Can someone explain what the Hindu religion is about?

[erich brant]

Can someone explain what the Hindu religion is about?
Thanks
www.firewallfortress.com

[Lalooprasad Yadav]

Hinduism is far too complex to describe in a few words. It's very difficult to find people who have a deep understanding of Hinduism. Most of us are just content to skim the surface.

In my view Swami Vivekananda is someone who understood Hinduism well. This link may be of some help .
http://www.hindunet.org/vivekananda/


[This message has been edited by Lalooprasad Yadav (edited November 06, 2001).]

[Joe McGuire]

I don't know much about Hinduism, but I do know that Siddhartha Gauttama (The Buddha) started out as one!

[neutral_ Thinker]

Originally posted by erich brant:
Can someone explain what the Hindu religion is about?
Thanks
www.firewallfortress.com

Visit the site to learn hinduism and its ideas
www.hinduunity.org

[Anonymous]

Hi Erich!.,
Its good on your part that u are interested in learning about Hinduism. Well ! Hinduism is a religion existing since 5000+ (perhaps the oldest religion on Earth). I can explain it to u here but it would take a lot of time and space. Hence as other friends have suggested Please visit www.hindunity.org
But the best sight would be www.vhp.org
Thanks

[jayram]

Hi erich
First of all its inaccurate to call hinduism as a 'religion'. People normally think of religion as something that tells you .."follow this book" "follow this god" ..in that sense hinduism is not a religion ..it doesnt ask u to follow one holy book or doesnt preach that theres only one way to be more closer to go its more a way of living life
And yes its a complex subject..
One more site of use could be www.urday.com
And ofcourse i am always available on icq for more discussions
Cheers
Jayram
------------------
What if this is as good as it gets ?

[Prasad Charasala]

Originally posted by joshi jayram:

People normally think of religion as something that tells you .."follow this book" "follow this god" ..in that sense hinduism is not a religion ..it doesnt ask u to follow one holy book or doesnt preach that theres only one way to be more closer to go its more a way of living life

We can explain Hinduism in Java like "Hinduism provides you an abstract class to reach God or to find God but implementation can be in different ways". That's why a Hindu believes in Budda as one of the God incarnations as well he believes in Jesus. Hindu believes all the religions are different implementations to reach God or to know God.

[This message has been edited by Prasad Charasala (edited November 09, 2001).]

[Lalooprasad Yadav]

Originally posted by Hindu4Ever:
Hi Erich!.,
Its good on your part that u are interested in learning about Hinduism. Well ! Hinduism is a religion existing since 5000+ (perhaps the oldest religion on Earth). I can explain it to u here but it would take a lot of time and space. Hence as other friends have suggested Please visit www.hindunity.org
But the best sight would be www.vhp.org
Thanks

Zulfiquar I presume. Very kind of you to post these links. Just remember Hinduism is not VHP/RSS , Germany is not the Nazi Party , America is not the KKK.

[Amitabh Sharma]

Here is what a normally aware hindu (like me) knows about his religion. I would not go into ideologies and so forth. There are lot of resources for those things on the net.
* Three main Gods are (java equivalent = Interfaces):
Bramha - The creator (has many faces attached to one body, and many arms)
Vishnu - The one who takes care (Ram and Krishna are his avatars or incarnations). Shown as blue color, accompanied by Goddess Lakshmi his consort
Shiva - The destroyer (blue color, with a snake arround his neck) and wears only a leotard.
They do not take directly come to the world although their incarnations do.
* Vishnu took birth as human to come and guide the world (incarnation).
- Ram - shown as blue colored man accompanied by Sita his wife
- Krishna - Shown as playing flute, often accompanied by Radha his consort. Naughty God. Sometimes shown as a child eating butter)
Both of these were true historical figures in my opinion long long long back in history who have been given status of Gods over time. there are lot of stories/mythology arround them (Ramayan and Mahabharata)
* There are 2 main epics (very long religious stories) called
- Ramayana (story of Ram) = Very interesting,
- Mahabharat (A battle in the coarse of Krishna "spoke" Gita the religious text) = Hugely interesting, I love it, More wordly than Ramayana. It could beat any current soap opera.
* Most of hifi religious stuff about hinduism is found in texts called Vedas. Most hindus never read them.
* Other important Gods and Godesses are:
Lakshmi - Goddess of wealth
Saraswati - Goddess of learning
Indra - King of Swarg (Heaven)
Durga - Popular Goddess (an incarnation of Parvati - wife of lord Shiva)
Ganesh - God of Intelligence
Agni - God of Fire
Yamraj - God of Death (comes on a buffallo)
Parvati - Wife of Shiva
Hanuman - Very popular in Northern Indian specailly among youth. Has a face like monkey and human body.
Surya - Sun God

* Gita is for Hindus what The Bible is for Christians and Koran is for Muslims
* Cow, Snake, Rat, Elephant, Certains Trees are sacred.
* There is life after death. A soul comes back to earth againa nd again till it reaches niravana (enlightenment)
* Fire is sacred
* Fasts are very popular among hindus.
* Most Hindu in India are vegeterian. This is changing very fast
* Main Festivals:
- Diwali - Everyone lights diya (or candles) on Diwali night and burst fire crackers
- Holi - Paint each other and throw water - very wild in North India
- Dushera
- Navratri
- Karvachauth - married women pray for their husbands
* There are 4 of stages of life. I forget one of them:
- Bramhcharya = birth to adulthood = period of life to learn and study, no sex
- Grihastha = to be worldly, marry, have kids, work
- Sanyaas = Last stage of life. Give up all worldly things and go to Forest to lead a life of Sadhu (retirement)
Find more info at http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/ReligioNet/ER/Hinduism/HTIME.HTM
[This message has been edited by Amitabh Sharma (edited November 13, 2001).]
[This message has been edited by Amitabh Sharma (edited November 13, 2001).]

[Angela Poynton]

I would just like to wish all of our Hindu friends here
HAPPY DIWALI
I'm at home right now watching the very many beautiful firework displays happening around me. I have to say you guys made Guy Fawkes night (Nov 5th) look mild, you certainly celebrate in style and I feel honoured just have been able to witness it.
It certainly is a Festival of Light.
To clarify I live in an area of London that has a very large Hindu Community, and it has never to me been as apparent as it is tonight just how large that community is. I think it's fantastic

[Amitabh Sharma]

Thank you Angela.

[Prasad Charasala]

Let me add something I believe about Hinduism.
About Many Gods:
Many people think that Hinduism is all about too many Gods. Actually it is not true. Hindu beleives in Advitha (Only one). The supreme God is only one. Then many people may ask why are we(Hindus) have many God idols. The reason is natural. Like the water God does not have shape but whenever you pour water into some thing it will take its shape. Just like that though God does not have shape, name everyone thinks him in different shapes and with different names as they like.
About creation of this universe:
Hinduism says that before this universe there was only sound called Omkara (Ohm). Shakthi (Power/Energy) came out of this sound. Then Shakti created the Brahma (The creator), Vishnu (Maintanance), and Shiva (Destroyer). Since then the world and creatures are all were created.

[omar khan]

Hi Prasad.
Is there any good English translation of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata?

[Mulayam Singh Yadav]

read Geeta instead of Mahabharat
Mulayam

Originally posted by OMAR KHAN:
Hi Prasad.
Is there any good English translation of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata?

[sona gold]

no read the vedas to know hinduism competely.. reading vedas is not easy... and a time consuming task

[Amitabh Sharma]

Originally posted by OMAR KHAN:
Hi Prasad.
Is there any good English translation of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata?

There are many english translations of Ramayan and Mahabharat by various authors. I have not read any translations since I read both in hindi text. But here is link from Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author=Dharma%2C%20Krishna/103-2980866-4427821

[Anonymous]

Hinduism is all about love,in love with God and God lives in all living beings,so it's in love with all living beings.

[R K Singh]

Originally posted by OMAR KHAN:
Is there any good English translation of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata?

visit http://www.gitapress.org/
the best publisher for religious books on hindu. Best cause they give you raw material, they dont change text.
AW if you are interested in free download of Ramayana then http://www.gitapress.org/cgi-bin/gitapress.cgi/english2/edownload/epbooks_eng.psp

[Rob Ross]

Here's my attempt as a non-Hindu to discuss Hinduism with people that know more than I ;P
Isn't the English translation of Shiva, traditionally "Destroyer", really a bad form?
I always understood Shiva to be more like an agent of change, not of destruction per se, which has a negative connotation in our English language.
Shiva is the bulldozer that knocks down an old factory so that a new shopping mall can be built in its place.
Shiva is involved in birth, and death, etc.
Because of the association with Shiva as "Destroyer", there's a connotation of Shiva as a form of Satan in Western culture, and I think this is a total mischaracterization of that diety.
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though!

[Rob Ross]

Oh, one more thing I know...Hinduism is really the first known religion to espose the concept of "Trinity." In Catholocism, as in many other Christian religions, there's the concept of God as being a trinity of three persons, in one God.
Guess where this concept came from?
That's right, Brahm baby! One God, Brahm, three persons - Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva.
[ October 22, 2002: Message edited by: Rob Ross ]

[Anonymous]

hi,
here is another view of trinity.
Brahma , Vishnu and Siva are different forms of allmighty god.
Lord Dattatreya (supreme god) is all 3(brahma , vishnu, and siva) as one.
Lord Dattatreya is the one who started 'GURU PARAMAPARA' (lineage of gurus).
Lord Dattatreya (ultimate god) takes human form from time to time(IncarnationS).

Sri Ganapathy Sachidanabda Swamiji of DATTAPEETHAM is worshipped as living avatar of Lord DATTA.

JESUS is considered to be one of the Incarnations of Lord DATTA ( DATTATREYA).

HE IS known for many miracles ('Mahasiddhis').
he is known to cure many mental and physical diseases through MUSIC
see these pics , sri swamiji doing worship of fire (agni pooja) :
fire worship .
pics of sri swamiji's music concert at university of lousiana , Lafayette : concert .
to learn more about Hinduism : DATTAPEETHAM

[R K Singh]

Originally posted by <xxx yyy>:
[QB][/QB]

Triple X Triple Y, why dont you leave these Guru's in peace

[Sameer Jamal]

Originally posted by Angela Poynton:
I would just like to wish all of our Hindu friends here
HAPPY DIWALI

Those American friends who does not know about the Deepawali here is the explanation in American Style
This is how he goes about it " So, like this dude had, like, a big cool kingdom and people liked him. But, like, his step-mom, or something, was kind of a bitch, and she forced her husband to, like, you know, send this cool-dude, he was Ram, to some national forest or reserve or something Since he was going, for like, something like more than 10 years or so..he decided to get his wife and his bro alongyou knowso that they could all chill out together. But DUDE, the forest was reeeeal scary shitreally manthey had monkeys and devils and shit like that. But this dude, Ram, kicked ass with darts and bows and arrows.. so it was fine. But then some bad gangsta boys, some jerk called Ravan, picks up his babe (Sita) and lures her away to his hood. And boy, was our man, and also his bro, Lakshman, pissedAnd you DON�t piss this son-of-a-gun cuz, he just kicks ass and like, all the gods were with him.. So anyways, you don�t mess with gods.
So,Ram and his bro get an army of monkeys dude, don�t ask me how they trained the damn monkeys just go along with me, ok so, Ram, Laksh. and their monkeys whip this gangsta�s ass in his own hood. Anyways, by this time, their time�s up in the forest..and anywaysit gets kinda boring, you know no TV or malls or shit like that. So, they decided to hitch a ride back home And when the people realize that our dude, his bro and the wife are back home they thought, well, you know, at least they deserve something nice and they didn�t have any bars or clubs in those daysso they couldn�t take them out for a drink, so they, like, decided to smoke and shitAnd since they also had some lamps, they lit the lamps too so it was pretty coooolyou know with all those fireworks..really, they even had some local band play along with the fireworks..and you know, what, dude, that was the very first, no kidding..,that was the very first music-synchronized fireworksyou know, like the 4th of July stuff, but just, more cooler and stuff, you know.
And, so dude, THAT was how, like, this festival started. Cool! Diwali rocks, Maaann.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Sameer Jamal]

Originally posted by Angela Poynton:
I would just like to wish all of our Hindu friends here
HAPPY DIWALI

Those American friends who does not know about Deepawali here is the explanation in American style
So, like this dude had, like, a big cool kingdom and people liked him. But, like, his step-mom, or something, was kind of a bitch, and she forced her husband to, like, you know, send this cool-dude, he was Ram, to some national forest or reserve or somethingSince he was going, for like, something like more than 10 years or so..he decided to get his wife and his bro alongyou knowso that they could all chill out together. But DUDE, the forest was reeeeal scary shitreally manthey had monkeys and devils and shit like that. But this dude, Ram, kicked ass with darts and bows and arrows.. so it was fine. But then some bad gangsta boys, some jerk called Ravan, picks up his babe (Sita) and lures her away to his hood. And boy, was our man, and also his bro, Lakshman, pissedAnd you DON�t piss this son-of-a-gun cuz, he just kicks ass and like, all the gods were with him.. So anyways, you don�t mess with gods.
So,Ram and his bro get an army of monkeys dude, don�t ask me how they trained the damn monkeys just go along with me, ok so, Ram, Laksh. and their monkeys whip this gangsta�s ass in his own hood. Anyways, by this time, their time�s up in the forest..and anywaysit gets kinda boring, you know no TV or malls or shit like that. So, they decided to hitch a ride back home And when the people realize that our dude, his bro and the wife are back home they thought, well, you know, at least they deserve something nice and they didn�t have any bars or clubs in those daysso they couldn�t take them out for a drink, so they, like, decided to smoke and shitAnd since they also had some lamps, they lit the lamps too so it was pretty coooolyou know with all those fireworks..really, they even had some local band play along with the fireworks..and you know, what, dude, that was the very first, no kidding..,that was the very first music-synchronized fireworksyou know, like the 4th of July stuff, but just, more cooler and stuff, you know.
And, so dude, THAT was how, like, this festival started. Cool! Diwali rocks, Maaann.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Shubhrajit Chatterjee]

Shiva is the garbage collector ... jokes apart .. he has been modelled after the ultimate philosopher ... he has attained all knowledge and is indifferent.
BTW I am an atheist and still an hindu ... thus hinduism is more than a relegion ... in my school my history teache used to say that "Hinduism is a way of life"
There are various ways of interpreting hinduism .. lots of hindu scriptures were mentiond .. but I did not find the upanishadas ... they are infact the fountainheads of philosophy .. difficult to read.(I tried, could not make much out of it)
Someone else mentioned that hindu's are vegeterians .. gross misconception ... I am born in a family which follows a sect of hinduism which worships the mother goddess ... animal slaughter is one of the main rituals ... though this branch of hinduism is mainly found in Eastern Parts of India. I have heard that liquor is also a prime ingredient, but it has been reduced due to the social stigma attached to it.
Essentially, hinduism is a superset of lifestyles led by people in South East Asia which has been clubbed into a relegion. There are 1000 of different ways in which it has been practiced.

Originally posted by Rob Ross:
[QB]
Isn't the English translation of Shiva, traditionally "Destroyer", really a bad form?
I always understood Shiva to be more like an agent of change, not of destruction per se, which has a negative connotation in our English language.

[Shubhrajit Chatterjee]

BTW if you really want to learn about classical hinduism, read the techings of Vivekananda ... or if you want some western view you can read german scholars. The did a lot of work on hinduism. I would rather ask you to avoid doctrines from Viswa Hindu Parishad and the likes as they are preaching a fundamentalist view of hinduism, tainted with political vested interests. I would not elaborate as this may turn out to be sensitive.

[R K Singh]

Originally posted by Shubhrajit Chatterjee:

Someone else mentioned that hindu's are vegeterians ..

Actually if you see brahimins, they are vegetarian.
So be brahmin and be hindu, who are vegetarian.
As one has said, Hindu is a society which has philosphy which changes as per society .

[Aniruddha Mukhopadhyay]

Dear Ravish,
I don't know what gave you the idea that brahmins are vegetarians - its not so in my part of India (Bengal). When posting in a site open to people from everywhere, we Indians (and Hindus!) should not give such wrong information. It's fact that brahmins in certain parts (may be over 50%) are vegetarians but it cannot be generalised.

[Shubhrajit Chatterjee]

Hey, I am from a staunch brahmin family and definitely my family is non vegeterian.

Originally posted by Ravish Kumar:

Actually if you see brahimins, they are vegetarian.
So be brahmin and be hindu, who are vegetarian.
As one has said, Hindu is a society which has philosphy which changes as per society .

[Anonymous]

Originally posted by aniruddha mukhopadhyay:
its not so in my part of India (Bengal).

I know my dear about bengal very much. My one Mami(Aunty, maternal side) is from bengal.
If you have read my some of earlier post. I have said that religion depends upon lot of factor including geographical location.
But if you go back and see the definition of Brahmin as defined in some of our older books. They are suppose to be vegetarian. (atleast North, they are suppose to veggy, though now lot of my Pandit friends do eat non-veg.)
Even I was surprised to know that in Iyer one can marry to their cousins.
For me it was shocking as in north we can not marry to our even farthest cousin.
So Hindu, as I have said lot of time, is not a religion, it is society and has thousands of flavour depending upon lot of factor and time period.
Another shocking thing was for me that in Maharashtra *Sindur* is not compulsory for married woman. In north its compulsory. and If I am not wrong then in Bengal also it is must.
Thanks to our film industry, who is unknowingly doing the job of National integration.

[Aniruddha Mukhopadhyay]

Dear Ravish,
You wrote:
"But if you go back and see the definition of Brahmin as defined in some of our older books. They are suppose to be vegetarian. "
I don't know what old books you have been reading, evidently they are different from what I have read! I dont know of any prohibition about brahmins eating nonveg in Vedas. You read something older?

[R K Singh]

Originally posted by aniruddha mukhopadhyay:
[QB][/QB]

Hi Ani
I love to see different shades of Hinduism.
My views were as per North-indian Brahmins. I should have not generalised it.

[Aniruddha Mukhopadhyay]

Dear Ravish,
Hinduism is wonderful religion and most us know very little about it. I often find it difficult to explain it to friends and colleagues who are not from India.

[Aniruddha Mukhopadhyay]

Dear Ravish,
Hinduism is wonderful religion and most us know very little about it. I often find it difficult to explain it to friends and colleagues who are not from India.

[R K Singh]

Its like a sweet smell, who can smell it will enjoy it. It cant be explained.
Am I being philosopher ...
Ravish GO BACK TO WORK ....

[Amitabh Sharma]

Originally posted by Ravish Kumar:
Its like a sweet smell, who can smell it will enjoy it. It cant be explained.
Am I being philosopher ...
Ravish GO BACK TO WORK ....

Ravish and Shubhrajit, u 2 r in luv

[Shubhrajit Chatterjee]

Hey, what made you say that ???

Originally posted by Amitabh Sharma:

Ravish and Shubhrajit, u 2 r in luv

[Amitabh Sharma]

Originally posted by Shubhrajit Chatterjee:
Hey, what made you say that ???

it cant be explained. i got that feeling from ur posts above.

[Pradeep bhatt]

I agree with Ravish.
Brahmins are supposed to be veggies. I have also heard that brahmins from Benegal do eat non- veg food.

HAPPY DIWALI !

[R K Singh]

Originally posted by Amitabh Sharma:
Ravish and Shubhrajit, u 2 r in luv

I love you too Amitabh