1.Religion is individualistic.Indian Philosophy ia a way of living.It does not contain mere abstract principles,nor does it have dogma.It is characterised by the following facts.
1.Religion is individualistic..Allows Freedom of Choice.
2.No community worshipping is sanctioned.
3.Unbelievers are not doomed to hell.
4.Every one of its premises may be questioned.
5You need not believe in God to achieve salvation.
6.Admits Freewill as well as Determinism.
7.There is no Heaven or hell.
8.None can escape the consequences of their actions
9.God can not interfere in your day to day affairs.
10.Concept of Time is non-linear.It is cyclic.
11.There is no separate entity in charge of Evil.
12.There is nothing called Good or Evil.
13.You can lead a normal life amidst the process of realising Godhood.
14.Family as the fundamental unit.
15.Duty of parents,children.
16.Duty of husband/Wife.
17.Social reponsibility
18.Accountability to other living Beings
19.Live in Harmony aith Nature
20.Performance of Action.
21.Practice of Sex.
21.Contentment.
Hinduism-Least known facts.
Comments
2 responses to “Hinduism-Least known facts.”
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A few changes suggested
Fact No 9. God can interfere in your day to day life. But, he does it very rarely. If God is incapable of it, then he cannot be omnipotent and God’s Grace will be of no value.
Fact No 7. There is Heaven as well as Hell. Gita and Upanishads clearly state this. But, Heaven and Hell are not eternal. One suffers in Hell or enjoys in Heaven in proportion to one’s sin or merit.
Fact No 12. There is the concept of punya & papa and also of dharma and adharma. These are almost same as good and evil.
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Let me first thank you for patiently going through a normally dry subject.
The points mentioned by you are of relevance as for as Apara(day to day world is concerned).From the stand point of Ultimate knowledge of Brahman , since there is there is no differentiation between Paramatman and Jivatman(they appear to be differentiated because of Avidya at the individual level , Maya at the Universal level), at that level there is no punya , no papa etc. for the since the Reality is undifferentiated there can be nothing apart from it.This is not my view; it is the view of Sruthi and the interpretation of Srimad Bhagavad Pada.
At the same time what you say is true as well for Smritis , Puranas and Ithihaasas mention it.Why go that far?Even Shankarachaya after his Advaita, finally lands up saying’Samprapte sannihitae kaalae, nahi nahi rakshati ruk tun karane’ Bhaja Govindam.
“When your end is near, all the logic and philosophy you espouse shall not come to your rescue”
Take the instance Sri Rama; he could have finished of Ravana in a second;for that matter He could have, as Lord Vishnu could have prevented every thing without his avatar.Same is the case with Krishna.
We shall find Saguna Upasana and Nirguna Upasana in all Sahsranamas-clearly delineated in Sri Lalitha SahasraNama;in Nirguna we shall find Priciples being accorded pride of place over individual attributes of God.
Why this dichotomy?
There is no dichotomy if we understand the concept of Transcendental Knowledge and transitory knowledge.So long as we are with out realization of the Self, we are to believe and follow these Precepts. Once we start practicing these, Ultimate Knowledge shall dawn; then these things become meaningless.Till then these have validity.Little difficult to digest;fact is Truth always appears to be self contradictory because of our limitations.
When one goes through Srimad Bhagavad Gita, we shall find seemingly contradictory statements between Bhakti,Gnana and Karma Yoga.They are not.When one follows the overall message these contradictions shall melt away.One can see this if one concentrates on Gita.
Regarding Dharma and Adharma, the same logic holds good.You may refer my blog in this site on Christianity.
Omnipotence need not be interference.Whatever happens it is His Will, based on one’s Karma(By God I denote Brahman, being an Advaitin).How Karma binds, Brahman calls for another Blog.
Sorry reply seems to be longer than the essay.
The subject is too abstract and has so much details , I am tempted to write a piece on this aspect alone for inquirers.
Fell free to comment.
Effectively Brahman is a Principle of which we are a part
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