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Thread: What attracted you to Hinduism?..

  1. #11
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    Re: What attracted you to Hinduism?..

    Quote Originally Posted by Believer View Post
    Namaskar Believer ji,

    I do, I do mean Xtian festivals. =) Even Christmas, the biggest Christian Festival, has been strongly secularized - even though the festival itself was appropriated and twisted from a non-Christian religion. So I suppose one could say it serves them right. LOL In fact, there's another somewhat angry backlash against the secularization of Christmas. Christmas is a good example also because towns used to put up big Christian displays. As other faiths came in and were denied their own displays on their Holidays, they sued under the secular laws of the States and Country, and so now most cities and towns in my own region don't do that anymore and keep things as secular and/or as inclusive as possible.

    We don't have public Hindu festivals here in my region - New England. I see things like the Holi Festival in Ireland or in California and I really want to see that here. I would love to help organize such a thing, but have no idea how or where to start. =)

    ~Pranam
    ~~~~~
    What has Learning profited a man, if it has not led him to worship the good feet of Him who is pure knowledge itself?
    They alone dispel the mind's distress, who take refuge at the feet of the incomparable one.
    ~~Tirukural 2, 7

    Anbe Sivamayam, Satyame Parasivam

  2. #12
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    Re: What attracted you to Hinduism?..

    Namaste,

    All the mormons come to the ISKCON temple in Utah for the biggest Holi festival in the West and maybe in the whole country. Estimated crowd size is 15,000 people.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOATnD6Vxpo

    Yes, I am aware of the gradual decline of the display of nativity scenes and other symbols all over the country. Just a couple of week back a black muslim football player knelt towards Mecca after making a touchdown and was penalized. Of course the refs said that it was because of the way he slid into the end zone. But there was a big discussion about Tebow getting away with his religious demonstrations on the field and this muslim player being penalized for a similar action. The politicians should have limited immigration to the citizens of the country along the southern border only to avoid all this. But I guess it is too late for that.

    Pranam.

    PS: Even in this day and age, some state Govts., specially in the deep south, continue to push for Xitian symbols on display at public buildings.
    http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/26/us/okl...html?hpt=hp_t2
    -
    Last edited by Believer; 26 October 2014 at 09:39 AM.

  3. #13
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    Re: What attracted you to Hinduism?..

    Namaste Believer ji,

    Yes, I remember when Abdullah did that a while back. People can say what they want, it was obvious double-standard. I found it distasteful when Tebow was doing it and wouldn't have been bothered to see him penalized for it, but if they don't then they can't penalize anyone else either. But see? There's the secular upbringing in myself, I would rather not have anyone openly kneeling in thanks for a field goal, don't care what religion. But in a strange seeming conflict with that, I have no problem with Samhain parades, Christmas, St. Patricks Day or Fat Tuesday parades, and would LOVE to see a Ganesha Chaturthy Visarjan procession in my own town or a neighboring one.
    Quote Originally Posted by Believer View Post
    All the mormons come to the ISKCON temple in Utah for the biggest Holi festival in the West and maybe in the whole country. Estimated crowd size is 15,000 people.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOATnD6Vxpo
    See, this is awesome. But Utah is quite a trip. Why not here or any other region?
    The politicians should have limited immigration to the citizens of the country along the southern border only to avoid all this. But I guess it is too late for that.
    I'm not sure I understand. The people along the southern border are as disputed as anyone else lately - some might say more so. I think there will always be those people who are afraid of diversity of any kind.
    PS: Even in this day and age, some state Govts., specially in the deep south, continue to push for Xitian symbols on display at public buildings.
    http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/26/us/okl...html?hpt=hp_t2
    -
    Oh man, is that argument still going on? I mean that one in OK, it's been going on for... wow, a long time. At least it feels like it... The whole thing is ridiculous. I say put up Hammuabi's Code and be done with it.
    But yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying. It may be a secular country here, but the right-wing is fighting back. I feel much of it is a reaction to perceived oppression due to secularization.

    ~Pranam
    Last edited by Aanandinii; 26 October 2014 at 11:22 AM.
    ~~~~~
    What has Learning profited a man, if it has not led him to worship the good feet of Him who is pure knowledge itself?
    They alone dispel the mind's distress, who take refuge at the feet of the incomparable one.
    ~~Tirukural 2, 7

    Anbe Sivamayam, Satyame Parasivam

  4. #14
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    Re: What attracted you to Hinduism?..

    Namaste

    Can any of you guys tell me one thing Secularism or Humanism can provide that can't be by provided by Hinduism.

    Whether we like it or not, can't run away from the memories and after effects of gruesome invasion. So the religious scoriptures that we have in possession today contain a certain degree of impurity.

    If we work towards cleansing, everything will fall in place. It may take few decades but certainly not an impossible task.

    I am slightly off the topic but the discussion on Secularism gives me an impression that people are really fed up with it. From the replies made law of Karma as explained in Sanaatana Dharma seems to be the important feature that attracts west.

    If we believe in the theory of Karma then even classification based on Varna make sense and respective (parasara for Kali yug) Neethi should be adhered.
    Anirudh...

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    Re: What attracted you to Hinduism?..

    Vannakam Anuridh ... In response to your first question, I think secular Humanism arose almost as an anti-religion stance, but then, that religion wasn't Hinduism. So what it can provide is an ethical life free from preaching. I'm only familiar with my father's stance on it, and he'd just say things like, "Sure don't need to go to church to be a good person." I agreed with him.

    Of course Hinduism furthers it a lot more, by going into developing that good character. So maybe in a sense humanism was a stepping stone for souls with the karma of it.

    Not sure if this helps.

    Aum Namasivaya
    Last edited by Eastern Mind; 27 October 2014 at 08:23 AM.

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    Re: What attracted you to Hinduism?..

    Namaste Eastern Mind ji

    Not sure if this helps.

    It definitely helped me to understand the position of Hinduism amidst of the other ethical frameworks one wish to follow or associated with.

    And now I can relate to the fact behind the growth or the attraction of west towards Hinduism much better.

    In another way the western governments are helping indirectly for this attractions / growth.
    Anirudh...

  7. #17

    Re: What attracted you to Hinduism?..

    Quote Originally Posted by Anirudh View Post
    What attracted you to Hinduism?..
    Basically authentic teachings on raja yoga.

    My father was a very cruel man, and my mother was a heavy drug user. I grew up not wanting to be anything like my parents, and not having any real way of looking at the world. As a result of my childhood - which was absolutely miserable - I felt like I had no culture and no values, so I spent many years looking for them.

    There were a few people I came across, usually involved in one religion or another, who were always happy, and I determined that whatever it was that they had, I wanted it for myself.

    First I was attracted to Buddhism (primarily Theravada) - I saw smiling monks on book covers - and was quite impressed by that way of looking at things. I started doing meditation too. I had seen photos of the monks who immolated themselves in protest of the Vietnam war, and it seemed to me that the same self control which enabled them to do that must have been a part of what enabled them to sustain their positive attitude all the time - and that it was developed through meditating. Ultimately though, the material available to me was not satisfying. I had wished that I could get a hold of deeper teachings on meditation, but it seemed like everything available was for beginners, and if you wanted to move to something deeper, you were out of luck. (Probably there wasn't much call for advanced teachings, because to most Americans meditation wasn't as important as being able to say, "Look at me, I do meditation! I'm a Buddhist! Wheeeeeeee!" Then, just like today, people just wanted to be different like everybody else.) So I moved on.

    I started studying the Chinese religion Daoism, and I got into a very potent form of meditation called "ling chiu". I had some very strange and exciting experiences with that, but was a little confused to learn that many of the old Daoist scriptures that the Daoist monks use were in Sanskrit. I couldn't find much in English about "ling chiu" meditation, other than that it had another name: Kundalini.

    A got a copy of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika - the Bihar Yoga School version - to learn about the yogic concept of Kundalini, still with the goal of transforming my mind to be happy under any circumstances. That really got me started. I had visions of lights, felt strange sensations, heard odd noises, had sudden intense sensations of bliss that would last only a short time, heard what sounded like people talking, and even started getting recurring dreams of a Hindu god: Mahadev. Because there was so much good information on yoga, I stuck with it. I got a copy of Patanjali's yoga sutras and began practising meditation for hours every day. I had heard of Satchitananda, and I wanted it. I read a lot of books and usually found that the ones written by New Age authors were terrible, so I only read the ones by Swamis. After several years I still didn't have much in the way of values, but my mind was quiet enough that I felt blissful all day long. I started reading other things by Swamis too - it was amazing what they knew about yoga, what else might they know? Until this time, I had been in a situation where I had very little access to information - I had to work hard to get any books and couldn't get on the internet - but that changed. My living conditions changed drastically and I had to drastically reduce my meditation time. My mind became more externalized and all that wonderful bliss just went away.

    With sudden access to information however, I did all I could to understand the roots of this incredibly powerful system of transforming the mind and unlocking the hidden powers within yourself that we call yoga. It did make me wonder, do most of these Hindus have any idea of what an extremely powerful thing they have? Somehow I didn't think so. Eventually I came across a set of books called the Mastercourse, by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, and suddenly the values I had been looking for all along were right in front of me, printed on the pages, as well as the hidden keys to happiness. After all that, I knew I had found what I was looking for, so I stopped looking.
    ~Har Har Mahadev~


    Where there is Truth there is Victory

    "The mind is a dangerous weapon, even to the possessor, if he knows not discreetly how to use it." - Michel de Montaigne

    ~Om Namah Shivay~

  8. #18

    Re: What attracted you to Hinduism?..

    Quote Originally Posted by Anirudh View Post
    Namaste
    Can any of you guys tell me one thing Secularism or Humanism can provide that can't be by provided by Hinduism.
    There is something I can think of in addition to 'ethical life without preaching', too: a persistent voice. Because Hinduism has made it a habit not to proselytize (and thank goodness for that) it is unfortunately not as well known about here in the West as are other ways of looking at the world.

    I agree with EM ji's assessment and that of others regarding Secular Humanism. Also, where I live in California, I would say that religion has become almost a dirty word - because people associate the word "religion" with Christianity. As a result, people here want to think of themselves as "spiritual", but not as "religious".

    I don't think the majority of Americans are even very aware of what the Eastern religions teach, aside from having some vague ideas about karma and reincarnation, which are often not presented in the same way as they might be in Hindu countries. Too often, all that people know about these concepts is what they hear from Christian preachers, or New Age book writers who are more interested in making money than getting these ideas right.

    Also, there's the idea that you have to be Indian to be a Hindu. And consequently, the people who do believe in karma, reincarnation, and similar ideas are far more likely to turn to a sort of shallow version of Buddhism - which is actually fairly popular here - than they are to Hinduism. As far as I know Buddhism doesn't really proselytize either, but it does have a strong voice and presence (there are magazines, books, documentaries, statues of Buddha for your garden, photos of Buddhist nuns in the newspapers, etc.)

    What we need here in America is more translation of Hindu scriptures into English - and not the only 'safe' Vedanta scriptures - as well as the presence of more Hindus.
    ~Har Har Mahadev~


    Where there is Truth there is Victory

    "The mind is a dangerous weapon, even to the possessor, if he knows not discreetly how to use it." - Michel de Montaigne

    ~Om Namah Shivay~

  9. #19
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    Re: What attracted you to Hinduism?..

    Quote Originally Posted by Anirudh View Post
    Namaste

    [ What attracted you to Hinduism?.. ]

    When ever I see a non Hindu by birth expresses his entry into the folds of Sanaatana Dharma, it makes me feel great about my India.

    Because most of the new comers are from western countries which provides provides better living condition than India, I am curious to know why are they attracted to Hinduism.

    We at India see forced conversion lured by financial assistance or brainwashing the economically and intellectually weaker people.

    But... For the western converts, It would have been a difficult decision to quit their home religion and embrace a new religion.

    I hope this question will not be treated as an invasion in to personal space. I also request you not to hijack this thread as a discussion on comparison of different religion. I know many members dislike the idea of discussing/comparing Abrahamic religions with Hinduism. So kindly don't get in to argument...

    Members like Shiva Fan, Eastern Mind and others who responded to the internal pull kindly share your experiences.
    The more I learned about it the more I realized that it teaches what I believed in anyway.

  10. #20
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    Re: What attracted you to Hinduism?..

    Namaste Anirudh ji,

    Well, as it is your thread, it's your prerogative to take it off topic if you like, I think.
    Quote Originally Posted by Anirudh View Post
    I am slightly off the topic but the discussion on Secularism gives me an impression that people are really fed up with it.
    This is a complex topic, there is no single reason for the way things are trending here. I don't think the answer is that people are getting sick of Secular Humanism though - certainly several Christian sect are, but then those sects have always been against it from the moment they separated from the main Protestant branches. These are people who believe you cannot be moral or have morality if you don't blindly accept everything that they do as the literal word of God, (meaning solely YHWH), no ifs, ands or buts, and that any who refuse are evil at their core and will burn in the Christian Hell for eternity.

    All that Secular Humanism says is that morality is something all Humans understand because it is a part of our core nature, regardless what Religion you believe in - or even if you don't have a religion.

    I can only speak for the US here - though I agree with EMji and am aware that there are countries where what he has stated above is also true, in that Secular Humanism started as an anti-religious stance in some places - but in the case in the US, our own flavor of Secular Humanism was started not as a rejection of Religion in general but the rejection of Religion mingling with Politics, Government and Science. The Founding Fathers had witnessed within their own lifetimes and seen in the lifetimes of their own grandparents the Injustices and Atrocities that often happen when these three are mixed with Religion. They understood that at heart, the core morals professed to by every Faith they were aware of, (and those of no Faith at all), were so similar that they could be considered to be the same, one was not better or more correct than another, and they understood that for the Colonies to be able to move forward and work together as one and grow past the mistakes and violence of the past, despite wide variances in religious beliefs, that Religion had to be kept out of Government.

    So here, in the US, although several of the Founding Fathers also had hands in Secular Humanism in Europe, these were the main reasons for creating a Secular Democratic Republic based on the ideals of Humanism and not any single Religion. The American Right-Wing argues that they meant only varieties of Christianity, not other entire Religious Systems. They are the only ones sick of it and they seek to make the country non-secular and wholly Christian - preferably one of their denominations of Christianity.
    Quote Originally Posted by Anirudh View Post
    From the replies made law of Karma as explained in Sanaatana Dharma seems to be the important feature that attracts west.
    My own opinion: We have a saying here, though it's from a fairly dark time in our own history, it rings true and so is still used. "The Truth Will Out."

    It's not that Karma and Sanatana Dharma are attractors so much, it is that they are a basic law of the Universe every bit as much as the Law Gravity and Motion or the law of Electromagnetism. Even when people are not aware that they are living under that law, it still applies to them - if you've never heard the term 'Gravity' and have no idea what that is, it doesn't mean you will go flying off the face of the Earth suddenly.

    Sanatana Dharma is Truth, and the nature of Truth is that in time, it will always 'come out', or 'rise to the surface'. We see this today in the many people who consider themselves Christian, yet profess to firmly believe in Karma and some even in Reincarnation, despite that these concepts are not only not a part of Christan belief, but Church Leadership of most Sects have come out to openly reject them and state they are not Christian. In my experience, the only two denominations whose leaders seem to openly embrace them are the Unitarians and some of the Congregationalists. And as Giza has pointed out, they do not present them within an accurate Hindu or even Eastern Philosophical framework, but kind of pull in the parts they like.

    So from my perspective, perhaps some are "sick" of Secularism and/or Abrahamic belief systems, but I don't think that's really the main part of the reason. I think the reason so many are turning to Sanatana Dharma in the West is because of a kind of Spiritual Growth that lets them see the childishness of the Abrahamic ways and perceive the Truth that is greater than that. I think that more people go to Buddhism first in the US because as Giza says, that is just far more accessible here. Or at least it was until fairly recently. Now Hindu Dharma is here it will grow, and I agree with Giza too in that we really need better easy access to good translations of scriptures and their commentaries - and in many ways we actually need those translations to begin with. It would be nice if more people would learn the languages they were written in, but it's not so easy a thing to do, particularly when starting as an adult.

    ~Pranam-s
    ~~~~~
    What has Learning profited a man, if it has not led him to worship the good feet of Him who is pure knowledge itself?
    They alone dispel the mind's distress, who take refuge at the feet of the incomparable one.
    ~~Tirukural 2, 7

    Anbe Sivamayam, Satyame Parasivam

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