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What contradictions exist in Hinduism?

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Somehow we all get exposed to so many diverse ideas about Hinduism many of which are at odds with each other.

There are temples in USA which houses large number of deities so that as a business they attract all kinds of people. I dont even know proper walk to cover all the deities correctly. Many children coming to temple do not know what to do and end up liking the canteen in the end.

The puranic stories preach all kinds of funny things. The Satyanarayana puja done by some at their home makes god to be like a vengeful person.

Many children have no clue what all these deities represent and why there are so many.

Someone said everyone is divine or something and yet Indians have the most divisions in terms of caste.

There is something called Dharma and yet India is one of the top countries known for corruption.

Can we at least enumerate all the known contradictions in today's Hinduism?

Then perhaps experts in the forum can see if they can be resolved.

Often many of us do not know how to answer questions of our kids.
 
Somehow we all get exposed to so many diverse ideas about Hinduism many of which are at odds with each other.

There are temples in USA which houses large number of deities so that as a business they attract all kinds of people. I dont even know proper walk to cover all the deities correctly. Many children coming to temple do not know what to do and end up liking the canteen in the end.

The puranic stories preach all kinds of funny things. The Satyanarayana puja done by some at their home makes god to be like a vengeful person.

Many children have no clue what all these deities represent and why there are so many.

Someone said everyone is divine or something and yet Indians have the most divisions in terms of caste.

There is something called Dharma and yet India is one of the top countries known for corruption.

Can we at least enumerate all the known contradictions in today's Hinduism?

Then perhaps experts in the forum can see if they can be resolved.

Often many of us do not know how to answer questions of our kids.
hi

there are some beautiful hinduism books published by chinmaya mission/swami dayananda books published in USA for

american born hindu kids....very simple english language....you may get all answers....
 
I am no expert but let me state my opinion.


I think the Do's and Don't's has nothing got to do with God.

Contradictions were man made as society started to become more civilized to mainly instill Law and Order.

Personally I feel what is expected from anyone is to follow some amount of social etiquette as not to offend self or anyone.

That should suffice.

Coming to Dharma..Dharma and Religion/Prayer need not always go hand in hand.

Most people pray for material gain yet have the audacity to call it Bhakti.

For them they see God as Santa Claus and expect goodies even though they are only "naughty' and never nice.

Many people pray daily yet indulge in non Dharmic activities.

Becos they have been fed to think that if they donate some portion of their money to temples their sins can be washed away.

So you find some of the greatest donors actually leading a very Adharmic life.

That is why I never admire a super donor or a philanthropists.

Then the believe that at an old age one can atone for sins by becoming religious and visiting pilgrimage sites..taking a dip in a holy river people think Karma can be washed away!LOL

So you see there is a lot of cock and bull.

We know there is the Law of Karma and nothing changes that..yet we find people claiming Pariharams can nullify the effect of Karma..taking a dip in Ganga will make us spotless Karmically.

We even have Phalashurtis claiming that if one recites this or that, sins done in the day time will be washed away.Sins done in the mid day and night too will be washed away.

If its so easy why even preach about Karma?

Tat Tvam Asi....Aham Brahmaasmi is preached but yet mankind is fourfold in Hinduism.

At almost each step there seems to be a barrier..all rivers lead to the sea but dams are built at every step.

There must be a long list of Do's and Don't's..follow it if you want to but I am quite sure its not Gods list.
 
Most people pray for material gain yet have the audacity to call it Bhakti.

Bhagavad Gita gives 4 types of Bhakti and praying for material Gains , to over come distress comes under Aartha Bhkati and Artharthi Bhakti and in BG itself Lord Krishna says who is the true Bhakta .
 
There are temples in USA which houses large number of deities so that as a business they attract all kinds of people. I dont even know proper walk to cover all the deities correctly. Many children coming to temple do not know what to do and end up liking the canteen in the end.[/QUOTE]

Same like the music sabhas here . Many say they come for music but are more keen on what is the special dish in the Canteen .
 
Often many of us do not know how to answer questions of our kids.

The reason being to the extent we invest our time , energy and resources in getting a Secular Education we do not invest the same in understanding our own religion and culture ( at least the fundamentals and essentials ) .Chinmaya Mission has published lot of introductory books on Hinduism , Arsha Vidya Gurukulam has publshed a set of 23 Books under the title "Vedic Heritage Teaching Program" and this is a complete resource for knowing in depth about Hinduism , Hindu Culture and Hindu Religious Practices .
 
The reason being to the extent we invest our time , energy and resources in getting a Secular Education we do not invest the same in understanding our own religion and culture ( at least the fundamentals and essentials ) .Chinmaya Mission has published lot of introductory books on Hinduism , Arsha Vidya Gurukulam has publshed a set of 23 Books under the title "Vedic Heritage Teaching Program" and this is a complete resource for knowing in depth about Hinduism , Hindu Culture and Hindu Religious Practices .
hi

this program ...we teach in BALA VIHAR CLASSES in our temple for young indian american kids....
 
this program ...we teach in BALA VIHAR CLASSES in our temple for young indian american kids....

TBS ji
For me I found many of my questions related to Hiinduism well answered by Swami Dayananda's books followed by Kanchi Paramacharya's Voice of God ( 7 Volumes ) . In the past I used to study in bits and pieces from various books on Hinduism but now stick primarily to Swami Dayananda's Books (http://www.avrpt.com/ ) and Kanchi Pamaracharya's Voice of God ( 7 Volumes ) to get clarity on our Vedic Culture and also side by side study the books written by Rationalists , Buddhists ,Atheists against the Vedic Culture to get their view of things on these issues .
 
Somehow we all get exposed to so many diverse ideas about Hinduism many of which are at odds with each other.

There are temples in USA which houses large number of deities so that as a business they attract all kinds of people. I dont even know proper walk to cover all the deities correctly. Many children coming to temple do not know what to do and end up liking the canteen in the end.

The puranic stories preach all kinds of funny things. The Satyanarayana puja done by some at their home makes god to be like a vengeful person.

Many children have no clue what all these deities represent and why there are so many.

Someone said everyone is divine or something and yet Indians have the most divisions in terms of caste.

There is something called Dharma and yet India is one of the top countries known for corruption.

Can we at least enumerate all the known contradictions in today's Hinduism?

Then perhaps experts in the forum can see if they can be resolved.

Often many of us do not know how to answer questions of our kids.

It will be an impossible task to enumerate all the known contradictions, superstitions, unwanted things and misinformations etc., within hinduism; may be if it is taken as a long term project like the Mahabharata programme of BORI, it can be completed in 30 or 40 years!

The Dayanandas, Chinmayanandas, etc., (are/were all udara nimittam bahukrita vesham fellows) have only taken the benefit of the general ignorance of hindu parents about even the basic texts and are happily and successfully hoodwinking our people abroad with various dojiggeries like Balavihar, books, etc., and may be, making good money too in the process. People who give good certificates to these "-anandas" are ignorant of even what all authoritative texts are there in hindu religion! They are getting one kind of brainwashing for their children and find it somewhat logical and cogent, and are apparently led to believe, "Here's unsullied hinduism!". They are completely unaware of the many contra-indications which may be available in some of our religious treatises.

Kanchi Acharya's books are purely based on the smartha, vaideeki, brahministic view point of hinduism. Children born and brought up in the US will very soon find its teachings uncomfortable. (It may be soothing for the emigrants, however.)

I will recommend our parents who are first generation migrants, to learn the preachings of Kabirdas, and teach these to their kids. If the kids encounter anything not in conformity with Kabir's panth, it is better to avoid taking the kids to the temple or, leave them in the canteen!
 
a-TBji where do we begin? There are many contradictions in Hinduism, but it is also true in every other religion.
I too followed Chinmayananda, I was also involved with the bal-vihar. It is helpful to read these books so that you may answer the queries from your children.
I agree with Samgomsji's post#9.
We still have to study and read on our own. This forum has been valuable in that aspect.
I am a follower of Kabir, but it is not for very young children. So you have to pick and choose accordingly.
The American brand of Hinduism is very unique. Particularly the South Indian Temples of North America. It represents the melting pot of US. A south Indian from India would be shocked to see American Hindu temples.
 
Hinduism is as Vast as the universe itself. None of us can claim to Know it all (even though some Medhavis on this site claim it).
So we have to choose what we want at that time. It is like a Salad Bar at the Whole food market or some Las Vegas casino, it is almost endless.
So today you just might want to pick fruits, next day it may be greens, and then again it might be all deserts. You can also have any other combination.
Depending on the age of the children you might keep it simple, but be flexible to answering complicated topics. There is no shame is accepting that one may not know all answers.
 
In what way ? Can you elaborate ?
I was involved in the construction of the Temple here in my town. We have about 12,000 hindus here. The majority of donors were from South India. So the person chosen for the religious architecture was from south India. But the community wanted all these other deities that the Agama Shastra did not even mention. Secondly all Temples in NA have to have Bathroom facility. The devotee have to have enclosed (heated) space for removing shoes. There has to be public eating facility.
A lot of temple do not Gurbhagraham. Some do not have space for Pradhakishna.
IN a NA Temple generally they will have 10 or 15 deities. Some of the priest we bring from India do not have prayers for them. We have to have a vaisnava priest and a smartha priest. Then we have North Indian and South Indian Priests. It is too many things unique to North American Hindu Temples.
 
In India and in tamilnadu too there are varieties of temps, and most of the small temples may not follow agaric rules. The presiding deity in vaishnava temples do not face East in all temples, but the thayar temple will always face East. There are recommendations and gudelines, and all may not follow that.
A visit to any temple website, like esamkruti.com, will be humbling experience for one sensitive to Hindu ethos. Only ego ridden will take pot shots and swing like Don quixotic.
 
No contradictions, only paradoxes

In all religions:
Actions of those who claim to be practitioners of a religion cannot be taken to represent the religion.
There are Hindus who as people do contradictory things but they may not be aligned with any of the teaching.

For understanding a religion one needs to understand the scriptures of the religion and what they stand for.
In Hinduism there is not a single scripture, there are too many.
No, it is not the so called Vedas - no one I know keep Veda books like a Bible at home. We have too many scriptures.

Hindus *by and large* have three approaches to their religion.

1. Delusional devotion, make things up and cite nonsense attributing them to some scriptures. The latest trend is to try to become history centric like the biblical religions. They look down upon category 2 below for not being devotional
2. Delusional intellection - Those that have no clue what the teaching is, make things up, keep asking why without thinking, laugh at the delusional devotees. Often this is made up of people who were very religious once and found that their extraordinary effort only frustrated the hell out of them because of seemingly contradictory things said by various scriptures and various people. As they cross 50 or 60 they have a life crisis because the whole thing makes no sense.
3. These people do not care - they just want all kinds of goodies, they think there is some force out there and are afraid of them. They pray not out of conviction but out of need or fear. They want to do some worship just to be sure plus it is part of their identity.


There are more variations as well as exceptions.

Chinmaya mission and other such organizations do have good books and training classes for children and adult-children.
Kids need to develop strong character to face the world with conviction.

For those who care to seek the truth at any cost, there are no contradictions but only paradoxes which can be understood with effort.
Qualified teachers are indeed hard to find. But they are out there even if they are not all that well known.

PS: If you go to a temple, just visit one Devatha of your choice for prayers. It will be more effective. Other deities do not mind :).
 
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I have tried to address most of these question in my book " Hinduism: The Vedic Religion" The book is 100 odd pages and tries to cover most of the topics in a page or two. The book has been published by me and if interested, please let me know and I will send you a copy. My i.d is [email protected]
 
I have tried to address most of these question in my book " Hinduism: The Vedic Religion" The book is 100 odd pages and tries to cover most of the topics in a page or two. The book has been published by me and if interested, please let me know and I will send you a copy. My i.d is [email protected]

If it is in a pdf form, why not attach it here to your next posting? Unless you are selling it which is different.
 
Ekam sad viprãh bahudhã vadanti,


Indram mitram varuNam agnim ãhuh,
atho divyah sa suparNo garutmãn,
ekam sad viprãh bahudhã vadanti,
agnim yamam mãtari’švãnam ãhuh. (Rigveda 1.164.46)

They hail Him as Indra, as Mitra, as VaruNa, as Agni,
also as that divine and noble-winged Garutmãn.
It is of One Existence that the wise ones speak in diverse ways,
whether as Agni, or as Yama, or as Mãtari’švãn. (R.V.1.164.46)

The above verse summerises the contradictions in Hindu thought.
Some where I read that Hinduism is "Monotheistic Polytheism" (confusing
indeed).Hindus worship multiple forms of one God. The freedom given to
individuals in Hindu religion in their spiritual approach gives to contradictions.

Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.
 
Ekam sad viprãh bahudhã vadanti,


Indram mitram varuNam agnim ãhuh,
atho divyah sa suparNo garutmãn,
ekam sad viprãh bahudhã vadanti,
agnim yamam mãtari’švãnam ãhuh. (Rigveda 1.164.46)

They hail Him as Indra, as Mitra, as VaruNa, as Agni,
also as that divine and noble-winged Garutmãn.
It is of One Existence that the wise ones speak in diverse ways,
whether as Agni, or as Yama, or as Mãtari’švãn. (R.V.1.164.46)

The above verse summerises the contradictions in Hindu thought.
Some where I read that Hinduism is "Monotheistic Polytheism" (confusing
indeed).Hindus worship multiple forms of one God. The freedom given to
individuals in Hindu religion in their spiritual approach gives to contradictions.

Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.

Thank you, Mr Barhmanyan.
This actually seem to be a strength of Hinduism. Helps people coexist with mutual respect

 
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