help understanding hinduism please
- Thread starter alain
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Your question doesn't make sense and has no reference to the actual religion or belief.
You suggest that the reason hindus have this belief is because it's the oldest, this is very missleading.
Defining Hinduism is a daunting task that requires one to pretty much include several religions, sub-religions, movements and sects within a certain geographical boundrary and call them 'Hinduism'. Hinduism isn't a unified religion in the way Christianity or Islam is, and it is practiced in many different ways and each tradition has different roots and different beginings throughout history. It wasn't untill the 1500s that a somewhat unified Hinduism was definied.
What is true is that the beginnings of Hinduism are far more ancient than what is evident for all the rest of our major religions, even surpassing Judaism. The Veda scripts are among the most ancient and prolific writings available today surpassing the Torah by at least 1000 years. But the beliefs and traditions they convey are today somewhat different from what they are today.
To your credit, many Hindus consider that the fact that Hinduism is so ancient and has survived so long is a testament to the religions tolerance of outside influence and it's ability to intergrate with different stages of real life. This they are proud of but thats not why the practice it or why they consider it to be the 'superior' religion (As obviously all religious people consider their own religion to be the best one).
You suggest that the reason hindus have this belief is because it's the oldest, this is very missleading.
Defining Hinduism is a daunting task that requires one to pretty much include several religions, sub-religions, movements and sects within a certain geographical boundrary and call them 'Hinduism'. Hinduism isn't a unified religion in the way Christianity or Islam is, and it is practiced in many different ways and each tradition has different roots and different beginings throughout history. It wasn't untill the 1500s that a somewhat unified Hinduism was definied.
What is true is that the beginnings of Hinduism are far more ancient than what is evident for all the rest of our major religions, even surpassing Judaism. The Veda scripts are among the most ancient and prolific writings available today surpassing the Torah by at least 1000 years. But the beliefs and traditions they convey are today somewhat different from what they are today.
To your credit, many Hindus consider that the fact that Hinduism is so ancient and has survived so long is a testament to the religions tolerance of outside influence and it's ability to intergrate with different stages of real life. This they are proud of but thats not why the practice it or why they consider it to be the 'superior' religion (As obviously all religious people consider their own religion to be the best one).
"There is no single person who created Hinduism ..."
all religions were created by a single person, unless two people had the same idea at exactly the same time, unlikely tho
"You suggest that the reason hindus have this belief is because it's the oldest, this is very missleading."
sorry exsto, but you have no idea what i suggest, for a start, i am trying to learn about Hindus, i am not trying to insult them, got that???
"Your question doesn't make sense and has no reference to the actual religion or belief."
thanks for that, i fail to see how my question doesn't make sense
"is it true that hindus believe that a belief that has been around for longer is more correct?"
get it yet??? good
"Hinduism isn't a unified religion in the way Christianity"
oh yes, unified all the way, ie Ireland, protestants vs catholics
maybe pasting in the religion section was a bad idea, if i could be bothered, id re-post it in the eastern philosophy section
all religions were created by a single person, unless two people had the same idea at exactly the same time, unlikely tho
"You suggest that the reason hindus have this belief is because it's the oldest, this is very missleading."
sorry exsto, but you have no idea what i suggest, for a start, i am trying to learn about Hindus, i am not trying to insult them, got that???
"Your question doesn't make sense and has no reference to the actual religion or belief."
thanks for that, i fail to see how my question doesn't make sense
"is it true that hindus believe that a belief that has been around for longer is more correct?"
get it yet??? good
"Hinduism isn't a unified religion in the way Christianity"
oh yes, unified all the way, ie Ireland, protestants vs catholics
maybe pasting in the religion section was a bad idea, if i could be bothered, id re-post it in the eastern philosophy section
"There is no single person who created Hinduism ..."
all religions were created by a single person, unless two people had the same idea at exactly the same time, unlikely tho
I think that what he's saying is that Hinduism wasn't created, it was incorporated from varying belief structures. But, of course, that can be said of all religions and belief systems. So there you go.
I don't know about the belief of ancient traditions being more valid than newer ones. I've never heard of it, but I've never really studied much on Hinduism. Yeah, you probably would have been better off posting this in Eastern Philosophy. Maybe you can get a mod to move it?
There is an interesting practice that they have. I don't recall the name, but it was believed that when a man died, his wife should go with him. They'd dig a wide pit and place the dead man inside. His wife would sit behind. Holding him between her knees. She'd hold her husband with one hand, holding the other hand in the air. They'd fill in the pit and they'd bury them all the way up to her wrist. She would spin her hand around as long as she was able. There's an ancient belief for you. I think the last one documented was only about a hundred years ago. The british put a stop to it.
Otherwise India would have remained "widowless" country..uh.? The same british earlier fought against the 'widows' of the fallen indians during indian freedom struggle centuries back. how come.?invert_nexus said:
The westerners always mix up some wierd eastern custom and societal practices of sub-groups with their religious belief in a generalised manner. They forget to remember that there is no single religious authority like church that influence the society what to do and not. There is no command in hinduism that the widow should die along with her husband.
I never heard of this burial practice story ; but there were some groups (there were hundreds of groups based on sects, sub-sects, castes, ethinicity, geography, language etc though all come under the umberlla - hinduism ) who made the widow of the disceased man to burn along with his body, either willingly or forcibly. again this is not a common practice of all hindus. This practice came to an end by the efforts of the social-reform movments.
It was just a way to show how long she lived, I think. The longer the better. I don't recall the specifics.
Everneo,
I'm not certain how widespread it was. I'd be willing to bet that it was just part of a subgroup that practiced it. I read about it in the Masks of God by Joseph Campbell. It's been awhile and don't recall the specifics. I need to go down and check them out again. Good books.
It's important to note that this was a strictly voluntary practice. The widows were not forced to do this. They did it because it was custom. And with the notion of reincarnation, they're not too worried about dying. Dying in this way probably gives them an edge on the next life.
I wish I could remember the name of the practice. It had a specific name. If I knew it, I could do a web search and see what there is to see on the internet. I wouldn't be surprised to find that it has the same name as the funeral pyre practice.
Invert : You're refering to Sati.
Another form of sati is Jowhar. Sati is death of the woman by fire and Jowhar is death by burial or just jumping from a very high place. It was manily practised by the Rajputs, one of the kshatriya clans in northern India. Thanks to the british and reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy it came to an end. They had pretty high ideals of honour, dignity and chivalry, part of the reason why they fell to the Mughals.
Very often, the widow committing sati was not voluntary. The community expected her to do it, and if she didn't she'd earn the wrath of the community.
As far as I know hinduism does not advocate it's superiority based upon it's age.
Hinduism isn't nearly a religion, as much as it's a way of life.
Another form of sati is Jowhar. Sati is death of the woman by fire and Jowhar is death by burial or just jumping from a very high place. It was manily practised by the Rajputs, one of the kshatriya clans in northern India. Thanks to the british and reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy it came to an end. They had pretty high ideals of honour, dignity and chivalry, part of the reason why they fell to the Mughals.
Very often, the widow committing sati was not voluntary. The community expected her to do it, and if she didn't she'd earn the wrath of the community.
As far as I know hinduism does not advocate it's superiority based upon it's age.
Hinduism isn't nearly a religion, as much as it's a way of life.
The reason sati was practised is something like this. The areas where sati was practised was constantly invaded by Muslim kings. If they defeated the local rulers then they would capture all the women folk and take them as their Harem( personal prostitutes.. not accorded the status of wife). This was considered as a insult and to avoid this whenever their hushand died in the battle women used to jump into the funeral pyre to end their life. Over the ages this was sort of considered as a great practice and even when the circumstances changed this did not go. Many people used to take advantage with all these things. To make people aware about the ill effects and to discontinue the pratice many social movements were launched. As a result it later subsided. Later this was banned as a illegal custom.
As to the question of understanding Hinduism it is a confluence of many rivers. When you take a glass of water can you ever say that it belongs to this river or that river? NO right, same way Hinduism is . The backbone of hinduism is the various values it preaches. It doesn't enforce anything on anyone. If you want to gain knowledge then you have to try. Often people have comeout with different versions of truth. It is something like seeing a diamond from different angles and each one claiming their light is authentic. Whenever something stays in the someform for a extended period of time then chances are their that it will become stale or it will perish. Even in hinduism from time to time great people have taken birth and have found new religions. This is something like a religious rebellion. Budhism, Jainism etc are all children of Hinduism. They tell the same truth in their own way.
It is something like teaching someone mathematics. SOme people may understand at the first lesson. Others may take time to understand. some may get it from the theory itself. others may need a more practical example. Hinduism contains lots of scriptures which is literally a sea of knowledge. All of them carry you towards the eternal light. Once someone has the capacity to recognize that then he will rise above all the petty issues concerning the religions. To him it is just a practice.
Here I have provided certain inputs as to what hinduism is and about its certain practices. Note that whenever and whereever i have used the word you it does not point towards anyone. It is just a general term.
As to the question of understanding Hinduism it is a confluence of many rivers. When you take a glass of water can you ever say that it belongs to this river or that river? NO right, same way Hinduism is . The backbone of hinduism is the various values it preaches. It doesn't enforce anything on anyone. If you want to gain knowledge then you have to try. Often people have comeout with different versions of truth. It is something like seeing a diamond from different angles and each one claiming their light is authentic. Whenever something stays in the someform for a extended period of time then chances are their that it will become stale or it will perish. Even in hinduism from time to time great people have taken birth and have found new religions. This is something like a religious rebellion. Budhism, Jainism etc are all children of Hinduism. They tell the same truth in their own way.
It is something like teaching someone mathematics. SOme people may understand at the first lesson. Others may take time to understand. some may get it from the theory itself. others may need a more practical example. Hinduism contains lots of scriptures which is literally a sea of knowledge. All of them carry you towards the eternal light. Once someone has the capacity to recognize that then he will rise above all the petty issues concerning the religions. To him it is just a practice.
Here I have provided certain inputs as to what hinduism is and about its certain practices. Note that whenever and whereever i have used the word you it does not point towards anyone. It is just a general term.
Good answer, Arao. Welcome to sciforums.
I'm curious, what brought you to this thread? Were you searching for sati? Did my bringing it up actually help the conversation?
I'm curious, what brought you to this thread? Were you searching for sati? Did my bringing it up actually help the conversation?
hey Alain, why get your feathers ruffeld? Relax.
Ok so I kind of did assume that you were out to bash Hinduism. Personaly I'm not a Hindu, nor religious in any way, nor am I atheist, nor agnostic.
I guess I'm just kind of tired of people laughing at things which they don't know. And you came in here to learn so that you can know and I commend that.
But there are better ways of learning about Hinduism than posing a question on a generaly heavily biased forum. And usualy the assumption is that when you come in here your out to pick intelectual squabbles with non-like minded individuals. Usualy posts here assume that the poster has got it all figured out and that everyone who says differently should be re-schooled.
Ok so I kind of did assume that you were out to bash Hinduism. Personaly I'm not a Hindu, nor religious in any way, nor am I atheist, nor agnostic.
I guess I'm just kind of tired of people laughing at things which they don't know. And you came in here to learn so that you can know and I commend that.
But there are better ways of learning about Hinduism than posing a question on a generaly heavily biased forum. And usualy the assumption is that when you come in here your out to pick intelectual squabbles with non-like minded individuals. Usualy posts here assume that the poster has got it all figured out and that everyone who says differently should be re-schooled.
Al - granted the shitheads in Northern Ireland and their refusal to let go of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, Christianity's still a pretty unified religion. Yeah, it has its three major divisions, and yeah, the Protestant division has divided many times unto itself, but basically all Christians accept certain, basic truths about God and Jesus. I don't know enough about Hinduism to say, but I don't know if there's that same contiuum of accepted belief.
I am a new member to this forum. My friend told me that some good discussions do happen here and hence I joined. I have a good thirst to learn new things.
This topic caught my intersest and hence i started posting.
Well this is just some information about a certain practice in a religion. Often practices like these have caught people's attention in different religions over ages. I feel certain geographical and political aspects have played role in all these things at that time.
This topic caught my intersest and hence i started posting.
Well this is just some information about a certain practice in a religion. Often practices like these have caught people's attention in different religions over ages. I feel certain geographical and political aspects have played role in all these things at that time.
"But there are better ways of learning about Hinduism than posing a question on a generaly heavily biased forum."
i dunno that there are, the entire internet is biased, so i might as well listen to a biased person who i can ask questions of, rather then just reading a website. a book might have been useful, but probably not
i dunno that there are, the entire internet is biased, so i might as well listen to a biased person who i can ask questions of, rather then just reading a website. a book might have been useful, but probably not