The pros and cons of Hinduism and advice.

[illykitty]

What are they, in your opinion?

I can list several pros but don't know enough about it to list cons. I'd like to hear it from Hindus on this forums. Is there inequality or is it hard to understand?

I often read that caste is an Indian problem, not Hinduism, is it the case with funeral pyres in which widows jump in as well?

I'm considering Hinduism at the moment, as I feel very attracted towards Krishna and I felt the Bhagavad Gita spoke to me. It felt like THE book I've been waiting to read all this time.

Also, any recommendation on what to read or study next? Thanks!

 

[Vinayaka]

Sati is incredibly incredibly rare, if at all. Where did you get this information from?

I'm a Hindu, and I see very few cons right now. Maybe not enough temples, not enough tradition, not enough practitioners.

 

[Jainarayan]

The Bhagavad Gita is a wonderful book, though I do find some contradictions.

For example, it's generally accepted that Sri Krishna advocates a vegetarian diet primarily because of 9.26 "If one offers Me a leaf, flower, fruit or water with devotion, I will accept it". I personally think that means that any small and meager offering given with love makes Him happy. I don't know who eats flowers.

In another verse, He indicates that foods that are juicy and fatty are good for the body and energy. On the face of it I don't know of any foods other than meats that are juicy and fatty.

Yet in 12.13-15 He says "One who is a kind friend to all living entities... " seems to denounce the violence of killing for food. For the overwhelming belief that vegetarianism is the proper way, that is what I am adopting. Not all Hindus are vegetarian, especially those who live along the coast, who rely on seafood as a staple food.

Of course, I may be taking those verses out of context against the whole book. So take that comment with a grain of salt.

Now, as to the pros and cons of Hinduism, that is kind of a difficult question, and many people will have many answers: "900 million Hindus = 900 million opinions".

Pros:
1.A peacefulness I feel knowing the deities, especially Sri Krishna Himself is watching over me, and have been providing good things to me. This 'pro' is completely subjective'.

2. Knowing that it takes very little to please God; that He only asks for sincere devotion, no matter whether you get the 'dos' and 'don'ts' right or wrong. Devotion to Him with a pure heart and pure desire, I believe, is all He asks. All the deities are extremely easy to please, and are always ready to grant favors and grace.

Cons:
1. Sometimes ritualistic without knowing what or why you are doing it.

2. Lots of 'dos' and 'don'ts' which I think sometimes border on the silly and superstitious. 99% of that comes from teachers and gurus, and anyone who can put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard.

3. Sometimes one can get caught up in reading and trying to understand all the different scriptures. Personally, and again for the most part I go against the grain, I prefer 're-tellings' and condensed versions of the scriptures. My copies of the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Srimad Bhagavatam and the Vishnu Purana are all condensed versions. I cannot read the Upanishads without a commentary explaining each one, even to the verse level.

However, I don't believe that one can choose a religion to follow as if it were a Chinese take-out menu. The religion and what it represents has to speak to your heart and to your soul.

 

[Me Myself]

Hinduism is not one religion. There are many different branches in it. Maybe more than christianity, I would guess a lot more than Islam.

What Vinayaka said about not haing much people around who also follow it can be true (and for what I read of you in another simialr thread, this was important to you, but maybe I am confusing you if I am forgt what I sad just know :cover: ) . In any case, if you do have them, best that they are not those that believe in the caste system, which as said I haven´t seen any evidence that it has anything t do with the religion itself and has seen specific texts quoted in this DIR that contradict it categorically.

The different branches of hinduism can appear to radically contradict each other. I wouldn´t come into hinduism expecting things to be black or white, but I think there are specific branches of hinduism which may very be a lot more black and white, and on things that can be as ritualistic as Jainarayan is telling you.

To me, I feel hinduist in the sense that I worship hindu gods, and I believe in reincarnation and that there is no eternal hell, because god has mercy on all his/her (Ma Kali :namaste) followers. I believe in Karma and I believe that we are all part of God, We are all one. I believe ultimate reality is bliss, and that the only thing that separates us from it is our level of coprehension.

I also believe in the hindu saying "the truth is one, but the sages call it by different names"

All I mentioned just now are (I think) of the most incredibly common things hindu believe. Even this things have exceptions I believe, but are around the ones most universally upheld (and there anyone be welcome to corrct me where I had been wrong :namaste)

To me the most rewarding thing thoug is simply to worship the gods. I worship Shiva mostly, but a lot of what Krishna has said has meant a lot to me in very deep ways. I tend to like Krishna´s quyotes and Shiva worship . I mostly worship Shiva and Ganesh, but also have been giving some worship to Krishna since a while now.

 

[illykitty]

Sati is incredibly incredibly rare, if at all. Where did you get this information from?

I'm a Hindu, and I see very few cons right now. Maybe not enough temples, not enough tradition, not enough practitioners.

I simply wanted to know where it originates from, I know it doesn't really happen anymore. Is it cultural in origins?

And okay great! Thanks for answering!

 

[Jainarayan]

Sati was the first wife of Shiva. At a fire sacrifice Her father said and did something that She was embarrassed and shamed by, so She threw herself onto the fire. She was re-born as Parvati.

 

[Vinayaka]

Its a very long and complicated thing, and both Jainarayan and MM alluded to this. It varies from incredibly liberal to incredibly traditional. There is caste (class) , but not without valid reasons. Pure people get the purer jobs, like Brahmin priests. They are in a class by themselves, at least the very good ones. Amazing amazing people. You think memorizing some poem is something. Some of these guys have literally days of slokas memorized. To watch a good well trained priest in action is like going to Cirque du Soliel.

The point that Jainarayan made is very valid ... It calls you, this is not a decision born of logic, by making a list of pros and cons. Either it calls you or it doesn't. I've watched literally dozens of newcomers come to the faith, guests or onlookers at the local temple. My wife and I can tell their innate Hinduness about 95% of the time. They look like they fit in, or they don't. We will say, "He'll be back" or "He won't be back." There is the gawker of the tourist variety that sees Hinduism as an interest, a passing fad, a trip to a zoo, etc. They are of the 'It's about me' variety. They need attention. They want to be 'cool.'

Then there are the rare few, who take a look at the presiding deity, and the tears come, they are home. But those are very rare. You have to remember that pure traditional Hinduism is the final step on the planet, before moksha is attained. It is not some curiousity trip or peer pressure, or ego blast. It's really profound, and there is nothing at all like it on the planet.

 

[Vinayaka]

I also believe in the hindu saying "the truth is one, but the sages call it by different names"

I don't believe this in the usual simplistic Advaita, western adaptation, western dilution sense, and never will. But maybe that's not what you meant.

 

[Shuddhasattva]

Namaste

Pros:
1. Efficacious means for realizing altered states of consciousness, eventually culminating in samadhi & moksha - in my opinion, this is the heart of the dharma
2. Deep philosophy and cosmology, not only profound but practical in line with the above
3. Living lineages which have passed the spirit of realization down through the ages uninterruptedly
4. Compatibility and synergy with modern science (depending on interpretation/group)
5. Broad range of variations on the philosophy/theology/cosmology across different sects and schools, the study of which can be mutually illuminating and defining, with great potential for syncretism
6. Rich devotional resource in the stories of the gods

Cons:
1. Religious justification of sexism, classism and other inequalities.
2. Lack of critical self-analysis on a cultural and individual level, inability to incorporate other perspectives
3. Lack of respect for other cultures due to combination superiority and inferiority complex
4. Disregarding of the creator god, fostering a lack of gratitude, reflected in the local environments, and how people trash the place at gatherings, even at temples.
5. Degeneration of devotion and theology into wheedling favors from this or that god.
6. Superstitions,
7. Appropriation by all manner of miscreants; political groups, feckless Westerners, wouldbe godmen, etc.
8. Tyranny of the family unit to the point where it's almost traditional for the mother in law to tyrannize the daughter in law, etc. One woman I know, a Western woman who married an Indian man, had a particularly hellish experience, but out of tremendous personal strength endured it eventually winning grudging respect.

Sati (widow immolation) is an old practice, and doesn't happen any more - maybe a few isolated incidents here and there. It was generally not that common, even in ancient times. Hindu beliefs were used to justify it, but none of them authentically mandate sati to my knowledge. Really, this is more of a sensationalist thing critics of Hinduism / Indian culture seize upon. Perhaps it's not PC, but I do see merit in sati if it's performed willingly without any coercion, physical, social or otherwise.

Much more important than Sati though in the current sociopolitical atmosphere, is the attitudes that sati was partially born from, and in turn influenced greatly: the deplorable status of the widow in Hindu culture. This is also an extension of the overall status of women in Hindu society, often sadly reinforced by scripture and lineage, despite all the facile "but we worship Shakti!, Vedic science supports equality for women and always has!" that gets thrown around.

The caste system is definitely a Hindu problem, it appears and is endorsed by the scriptures, though some will argue these are interpolations. Archaeological evidence seems to lend credence to this; ie cities wherein all the houses are of relatively close size. It's something that needs to be excised like a tumor from Hinduism and discarded in the ash heap of history.

Caste must never be by birth, but by conduct.

Namaste

 

[Madhuri]

The only con I can think of off the top of my head is that I want to marry a nice Hindu vegetarian and have no idea how I'm going to meet one where I live.

 

[Vinayaka]

The only con I can think of off the top of my head is that I want to marry a nice Hindu vegetarian and have no idea how I'm going to meet one where I live.

The better quality internet dating websites are the new 'arranged marriages'. I know several people (two being my own children) who found successful matches that way. One is vegan, two. Where else are you going to find a shy vegan girl? Certainly not out in the bars.

 

[Madhuri]

I've looked on some dating sites and there is a serious lack of Australians on them. I may need to start travelling to the temples/ashrams to meet people. I haven't been doing that since they are at least a couple of hours away and I don't drive. But an uncle of mine goes to one of them and I can stay with him and my grandparents on the days I go. That's the new plan!

 

[Shuddhasattva]

Sati was the first wife of Shiva. At a fire sacrifice Her father said and did something that She was embarrassed and shamed by, so She threw herself onto the fire. She was re-born as Parvati.

Namaste

Minor note: she divested herself of her body, which combusted in the process such was her fury - she didn't put herself into the fire of the yagna.

 

[Jainarayan]

Thanks. That is true; we tend to ascribe anthropomorphisms to the deities, They cannot 'die'.

 

[Marble]

THE Hinduism does not exist, therefore the pros and cons will warry from denominetion to denominetion.

 

[Maya3]

Pros,
There are so many, I don´t know where to start.

Compliance with Science and Evolution. Hindu teachings does not contradict Science. Both science and Advaita talks about us being One, everything on the planet are made of the same "stuff" everything is the same energy, a straw of grass, a horse, a human a leaf, a star.
That if anything is what really does it for me. I could not believe in a religion that contradicted science, we have come to far to disregard the knowledge we have about ourselves and the universe.

The importance of finding that you are part of God through meditation. The encouragement that YOU need to feel this, not read it in a book or follow a teacher or priest. YOU have to practice, practice, practice until YOU feel it.

The diversity.
There are many, many ways within Hinduism. It´s about YOUR connection to God nobody elses. You are encouraged to find your Ishta Devata, the form of God that speaks to you and worship that... if you want...or not.
If you don´t feel connected to a form you can worship God as formless, if that doesn´t feel right you can devote your life to Service, Science, Knowledge.
It is really all about you figuring out who you are and how you are part of God and the universe, however you do that is completely up to you.

Acceptance of other faiths. We don´t feel threatened by other beliefs, whatever someone else believes is fine, if they find God through Jesus or Mohammed good for them.

The fact that behind everything we believe that God is OM.
Everything in the whole universe including us is OM vibrating. That is why OM is the most sacred symbol.

Cons,

It can be a too ritualistic,
It can seem silly to an outsider to spend so much time cleaning, offering and putting flowers on a Murti.

It is complicated, and can be hard to understand at first glance.

It can seem chaotic and confusing unless you know what lays behind everything and what the reasons for it is.

Maya

 

[illykitty]

Hi! I didn't want to start a new thread, so I'll post it here, any books or sites you people recommend for beginers? There's no where I can go to, there's only Hare Krishna nearby. So I'm limited to books, websites and meditation.

I'd love to know about different worship, deities, prayer, meditation, rituals... The only book I read was Bhagavad Gita. Thanks again for all the answers last time!

 

[Gaura Priya]

Hi! I didn't want to start a new thread, so I'll post it here, any books or sites you people recommend for beginers? There's no where I can go to, there's only Hare Krishna nearby. So I'm limited to books, websites and meditation.

I'd love to know about different worship, deities, prayer, meditation, rituals... The only book I read was Bhagavad Gita. Thanks again for all the answers last time!

How to Become a Hindu, by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami? It's good, and if there's only a few gurus that I can trust, it would be him.

Also, there is the "Hidden Glory of India" by Steven J. Rosen. It's a Hare Krishna book which gives blurbs about the different rituals, practices, sects, and divinities of Hindu culture, and if you're not too shy, you can always ask if they have that book in their stock.

These two books give insight into general and traditional Hinduism, and I have read both. The nice one about the first is that it is from a very enlightened and inspiring guru, and the second one has many beautifully coloured images and are more neutral/scholarly/basic.

Good luck! Hinduism is a way of life, that has so many branches and so many different ways!

 

[Shuddhasattva]

I can list several pros but don't know enough about it to list cons. I'd like to hear it from Hindus on this forums. Is there inequality or is it hard to understand?

Serious inequality.

I often read that caste is an Indian problem, not Hinduism, is it the case with funeral pyres in which widows jump in as well?

Caste (jati) is both an Indian problem and a Hindu problem: Indian culture cannot be viewed without Hinduism, they are inseparable. The caste system justifies itself with Hinduism - falsely. It is a twisting of Hinduism. One must keep in mind just how much the human element is present in Hinduism, sometimes facilitating, often hindering, the divine transmission. There are literally hundreds, maybe over a thousand, scriptures, not to mention all the commentaries...

There's a lot of room for corruptions, especially those most attractive of corruptions: the socioeconomically motivated.

I'm considering Hinduism at the moment, as I feel very attracted towards Krishna and I felt the Bhagavad Gita spoke to me. It felt like THE book I've been waiting to read all this time.

The mukhya upanishads, the yoga sutras, the narada bhakti sutra, and the brahma sutras - and the principle commentaries on them. This is a very solid foundation which you can then branch out from as you desire.

Biggest "cons' for me are twofold:
1. Extreme fragmentation. Imagine a crystal sphere; this is the Vedagama. It drops and shatters into many pieces. This is the state of Hinduism, with its profusion of many, many sects and kulasrotas (family or jati streams of philosophy/theology/practice today). Lots of pointless squabbling between the institutionalized points of view that are nonetheless deviant from the sanatana dharma by their exclusivity, having discarded many of the esoteric truths, and more importantly, practices of the Ved.
2. State of disrepair. People don't really practice nowadays, mostly. A lot of it is has been reduced to decontextualized thinking, or playing with dolls at the temple. Most "gurus" and yogis are frauds. Most practitioners are not serious. It is fundamentally a religion of practice, not beliefs, and too many are stretched out on the rack of belief and doubt going nowhere.

Biggest "pro" is that it offers a direct shot at divine realization, without intermediary.

The biggest mistake most make, including "gurus" themselves, is seeing the indispensable guru as an intermediary.

Also, I'm an idiot and hadn't realized I'd already responded to this. Ah well, here's another. I like this one more.