Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world. It has had an unbroken spiritual heritage for thousands of years.
The basic philosophy in Hinduism is that God is Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent. God appears in everything, living, non-living matter. This is the reason why Hindus seem to be “worshipping” almost everything. Hindus consider any life form sacred because it is a manifestation of God. Cows are highly venerated because they are gentle creatures that serve humanity in many ways. Since God is seen to be existing in every lifeform, the noble qualities of the cow are seen as a testament that God has manifested Himself in cows.
The concept of God is very different from what Abrahamic religions view it. Islam talks about a God who is One and is a separate entity. The Hindu concept of God-in-everything would be unacceptable to Muslims. But it is merely a difference of thought. In Hinduism, God is an infinite entity from whom all souls have originated and will end up in. The concept of Heaven and Hell is in either reuniting with God forever or taking rebirths as different lifeforms.
Many people ignorant of Hinduism often wonder why there are so many Gods. This is a misconception because at the logical level, these “Gods” are nothing but attributes of the Supreme Divine. Hinduism attributes everything to God. He is the origin of everything - All knowledge, all emotions, all actions etc. A certain “God” (say, Lord Rama) is a subset of those qualities. Likewise, the several Gods in Hinduism represent several subsets of qualities that human beings can imbibe. For example, a Ram-bhakt (devotee of Rama) will nurture the qualities of fidelity, bravery and devotion to parents in himself. A Hanuman-bhakt would be interested in maintaining celibacy, honesty, loyalty to master and so on. Basically, all these virtues are there for mortals to absorb in their character and become better human beings.
Hinduism has different strata of spirituality. At the lowest level, the Hindu goes to a temple and worships the idol. The common man needs some focal point to orient to and hence looks up to an image or an idol and prays. The next level is when one prays to Him with prayers (in any language) and sings His praise. The highest level is when one renounces all these “guides” to reaching Him and directly meditates thinking of the Supreme Divine (or Brahman; not the caste). This is the one reason why Hinduism has survived the trials and tribulations of so many foreign invasions and attacks. Each individual is given the freedom of choosing his mode of worship and connecting to the Divine, rather than enforce a rigid set of rules that may not apply to all.
I am not sure how far I am correct in my analysis of Hinduism as I have just begun thinking about it but anyone is free to correct my ideas. Please feel free to chip in with opinions and corrections.
I have a basic understanding of those two philosophies. Advaita claims that the soul is one with the Divine and will merge with it when the mortal dies. Dvaita says that the soul cannot become one with the Divine ever. I personally believe Advaita is a more relevant philosophy. That is the beauty of Hinduism/Indic culture. All ideas and thoughts are encouraged. Even seemingly heretic ideas are discussed and argued. This leads to a healthy society where people believe in what they are taught, not blindly but with a firm understanding of why and how their faith works.
looks like all the childhood friends are gathering here at GS and trying to populorize what is close to their heart. same interests, same viewpoints, same posters, similar nicks.
Seriously though, although a Muslim (very moderate one), I would love a deeper understandic of Vedic Astrology as I feel there is defnitelyt something in it. I mean all great civilizations have had a concept of astrology and thus it cant surely to such jazz as the sceptics cliam.
Either way, I have taken the liberty to find out my vedic sign (lunar sign I think), and run by date of birth ect past a Hindu mate who says he will take the info backwards and try and find out roughly some stuff. :)
Shame if Islam doesnt have astrology, as there is DEFNITELY something in it. Or are you saying that all the civilizations bar us are not wise ect? We cannot dismis outright something which the wise men for millenia have taken as grounds of fact.
Ibn `Abbas (May Allah be pleased with them) said: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "He who acquires a branch of the knowledge of astrology, learns a branch of magic (of which he acquires more as long as) he continues to do so.''
[Abu Dawud].
So astrology in compared with Magic, which is clearly Haram. Only Allah knows the future. Asking someone for the future is shirk.
BTW also ask that Hindu mate of yours if he can predict in your next life whether you will be a human or monkey. If you believe in astrology then I am sure you believe in reincarnation too. Right?
Now that was a wicked googly!
No, dont believe in reincarnation. Dont see how you reached that conclusion yaar.
Astrology is the impact of planets ect on your life...not related to how many lives you have ect. I am a rather supersticious man, with a strong belief in the "non physical". Must be other forces out there, and I cant dismiss one such science (astrology) which has captivated the minds of the great men for as long as humans have been here.
On Islam and astrology, I saw a mullah (I dont have much time for them usually) on PTV taking requests and reading astrology charts based on d/o/b and stuff like that for Muslims....so maybe you are wrong here, no?
Thats what I did do....thats how I found my vedic sign. Varsahab or something. I defnitely am spelling it wromg, but it began with a V.
Although I do support the political disunion with Hindu India on grounds of practicality (in practice the different customs ect DO lead to tension, violence), I do have much time for some of the practices of Hindu spirituality. Esp vedic astrology and yoga as a means of spiritual enlightenment.
It is this non routined approach, this desire to superceed the physical limits via spirituality, which appeals to me. I think the Sufis of Islam have similar concepts (ie to place the abilities of the spirit over the body, freeing oneself from the limits of the flesh) and such ideas are awesome.
I was reading some of the ideas of Ghandi (i think it was dharma-not certain)...but will defnitely learn abt all the spiritual paths. :)
I don’t think that he is some Mullah. I know which guy you are talking about. His beard is too short for a Mullah. In Pakistan people practice astrology too but that doesn’t make it permissible in Islam.
^ I don't know what kind of 'forces' you are talking about my freind. I only believe only in one force which is force of Allah. I don't need to ad anything else. Have a nice day and good luck with your forces.
I dont mean any specific force, just the super natural. Allah is at the top, sure, the the road to him will need a "car"-and ppl of such spirituality can be those cars. I think thats the role Yogi's play in Hindu spirituality and "seikhs" in Islamic spirituality.
I dont know....just comsic forces...and I wanna understand them.
Ps: Surya, I am guessing ur a hindu, if so you can tell me if Vedic astrology (v/a) is used in romance right? I need to find a girl who is a vedic match.
In chinese astrology, I am a rat at the major level, and month of the Ox I think. :o
LGB, We both share the same Moon sign, Vrishabh or Taurus, although even my Sun sign is the same. Vedic astrology is just used like astrology for everything including romantic compatibility.
I have read a little and it seems unlike Western astrology, vedic is based on comprehensive analysis of many factors, its a detailed science with a proper established methodology.
what are the charactersitics of our sign in vedic astrology? :)