Young indians and sprituality

[Monk]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

One of the nicest thread ever.
Thank you every one for their honest input. Very informative.

[ssingh]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

@indopak

Hi
are you serious when you say this?? What about your good friends or pals? You don’t care about them eh:vivo:

Na, I guess i’m one of those people that has to have my Diwalis and growing up outside of India, going to these functions and the temple really helped me connect.

hi…i didn’t understant your question earlier. I couldn’t make out that you included friends also in culture. when i said i don’t care much about others, i meant costumes, rituals and stuff:D

[StirCrasy]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

I don't think Sai Baba is or was a muslim - do you mean the old one or the new one?

By the way Brahma is certainly worshipped though not as frequently as the others. Temples for Brahma are rare but I do know of one. He is ofcourse one of the Trinity and given the due in most ceremonies.

[kaka_in_usa]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

I don't think Sai Baba is or was a muslim - do you mean the old one or the new one?

By the way Brahma is certainly worshipped though not as frequently as the others. Temples for Brahma are rare but I do know of one. He is ofcourse one of the Trinity and given the due in most ceremonies.

Bramha was cursed that no one will worship him or build his temple. he is the only major deity who is not worshiped. there is only one temple of bramha in the world and that is in pushkar (if i am not wrong)

[lakkis25]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

I don't think Sai Baba is or was a muslim - do you mean the old one or the new one?

By the way Brahma is certainly worshipped though not as frequently as the others. Temples for Brahma are rare but I do know of one. He is ofcourse one of the Trinity and given the due in most ceremonies.

Shirdi sai baba is a muslim also called pakir
and puttaparthi saibaba is a hindu
i'm a follower of shirdi saibaba, and you have temple for him in Houston, Minneapolis and no idea about other cities

[lakkis25]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

@kaka_in_usa

Bramha was cursed that no one will worship him or build his temple. he is the only major deity who is not worshiped. there is only one temple of bramha in the world and that is in pushkar (if i am not wrong)

http://balaji.sudarshana.org/tirupati-history.htm
yes thats true, when Bruga maharshi visited Brahma, There, he found Brahma reciting the four Vedas with his four heads in praise of Lord Narayana and attended upon by Sarasvati and not taking notice of Bhrigu offering obeisance. Concluding that Brahma was unfit for worship, Bhrigu left Brahmaloka for Kailasa. At Kailasa, Bhrigu found Lord Siva spending his time pleasantly with Parvati and not noticing the Sage Bhrigu. Parvati drew the attention of Siva to the presence of the sage. Lord Siva became furious at the intrusion of Bhrigu and tried to destroy him. The sage cursed and left for Vaikuntham. because of this curse we worship siva in the form of “Lingam”

go through that link for rest of story…

[indopak]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

@ssingh

hi…i didn’t understant your question earlier. I couldn’t make out that you included friends also in culture. when i said i don’t care much about others, i meant costumes, rituals and stuff:D

duh:smack:…sorry, I guess I went in a completely different direction when you said you don’t care about anybody else.

[ssingh]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

@indopak

duh:smack:…sorry, I guess I went in a completely different direction when you said you don’t care about anybody else.

hehe…:Di didn’t use the word ‘anybody’. I was refering to the things i mentioned above.

[pallavpotter]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

1. Do you go to mandir ? how often ? *No, i dont think that you haveta visit a Mandir or Masjid to be one with the God. but i do visit in real special times or visit it as a tourist place while visitnd someplace. *

2. Do you believe and pray to a particular God or have statue at home
   Hinduism has this philosophy that all the different Gods and Goddesses are actually various form of that one single God. yeah i do follow Lord Vishnu, but just as a visible form of the God.

3. Does your family home has a small room for prayers with statue and stuff ( just like they show in movie / drama ?
   Yupe we do have, and unlike what someone post above, we have statues/idols and not pictures in the same mini mandir though we are non-vegetarians. never heard the "non-veg toh no idol" theory before.

4 Are you a vegitarian (shakahari ) due to religious reasons ?
yeah, we are Vegetarians on saturdays and on special religious days.

1. What family valuse are practised religiously in your family ? the same values that are practised everywhere, though i dont see the logic in bowing down and touching someone elder's feet.

and the birth religion of Sai Baba is not confirmed. some say he was a Hindu and some say he was a Muslim by birth. but he definitely was a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity. he lived in a Mosque and was buried in a Temple. he was both a Bhakti and a Sufi teacher.
and he is not definitely a God for Hindus or anyone.
there's a big difference between a well-revered Saint and a God.
Baba Haji Ali is also followed and revered by a very large number of Hindus and Sikhs, but no one think him as a 'God'. Sufi saints are very popular with Hindus.

[indopak]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

oopss didn't answer your questions

how much young indian hindus give importance to their religion and values ?

for me, the freedom is the best. I don't have to go to the temple everyday or pray much in order to be a good human being. scriptures are mostly guidelines to life and no rules as such and so Hinduism is not a religion in the traditional sense. All religions believe in the same one God just have different names to refer to that God.

1. Do you go to mandir ? how often ? just once in a while during religious festivals for fun

   1. Do you believe and pray to a particular God or have statue at home. Like Pallav Potter said all gods in Hinduism are an incarnation of the one true God(formless, timeless, undefinable). So I personally pray directly to God and not so much any of the particular avatars/incarnations.

4 Are you a vegitarian (shakahari ) due to religious reasons ? no, i'm one of those brahmins that eats fish and chicken, tried pork and beef by accident and felt like throwing up so i'm really careful now.:D Oh and of course we don't eat nonveg on special religious days

1. What family valuse are practised religiously in your family ? Just all of the usual Indian family values including touching the feet of elders when you first meet them, whole family never gave any importance to the caste system and they taught all the good things about Indian culture and never said anything derogatory about it.

Please accept my apologies if i have used any wrong wordings due to ignorance regarding your faith. You didn't say anything wrong ji and thanks for asking :) When I see Hindu/Muslim riots in India, religion is causing more harm than good for me. Religion is the cause of destruction around the world so my faith in God isn't very strong

[indopak]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

@zxcvb

3. Does your family home has a small room for prayers with statue and stuff ( just like they show in movie / drama ?
   No, but we do have a Bar.

cool!

@zxcvb

5. What family valuse are practised religiously in your family ?
   Be a good person. Respect only those that deserve respect.

I liked how you put this.

[indopak]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

hehe...:Di didn't use the word 'anybody'. I was refering to the things i mentioned above.

misread what you wrote before.....mujhe mauf karo ji:o

[ssingh]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

@indopak

misread what you wrote before.....mujhe mauf karo ji:o

chalo maaf kar dia...:o..lol

[ssingh]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

and i didn't mention one more thing, I meditate daily even though i don't go to any temple.

[pallavpotter]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

@ indo-pak

no, i'm one of those brahmins that eats fish and chicken, tried pork and beef by accident and felt like throwing up so i'm really careful now.:D Oh and of course we don't eat nonveg on special religious days

:P you a Kashmiri Pandit Brahmin or a Bong/Mallu Brahmin?????
Gosh, pork is tasty! havent tried beef already, but do intend to.

[indopak]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

@ indo-pak

no, i'm one of those brahmins that eats fish and chicken, tried pork and beef by accident and felt like throwing up so i'm really careful now.:D Oh and of course we don't eat nonveg on special religious days

:P you a Kashmiri Pandit Brahmin or a Bong/Mallu Brahmin????? Gosh, pork is tasty! havent tried beef already, but do intend to.

KPs but distant descendants of them....anyway, we never ate pork or beef but my cousins that grew up in India eat both. I wanna stay open minded and try new things but I personally can't stomach either of the two.

Kinda wish there was some way to edit the caste system out yaar. I wish it wasn't a part of Hinduism, it just seems so completely out of place.

[Code_Red]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

@Azad

nice topic code_red :k:

bachpan main hum bhi jaya karte the dost ke saat mandir (hum hindu nahi hain), ghalban mangalwar ko aksar/sub log yellow color ka dress behnay howe hote the. pehlay pehil to barray Pojari jee bhaga dayte the baad main theek ho gay the our humain palm reading (?? rekha) ka thorra bohut seekha dayte.

thead daikh kar yaad socha share kar lain aap logon se.

topic pasand karney our apni yad’dasht share karney ka Bohat shukria ! Azad sahab, tashreef latey raha karain .. Apki izzat afzayee hamarey hosley barhati hai

@Rocking_vibes

Before I answer your questions…I beleive that hinduism is a way of living and not a religion. It may recomend many practises but you don’t become a super hindu if you follow them all and you don’t become an outcast if you don’t follow any. I only beleive in Karma because I have seen it work for me so many times in my life. The concept of Karma motivates me to do good deeds and help other people regardless of religion/creed/color or cast. I make a point to fast once a month during the purnimas(full moon) every month to dicipline myself…which I have been doing for the last ten-fifteen years…Nobody in my family follows it…its just my way of devoton to God.
.

This is indeed a good thing that your religion /way of life is quite flexible :k:
What is karma ? please explain for a layman if you have some time. thanks

[Code_Red]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

@pallavpotter

and the birth religion of Sai Baba is not confirmed. some say he was a Hindu and some say he was a Muslim by birth. but he definitely was a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity. he lived in a Mosque and was buried in a Temple. he was both a Bhakti and a Sufi teacher. and he is not definitely a God for Hindus or anyone. ** there's a big difference between a well-revered Saint and a God.** Baba Haji Ali is also followed and revered by a very large number of Hindus and Sikhs, but no one think him as a 'God'. Sufi saints are very popular with Hindus.

Thanks for answering pallavpotter :) You are saying there is a big difference between a saint and a God for hindus . Can you explain that difference.
Plus i am surprised as almost all who answered the questions are veg for one or two days of week. I assumed that mostly hindus are strict vegitarians (atleast practising ones ). So do you folks use special utensil for cooking non-veg food or dont care much ?

@indopak

oopss didn't answer your questions

how much young indian hindus give importance to their religion and values ?

for me, the freedom is the best. I don't have to go to the temple everyday or pray much in order to be a good human being. scriptures are mostly guidelines to life and no rules as such and so Hinduism is not a religion in the traditional sense. All religions believe in the same one God just have different names to refer to that God.

1. Do you go to mandir ? how often ? just once in a while during religious festivals for fun

   1. Do you believe and pray to a particular God or have statue at home. Like Pallav Potter said all gods in Hinduism are an incarnation of the one true God(formless, timeless, undefinable). So I personally pray directly to God and not so much any of the particular avatars/incarnations.

4 Are you a vegitarian (shakahari ) due to religious reasons ? no, i'm one of those brahmins that eats fish and chicken, tried pork and beef by accident and felt like throwing up so i'm really careful now.:D Oh and of course we don't eat nonveg on special religious days

So you are one of those 'BigRey howey Brahmin' :D

[quote]

Please accept my apologies if i have used any wrong wordings due to ignorance regarding your faith. You didn't say anything wrong ji and thanks for asking :) When I see Hindu/Muslim riots in India, religion is causing more harm than good for me. Religion is the cause of destruction around the world so my faith in God isn't very strong

[/quote]

I totally disagree with you here

Religion is not cause of destruction neither here nor anywhere else. It is primary human nature. Man uses religion as tool for destruction. Muslim ruled 1000 years in india and about 800 years in spain. Left marks on the society and beautiful legacy behind them. Still both places are predominently non-muslim

[_Namkeen]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

@Code_Red

I sometime wonder how much young indian hindus give importance to their religion and values ?

For Pakistani middle class (whether living in pakistan or abroad ) mostly they are skewed towards religion and uphold values seriously. Extreme poverty and extreme richness are different ball game.

Now If someone would like to answer a few questions it would be quite interesting

1. Do you go to mandir ? how often ?
2. Do you believe and pray to a particular God or have statue at home
3. Does your family home has a small room for prayers with statue and stuff ( just like they show in movie / drama ?
   4 Are you a vegitarian (shakahari ) due to religious reasons ?
4. What family valuse are practised religiously in your family ?

Please accept my apologies if i have used any wrong wordings due to ignorance regarding your faith.

I used to be a practicing Hindu at one time, and I was very much into the religion as I was searching for spiritual fulfillment. I am no longer one, but here is the feedback you asked for:

1 - I’d go to the Mandir every Thursday evening and Saturday morning at 7 am. The community would gather to pray together, it was sorta like a jummah prayer. After the worship, it was an opportunity to mingle with the community. High school and college kids would volunteer to teach Scriptures, Hindi/Sanskrit/other indian languages, Classical Music/Dance etc. to the youngsters on weekends.

2 - I do not; however my family acknowledges all Gods, and gives a special reverance to its “kul devta” (lineage God) who is Tirupati Balaji. Since they reside in Maharashtra, they also celebrate Ganpati. Shankaracharya and Sai Baba are also worshipped, and as far as i have seen, there is no distinction made between saints and gods.

3 - Yes, my home has a separate room for worship. Just like in a mandir, na-pak things are not allowed. Like you cannot enter the room without washing up first. Pooja is done in the morning, right after bathing. Since everyone’s timings are different, ppl worship individually. On festivals, everyone prays together.

4 - I am not vegetarian. All members of my family, with the exception of my dad are strict vegetarians. He restricts his non-veg diet to fish and chicken.

5 - Family values emphasize respect to elders, daily prayers, no meat/alcohol consumption at home, observe/celebrate cultural festivals (seems like there’s atleast one every month!)

[indopak]

Re: Young indians and sprituality

So you are one of those 'BigRey howey Brahmin' :D

actually that's how our particular community has always been. We've always been non-veg(fish/chicken eaters) because we're in the same community as Kashmiri Pandits who also eat non-veg, only a few are strict veg.
The only brahmins that eat nonveg are kashmiri brahmins(KPs) and their descendants and Bengali brahmins. KPs are in the same brahmin community as us.

I totally disagree with you here

Religion is not cause of destruction neither here nor anywhere else. It is primary human nature. Man uses religion as tool for destruction. Muslim ruled 1000 years in india and about 800 years in spain. Left marks on the society and beautiful legacy behind them. Still both places are predominently non-muslim

I like the sentence in bold. It makes a lot of sense and you're right. It's incredible how diverse India is in terms of culture, language and religion and it's something to be proud of, so me being the little outsider Indian Amerikan just wishes that the clashes between the various religious groups would lessen or completely end. Hope that will be possible one of these days :).