hindweb

Hinduism is more of a living than religion, you have Yoga for physical well being, Ayurveda to take care of illness, the divine aspect is reflected even in the smaller things you do in everyday life!

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Sanatana dharma
http://dharma.indviews.com

lauraclay

How would you define a religion then?

__________________

The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.

The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.

The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to.

vimoh

In my opinion, a religion is an intended way to get to god. One that seldom works. I tried to chart an average religion's path in a story on my blog. Will post link if everyone promises not to consider it spam.

Here it is: http://www.mypajama.com/blog/posts/on-priorities/

__________________
RAMAYAN 2.0 (mypajama.com)
New Stories from an Ancient Epic

lauraclay

Alright, so religion means you're working towards living with God in the afterlife. Were the ancient Greeks not religious?

__________________

The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.

The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.

The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to.

vimoh

Religion doesn't mean working towards living with God in the afterlife. At leaast it shouldn't. When I said living, I meant just that. Living. Living well. With no more expectations other than the joy of living well.

__________________
RAMAYAN 2.0 (mypajama.com)
New Stories from an Ancient Epic

lauraclay

You said it's a way to get to god? What do you mean then? And if it's just about living well, than why isn't Hinduism a religion?

__________________

The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.

The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.

The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to.

vimoh

God can be 'got' by being at peace with yourself. I personally know of no Hindus who worry a lot about the afterlife. And I live amongst Hindus.

Hinduism was never meant to be an organised religion. It started off, in the early Aryanic days as a very personal, one-to-one way to God. Advocating good, clean, living to be at peace with oneself.

The twists and ugly warping of the faith came much later in history. Towards the time when people forgot that the caste system was merely a way to easily classify social classes.

__________________
RAMAYAN 2.0 (mypajama.com)
New Stories from an Ancient Epic

lauraclay

Wait, so are you saying Hinduism wasn't meant to be a religion, but now is. Or that it isn't a religion at all?

__________________

The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.

The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.

The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to.

vimoh

I could say it wasn't meant to be a religion. But I can't because I doubt there was the concept of a religion back then.

In any case, I don't know what it is now. As I have said before, people's definition of a religion varies. The word used for Hinduism is 'Dharma'. It means duty. Fullstop. Go figure!

__________________
RAMAYAN 2.0 (mypajama.com)
New Stories from an Ancient Epic

lauraclay

Ok, sorry, I know I sound nitpicky, but I'm confused. What do you mean they didn't have the concept of religion back then? Isn't religion nearly as old as civilization, if not older, depending on your definition of them both? And I thought dharma was just a part of hinduism and other far east societies. I didn't think it was synonymous with Hinduism.

__________________

The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.

The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.

The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to.