Re: answering those who say Hindu adoptees are adharmic
Namaste Anucarh-ji,
On a personal level no Hindu bothers or is terrified by any other Hindu's chosen path or sect. However, on societal levels, stereotypes do propagate.
I am not justifying or opposing anything here; just laying it out.
It is a fact that Indian Hindus don't think that Western Hinduism will ever be anything of consequence (either to their respective countries or to the future of India). On the other hand, many do think that Hindu ideas will continue to be appropriated by other Westerners.
And this is no mere conspiracy theory. The Rsis in all probability controlled the amount of information that went out. The concept of Zero - present in the Veda - is one such information, which finally went out and became the driver of core advancements in the 20th century.
This can be a rude shock to some when I therefore say that many native Hindus look down upon the so called guru-s who went West to preach Dharma. In this way, Vivekananda becomes a "neo Hindu", Prabhupad becomes "who Prabhupada?", while their contempories who chose to work within India such as Sri Ram Sharma are the ones who are really cherished.
When we think of such Hindus, we should also understand that they have only disdain for entities such as Osho, Asaram, Nithyanaanda, Sai Baba part 1 and part 2, and so on; only reflective of what people at large in Kaliyuaga deservingly get as their leaders.
To take the example of US, many here believe that only harm will come out of that country to this nation and the region. In addition, the US seems to be slipping fast into the holds of Left escapism (not that Hinduism doesn't know left traditions). Moreover, Church is instinctively seen as in the end waging a war against Hinduism in open cohorts with other religions/ political ideologies of the world. There is also a growing hate towards Hindus who left India for greener pastures in the developed countries; at least, people are not interested to hear about them (and from this far, they see only growing ugliness/ awkwardness in the later generations of such NRI's).
Further, since only limited information flowed out from India in the past, the native Hindus feel there are some genuine blind spots staring at those Westerners who adopt the Dharmic path. As an example, a few will even make joke of them (key word: mlechcha) when they incorrectly pronounce Sanskrit sounds.
Regarding racism, however, I don't see any native Hindu into that, because irrespective of their personal opinions, they are highly appreciative of achievements of the Westerners. So anything coming from that direction is most likely a reaction about their interactions with madcap missionaries and past atrocities (which they are not going to forget).
But, again, on a personal level, a Hindu respects another Hindu for His/ Her chosen path- irrespective of the place they come from. Pundits such as David Frawley have been great source of inspiration for all Hindus.
One small step can be to look around Western Hindus right here on HDF who are held in deep regard by all of us. What works for them? Are they into big philosophy and all, or are they really into small things (and even "small gods"?). Even from this scarce stock, great Hindus in the West are sure to be born (if their parents are already Hindus for generation or two) who will not only guide Hinduism there in accordance to it own dynamics and vastu of the globe, but will also be the guiding lights of Hindus all across the world.
If we understand all this, it is in a way good to know that Eastern Hindus don't expect anything from Western Hindus.
Another topic is the word "Hindu" itself, which tautologically is equal to Indu or Indian. In not so distant future I can see a better term such as Āstika or some other replacing Hindu word, but till then Hindu can continue to be a catch all word for the denomination, and I don't see nationalistic Indians having too much of a problem lending us the word for some more time.
I am so lucid here, may be you may think what side I am really speaking from, besides "just laying it out"?
Will I treat a Western Hindu as my own own brother when He comes to my door, or happens to come across?
I will be on guard somewhat; I will like to know if he is a beef eater. That's all.
KT
Things to remember:
1. Life = yajña
2. Depth of Āstika knowledge is directly proportional
to the richness of Sanskrit it is written in
3. Āstika = Bhārata ("east") / Ārya ("west")
4. Varṇa = tripartite division of Vedic polity
5. r = c. x²
where,
r = realisation
constant c = intelligence
variable x = bhakti
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