Hema
Sweet n Spicy
Booko said:Hema, I would love it if, sometime when you have time, you started a thread just on this.
Perhaps one of these days when I have more time.
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Booko said:Hema, I would love it if, sometime when you have time, you started a thread just on this.
Wandered Off said:Thanks, Hema. Does Swami Vivekanandas statement that "it came from within themselves" mean that God revealed it from within the sages, as opposed to an external revelation of the type claimed in other faiths?
niranjan said:Hindu nationalism is a reaction against Islamic fundamentalism and the attempts of Christian missionaries to convert Hindus to Christianity. The Hindus are traumatized by the seperation of Pakistan and Bangladesh (east Pakistan) from India and hence they naturally feel threatened by Islamic fundamentalism and Christian missionary activity in India , which they feel will reduce the Hindus to a minority in their own country. Hence their aggressiveness and exclusiveness. (which I maintain is reactive and not proactive).
However unlike the Christian and Islamic faiths , they never have tried to convert non-Hindus to Hinduism by force or lure of monetary benefits . They are only trying to protect their existing numbers , and they are not trying to increase their numbers.
niranjan said:It is a fact that the Zoroastrians , escaping Islamic persecution in Iran, fled to India where they were given refuge and full freedom of worship by the Hindus. Hence , there is a significant Zoroastrian population in India and they were never ill-treated by the Hindus.
Same with the Jews, who came to India, escaping Roman persecution and the Roman destruction of their temple , and again like the Zoroastrians , they were given refuge and full freedom of worship by the Hindus. There is again a significant Jewish population in India and they too have never been ill-treated by the Hindus. It is a fact that India is the only country in the world that has never discriminated against its Jewish population on the grounds of religion or culture or ethnicity.
Same again with the Bahais. There is a significant Bahai population in India and they too have never been ill-treated by the Hindus for their different beliefs. In fact many Hindus visit the Bahai temple in Delhi, and revere the teachings of Bahaullah(me included).
It should be clearly understood that Hindu nationalism , while emphasising pride in Hindu culture and religion, is also a reaction against Islamic fundamentalism and the attempts of Christian missionaries to convert Hindus to Christianity , using monetary benefits and negative propaganda of their faith.
It has never harmed other religions whatsoever and will never do so.
niranjan said:It is a fact that the Zoroastrians , escaping Islamic persecution in Iran, fled to India where they were given refuge and full freedom of worship by the Hindus. Hence , there is a significant Zoroastrian population in India and they were never ill-treated by the Hindus.
Same with the Jews, who came to India, escaping Roman persecution and the Roman destruction of their temple , and again like the Zoroastrians , they were given refuge and full freedom of worship by the Hindus. There is again a significant Jewish population in India and they too have never been ill-treated by the Hindus. It is a fact that India is the only country in the world that has never discriminated against its Jewish population on the grounds of religion or culture or ethnicity.
Same again with the Bahais. There is a significant Bahai population in India and they too have never been ill-treated by the Hindus for their different beliefs. In fact many Hindus visit the Bahai temple in Delhi, and revere the teachings of Bahaullah(me included).
It should be clearly understood that Hindu nationalism , while emphasising pride in Hindu culture and religion, is also a reaction against Islamic fundamentalism and the attempts of Christian missionaries to convert Hindus to Christianity , using monetary benefits and negative propaganda of their faith.
It has never harmed other religions whatsoever and will never do so.
JamesThePersian said:Don't forget that there is also an ancient Christian presence in India, which long pre-dates even the Portugese import of Roman Catholicism. In fact it dates from the first few centuries of the Church. To the best of my knowledge neither the Oriental Orthodox (Malankara Orthodox in India) nor the Assyrian Church of the East, both of whom historically had thriving communities on the subcontinent, ever engaged in aggressive proselytism of Hindus. Please don't be tempted to tar all Christians with the same brush - some of us have never sent, and never would send such missionaries and we (the Orthodox) have been the victims of precisely such sheep stealing tactics from protestant and other missionaries since the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.
James
The three levels of Consciousness
From Intuition for Starters by J. Donald Walters( a direct disciple of Paramahamsa Yogananda, the author of 'Autobiography of a Yogi' )
The totality of our consciousness is comprised of three levels: the subconscious, the conscious, and the superconscious. These levels of consciousness represent differing degrees of intensity of awareness
The first level, the subconscious, is relatively dim in awareness: it is the stuff of which dreams are made. We may think of it as the repository of all remembered experiences, impressions left on the mind by those experiences, and tendencies awakened or reinforced by those impressions. Every experience we've ever had, every thought, every impression of loss or gain, resides in the subconscious mind and determines our patterns of thought and behavior far more than we realize.
The subconscious, being unrestricted by the rigid demands of logic, permits a certain flow of ideas. This flow may border on intuition, but if the ideas are too circumscribed by subjectivity, they won't correspond with the external world around us. When we dream at night, we are mainly operating on the subconscious level...
The subconscious mind can all too easily intrude itself on our conscious awareness, tricking us into thinking we're getting intuitive guidance, when actually we're merely being influenced by past impressions and unfulfilled desires. The subconscious mind is in some ways close to the superconscious, where real intuition resides. Both represent a flow of awareness without logical obstructions. The subconscious is therefore more open to the intuitions of the superconscious, and sometimes receives them, though usually mixed with confusing imagery. To be really clear in the guidance we receive is difficult, but very important. Calamitous decisions have been make in the belief that one was drawing on higher guidance, when in fact one was responding only to subconscious preconditioning.
The next level of consciousness from which we receive guidance is the conscious state, the rational awareness that usually guides our daily decisions. When we receive input from the senses, analyze the facts, and makes decisions based on this information, we are using this conscious level of guidance. This process is also strongly affected by the opinions of others, which can cloud our ability to draw true guidance.
Dividing and separating the world into either/or categories, the conscious level of awareness is problem-oriented. It's difficult to be completely certain of decisions drawn from this level, because the analytical mind can see all the possible solutions. But ultimately it doesn't have the ability to distinguish which one is best. If we rely exclusively on the conscious mind, we may find ourselves lacking in certainty and slipping into a state of perpetual indecision
Intuition and heightened mental clarity flow from superconscious awareness. The conscious mind is limited by its analytical nature, and therefore sees all things as separate and distinct. We may be puzzled by a certain situation, but because it seems unrelated to other events, it's difficult to draw a clear course of action. By contrast, because the superconscious mind is unitive and sees all things as part of a whole, it can readily draw solutions. In superconsciousness the problem and the solution are seen as one, as though the solution was a natural outgrowth from the problem.
This thread does not belong in the Hinduism DIR, even if the poster is Hindu. The content is inherently inflammatory and the poster has not tried to avoid debating with respondents.
It would be like if I started a thread in the UU DIR trying to "explain" why Christianity is inherently evil and then expected that no Christian would be allowed to defend his or her religion. It ain't right.