WORKSHOP ON WORK IS WORSHIP
We Are All Hindus Now
We Are All Hindus Now
By Lisa Miller | NEWSWEEK
Published Aug 15, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Aug 31, 2009
http://www.newsweek.com/id/212155
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."
By Lisa Miller | NEWSWEEK
Published Aug 15, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Aug 31, 2009
http://www.newsweek.com/id/212155
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."
About
THE SPIRITUAL SKY
There is another reality that is more compatible to us than what we experience now, and that reality is the unlimited Spiritual Sky.
The material world is a pale reflection of the Spiritual world, it is NOT heaven which some religions say is the ultimate destination.
Heaven is still in the material world and when you go there after using up all of your good karma you must come back to the earthly planets.
Even though you can stay there for millions of years and all your senses work better and you can have better sex life you cannot get to the Spiritual world easily because there you are more into sense gratification than here on earth.
The Spiritual Sky is 75% of Krishna's creation and the material world is 25%, the Spiritual world is eternal and time does not exist there, The material world is temporary and time destroys everything here.
In the Spiritual Sky there are no stars because everything is self illuminating, in the material world if turn off the lights at night you can't see a thing and most people are afraid of the dark.
In the Spiritual world there is no birth, old age, disease, war, or death, In the material world there is birth, old age, diseases, wars, and death all around us.
The Spiritual Sky is known as Vaikuntha or without anxieties, while the material world is called Kuntha or with anxieties. The living entities are like fish out of water here in material consciousness and some of them don't even realize that this place is a horror show for them.
So the choice is clear you can stay here and be a hero, fighting against material hardships or you can become a surrendered Krishna devotee and go back home, Back to Godhead.
The material world is a pale reflection of the Spiritual world, it is NOT heaven which some religions say is the ultimate destination.
Heaven is still in the material world and when you go there after using up all of your good karma you must come back to the earthly planets.
Even though you can stay there for millions of years and all your senses work better and you can have better sex life you cannot get to the Spiritual world easily because there you are more into sense gratification than here on earth.
The Spiritual Sky is 75% of Krishna's creation and the material world is 25%, the Spiritual world is eternal and time does not exist there, The material world is temporary and time destroys everything here.
In the Spiritual Sky there are no stars because everything is self illuminating, in the material world if turn off the lights at night you can't see a thing and most people are afraid of the dark.
In the Spiritual world there is no birth, old age, disease, war, or death, In the material world there is birth, old age, diseases, wars, and death all around us.
The Spiritual Sky is known as Vaikuntha or without anxieties, while the material world is called Kuntha or with anxieties. The living entities are like fish out of water here in material consciousness and some of them don't even realize that this place is a horror show for them.
So the choice is clear you can stay here and be a hero, fighting against material hardships or you can become a surrendered Krishna devotee and go back home, Back to Godhead.
Badge
JAPA
Japa is the quiet prayer. You say it loud enough so you can hear it, but it’s mostly for yourself. Radha and Krishna can hear you. They’re close by, so you don’t have to shout. But They’re listening carefully, so you pronounce with great care. Put your heart into it. Hear me, Lord. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Over and over, the thirty-two syllables are repeated.
From Bhajana Kutir #78
Empty and calm and devoid of self
Is the nature of all things.
No individual being
In reality exists.
There is no end or beginning,
Nor any middle course.
All is an illusion,
As in a vision or a dream.
All beings in the world
Are beyond the realm of words.
Their ultimate nature, pure and true,
Is like the infinity of space.
-Prajnaparamita
---
It is only when the mind is completely under control that man can grasp his real identity. Then all troubles and travails, doubts and dilemmas, come to an end. Man then overcomes sorrow, delusion and anxiety. He is established in the holy calmness of Shanti (peace). Spiritual life is not a matter of meaningless talk. It is an experience of pure Ananda (bliss).
- Baba
All cravings and impulses rise up with overpowering strength like waves from the sea, roar in fury, and then subside in to calm waters. They do not confer peace. Wisdom lies in forgetting these waves and directing one's attention to the calm depths within. You can attain Shanti (peace) only if you dive in to the deep and undisturbed depths of the sea within, not by swimming around on the surface.
- Baba
From Bhajana Kutir #78
Empty and calm and devoid of self
Is the nature of all things.
No individual being
In reality exists.
There is no end or beginning,
Nor any middle course.
All is an illusion,
As in a vision or a dream.
All beings in the world
Are beyond the realm of words.
Their ultimate nature, pure and true,
Is like the infinity of space.
-Prajnaparamita
---
It is only when the mind is completely under control that man can grasp his real identity. Then all troubles and travails, doubts and dilemmas, come to an end. Man then overcomes sorrow, delusion and anxiety. He is established in the holy calmness of Shanti (peace). Spiritual life is not a matter of meaningless talk. It is an experience of pure Ananda (bliss).
- Baba
All cravings and impulses rise up with overpowering strength like waves from the sea, roar in fury, and then subside in to calm waters. They do not confer peace. Wisdom lies in forgetting these waves and directing one's attention to the calm depths within. You can attain Shanti (peace) only if you dive in to the deep and undisturbed depths of the sea within, not by swimming around on the surface.
- Baba
© 2009 Created by Harish Rajpal on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
