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Old 04-13-2008, 01:16 PM
 
Location: The world, where will fate take me this time?
3,162 posts, read 11,403,215 times
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If you have ever heard of yoga, meditation, vegetarianism, karma, reincarnation, kundalini, chakra, mantra, shakti, shanti and Om, for example, you have, to one degree or another, been exposed to the oldest of the major religions known as Sanatan Dharma otherwise known as Hinduism. If you have ever heard of, or met, a Pandit, Yogi, Yogini, Sadhu, Swami or Guru, you have been introduced to a priest or spiritual teacher of Sanatan Dharma/Hinduism.

Sanatan Dharma is a Sanskrit word meaning "Eternal Truth/Teachings/Tradition. Sanatan Dharma is the recognition of the spiritual essence of life and its infinite expressions. The Eternal Truth is also about many common-sense universal principles that make-up the spiritual lifestyle that helps one to uncover the Divine that flows through all things.

The words Hindu and Hinduism came from the usage of the term Sindhu. "Outsiders" who encountered Sanatanists living near the Sindhu river in the western portion of Bharat (the original and still used Sanskrit name for India) referred to them as "Sindhus" and their unique form of worship as "Sindhuism." Though there was a Sindhu river, Sindhu is actually a generic term for river, and many believe this term was used in a metaphorical sense implying the river or spirituality that flows through all thing–in other words, Sanatan Dharma. With this understanding, the terms Sanatan Dharma and Hinduism become interchangeable with an identical meaning.

It is very important to understand that, though is was first in Bharat/India that Sanatan Dharma/Hinduism was encountered, Hinduism is not confined to just a geographical location and certainly not simply to an ethnic group. Just as there are Christians, for example, who are not from the Middle East, not Hebrew and do not speak Aramaic, there are Hindus of all races and nationalities. And, just as anyone can become a Christian, anyone can become a Hindu.

Sanatan Dharma/Hinduism is considered to be the oldest religion that is still adhered to by millions around the world. No one knows how old is Sanatan Dharma, and there is of course no one founder. Sanatan Dharma has also "given birth" to several other major religions; i.e., Buddhism, the Jain and Sikh religions. Sanatan Dharma/Hinduism is, of course, the religion of all aspects of (classical) yoga–though yogic spiritual disciplines are also taught by the Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs.

First, we recognize the difference between belief and faith. A belief is something that may or may not be true. Faith is assurance or a guarantee. Yes, faith is very often used to just mean "accept it,"therefore these distinctions are very important to understand. For example, for a long time it was believed that the earth was flat, now we have the assurance or faith in a round world. Obviously, the key to faith is experience. This is central to Hinduism. While it is certainly fine to have beliefs as long as one is "working" on them and testing their truth or untruth. However, each one is encouraged to develop a solid faith grounded in experience.

The Sanskrit for the word "faith" is Visvaswhich means "to breath easy" or "to let go." In other words, after a thorough testing of one's beliefs when arrives at the relaxed state of faith or assurance. For example, one may have heard of the belief in Karma, but when one begins to experience the effects of this natural law one develops a solid faith in the law of Karma. It is in this spirit that beliefs that turn out to be true and the word faith can be used with wisdom. Of course, we always want to avoid blind beliefs–merely "believing" in something (or someone) simply because one is asked (or perhaps forced) to believe. With these thoughts in mind, consider the following beliefs/faiths of Hinduism:

*Tat Tvam Asi: Thou Art That. "That" is the soul–the essential nature of everyone. This is the foremost belief of Hinduism

*Sat-Chit-Ananda: These three Sanskrit words describe the triple nature of spirit which is; Existence (Sat) / Consciousness (Chit) / Bliss (Ananda)

*Yoga: The process by which one experiences the reality of the soul. All Hindus, to one degree or another, live a spiritual/religious lifestyle following the various aspects of (Classical) Yoga; i.e., Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga and Jnana Yoga.

*Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti: (One Truth; Many Names and Forms) The realization that the spirit assumes infinite forms.

*Brahman & Ishvara: Impersonal & Personal aspects of Spiritual-Reality

*Advaita & Divaita: Spiritual-Reality is non-dual (absolute) and dual (relative) or "One and Many." (Therefore, Hinduism does not claim to be an only way but rather respects all sincere religious paths.)

*Karma: The natural law of cause and effect. (Do good, reap good. This is good Karma.)

*Sannyasa: Renunciation, God the cosmic dreamer has separated his consciousness into all the cosmic manifestations, with souls individualized from His own One Being endowed with the egoity to dream their personalized existences, a renouncer of this egoity ingrained through avidya (ignorance) will renounce to all desires springing from the ego and its environments, which cause separetness between ego and Spirit; and by reunion with the Cosmic Dreamer through ecstatic yoga meditation (samadhi) man detaches himself from and ultimately dissolves the compellent forces of Nature that perpetuate the delusive dichotomy of the Self and Spirit.

*Reincarnation: The natural law of changing form/body. (This is happening all the time.)

*Dharma: The natural laws of duty/tradition. (For example, Rita Dharma are the regular "duties" of nature–"sunrise/sunset," to name one.)

*Puja/Worship: The fact that everyone will at some point seek/pray to some form or aspect of spiritual reality.

*Vedas: The original scripture of Sanatan Dharma/Hinduism. (Hindus look to many scriptures for guidance and inspiration.)
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Old 04-13-2008, 01:33 PM
 
4,897 posts, read 18,436,641 times
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thank you so much for posting this
i am by tradition Catholic, but have always even as a child questioned many things about religion in genera. i thinkmany of the words if not the meaning are things that are becoming mainstream now in the US.
i like the concepts and i think its something that can be added to my current religion. i have never renounced catholisism and probably never will. it is a part of me and my culture and has always been a part of my life. it is something in me, even with all my questions and the fact that i dont completely believe some things.
i see nothing in what you wrote that could go against catholisism...
and i love learning moe so i can finally find my niche-
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Old 04-13-2008, 06:43 PM
 
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Thank you for sharing a bit about Hinduism ; but because Jesus Christ claimed to be the actual Creator of the Universe and proved it by a historical ressurection from the dead to which there were over 500 eye witnesses in addition to fulfilling over 400 specific prophecies about himself.... I believe in , follow, and have made Jesus the Lord , Saviour, and King of my life . Because he did these things whatever he said has to be true ; and one of the most emphatic things he ever said was that : He was the way to heaven, the absolute truth, and the life , and that no one would ever get to heaven except thru him alone. This discounts the credibility of all other world religions or philosophies that claim to be the way. Regards.
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Old 04-13-2008, 07:35 PM
 
Location: The world, where will fate take me this time?
3,162 posts, read 11,403,215 times
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Jesus is a Mahayogi or master in the art of uniting the single soul with the absolute spirit, when the realized soul of a human being becomes one with God, he becomes a Christ, the highest stage of human evolution.

God the father has a triple nature as Existence (Sat) Consciousness (Chit) and Joy (Ananda) the projection of his consciousness in the creation is the true begotten son of God (Sat) also known as the universal consciousness or Christ (Krishna) consciousness, this consciousness is the guiding principle behind creation which is energized and animated by the Sacred vibration, Holy spirit or word of God (OM).

Humans and other lifeforms descended from Sat into Tat and OM; Tat is what constitutes their consciousness and OM the life energy that animates us, the combination of Consciousness (Tat) and Spirit (Om) creates 3 macroscopic planes and 3 microscopic planes, the three microscopic planes are the causal (ideational) astral (energetic) and physical universes, the three microscopic planes are the individual expressions inside every human being and other less evolved lifeforms.

Quote:
John 14:6

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
We can see that Jesus was 100% right when he stated this, in order to find God we need to go back where we came from, so we need to return to the Son or Christ consciousness first by:

Constant meditation and/or prayer (Janna Yoga)
Right action without expecting something in return (Karma Yoga)
Devotion (Bhakti Yoga)
Physical excersices to energize our body (Hatha Yoga)

Prayer and meditation are spiritual disciplines that disconnect our identification with matter and the senses and help us remember our true nature as souls.

When our souls are identified with body consciousness we become under the influence of maya (cosmic delusion) and avidya (individual delusion or ignorance) which creates ego consciousness, when deluded and tempted by cosmic delusion or psychological satan, the soul becomes the limited ego, which identifies itself with the body and the body's relatives and possesions.

The soul, as the ego, ascribes to itself all the limitations and circumscriptions of the body. Once so identified, the soul can no longer express its omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence. It imagines itself to be limited- just as a rich prince, wandering in an state of amnesia in the slums, might imagine himself to be a pauper. In this state of delusion, King Ego takes command of the bodily kingdom.

The soul consciousness can say with the awakened Christ in Jesus "I and my Father are one." The deluded ego consciousness says, "I am the body; this is my family and name; these are my possesions." Though ego thinks it rules, it is in reality a prisoner of the body and mind, which in turn are pawns of the subtle machinations of Cosmic Nature.

In the macrocosm of creation a great battle between Spirit and the imperfect expressions of Nature is continously going on. Everywhere on earth we are the witnesses of the silent struggle between perfection and imprerfection. The flawless patterns of Spirit strive ceaselessly against the ugly distorsions manifested by the universal delusory force of maya the deceiving attribute of the "devil." One power is consciously expressing all good; the other force is secretly at work to manifest evil.

Similarly in the microcosm: The human body and mind are veritable battlegrounds for the war between wisdom and the conscious delusive force manifesting as avidya, ignorance. Every spiritual aspirant, aiming to establish within himself the rule of King Soul, must defeat the revels, King Ego and his powerful allies.

Quote:
John 13:34
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

John 13:35
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
It is as simple as that, Love one another, regardless of your religion if you practice divine unconditional love, you are a true disciplie of Christ and are already saved, because when we love in this way the Christ (Krishna) consciousness is manifesting within ourselves.

ॐ Peace, Love, Light and Harmony.
May the divine love of God awaken in all our hearts.
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Old 04-13-2008, 08:40 PM
 
Location: Urbana, IL
84 posts, read 271,983 times
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You should expound a bit on Bhakthi...as it draws the closest parallels to sufism, the sacred heart of Jesus etc.

mark
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Old 04-13-2008, 08:58 PM
 
Location: The world, where will fate take me this time?
3,162 posts, read 11,403,215 times
Reputation: 1463
Quote:
Originally Posted by chambana View Post
You should expound a bit on Bhakthi...as it draws the closest parallels to sufism, the sacred heart of Jesus etc.

mark
Bhakti Yoga (Devanāgarī: भक्ति योग) is a term within Hinduism which denotes the spiritual practice of fostering loving devotion to God, called bhakti. Traditionally there are nine forms of bhakti-yoga. Bhakti yoga is generally considered the easiest of the four general paths to liberation, or moksha (the others being Karma, Raja and Jnana Yoga), bhakti is described as a perfectional stage in itself which surpasses even moksha as a level of spiritual realization. Hindu movements in which bhakti yoga is the main practice are called bhakti movements.

Bhakti is the Sanskrit term that signifies a blissful, selfless and overwhelming love of God as the beloved Father, Mother, Child, Friend or whichever relationship or personal aspect of God that finds appeal in the devotee's heart. Bhakti incorporates a number of universal principles, also common in other world religions. The 'Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu' (written by Rupa Gosvami) gives the following as the nine primary activities of bhakti, with the instruction that by following all, or just one, of these activities perfectly the aspiring devotee can achieve pure love of God:
  1. Hearing about the Lord - singing & chanting God's names (japa), hearing stories from scripture.
  2. Glorifying the Lord - describing God's all-attractive features.
  3. Remembering the Lord - internal meditation on the Lord's form, activities, names or personality.
  4. Serving the lotus feet of the Lord - providing a form of physical service.
  5. Worshiping the Lord - deity worship (puja) is a popular form of this within India.
  6. Offering prayers to the Lord - any form of prayer offered to please God.
  7. Serving the Lord - offering a service for Lord's pleasure, such as preaching activity.
  8. Building a friendship with the Lord - having an internal, loving relationship with God.
  9. Surrendering everything unto the Lord - surrendering one's thoughts, actions and deeds to God.
The scriptural source of these nine primary forms of bhakti is a verse in the Bhagavata Purana, spoken by Prahlada:

Excerpt taken from Bhakti yoga - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Was Christ a Yogi?

Jesus of Nazareth proved Himself to be a great Bhakti (devotion) Yogi, a true lover of God, by His unswerving devotion and His whole-hearted love for the Heavenly Father. His unceasing prayers, incessant supplications, constant meditation, and unflinching self-resignation to the will of the Almighty made Him shine like a glorious morning star in the horizon of love and devotion of a true Bhakti Yogi. Christ showed wonderful self-control and mastery over His mind throughout the trials and the sufferings. His sorrow, agony and self-surrender at the time of His death as well as before His crucifixion, are conclusive proofs that He was a human being with those divine qualities that adorn the soul of a true Bhakti Yogi. It is true that His soul laboured for a while under the heavy burden of His trials and sufferings; it is also true that He felt that His pain was becoming well-nigh unbearable, when He cried aloud three times, praying to the Lord: ‘O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me’. But He found neither peace nor consolation until He could absolutely reign His will to that of the Father and could say from the bottom of His heart, ‘Thy will be done’. The complete self-surrender and absolute self-resignation are the principal virtues of Bhakti Yoga, and as Christ possessed these to perfection up to the last moment of His life, He was a true Bhakti Yogi.

Excerpt taken from the article
Was Christ a Yogi?

By Swami Abhedananda
Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, Calcutta.

Quote:
Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me. (B-Gita 9.34)
Quote:
One can understand Me as I am, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of Me by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God. (B-Gita 18.55)

Last edited by Travelling fella; 04-13-2008 at 09:11 PM..
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Old 04-13-2008, 08:58 PM
 
790 posts, read 4,011,370 times
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Travelling Fella,
I appreciate many of your posts but i would like you to source them, ie; give credit where credit is due because it is my sense that these are not your words.
I may be "hanged" for saying that but i got a thing about this kinda thing.
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Old 04-13-2008, 09:12 PM
 
Location: The world, where will fate take me this time?
3,162 posts, read 11,403,215 times
Reputation: 1463
Quote:
Originally Posted by rubyskye View Post
Travelling Fella,
I appreciate many of your posts but i would like you to source them, ie; give credit where credit is due because it is my sense that these are not your words.
I may be "hanged" for saying that but i got a thing about this kinda thing.
I'm trying to quote the sources as much as possible, and nope don't worry about being hanged, in all fairness there should be credit, where credit is due.

I'm gonna place all the sources here.

Sanatana Dharma

Was Christ a Yogi?
By Swami Abhedananda
Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, Calcutta.

Bhakti yoga - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita: Paramahansa Yogananda: Books

Last edited by Travelling fella; 04-13-2008 at 09:32 PM..
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Old 04-13-2008, 09:15 PM
 
Location: Urbana, IL
84 posts, read 271,983 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Travelling fella View Post
I'm trying to quote the sources as much as possible, and nope don't worry about being hanged, in all fairness there should be credit, where credit is due.

Ultimately credit is due to...the enlightened ones
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Old 04-13-2008, 09:27 PM
 
4,897 posts, read 18,436,641 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by IbeDavid View Post
Thank you for sharing a bit about Hinduism ; but because Jesus Christ claimed to be the actual Creator of the Universe and proved it by a historical ressurection from the dead to which there were over 500 eye witnesses in addition to fulfilling over 400 specific prophecies about himself.... I believe in , follow, and have made Jesus the Lord , Saviour, and King of my life . Because he did these things whatever he said has to be true ; and one of the most emphatic things he ever said was that : He was the way to heaven, the absolute truth, and the life , and that no one would ever get to heaven except thru him alone. This discounts the credibility of all other world religions or philosophies that claim to be the way. Regards.
it's nice that you belive in something--but that should not discredit anyone else from trying to become more enlightened and getting closer to God.
just because people think differently from you, does not mean they are wrong--try to remember that this is a religion and philosophy forum--not just a christian forum--i am sure there are plenty of those.
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