Trip Around the Sun
46 of 52 – Hindu
Have traveled about
517,000,000 miles - 6 weeks to finish the Trip Around
the Sun.
From
Atheists:
A long essay
was sent – arguing that beliefs cannot be “chosen.” The first line:
Particular
attention will be devoted to the idea that it is possible to choose beliefs.
Response:
One hopes to win the
lottery, but one does
not believe he will.
Hope is a choice, while
belief is forced upon
the thinking man by data.
- Chuck Borough
When people of religion speak of belief, they are usually (without knowing it)
speaking not of belief, but of hope.
We do get to choose what to hope for.
Additionally, what we hope tells a lot about what we are.
(Is someone currently "hoping" for war?)
Quote sent from atheists:
"I beg
of you not to pollute the soul of childhood, not to furrow the cheeks
of mothers, by preaching a creed. Do not make the cradle as terrible as the
coffin.
Preach, I
pray you, the gospel of Intellectual Hospitality.”
- - Robert G. Ingersoll,
1887
Response:
I believe this is the ideal - freedom of thought - but I have never known how
to achieve it.
Again -
What do we do - tell Americans in various religions that they cannot teach
their children to believe in that religion?
I've watched the "brainwashing" - and seen both what I didn’t like
about it - and what seemed to be very beneficial - less dope use - less smoking
- less drinking - more college degrees - better leaders in society - better
fathers and mothers - etc. And the help for these benefits lasts for years and
years.
How do we achieve all this - and leave out religion? Will groups of atheists
put together sufficient programs - and stick to them for years and years? It is
not their record of activity.
I certainly would not want to start over – and try to
raise my five children without the help given by a good religion - and all the
effort it brings from organized people. From what I’ve seen of groups of
atheists, there is no way they could or would provide sufficient support for
this.
From the internet:
Hinduism:
The term 'spirituality' has
nothing to do with religion, as commonly understood. In fact, according to Sahaj Marg, spirituality begins
where religion ends.
Religion enforces an
externalization of the mind in man's search for God. Mysticism or spirituality
internalizes the search and directs the mind to the heart of man where the
search should really commence.
(To
the heart? Where? In one of the
ventricles? One of the Atria? Or in the thick
muscle about the left Ventricle? [My questions are not intended simply as
sarcasm.] What is this heart so many speak of and never define? Why use the
metaphor – let’s talk about the actual. – If there is an
actual.)
God is not something
external, waiting with a rod in hand to punish us for our transgressions.
He is inside us, and being
inside, if He punishes us, He has to endure that punishment Himself.
(He? Himself? There is a male something inside our hearts? Even
for the ladies?)
Spirituality, therefore,
focuses man's attention on the divine effulgence radiating in one's own heart, which
effulgence is created by the presence of the Creator Himself in the heart.
(Again – Heart, Himself ???)
This immediately presents the
Divine in an altered light and brings Him to a proximity
with one's own person which can hardly come any nearer. Being within us, such a
Being is not only always accessible, but readily reachable, and all that
spirituality requires of us to achieve the sense of oneness with God, is to
focus the mind inwards and approach Him with love.
(I can understand how these
metaphors can become influential in one’s life – but wouldn’t it make sense to
recognize that they are metaphors?)
Hinduism is a religious philosophy rather than
an abstract religion. It is based on the realization of truths and varied experiences
of thousands of sages from days immemorial and immortalized in the ancient
scriptures: The VEDAS. Hinduism was not founded by any single founder; nor is
it based on any single epic. The great epics, MahaBharata
and Ramayana were also written during these ancient times. According to Vedic
philosophy, every individual is potentially divine. The gradual unfolding of
the human divinity through various ways of self-culture, social and family
duties, responsibilities and ideals is the objective of the religion. We
believe that the supreme power manifested itself through various AVATHARS
(Incarnations) through the ages and will continue to do so to establish
universal Dharma. The supreme power is conceptualized through the trinity.
(The Trinity?)
(Somehow the older data is, the more it
is trusted. Among scientists, it is the opposite – the newer the data,
if tested, the more trusted. Often, newer data supplants older.)
Deities: (three hundred and thirty-three million Gods)
(Hmmm – If Mormons were
to give it a number – what would it be? Isn’t it interesting that the base Ten system of numbering – presumably the invention of man –
should work out so that the number of gods has six zeros all in a row in it? I
mean, why not 133,463,743 gods?)
The most prevalent
expression of worship for the Hindu comes as devotion to God and the Gods. In
the Hindu pantheon there are said to be three hundred and thirty-three million
Gods. Hindus believe in one Supreme Being. The plurality of
Gods are perceived as divine creations of that one Being. So, Hinduism
has one supreme God, but it has an extensive hierarchy of Gods. Many people
look at the Gods as mere symbols, representations of forces or mind strata, or
as various Personifications generated as a projection of man's mind onto an
impersonal pure Beingness. Many Hindus have been told
over and over that the Gods are not really beings, but merely symbols of
spiritual matters, and unfortunately many have accepted this erroneous notion
about the Gods. In reality, the Mahadevas are
individual soul beings, and down through the ages ordinary men and women, great
saints and sages, prophets and mystics in all cultures have inwardly seen,
heard, and been profoundly influenced by these superconscious
inner plane beings. Lord Ganesha is such a being. He
can think just as we can think. He can see and understand and make decisions -
so vast in their implications and complexity that we could never comprehend
them with our human faculties and understanding.
The
Visit: Shri Mandir –
They are
“open” from
I
arrived at
On
entering I saw many statues – all about the same height (3 feet or so) across
one entire wall – perhaps twenty of them. They were very decorated and colorful
– most had the appearance of female forms – fully robed and ornate.
In the
center was a more dense collection of these – along with some other items for
ritual use. A small area of carpet was in front of this – and a family of five were seated legs folded there along with
the “minister.” He was doing all the talking, so far as I could hear – without
intruding and sitting with them.
There
was only one other person in the large room. I approached him and introduced
myself quietly. He welcomed me – but in conversation, it appeared he did not
speak lots of English. I am handicapped with a single language. I think he was
telling me that after the rituals were over with the family, the leader would
come and talk with me.
So then
I quietly spent my time walking about the room looking at pictures and statues
and trying to learn a little. There was a small tall table with nine small
statues (about a foot tall) – oriented in a square – three rows of three.
Around the outer edge of this table were labels for seven of these. There was a
little area or two that looked like glue – like two of the labels had fallen
off.
The
labels that were present were: KETU
SATURN MERCURY VENUS
MOON MARS and
RAHU
I
wondered if perhaps the missing two were two more planets – probably missing
Pluto, as it was discovered long after the “religion” was well established.
(About 1930)
1930 is
very recent indeed – even relative to the very small amount of time that
religions have been known among men on Earth.
Are Keto and Raha two names for
planets?
|
|
|
|
Ketu |
|
|
Ketu |
|
|
Ketu Talismans |
I
almost appears that astrology or something similar is
part and parcel of this religion.
I watched
the family with the religious leader – he was singing – like chanting – and
every once in a while, he would drop a few kernels of rice in a metal pan on
the altar area.
This
went on for about half an hour, after which each member of the family was
greeted warmly, and they thanked him and left the building.
He then
approached me – a little carefully at first – I’m sure I do not look the part.
Soon we were friendly, and he was most helpful with questions, etc.
I asked
what the rituals were about with the family. (It appears this is the way
religious meeting are held – one family at a time – no congregation.)
He said
that it was a blessing for the family. I asked about the rice. He said it was
symbolic of having little to give to God – but giving it anyway. (It reminded
me of the Widow’s Mite story.)
He
said, “God is only one – He has no name – He has no shape.”
“He is
beyond our intellect – We cannot reach there.”
“He has
thousands of forms – thousands of arms – thousands of legs.”
“But,” I said, “You always
refer to He, Him, etc. Do you view Him as male?”
He
said, “Brahma is the creator – God in Sanscrit is
male – but there is male and female – and no creation can occur without both.”
(This is
much like our word “Elohim,” which also is a
both-gender word.)
He told
me that the letter “om” was formless – and
represented the one God. It is a combination of A, U, and M. We say “Oooommm,” to get in tune with the one God.
I asked
if Hinduism was mostly or all Indian. He said that
I asked
about the red dot placed just above the eyebrows in the middle of each one’s
forehead.
It is a
Yoga meditation focus. It represents two things – knowledge and good luck.
Men
wear it during rituals to represent knowledge and good luck.
He said
a woman wears the red dot to bring long life for her husband.
At this
point, I let him know that I am a scientist – that my
questions and way of thinking sometimes are a little stressful even among those
in my own religion (and I told him I was Mormon).
Then I
asked, “Are you aware of any testing of this? That is, have thousands wearing
the red dot and thousands not wearing the dot had comparisons of the longevity
of their husbands measured?” He saw some humor in this, but it’s actually just
a simple serious question. Some things are hard to measure – but this would be
very simple indeed.
I told
him about the administration of oil in praying for healing – and indicated that
I had always thought this an easy test also. We could measure in double-blind
testing whether or not the oil has any advantage to the outcome.
Experiments
like this one are always unwelcome in religions. Yet after someone else does
the experiments – if they are supportive of a belief, then the religion likes
to talk about the experiments. (Tobacco and cancer is a good example.)
He said
he was not aware of any such experiments. My expectation – all other things
being equal – life expectancies would be the same for both groups.
Life
expectancy has been going upward for quite a while – but due to science,
communication, transportation – distribution of food, etc. The religions have
been around for a long time – and have made no difference – except when they
adopt habits based on real data – like advice in the Word of Wisdom.
If the husband
dies, and the woman is then a widow, she removes the dot. She may apply a
yellow dot when she is involved in rituals.
The dot
is placed at the center for both anger and knowledge.
He
wrinkled his brow to show how anger is centered there.
I wrinkled
my own – and said, “This is anger.” He said, “Yes.”
Then I
wrinkled it again – and said, “This is deep thought.”
He
laughed and said, “Yes – I see you are a scientist.”
I asked
about the 330,000,000 Gods.
He
laughed a little. He said there were originally 33 Gods in Hinduism – and it
has changed over time to 330,000,000 Gods. It appears there are 33 main ones –
but that essentially every living being may become a lesser god.
He was
soon to serve another family – only this time he would go to their house. I
thanked him – and asked if tomorrow night’s HOLIKA DAHAN was a good time to
visit and learn some more.
He
said, “Oh yes – that would be very good.” I asked if the fare would all be
vegetarian, and he assured me there would not only be no meat – but no milk –
no cheese – nothing from animals. I’m planning to go at 7:00 pm tomorrow night
– Monday.
Shri Mandir invites you to join the Bonfire, the burning of Holika, Pooja of Fire, Dances,
and Songs of Holi followed by Potluck Dinner.
Sounds
like my kind of church meeting. I’ll report on that function in the next
report.
46 of
52 – Hindu