Christianity Oh Really ? Hindus Believe In One God

[Admin]

Hinduism is Not a Single Religion
Hinduism is not a term which identifies a single set of beliefs or ways of worship. Indeed the word itself doesn't appear in English until 1829.

Hinduism is the practices of a variety of different religious groups which come out of India.

Origins
Hinduism developed from the religious practices of those who lived near the River Indus in modern day Pakistan.

However Hinduism has been, and continues to be, influenced by the traditions, stories and practices of people from other parts of India and beyond.

The Nature of God
Hindus believe in the universal soul (Brahman), as the sole reality who is present in all things.

Brahman has no form, and is eternal.
Brahman is creator, preserver and transformer of everything.
Brahman appears in the human spirit as atman, or the soul.


What About All Those Hindu Gods?
It is often believed that Hindus worship many gods, but in fact, many Hindus would claim to believe in one eternal god (Brahman) which is indefinable, whilst revering other deities.

They recognise the other gods as different aspects of the Brahman

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/intro2.shtml

Do you agree ?

 

[BabbarSher]

As far as my knowledge goes, Brahman is a concept given by Upanishads, much later than Vedas.

The Vedas talk about a Primeval man, who was sacrificed by Gods and from whose sacrificed parts the various Varnas were created and the world was created. In fact the Vedas seemed to be confused about creation, and in one verse the author of the verse even questions whether the Prajapati (one God) himslef knows how the Universe was created.

The Upanishads do refer to Barahman, but they do not let go of the other Gods. In fact as opposed to the Naam Marg, the Upanishads focus more on the knowledge aspect. They seem to suggest that once a person knows about Brahman, realises that he Brahman is within him, he is Mukt.

A different version of the above is found in the Jog Sect as well.

However all the above, do away with Gurprasad and their concept of the One God is primitive and incomplete as compared to sikhi which beautifully describes some aspect of God, declares Naam marg as the marg to be followed and tells the mortal, that he can only get out of this cycle of birth and death throgh Gurprasad.

I am currently reading some books on this Vedas and Aryans, so intend to throug more light on it at a later stage.

Akal Sahai

Babbar Sher

 

[Heathen Dawn]

Take a look at this article:

Monotheism and Polytheism by Alain Danielou

It explains soft polytheism (which I adhere to also) most succintly. Truly there is a Oneness behind all Being, a simple unity beyond which nothing simpler could be conceived; however, the Brahman is so abstract, so conceptually remote, that He/She/It cannot be worshipped. Fortunately, the Brahman is manifest in anthropomorphic forms that we can easily relate to: Zeus, Toutatis, Baal, Juno, Ra, Durga and so on, all the Gods and Goddesses whom mankind has ever worshipped.

So is there one God or many Gods? Both: there is one God Behind The Gods, Ground of All Being or Brahman, manifest as a multitude of Gods and Goddesses.

 

[BabbarSher]

The point is whay does one God need many God below him ? Popular myths would suggest that One God is not capable of managing all the things himself (a typical human oriented belief).

Hence the concept of multiple Gods is negated and cannot be accepted.

Akal Sahai
Babbar Sher

 

[sukhi]

i always thought that the lesser deities were like the angels and saints in Catholicism. why would the Catholic God need angels and saints to do what can be done by Him alone? no idea...

 

[Heathen Dawn]

The point is whay does one God need many God below him?

It is not a need of God, but a need of humans. The Creator-God, or Brahman, is too abstract, too conceptually remote for human beings to relate to. Humans can only to relate to His personal aspects, such as the Destroyer (Shiva), Preserver (Vishnu), Nurturing Mother (Lakshmi), Dark Mother (Kali) or any other. The white light is too bright to be looked at, one must look at the individual colours of the rainbow.

 

[Admin]

It is not a need of God, but a need of humans. The Creator-God, or Brahman, is too abstract, too conceptually remote for human beings to relate to. Humans can only to relate to His personal aspects, such as the Destroyer (Shiva), Preserver (Vishnu), Nurturing Mother (Lakshmi), Dark Mother (Kali) or any other. The white light is too bright to be looked at, one must look at the individual colours of the rainbow.

Dear Heathen,

You are generalising the text in bold. What is the basis of your above random observation ? Why actaully in end we only finish up looking at the one color of the spectrum ? like Destroyer (Shiva), Preserver (Vishnu), Nurturing Mother (Lakshmi), Dark Mother (Kali) or any other. I have hardly seen a Hindu who worships all these.
If he is worshipper of Shiva then he would not agree with the existence of other attributes. why is that so ?

 

[Heathen Dawn]

You are generalising the text in bold. What is the basis of your above random observation ? Why actaully in end we only finish up looking at the one color of the spectrum ? like Destroyer (Shiva), Preserver (Vishnu), Nurturing Mother (Lakshmi), Dark Mother (Kali) or any other. I have hardly seen a Hindu who worships all these.

One could not worship so many Gods and Goddesses at once. That is where the concept of ishta-devata, or chosen divinity, comes in. A person can choose to worship one God or two or three, maybe a little more, but certainly not all of Them.

If he is worshipper of Shiva then he would not agree with the existence of other attributes. why is that so ?

A worshipper of Shiva does not disbelieve in the existence of Brahma, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Kali or any other God or Goddess; but he devotes himself to Shiva and does not worship other Gods, because there needs to be a focus of devotion (ishta-devata). I believe in thousands of Gods and Goddesses; could you imagine worshipping all of Them? No, as a Wiccan, I worship only one God and one Goddess, they are my ishta-devata.

The Concept of Ishta-Devata explained on HinduNet

 

[dpvtank]

Brahman is the creator, Mahesh is the destroyer, and Vishu is the sustainer. That pretty much gives them the same power but in different angles. So, there is a higher God that we believe in who made Brahma Vishu and Mahesh, etc etc. God does have a form. If all his creations [humans, etc] have a form, God definately has a form. How ridiculous would it be if the owner of Ford car company does not have a car. Similarly, it is absurd to think that God does not have a form when he has given all of us a form.

God is all-doer, He is sakaar [with form], He is Supreme, and He is Ever-Present

 

[Maize]

What About All Those Hindu Gods?
It is often believed that Hindus worship many gods, but in fact, many Hindus would claim to believe in one eternal god (Brahman) which is indefinable, whilst revering other deities.

They recognise the other gods as different aspects of the Brahman

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/intro2.shtml

Do you agree ?

I think this goes far in explaining why Hindus have no trouble in excepting the trinitarian cocept in Christianity. We don't think of Christians as being polytheistic, why would Hindus be either?