[Reader-list] "We Are All Hindus Now"

taraprakash taraprakash at gmail.com
Sun Aug 30 08:52:14 IST 2009 

Hi Yasir and all. It is true that even the members of a family don't always 
think and behave alike. Yet it will not be far fetched to imagine a 
conference of dogs, or any other animals for that matter, painting all the 
human beings with the same brush in their assessment. Unity in diversity 
should be the hallmark of diversity.

Somebody on this list really went off mark critiquing the News Week article, 
probably because of the word Hindu in the title. It is true that there is no 
homogenous Hindu way of life as there is no Muslim or Christian way, as you 
correctly pointed in your mail. Yet there are know-nothings who wouldn't 
know of various denominations in a single religion. There is no dearth of 
such people in the US. Such people will do all this in the name of 
christianity: oppose the right to abortion in the name of right to life but 
would like to kill all the Muslims. Compassion, the main preaching of Jesus 
Christ, is nowhere close to them. Christ nowhere says "kill your enemies" 
whereas in Bhagbad Geeta Krishna exhorts Arjun to violence, to kill his 
relatives as he just a tool in the hands of the Divine for something that 
has to happen irrespective of Arjun's wishes. When these "true Americans" go 
to protest rallies flaunting their guns, they are no where close to Christ's 
preaching, Krishna may not mind such excesses though.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "yasir ~يا سر" <yasir.media at gmail.com>
To: "Sarai Reader-list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2009 6:30 PM
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "We Are All Hindus Now"


>I am afraid i dont even accept that there is one islamic way of life, even
> if it is a thing that has been announced on drums in south asia &... even
> just the variations in karachi are overwhelming...
>
> the cultural circumnavigations within the main streams [!] as well as the
> streaming borderline sects are enormous. the same applies to christianity 
> i
> am afraid.
>
> in fact i accept the many paths without bothering about salvation, and an
> accidental fortune teller told me i was hindu without saying why. (the
> idiot's claim rested on having told BB's fortune once [!].
>
> this discussion reeks of a desi social studies textbook [!]
>
> the religion does seem to have a very curious harmony for VCs, but then
> shylock wasn't carved by one. and pathan sharks are lethal.
>
> dismissive.
>
> yasir
>
>
>
> On Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 5:51 PM, Murali V <murali.chalam at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Yes sir. Every human being has some god thoughts and some evil
>> thoughts in him/her and when the balance tilts completely towards
>> evil, then one becomes a satan and if good thoughts and deeds has
>> completly control over the evil thoughts then one tends towards being
>> a perfect human being. Those are also ways of life.
>>
>> Regards,
>> V Murali
>>
>> On Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 4:07 PM, Kshmendra Kaul<kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>
>> wrote:
>> > Ahhhh!!!! But Satan also is Hindu!!!!!
>> >
>> > Dear Anupam
>> >
>> > I think you over-reacted to the (what I delibertately called) 'Opinion
>> Piece'.
>> >
>> > I read the summing up "So lets all say "om" " as being tongue-in-cheek.
>> >
>> > Lisa herself says that America is NOT a Hindu nation. She does not say
>> that Americans are turning towards "Hinduism".
>> >
>> > She does say  "conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming more like
>> Hindus and less like traditional Christians in the ways we think about 
>> God,
>> our selves, each other, and eternity."
>> >
>> > That is her opinion and she uses a couple of generally recognised 
>> > "Hindu"
>> precepts and rituals to make the "conceptually" comment.
>> >
>> > She also thinks that " A Hindu believes there are many paths to God.
>> Jesus is one way, the Qur'an is another, yoga practice is a third. None 
>> is
>> better than any other; all are equal."
>> >
>> > Venture Capitalists (to repeat what I have stated many a time before)
>> follow the finest principles of Islamic Financing. That does not mean 
>> that I
>> am stating that Venture Capitalists have become Muslims.
>> >
>> > Kshmendra
>> >
>> >
>> > --- On Wed, 8/19/09, anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >
>> > From: anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com>
>> > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "We Are All Hindus Now"
>> > To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> > Date: Wednesday, August 19, 2009, 6:44 PM
>> >
>> >
>> > There is a hindu way of life, just as you have an islamic way of 
>> > leading
>> > life, a buddhist, a christian monk. it might be blasphemous to say but
>> often
>> > a large number of the so-called hindu practioners mix and match the
>> > teachings of various schools of indian thought, including the carvakas
>> (the
>> > materialists) to justify their purpose. perhaps the only great thing
>> about
>> > this religion are its liberal ethos, which has emerged over the years
>> with
>> > arguments and counter arguments (basically through a critical
>> > understanding). however, in this very article conforming to certain
>> styles
>> > of cremation or following a fixed set of rituals doesnt really show if
>> the
>> > practioners are hindu in the approach towards their lives. it is 
>> > neither
>> a
>> > bad thing if more and more people are turning towards one particular
>> > religion relying on its principles, as the article tends to suggest.
>> > however, the examples used by the above article depending on the 
>> > surveys
>> is
>> > ridiculous. if i cite the number of the misdoings in the society from 
>> > all
>> > parts of the world, there are large number of followers of Satan (be in
>> > semitic or otherwise), does that mean the world is slowly turning 
>> > towards
>> > something evil? i am sure it doesnt. therefore i find such claims to
>> bogus,
>> > and motivated in the communitarian lines.
>> >
>> > -anupam
>> >
>> > On 8/19/09, Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi <rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Dear all,
>> >>
>> >>  the article submitted by Sri. Kshemendra truely reflects the ethos of 
>> >> a
>> >> faith, which has no claim to be superior, the only way to live and
>> attain
>> >> salvation, recognises the different ways of life, including the one in
>> which
>> >> the faith of non-existence of God is also a way of life.That is hindu
>> way of
>> >> life, one likes it or not !
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>    Perhaps the hindu way of life is the way where all the good of
>> different
>> >> ways are merged, to constantly change for better, to tolerate the
>> >> differences in different paths that any faith followers like to 
>> >> follow,
>> and
>> >> that is the main reason, hindu way of life has no one single
>> spokesperson
>> >> for the way of life, as each can have his way as right way, as the 
>> >> hold
>> of
>> >> clergies is limited only to rituals in birth, marriage and death of
>> >> individuals, thus many godmen can live interpreting the scripture as
>> they
>> >> like to enhance the standards of their life with air conditioned
>> ashrams,
>> >> deluxe sedans and aircrafts to travel, without actually seating for 
>> >> the
>> >> work.! Not that other clergies of other faiths are any different as 
>> >> gods
>> >> preachers.!
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Regards,
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Rajen.
>> >>
>> >>  On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 4:17 PM, anupam chakravartty <
>> c.anupam at gmail.com>wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> Certainly it is one of most ridiculous articles i have read recently.
>> this
>> >>> is what happens when devotion is confused with statistics. People in
>> >>> america
>> >>> have adopted cremation because in many of the cities there is a 
>> >>> dearth
>> of
>> >>> space and burial grounds.
>> >>>
>> >>> On 8/19/09, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> > This is an Opinion-Piece regarding America, by an American.
>> >>> >
>> >>> > Kshmendra
>> >>> >
>> >>> >
>> >>> >
>> >>> > "We Are All Hindus Now"
>> >>> > By Lisa Miller | NEWSWEEK
>> >>> > Published Aug 15, 2009
>> >>> > From the magazine issue dated Aug 31, 2009
>> >>> >
>> >>> > America is not a Christian nation. We are, it is true, a nation
>> founded
>> >>> by
>> >>> > Christians, and according to a 2008 survey, 76 percent of us 
>> >>> > continue
>> to
>> >>> > identify as Christian (still, that's the lowest percentage in
>> American
>> >>> > history). Of course, we are not a Hindu—or Muslim, or Jewish, or
>> >>> > Wiccan—nation, either. A million-plus Hindus live in the United
>> States,
>> >>> a
>> >>> > fraction of the billion who live on Earth. But recent poll data 
>> >>> > show
>> >>> that
>> >>> > conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming more like Hindus and
>> less
>> >>> > like traditional Christians in the ways we think about God, our
>> selves,
>> >>> each
>> >>> > other, and eternity.
>> >>> >
>> >>> > The Rig Veda, the most ancient Hindu scripture, says this: "Truth 
>> >>> > is
>> >>> One,
>> >>> > but the sages speak of it by many names." A Hindu believes there 
>> >>> > are
>> >>> many
>> >>> > paths to God. Jesus is one way, the Qur'an is another, yoga 
>> >>> > practice
>> is
>> >>> a
>> >>> > third. None is better than any other; all are equal. The most
>> >>> traditional,
>> >>> > conservative Christians have not been taught to think like this. 
>> >>> > They
>> >>> learn
>> >>> > in Sunday school that their religion is true, and others are false.
>> >>> Jesus
>> >>> > said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
>> father
>> >>> > except through me."
>> >>> >
>> >>> > Americans are no longer buying it. According to a 2008 Pew Forum
>> survey,
>> >>> 65
>> >>> > percent of us believe that "many religions can lead to eternal
>> >>> > life"—including 37 percent of white evangelicals, the group most
>> likely
>> >>> to
>> >>> > believe that salvation is theirs alone. Also, the number of people
>> who
>> >>> seek
>> >>> > spiritual truth outside church is growing. Thirty percent of
>> Americans
>> >>> call
>> >>> > themselves "spiritual, not religious," according to a 2009 NEWSWEEK
>> >>> Poll, up
>> >>> > from 24 percent in 2005. Stephen Prothero, religion professor at
>> Boston
>> >>> > University, has long framed the American propensity for "the
>> >>> > divine-deli-cafeteria religion" as "very much in the spirit of
>> Hinduism.
>> >>> > You're not picking and choosing from different religions, because
>> >>> they're
>> >>> > all the same," he says. "It isn't about orthodoxy. It's about
>> whatever
>> >>> > works. If going to yoga works, great—and if going to Catholic mass
>> >>> works,
>> >>> > great. And if going to Catholic mass plus the yoga plus the 
>> >>> > Buddhist
>> >>> retreat
>> >>> > works, that's
>> >>> > great, too."
>> >>> >
>> >>> > Then there's the question of what happens when you die. Christians
>> >>> > traditionally believe that bodies and souls are sacred, that 
>> >>> > together
>> >>> they
>> >>> > comprise the "self," and that at the end of time they will be
>> reunited
>> >>> in
>> >>> > the Resurrection. You need both, in other words, and you need them
>> >>> forever.
>> >>> > Hindus believe no such thing. At death, the body burns on a pyre,
>> while
>> >>> the
>> >>> > spirit—where identity resides—escapes. In reincarnation, central to
>> >>> > Hinduism, selves come back to earth again and again in different
>> bodies.
>> >>> So
>> >>> > here is another way in which Americans are becoming more Hindu: 24
>> >>> percent
>> >>> > of Americans say they believe in reincarnation, according to a 2008
>> >>> Harris
>> >>> > poll. So agnostic are we about the ultimate fates of our bodies 
>> >>> > that
>> >>> we're
>> >>> > burning them—like Hindus—after death. More than a third of 
>> >>> > Americans
>> now
>> >>> > choose cremation, according to the Cremation Association of North
>> >>> America,
>> >>> > up from 6 percent in 1975. "I do think the more spiritual role of
>> >>> religion
>> >>> > tends to deemphasize some of the more starkly literal 
>> >>> > interpretations
>> of
>> >>> > the Resurrection," agrees Diana Eck, professor of comparative
>> religion
>> >>> at
>> >>> > Harvard. So let us all say "om."
>> >>> >
>> >>> > http://www.newsweek.com/id/212155
>> >>> >
>> >>> >
>> >>> >
>> >>> >
>> >>> >
>> >>> >
>> >>> >
>> >>> > _________________________________________
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>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Rajen.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> > _________________________________________
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>> >
>> >
>> > _________________________________________
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