Come One Come All Hindus

[blit105]

I was going to post a nice lovely piece about African-Hindu relations. But I’ll settle for this.

How do you all pray or appraise your 3million gods every day :roll:

[guyguy]

How do you all pray or appraise your 3million gods every day :roll:Very reverentially, I suspect. How do you pray to yours, that is if you have any and know how to pray in the first place?

[brag]

When you can accept that you are among the 6.77 billion plus other Gods/gods of today, you will have understood the non duality of God and all things. Then the answer you seek will come from you yourself, for God dwells in you as you and in all as Totality says the Hindu.

[blit105]

When you can accept that you are among the 6.77 billion plus other Gods/gods of today, you will have understood the non duality of God and all things. Then the answer you seek will come from you yourself, for God dwells in you as you and in all as Totality says the Hindu.

Brag,

Look at that. If he had told me how he does it, then I might of prayed for him. There is a saying here in England: You can never quite tell whether the Hindu is coming or going. :salut: [smilie=dash3.gif] [smilie=diablo.gif] [smilie=dash2.gif] [smilie=ireful2.gif] :king:

[Amelia]

When you can accept that you are among the 6.77 billion plus other Gods/gods of today, you will have understood the non duality of God and all things. Then the answer you seek will come from you yourself, for God dwells in you as you and in all as Totality says the Hindu.

Excellent answer! Brag is class oui! 8-)

[brag]

Coming and going is the grand illusion in the totality and oneness of life? Be still my friend and know that you are God, the eternal witness.

[Falcon]

thanks brag, you actually saved this thread, and I suspect, the poster too.

[Huma]

thanks brag, you actually saved this thread, and I suspect, the poster too.

Don't doubt it for a second.

[brag]

Pearls of Wisdom

Every reaction in the form of hatred or evil is so much loss to the mind; and every evil thought or deed of hatred or any thought of reaction, if it is controlled, will be laid in our favour. (I. 222)

There is nothing that is absolutely evil. (V. 253)

Darkness is less light; evil is less good; impurity is less purity. (II. 327)

The root cause of evil is our desire to be superior to others and our selfishness. (II. 496)

Force against force never cures, and the only cure for evil is unselfishness (II. 496)

The "me and mine" is the very root of all the evil in the world. (II. 244)

The evils that are in the world are caused by none else but ourselves. (II. 242)

In doing evil, we injure ourselves and others also. (I. 82)

All evil comes, as our scriptures say, relying upon differences. (III. 194)

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda.

[blit105]

thanks brag, you actually saved this thread, and I suspect, the poster too.

Ban Blits105 and it solves all the African-Hindu problems.

[blit105]

thanks brag, you actually saved this thread, and I suspect, the poster too.

Don't doubt it for a second.

You need help my African friend. And please stick to what the thread is about.

[grapesweetie]

what african hindu problems?

[brag]

If I recall correctly, some four or five years ago, you raised the question about few Africans or people of African descent (Africans) in the Hindu religion. I assume that you are still referring to the same issue in your post. That is a common observation and one that has been asked and answered here before.

The answer to your observation, if I understand you correctly, is a simple one which anyone with a simple knowledge of Hinduism would understand. Hinduism is the indigenous religion and spirituality of the people of India and which were carried by many Indians as they migrated all over the world. Because they wished to follow their indigenous religious and spiritual culture they took them wherever they went.

The Hindu philosophies and way of life centered around their beliefs in Sanathana Dharma, better known as Hinduism, the religion of the eternal laws of nature, truth and power worship. There is no entry requirement for observing Sanathana Dharma, but the laws of nature themselves, and there is no waiting list for membership. It is not a proselytizing way of life, and all one has to do is only follow the lifestyle.

I suspect that you are not willing to state if you adhere to a religion or not, even when you seem to want to comment on or know more about that of others. You may leave one to wonder about your true intentions. Perhaps you need to restate the question more clearly as to what exactly you wish to know in your vague inquiry.

Know that you are raising an important question, though, if I understand you correctly. While I may not be able to answer the issue to your satisfaction, I will give it a try according to what comes to my mind from observations.

The question of whether there are Africans who follow Hinduism is an interesting one. I don't know if the question stems from the observation that many Africans are attracted to Christianity and Islam vs Hinduism and Buddhism. Can this be the reason that is driving your inquiry? If that is so, then the simple answer is that Hinduism is not a proselytizing religion, like Christianity and Islam---end of the story.

Religion for some is a choice of a spiritual and cultural way of life, requiring a special adaptation to it. But one must wonder, though, why so many Africans follow a religion that once sanctioned the enslavement Africans in the worst kinds of ways and later modified it in scriptures to reflect a compassionate form of slavery and which may be practiced even to this day.

I suppose you may want to make the same inquiry about membership by Africans in the religions of Judaism, Mormonism, Shintoism, Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, etc. A small population of Ethiopians and African Americans may be the only Africans in Judaism. But know, too, that there are also many small populations of Africans who are also followers of Hinduism.

The Hindu is predominantly disposed to an inward awareness of the God that dwells within man as man, something alien to Christian and Muslim thought. Most Africans who have adopted Christianity and Islam are perhaps more disposed to following the principle of a God that is believed to dwell in Paradise and Heaven. I am not sure, but perhaps, there lies the difference and what may seperate Hindus and those Africans who do not practice according to their original, indigenous, religious beliefs.

Know that in all the five continents there are still people who practice their original, indigenous religions and spirituality centering around the laws of nature, eternal truth and power. Fortunately, they were not all wiped out by the foreign and local missionaries whose intentions may remain the same even today.

As an aside, there may be some people who believe that intellectual and spiritual development may be enriched by indigenous religious beliefs and practices, or an adaptation to them, since there is no lingering guilt feelings due to alienation from one's true nature and connection to original, indigenous, religious beliefs and practices. Yes, it can be a controversial issue, but I have no intention of debating it, but only keeping it in mind and vicariously watching how it may impact on behavior when I feel curious enough to give it some thought.

Most Africans who still believe in their indigenous religions will have no difficulty with the practice of Sanathana Dharma. It is not unusual to find icons of Hindu deities of God, such as mother Lakshmi, in a temple of some of the indigenous African religions, along with principles of worship on similar lines. Therefore, my guess is that Africans and others may have their own peculiar reasons for abandoning their indigenous, spiritual practices and following the religions of impositions on indigenous religiious practices.

Perhaps the single major reason for the so called African-Hindu divide is that Hinduism, like Judaism, is not a proselytizing religion, although Hinduism can have a wide appeal to many who are not constrained from exploring alternative religious beliefs and practices. But the broader belief by Hindus is that all religions are legitimate pathways to God, and therefore, such a belief makes it impossible for Hindus to recruit members from other religions. Therefore, entry into Hinduism is strictly voluntary, and often without entry rituals, but only observation, study and practice.

You may want to explore the reasons why it may seem easy for many Africans to follow the teachings of Bhagawan Shri Sathya Sai Baba who has never been to any country outside of India, except Kenya and Uganda where he has a sizeable following. My own belief is that the teachings of Bhagawan Shri Sathya Sai Baba are compatible with indigenous, African, religious belief-systems and only call for the study of principles, philosophies and practices that lead to the belief that man and God are one, while at the same time adhering to and growing stronger in religions of choice.

Notwithstanding all of the above, it is also uneasy, if not difficult, for many people to feel free to integrate and mingle with others. In cultures that are widely different in practices and beliefs, an outsider finds it hard work to make the adaptation to a new way of life that requires an enormous amount of work, expertise and practice for maintaining a new relationship that may be alien to some with already differing religious beliefs and practices.

I am sure that there are other common behaviors and practices that, when explored, help people observe common grounds and keep them together, but different religious beliefs and practices, particularly ones like idol worship and polytheism that are considered abominations by Christians and Muslims, make it more difficult for an easy coming together of unlike beliefs, minds and practices.

It is a common observation in many social situations that people generally gravitate to others of like-minds and similarities. Like-minds, practices and behaviors often induce an initial degree of comfort level from similar or like-associations centering around race, religion, language and other common features. Many Hispanics are well known for associating with each other simply because of a common language and culture that often bind together their comforts levels.

Now you may want to reflect for a brief moment on the comfort levels of Christians and Muslims in their embrace of Hindus who worship in front of icons of lord Shiva who wears a snake around his neck, an elephant-headed, Lord Ganesha, a monkey-faced, Lord Hanuman and a tulsi plant or a neem tree.

Can you imagine the embrace of Hindus and the comfort levels that go with it when Christians and Muslims watch Hindus ritualistically wave a candle in a thali or ritual plate in front of an icon or several icons of Hindu deities which they refer to as polytheistic Gods and Goddesses? Can you imagine the comfort levels of Christians and Muslims as they watch Hindus offer water, milk, honey, curds, flowers, leaves, etc., to an elipse-shaped stone that represents the deity, Lord Shiva? Perhaps here, too, lies some more of the so called distancing between African with Christian and Muslim orientation and Hindus when some religious practices are recklessly considered abominations without the proper understanding that goes with them.

Hinduism is practiced in the context of a particular culture and way of life which is indigenous to the people of India and wherever they go or form associations of like mindedness. It requires a special effort for anyone to make an adaptation to Hinduism which is not something always desirable by many.