Since last couple of years, I am trying to know my religion. I have been ignorant. But the things happening around me, in my country have made me curious about my religion. Reading books, articles, trying to understand the festivals and rituals has added much to my knowledge. I am always searching for books written on Hindu Dharma. This quest has lead me to a book named “How I became a Hindu” By David Frawley.
Reading a book on Hindu Dharma written by a Hindu may contain biased views. So I thought of reading this book which has been authored by a person who was a Christian. An American Christian whose uncle worked for a Christian missionary. David Frawley studied Hindu Dharma for almost 20 years before accepting Hindu Dharma in 1991 with a new name, Vamadeva Shashtri. This book is his journey to India, across India and across globe learning and spreading Hindu Dharma.
The present situation is such that, Hindu Dharma is being attacked from all sides. The major role is being played by Christian missionaries and Muslim Madarsa. David Frawley explains how these missionaries and Madarsas are being funded by foreign sources to convert innocent and ignorant Hindus. The same money is also used to spread lies and hatred about the Hindu festivals and rituals. Often Hinduism is criticized for it’s caste system. You’ll understand that the differences that exist in our caste system are also present in Christianity and Islam.
He narrates about his spiritual experience in his conquest to self realization. His discovery of Yoga and meditation techniques which helped him reach a higher consciousness. During his travel across India he met Swamis, mystical sadhus and siddhas. The numerous temple visits across the country which strengthened his belief in Hindu Dharma. After accepting Hindu Dharma in 1991, He has dedicated his life towards writing books, articles and giving speeches in support of Hindu Dharma. He has been honored with Padma Bhushan for his contribution towards India and Hinduism.
If you are a Hindu and if you haven’t read this book, then you must. If you are not a Hindu and want to know about Hinduism, then this book is the best possible start for you. This book has given me a new purpose to know about my Dharma. The references used by the author will keep me busy reading for months. I have no doubt that this book will give you a fresh perspective on Hindu Dharma. Add this to your “must read” list.
Tag: Hinduism
My rants about God
The subject of this post is really boring. I mean, Why would I waste my time talking about God when I could use the same to watch a movie or listen to music or party with my friends? For some it would be, My family believes in God, So do I. A bunch of them will say, My friends don’t believe in God, So I don’t. The rest remain skeptic and will choose side according to their convenience. But there exist some like me, Who want answers. They may be theists. They may be atheists. But they search for answers. And while searching for the answers, They discover the meaning of that fourth word of the blog title.
Yes, I was an atheist once. For almost two years. The typical human being who cursed God for all the problems in his life. Because, Rather than searching for the solution of the problem, Cursing God was easy. And that blaming reached a peak where I turned into atheist. This stage was the worst stage of my life. And since I didn’t believe in God, I had no one to blame for my problems. It would have been very easy to start believing again and as a bonus, Get someone to blame for the problems. But I resisted. I wanted answers. I had to find answers. If someone asked me why I don’t believe in God, I had to answer. Being born in a Brahmin family, I was surrounded by believers who were ready to bomb me with questions.
Why so many people believe in God? Is this world filled with billions of fools who believe in something that doesn’t exist? Doctors, Engineers, Scientists, Why these highly literate people believe in God? Fools they are. I am the only intelligent person who doesn’t believe in God. I am different. Am I? Or it’s the other way round. This is the stage where I became skeptic. The question started haunting me. To believe or not to believe? In the process, Two years passed. Then came the bright and sunny day on which a small incident happened. That small incident turned me into a theist. I wish I could share that with you. It’s nothing extraordinary. But I cannot share it. Sometimes, I think I was a fool to turn theist because of that incident.
I turned theist but I couldn’t establish the definition of God. This thought process was something I cherished. I asked question to myself and Started searching for answers. It was quite fascinating that I already knew the answers but I hadn’t realized that these were the answers.
The first question that comes to you when you try to understand God is “Who created God?” One thing I learned while trying to find answers to the question is that, There are some questions which have answers in form of another question. Answer to the question is another question. The concept of God varies from religion to region. Hinduism has 33 types of God. Christianity believes in Jesus. Muslims have their faith in Allah. When some of them find it hard to believe in one concept of God, they create another concept. Thus religions were formed. In Hinduism, We believe that God exists but we cannot see God. To make it easier to worship, God was given a physical form. Human, Animal or a combination of both. Worship the form you like. I am attracted towards elephants because they are intelligent creatures and their life span is almost that of an average human. So I worship Lord Ganesh.
A bunch of people couldn’t accept this concept. They didn’t want human form but one human to represent God. Thus Jesus was born. Then there were some who didn’t like both the concepts. They found it convenient for God to be something without any form. Nothing should represent God. This was the era of Islam and Allah. There exist many other religions. I don’t want to go any deeper. The point is, Find a concept of God which is believable according to you.
What is God? Who is God? Two more question when I haven’t even answered the first question. I’ll answer these first. God, According to me, Is an energy. When I worship God, I find that some of the energy is transferred to me. It gives me a push. Motivates me. When I was in high school, I learned about Law of Conservation of energy. It says, Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed. It can be only transformed from one form to another. If I apply this concept to my concept of God, God can neither be created, Nor be destroyed. It can only transform from one form to another. Doesn’t this answer the question “Who created god?”?
In Hinduism, There are Gods like Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva. They are the examples of this energy. Brahma is the creator. Vishnu is the caretaker and Shiva is the destroyer. You can see that the same energy can act differently. We all are made of that same energy. How we use it, Is upto us. Because we have the ability to think. What is right and what is wrong. What is good and what is bad. It’s foolishness to blame God for what we do. Use your ability to think and have faith in God. You’ll make most out of this life.
I may be right, I may be wrong. This is just my concept of God.