RedDragon94
Love everyone, meditate often
When is God most glorified?
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What is the #1 thing you like about your faith?
- Thread starter RedDragon94
- Start date
Aupmanyav
Be your own guru
@RedDragon94, for example, I consider Buddha and Sankara as my gurus, but do not hesitate to differ with them. We have a famous story where Sage Vaishampayana is thought to be teaching Yajurveda to Sage Yajnavalkya. Sage Yajnavalkya preferred to differ. Vishampayana in anger asked Yajnavalkya to return all his teaching, which he did by vomiting. Later the Sun God taught YajurVeda to Yajnavalkya. That is now called the 'White (Shukla) Yajurveda'. What Yajnavalkya vomited was eaten by other pupils of Vaishampayana in form of birds. That is known as 'Black (Krishna) Yajurveda'.
Moral of the story: In Hinduism, it is not a crime to differ, though you need to give your reasons for the difference.
Moral of the story: In Hinduism, it is not a crime to differ, though you need to give your reasons for the difference.
My vote is 1. Wikipedia and 2. BBC Hinduism (I went there once and liked it). If you have questions, you are welcome to check in the Hinduism forum.
You are actually talking about many religions sharing some common scripture, language, terminology and philosophy. Philosophy plays a central role in many, but worship, offerings, beliefs in deities also appear to be important. The forum has an overview of one group of Hindu religions called Vedanta: Vedanta Overview Wikipedia has summaries of many branches. The way the learn about it depends very much on selecting a group that fits you.
Famous ancient debates among Hindus are still available to be read, so you can go 'Back in time' to see what people are thinking and how particular topics develop. For this kind of depth you will probably need to learn Sanscrit.
Philosophically two major things to be aware of are duelism and non-duelism, and these have anglicized Hindu equivalent terms that you should look up. dualism | religion. It is also a good idea to find the dividing line between Hindu religions and Buddhism. They are not the same thing at all. No Buddhist religion is Hindu. Buddhists have some common terminology and cultural history but do not share the same scripture or philosophy with Hindus. One major difference is that Buddism and Hinduism do not agree on the substance of the universe and almost always disagree about the nature of and role of consciousness, and to me this seems of utmost importance in contrasting the two.
GoodbyeDave
Well-Known Member
What I like about paganism is that it doesn't expect me to believe six impossible things before breakfast.
There is no best way, only different ways, all hard. Still, as with other faiths, many practitioners will tell you their way is the best way.
Aupmanyav
Be your own guru
Yes, existence of a primal entity (not necessarily a God or Gods/Goddeses) is one big difference between Hinduism and Buddhism. Buddhism says it is all a mirage, Hinduism says behind the mirage something exists. For me, that thing is 'physical energy'. That is what we started with at the time of Big-Bang. However, IMHO, they have somewhat similar views on consciousness - in Buddhism it is Bodhikaya, Tathagatagarbha, Dhammakaya, etc.; in Hinduism it is Sat-Chit-Ananda (I differ from that too since I consider consciousness to be of bio-chemical origin).
As far as primary literature goes an English translation of the Gita is a good place to begin. A translation without commentary is ideal. Katha upanishad is the second book I will recommend. Both have a mix of religion and philosophy within a verse narrative and is reasonably easy to get into. After that you can go into more specialized literature. For example
Yogasutra for yoga
Nyaya sutra for logic and epistemology
Tantrasara of abhinavagupta for tantra
Sankara or Ramanuja for Vedanta
Etc.
But start with Gita.
I like the strong emphasis upon care for the vulnerable, oppressed and poor and opposition to corporate greed, as emphasised by Pope Francis when he denounced the "autonomy of the marketplace" and "financial speculation" as tyranny in his 84-page apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium:
Just as the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say "thou shalt not" to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. ... A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules. To all this we can add widespread corruption and self-serving tax evasion, which has taken on worldwide dimensions. The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits.
Thanks for the points.
RedDragon94
Love everyone, meditate often
I put the Vedas on my phone (they're confusing)
. I'm into things like philosophy so I found the Upanishads online and did a little research.
Gita first.I put the Vedas on my phone (they're confusing)
Sakeenah
Well-Known Member
One of the things I like about my faith is the relationship/connection with God through worship.
I like the islamic understanding of worship because it allows the whole of one's life to be an act of worship, as long as the objective of that life is the pleasure of God, which is achieved by doing good and refraining from evil. A person can turn everyday activities into acts of worship by purifying his or her intention and sincerely seeking God's pleasure through these activities. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
Greeting a person is charity. Acting justly is charity. Helping a man with his steed is charity. A good word is charity. Every step taken on the way to performing prayers is charity. Removing an obstacle from the road is charity.
I like the islamic understanding of worship because it allows the whole of one's life to be an act of worship, as long as the objective of that life is the pleasure of God, which is achieved by doing good and refraining from evil. A person can turn everyday activities into acts of worship by purifying his or her intention and sincerely seeking God's pleasure through these activities. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
Greeting a person is charity. Acting justly is charity. Helping a man with his steed is charity. A good word is charity. Every step taken on the way to performing prayers is charity. Removing an obstacle from the road is charity.
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber
That I have none.
Not much for having favorites, so it is hard to say a #1 thing. But I think it would probably be this:
Paganism and Druidry facilitates (if not demands) the pursuit of knowledge and creativity. Doing both of those is inherent to my nature, so I could not tolerate a way of life (aka, religion) that does not do this.
Paganism and Druidry facilitates (if not demands) the pursuit of knowledge and creativity. Doing both of those is inherent to my nature, so I could not tolerate a way of life (aka, religion) that does not do this.
I like the emphasis on love, peace and unity which are present in the Baha'i faith