Why Hinduism?

[firedragon]

The short answer is that Hinduism was a religious system that seemed to embrace the complexity of reality. Most systems I had looked into before hand just didn't really see to jive with the complex reality I was seeing around me. Hinduism is a system of contradictions and that just worked for me. It was something where what I already believed lined up well enough with broad strokes of Hinduism. I didn't have to give up part of myself or try to justify things that didn't make sense to me. I didn't have to try and make sense of something that felt antithetical to reality like I had to with previous religions.

I think what you said is profound. Amazing. Thanks mate. Hmm.

 

[firedragon]

Who is this?

I know that Shiva had a snake on his neck. Is this the three? Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu?

 

[firedragon]

Not really, 'unaffiliated' means I am not involved with any religious organization.

Okay okay. I was thinking of the usual reference in quantitative research. But thanks for the clarification.

Pantheist is the best term for my belief. It is saying God/Brahman is the ground reality of all this and the universe is a play/drama of God/Brahman.

Great. Thank you. Could you if you have some time, look at the question I asked regarding the pantheistic model in the OP?

 

[firedragon]

Honestly all my family and my local temples have pics of the “Trimurti”
Though I don’t think we ever called the gods that. But we’re Fijian so I dunno

Hmm. Interesting. So people don't call it Trimurti generally.

 

[SomeRandom]

Hmm. Interesting. So people don't call it Trimurti generally.

I’ve never heard that term outside of Western folks trying to explain Hinduism to well other Westerners, if I’m being complexly honest

 

[firedragon]

I’ve never heard that term outside of Western folks trying to explain Hinduism to well other Westerners, if I’m being complexly honest

Oh I see.

Is this term even mentioned in any of the scriptures? It's not like I have read all the scriptures or anything, just a query. If it is mentioned, I am definitely going to read it. Please advice.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Hmm.. you mean that old misconception about Hinduism written by British encyclopedia writers who were looking for something resembling the trinity of their faith and found some obscure text about Hinduism having 3 main Gods?

That sorely misses out on Shakti.

Smartas have Brahma as one of their 6 main choices.

No, Vinayaka. Brahma was neither a part of Panchayatan Puja (five deities) nor of Shanmata (six deities).

"It consists of the worship of five deities .. Ganesha, Shakti, Shiva, Vishnu and Surya. Sometimes an Ishta Devata (any personal god of devotee's preference) or Kartikeya is the sixth deity in the mandala (see Shanmata)."
Panchayatana puja - Wikipedia

I keep forgetting to ask, might as well do that now: can you give me any rough estimate of how well-known and how popular are Advaita and Dvaita?
If at all possible, compared to each other and to stances that aren't really a part of either?

Never ask Hindus such statistical questions. One may be a monist at one Planck's instant and a polytheist at the next Planck's instant. It is Hindu religious Quantum Mechanics. It is like asking whether light is a wave or a particle. Both stances are well-known to even an uneducated person living in a far-off village. However, apparently, the majority is polytheist.

 

[firedragon]

Hmm.. you mean that old misconception about Hinduism written by British encyclopedia writers who were looking for something resembling the trinity of their faith and found some obscure text about Hinduism having 3 main Gods?

Is that how the Trimurti developed?

 

[firedragon]

There is one. I visited it during a trip to India. There is a wikipedia page on it.

The main part of this post is about what in the basic Hindu conceptions is appealing. It's not the religious aspects but the basic philosophical and cosmological that I'm thinking of.

One is the "creator, preserver, destroyer" concept which models life perfectly. Everything and everyone is born, matures/lives and finally dies. Some Hindu systems personify this basic point but that's something else.

Then there's karma, reincarnation and dharma. "Karma" is to me the same as the Biblical sowing and reaping but to me Hinduism puts it on a physical action/reaction level through various lives. Positive karma is sown by following one's dharma. Again I'm not thinking of the detailed discussion of differences in how religions and people view dharma but the basic idea.

Finally the guru was mentioned in an earlier post. There are figures in other religions such as the Jewish Baal Shem Tov, Christianity's St. Francis of Assisi, Sufism's Rumi and Hafiz and Buddhist Bodhidharma. But such figures in India often don't focus on theological disputation or the mental operation of compare/contrast but on universal fundamentals.

Figures from the past such as Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and more recently Ramana Maharshi, Papaji and Nisargadatta Maharaj are living models of the kind of human being I aspire to become. Each of these figures has a different way of teaching but what appeals to me is a direct focus on principles especially when done with humor that offers a mirror for us to look ourselves. Here's one short fun example

Was Bodidharma a Buddhist?

 

[SomeRandom]

Oh I see.

Is this term even mentioned in any of the scriptures? It's not like I have read all the scriptures or anything, just a query. If it is mentioned, I am definitely going to read it. Please advice.

I think maybe once or twice???

 

[George-ananda]

Great. Thank you. Could you if you have some time, look at the question I asked regarding the pantheistic model in the OP?

I think you are referring to:

2. Are you a pantheist? If so, who was the creator? Did this creator exist prior to creation which seems like a logical entailment to have existed prior to creation?

The creator is the eternal Brahman who is eternal. We are Brahman at our core.

 

[sun rise]

Was Bodidharma a Buddhist?

Yes. He is credited with bringing a version of Buddhism to China.

 

[firedragon]

I think maybe once or twice???

SomeRandom. I would really appreciate if you could give me the direct reference. It's not a requirement, just a request. If you could please.

I promise you, I will purchase them and read up. Thank you so much.

 

[firedragon]

Yes. He is credited with bringing a version of Buddhism to China.

I know about Bodhidharma very much. But from a pure martial arts point of view. I never knew he was a Buddhist. In many of the Wushu classes, they worship him, and that part I am sure of. This is new to me. Thank you very much sun rise.

 

[firedragon]

I think you are referring to:

2. Are you a pantheist? If so, who was the creator? Did this creator exist prior to creation which seems like a logical entailment to have existed prior to creation?

The creator is the eternal Brahman who is eternal. We are Brahman at our core.

So Brahman was there before creation? By creation I am referring to the universe.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Hehe. Popcorn is used as a sacrifice substance in homas.

Pop-corn is used in Holi fire, which is a harvest festival. In yajnas, it is always barley*.

BARLEY, Persian/Hindi jow (from Old Iranian *yawa-, cf. Av. yauua- “grain,” Sans. Yava).
Therefore, the river in Pakistan Zob, Sans. Yavyavati, mentioned in RigVeda, 'where barley grows'.
Zob region is the sixteenth and the last Aryan homeland mentioned in Avesta as Ragha, in the Pakistani province Balochistan. Mindat.org

 

[firedragon]

@SomeRandom

I blame you for taking me away from my diet. I was on a keto diet and now I keep craving for Indian cuisine and pakistani biryani. I am serious. It's all your fault. Tsk tsk.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I don't have the background and knowledge to go further than to note what I've posted.

There are a few Brahma temples in India, though they can be counted on fingers a compared to hundreds of thousand of temples dedicated to other Gods and Goddesses.
Beyond Pushkar: Did You Know of These 6 Brahma Temples in India?

I can tell you all about stories of Brahma, or its earlier Indo-Aryan avatara, Prajapati, Brahmanaspati, etc., but that will be a huge diversion of the subject of this topic.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I imagine. Because from the explanation given from wikipedia, it is very -- esoteric, if that is a term to use. .. Naturally there isn't enough time in each one's life to thoroughly examine all the religions and soothsayers in the world.

My explanation will be that if it is esoteric, mystic, don't go any further, abandon it, it is just a maze of words. There is enough time to check about the religions. Discard those which do not provide evidence. Only a few will be left after that.

I’m only really familiar with the “Sai Baba people” temples ..l

Sahajananda of Swaminarayans, 'Sai Babas' of any kind - Puttaparthy or Shirdi, the first two were preachers and the last one a mendicant. So also, the Brahmakumaris. They do not belong to traditional Hinduism.

 

[LuisDantas]

Was Bodidharma a Buddhist?

Yes. Bodhidharma was instrumental in the creation of both Kung Fu and Zen Buddhism.

An admirable person by any measure, even if his existence as such is perhaps questionable.