for some but if u are interestd in further knowing google it or alternatively let me know. The detailed project is still under-way under aegis of IBM but the preliminary round of research shows that human population migration happend from india towards west never from west towards India. So there goes the flawed aryan invasion theory standing on the crooked philological leg into oblivion. It wil take time for people to get over the years of propaganda but eventually truth will prevail and least we indians can do is to highlight this matter. KR I am working on other questions raised by you viz a viz sour grapes and caste system. :wtg: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kumble_rocks Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts I can give you a preview. The aryan invasion theory is baloney Then why do we have Dravidian Languages , Dravidian Party etc I don't know man i thought u were beter debater than this so since there exists dravidian langauge and dravidian party hence there was aryan invasion sometime back in past.. how did u jump to this conclusion.. Wher i come from in bihar people speak maithili and in UP people speak avadhi should I concludle one of them atatcked other and imposed their language.. :wall: Let me give you little lowdown on aryan invasion theory .. please note it's theory provide me even a single arhcaelogical or for that matter any tangible proof other than pontification of some big names like Romial Thapar and that Harvard guy basd on philology. Philology once agai at best is a theory. So this baloney got currency in days of british , keeping pace ith their age-old divide and conquer policy they floated it bought some big names and there u go viola. No archaelogical proof was asked or volunteered. See in this idelogical war I find british being cleaver folks have done more damage than 100 years of muslim rulers. Muslim folks could nto think on that scale they did bodily harm by usual method whereas westernes' inasion brought ideological harm.. If you have asked me about thsi aryan invasion few years back all my defence would haveended at the sentence that since there is no archaeological roof for any kidn of invasion and we have had the tradition of acceptign ever kind of differing view in our fold so the idea of invasion is not tenable. But good for me world populations's genome mapping has given me another tool to debnk this baloney of a theory called aryan invasion. Sometimes back you must have seen the face of genetic Adam ( he presumably lived in tanzania arica) on Times magazine's cover. Well that was the culmination of the gene-mapping project. Basicallay what science has done is mapped the human migration pattern all over the globe on the basis of mtDNA. I don't want to go on on this topic it might get boring for those but if u are interestd in further knowing google it or alternatively let me know. The detailed project is still under-way under aegis of IBM but the preliminary round of research shows that human population migration happend from india towards west never from west towards India. So there goes the flawed aryan invasion theory standing on the crooked philogical leg into oblivion. It wil take time for people to get over that years of propaganda but eventually truth will prevail and least we indians can do is to highlight this matter. KR I am working on other questions raised by you viz a viz sour grapes and caste system. :wtg: D_R, I am heading out now. More later . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anakin Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: Why Hinduism doesn't seek converts I do agree with the fact that caste system is the weakest point and virus of hinduism, and it's quite sad really that even now that practice hasn't been eradicated completely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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