Tag Archives: christianity

Hinduism and Homosexuality

Posted on January 12, 2012 | 46 comments

A site for gay and lesbian Hindus

I recently received a comment which said :

“.. But at least some youngsters move to hindu , coz they arent acceptd in Christianity coz they are Gay/bi etc.

Hindu spirituality has nothng to do with it. But Being a hindu or hindutva ,the way of life of a hindu is against such acts as christianity is.

‘Vivekabhudi’ or power to differentiate right-wrong is what which makes human different from animals. And hinduism is for those who have this viveka. So people who dnt even have the diligence of animals are not suited for hinduism.

Such people who misuse of Unorganised structure of hinduism really make us hindus ashamed.

In a second comment the commenter adds:

But I have seen a trend that when people bi/gay nt get acceptd by Catholicism they turn hindu. This is not a place for going when you have no way. Secondly hinduism is clearly in line with nature that female-male equation.

I was going to write a response to the comment, but I realised that the response would be fairly long, and I had a feeling that I should write it as a post. Part of me did not want to write on this controversial subject, some readers are bound to disagree me. I have a feeling that it is not a subject that I should just leave alone though.

Points of Agreement

First of all, I will discuss the areas where I agree wholeheartedly with the commenter. Continue reading →

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Point Counterpoin: Saivite Hinduism, The Church of England, and UK Unitarianism

Posted on September 14, 2011 | 7 comments

The Nandinatha Sampradaya has a process of ethical conversion. Part of the process is to write a point and counterpoint comparison between Saivite Hinduism of the Nandinatha Sampradaya and previous religions or world-views that you have had. This ensures that you are converting with a full understanding of what this entails.

I have written a comparison with the Church of England, the Anglican Christian denomination I was brought up in, and with the UK Unitarians who I followed for a while. I have been given permission to publish it on my blog. Sannyasin Saravananathaswami has only given it a quick look so there may be further amendments.

I would also be interested in any comments or corrections from readers who are Unitarians or Church of England members.

Continue reading →

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The Shatkona blog is back!

Posted on September 1, 2011 | 11 comments

GaneshaThe Shatkona blog is back in the list of blogs by Western Hindus. I had previously removed the blog when the blogger announced that he was returning to Catholicism, Those of you who have been following his blog will know that he has come to realise that this was attached to both Catholicism and Hinduism, and later discovered that his attachment to Catholicism is more nostalgia than true spiritual feeling.

I have been wondering whether to add his blog back for a while. A few days ago I emailed the author and said that I would leave it up to him, when and if he felt ready I would add it back to the list. Today I received a simple email saying “Please re-add my blog, my path is Sanatana Dharma”. I feel that its very auspicious that he made this decision on Ganesha Chaturthi.

The image of Ganesha is from the collection of images from “What is Hinduism” released rights-free by the Himalayan Academy.

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A “Western Hindu” blog removed; regret and celebration.

Posted on August 22, 2011 | 16 comments

The Shatkona blogI have just had to remove a blog from my page describing blogs by Westerners following Hinduism. The author of the blog recently posted that he felt that his heart was not in Hinduism, and then made it clear that he is no longer following Sanatana Dharma in a post “Charting a New Course“. He intends to keep many elements of Hinduism but primarily return to Christianity.

Continue reading →

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The Pope’s Visit to the UK

Posted on September 25, 2010 | 2 comments

Pope Benedict xvi

I have mixed feelings about the Pope’s visit to the UK, which ended last Saturday. His visit can be seen in two very different ways; as a visit of a holy man to his devotees or as a visit to the UK of the head of an evangelical outreach organisation.

Seeing the pope as a  man visiting his followers, I can be pleased for them having the spiritual  experience. I know that this can be a great spiritual experience and a coming together of a spiritual community. I know from my meeting with Satguru Bodhinata Veylanswami what the visit of a spiritual leader can mean for devotees. I hope that this visit will help Catholic Christians on their spiritual task. A wise man at our local Mandir told me that the time of the Pope’s visit was not the time to bring up differences, out of respect for Catholics seeing this as a spiritual visit.

Continue reading →

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Christians, friends of Hindus

Posted on February 27, 2009 | 34 comments

Someone recently commented that my blog was anti-Christian. It was certainly not my intention to be anti-Christian, though my condemnation of the fundamentalist, evangelical Christian Right may have given that impression.

A while ago I wrote an article “Muslims, friends of Hindus“. I had not written a post about the friendship between Christians and Hindus, perhaps because I take for granted the fact that there are many Christians who want friendly, supportive relations with other religions. In fact in Britain probably a majority of Christians would be against aggressive conversion tactics. Continue reading →

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How I became a Hindu – part two

Posted on February 22, 2009 | 17 comments

Continued from How I became a Hindu – part one.

Multicultural Britain

Having been brought up in a small town that was almost exclusively white and Christian, at University I met a number of people from all over the world and of all religions. In fact I have lived in ethnically diverse cities since then.

A mela in the UK

This in itself had a major impact on my understanding of Christianity as “the only way to salvation”. One of my closest friends at University was a Sikh, and whereas it is one thing to theoretically hear that people you don’t know will be destined for hell, it is quite different if you know this is talking about friends, fellow students, work colleagues, etc. It is obvious to anyone who meets people from many different religions and cultures that if God is loving, then it can’t be true that only those from one particular religion will be saved.

The strength of atheists’ arguments

I also met many articulate atheists. These were in general sincere, people of integrity and they had very logical arguments. Continue reading →

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Hindu Yamas and Niyamas and the Ten Commandments

Posted on January 25, 2009 | 29 comments

Some time ago I wrote about the similarities between Hinduism and Mystic Judaism.I thought that it might be interesting to look at the similarities and differences between Judaism’s ten commandments and the Hindu yamas (restraints) and niyamas (observances). I made a diagram, which is not very easy to publish on WordPress. The best I can do is make a pdf version available and insert an image. You will have to click on the image to see the whole thing, and possibly zoom in :

yama-commandments

I have used solid lines where there is a direct connection or even equivalence, and dotted lines where there is some sort of relation. Continue reading →

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The Cycle of the Universe, Science and Hinduism Agree

Posted on December 14, 2008 | 8 comments

I have written previously about how it is almost ironic that Christian Fundamentalists go out of their way to distort science to make it fit their creation story, whereas science tends to agree with the Hindu view of the Universe. This is  despite Hinduism not predicting a correspondence between Maya and spiritual truths, which Christian Fundamentalists see as essential.

I read an interesting article in New Scientist “Did our cosmos exist before the big bang?“, which shows that the latest advances in quantum loop cosmology predict an endless series of universes, a new one being created after the destruction of the previous. Again science confirms what Hinduism predicts, while the Abrahamic 6,000 year old Universe is now discounted by all serious main-stream scientists.

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If Christianity were like Hinduism, the downside

Posted on November 14, 2008 | 4 comments

This post is a follow on from the previous post If Christianity were like Hinduism. It will make more sense if you read that post first.

If Christianity were like Hinduism people would criticise protestants for the pronouncements of the Pope. They would criticise Catholics for the practices of the early Mormons and Mormons for the beliefs of the ancient Mithras cult.

If Christianity were like Hinduism peope would point to the Nazis as an example of Christian culture. Some would say that the cross should be banned, because Hitler gave out iron crosses. They would look at gang violence in inner cities and say “that’s what happens when you have Christianity”.

If Christianity were like Hinduism people would say that they knew about Christianity because they had read about Rasputin. They would ask you how a religion could claim that it was good to sin because then you could be forgiven, because forgiveness was divine. Continue reading →

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If Christianity were like Hinduism

Posted on November 13, 2008 | 5 comments

If Christianity were like Hinduism there would have been no Inquisition. The Cathars would have been accepted as non-Orthodox Christians and not exterminated. People would have been free to publish books saying that the earth went round the sun. The response to Heretics would be to argue against them rather than execute them.  Even the extreme who reversed the rules of faith and held black mass would only be fought with words.

If Christianity were like Hinduism then everyone would accept that Mormons and Jehovas Witnesses  were fellow Christians. The response to Waco would have been what had made someone’s Christian belief go so wrong, not to deny that they were Christians.

If Christianity were like Hinduism then Christians would see continuity with the Jewish faith, Kabbalists and Jews would be seen as traditional and mystic branches of the religion. Christians would acknowledge the link with Mithras and with Greep philosophy and feel pride in their long heritage and how their faith evolved.

If Christianity were like Hinduism and Islam were like the beliefs that sprung from Hinduism, then the only conflicts with Muslims would be over land and politics. Religion would be a healing rather than a dividing factor. The biggest religious disagreement would be that some Christians would say they were an unorthodox branch of Christianity whereas they would prefer to think of themselves as a separate religion.

If Christians were like Hindus they would celebrate the different faiths in the world, not demonise them. They would hold their faith firm but take interest in other beliefs. They would be concerned about their own spiritual progress, rather than thinking that they were saved and it was a done deal.  They would offer their teachings to those who wanted to learn, but not force them on those who took no interest.

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Have Christians misunderstood Jesus?

Posted on October 19, 2008 | 17 comments

Many Christians are extremely insulting about Hinduism and other religions. They call us ignorant, dumb, followers of Satan and mock our beliefs and practices. They tell converts that they should not associate with non-Christians, and sometimes even incite violence, trickery, deception, and destruction of shrines. You only have to look at some of the comments by Christians on this blog to see the degrees of hatred. These Christians honestly believe that this is what their religion teaches.

In contrast, many Hindus believe that Jesus was a guru, and that his teachings do not incite this type of behaviour. I have looked at the teachings of Jesus and I have come to the conclusion that many Christians have misunderstood the real meaning of the teachings of Jesus. In short, what the many missionaries teach is not in accord with the true teachings of Jesus.

Jesus as a Guru

If Jesus is seen as a guru, and the gospels as the teachings of Jesus become clear. When Jesus says to Thomas In John 14:6-7

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.

This is an explanation of the Guru student relationship. Many gurus would say the same thing to their students, but this would not exclude the possibility of other gurus. Many sayings that are taken as instructions to be exclusive and divisive by the Christian Right are in reality simply instructions to keep firm to the guru-shishya relationship.

Jesus’s words on Other Faiths

From the way that many modern Christians behave you would expect Jesus to be full of condemnation, insults, and irreverence for the Roman and Greek gods. In fact, Jesus never said anything negative about these beliefs. Having queried this on a Christian board someone eventually came up with two passages from Jesus: Continue reading →

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