Is Hinduism an organised religion?
Hinduism is not an organized religion such as we ordinarily consider one to be. There is no Hindu church, no Hindu Pope, no Hindu Rome, Jerusalem or Mecca that all Hindus should go to, no Hindu messiah or prophet all Hindus must revere, no one Hindu Bible all Hindus must read. Hinduism has no prescribed day of the week for worship, no one prescribed mass, ritual or call to prayer that everyone must do. The different sects within Hinduism have their different ashrams, temples, leaders, holy places, holy days and holy books, but there is no one set of these for all Hindus.
May 31st, 2007 at 2:38 pm
although we are not a “organised” faith we are the greatest religion on the planet, but in my eyes a little bit of uniformity is not a bad thing, that way we Hindus are all on one platform able to talk in one voice with out contradiction, even the Sikh clergy issued such a booklet years and years ago which has worked wonders in their faith making them stronger and united.
June 1st, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Hindus have never been organized as a religion, but have always fought for Dharma. That is why we still exist as a unique people with unique tradition/culture/language etc because our ancestors protected and upheld Dharma, and Dharma in turn protected us!
June 4th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
hindu religion does beleive in dogmas or overall supremacy of a governace.
we all are gods within…then why do we need a pope? we can all perform pooja and pray then why do we need clergy, cardinals or pastors?
we all can learn from the system in the west to see organised religion brainwashes you , you become like a puppet not a human , organised religion breeds funatics.
our religion is open to all ‘no boss’ - we all are boss.
June 8th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Brother, you shall have to explain how we can all be gods within, when Bhagwan Shri Krishna has Himself described two kinds of human ‘Sampadas’: Daivi and ‘Aasuri’; godly and demoniac. (Gita 16:6)
Also, how can we say there are no boss, we all are boss, when our Scriptures and traditions have sung such great importance of Guru that he has been described as Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh all combined, nay, as saakshaat param Brahm: Gurur Brahma, Gurur Vishnuh, Gurur Devo Maheshwarah, Gurur Saakshaat Param Brahm….?
Please enlighten.
June 13th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Krishna is the field and the actor.
We are but transient expression of ego created by Krishna to do karma. To the extent we identify with the ego there are bosses and other dualities. To the extent we surrender ourselves to Krishna we give everything (including our ego) away then who can be our boss - there is no us only Krishna.
It is not so much that there is god within us, rather that there is only god and our ego’s failure to realize that (TAT).
Our organization is SatCitAnanda. Our organization is Brahman. The truth, the awareness/consciuosness/discriminating, the bliss of divine love, the reality that is. This is the organization. The Vedas (the knowledge/knowing) reflect this fundamental. Thus like persons experimenting with looking at the sun (Tat Savitur) we all are organized into how the eye (atman) is overwhelmed without the buddhi to turn inward and find the sun within/everpresent (Brahman). And that personal relationship with tat savitur is Aum is the jivamukta is the identity of ego-self and Brahman-self. We are organized around truth (as opposed to a book, or a messiah, or a city, or a personality, or a series of saints - these define simple religions not the ultimate truth seeking that is hinduism).
hariaum
June 22nd, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Sri Krishna explains that there 3 modes sativ , rajasiv , and tamsic yes all humans have different qualities but we have modes of gods inside us…… some meditate to find this god within….some do yogas, some do devotional service ….. we have gods within our bodies but are so ignorant of this that we continue to see each other as only mere flesh and not as spiritual beings……..
sativ is the highest mode you become close to god and god becomes within you!!!!!!
June 27th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Hinduism is a recent label when in reality it a way of thinking and understanding of life which commenced with those who uttered the Vedas. It is as much a religion as Science is a religion of understanding the the forces of nature.
The very nature of this process results in a wide range of experiments resulting in various segments giving rise to some of the most profound thinker across the spectrum human experiece. We therefore have so many groups within this vast painting.
The rich diversity of traditions and practices that have resulted should make anyone proud of the ability of the ancestors, who walked the soil of the Indian Subcontinent, to create various tools to understand the Ultimate reality. The way to the infiinite have to be infinite!
July 6th, 2007 at 11:57 pm
Does the often disparity in belief and the fluidity of our religion lend itself to weakness in any way?
I know many people hide behind the suggestion that its OK to do certain things because Hinduism is “flexible” and its up to the individual.
Some Hindus say you should eat meat, some say you cant, some say pray to this God, some say pray to this one, some say do this some say do that. In all of this confusion, Hindus seem to find it convenient and easy to hide and announce that we Hindus are allowed to do anything!
Sometimes I wonder if a little rigidity or atleast uniformity might help strengthen us as a communitee?