True belief in One GOD
Some time back (a few years ago), I met a friend of my, then to be wife, at a restaurant, and some conversation that I can't exactly recall came about regarding, faith and belief, and he was quick to quip with with a proud gait, " I believe in One God".
I was taken aback, offended. It felt pretty condescending, in the way he put it to me. And that got me thinking to which I am responding now. Its been a few years since that incident, but I can't come to terms with the lack of understanding and the condescension thrown at us that belong to the Sanatana Dharma.
Why was I offended? Of course if no harm, no condescension was meant he didnt have to mention his faith in the One God. Its not like he came up to me and told me he saw the sun rise in the East every morning.
I grew up in a pretty liberal household, while my grandmother was pretty orthodox in her life style, did not really force us in to an orthodox life style (honestly, I regret she didn't do it). But sometime in my 9th grade, I fell pretty sick, if I remember right, I was disturbed to the point of hitting depression.
Guess what my grandmother did? She took me to a Dargah, in Hyderabad, to a Muslim Fakir to get a Tabiz. Of course along with all the things she out of her faith in God, she did through temples and orthodox Brahmin rituals.
Now THAT is true belief in ONE GOD. THAT understanding that, "what's in an name". That understanding of the divine that I don't draw a line around my faith system with a name or a story or a single book, is the true belief in ONE GOD.
In fact in my early days in America, I had no qualms about walking in to Churches to get some peace of mind, to me, God, Christ is just another name attributed to the divine. May be because of the different sources we might have different rituals. But very soon, the church goers started to try to convert me, I quit going. All this when I wasn't even contemplating these aspects of theology.
It is people of other religions, abrahmic religions that resort to the terminologies like, your God and my God, lesser God and Greater God, true God and False GOD.
I am sorry, it is these religions without having a true understanding of what belief in a true God resort to a corporate membership style conversions.
As far as Advaita school of thought is concerned, there is nothing BUT GOD, call it what you want. Names are just human creations, how does it matter if I call God, Rama, Krishna, Allah, Jesus, Yahweh, Ganapati, Siva? Its just a name. Get over it. The whole point of spiritual progress is to understand that this All powerful God, who apparently is all powerful, would have made me born whatever, if he wished so.
Sure, according to scriptures there seem to be "lesser gods". But do your research about what they are. What do we mean when we say that. god is just a term we use loosely because Sanskrit to English translation is just really misleading. English is a very incomplete, incompetent, great grand child of the mother of all languages, Sanskrit.
Then why create wars and massacres throughout history to "Convert people"? That just means, these religions do not believe truly that the God they worship is all powerful. In Sanatana Dharma, we truly believe that God is all powerful. And hence there is no concept of conversion in Vedic Sanatana Dharma.
So here is my humble request and suggestion to people from other religions: Do not get condensing towards the Vedic people of India, without a clear understanding of what we are about. Keep your half knowledge condescension with yourself.
In defense of a few schools of thoughts of which I am aware of in the Abrahmic Religions, I would have to say, the Sufi's of India saw through this truth. And hence a Kabir came from India and no where else on planet earth.
I write this also because across the Internet, I find people of other religions talking sheer nonsense about Sanatana Dharma, and make fun of it. I recognize that these fools will make fun of evrything that comes their way without ever having spent time to understand it... and seriously... they make fun of it for their incapability of completely grasping this vast ocean of a "religion" called Sanatana Dharma.
Think.
I was taken aback, offended. It felt pretty condescending, in the way he put it to me. And that got me thinking to which I am responding now. Its been a few years since that incident, but I can't come to terms with the lack of understanding and the condescension thrown at us that belong to the Sanatana Dharma.
Why was I offended? Of course if no harm, no condescension was meant he didnt have to mention his faith in the One God. Its not like he came up to me and told me he saw the sun rise in the East every morning.
I grew up in a pretty liberal household, while my grandmother was pretty orthodox in her life style, did not really force us in to an orthodox life style (honestly, I regret she didn't do it). But sometime in my 9th grade, I fell pretty sick, if I remember right, I was disturbed to the point of hitting depression.
Guess what my grandmother did? She took me to a Dargah, in Hyderabad, to a Muslim Fakir to get a Tabiz. Of course along with all the things she out of her faith in God, she did through temples and orthodox Brahmin rituals.
Now THAT is true belief in ONE GOD. THAT understanding that, "what's in an name". That understanding of the divine that I don't draw a line around my faith system with a name or a story or a single book, is the true belief in ONE GOD.
In fact in my early days in America, I had no qualms about walking in to Churches to get some peace of mind, to me, God, Christ is just another name attributed to the divine. May be because of the different sources we might have different rituals. But very soon, the church goers started to try to convert me, I quit going. All this when I wasn't even contemplating these aspects of theology.
It is people of other religions, abrahmic religions that resort to the terminologies like, your God and my God, lesser God and Greater God, true God and False GOD.
I am sorry, it is these religions without having a true understanding of what belief in a true God resort to a corporate membership style conversions.
As far as Advaita school of thought is concerned, there is nothing BUT GOD, call it what you want. Names are just human creations, how does it matter if I call God, Rama, Krishna, Allah, Jesus, Yahweh, Ganapati, Siva? Its just a name. Get over it. The whole point of spiritual progress is to understand that this All powerful God, who apparently is all powerful, would have made me born whatever, if he wished so.
Sure, according to scriptures there seem to be "lesser gods". But do your research about what they are. What do we mean when we say that. god is just a term we use loosely because Sanskrit to English translation is just really misleading. English is a very incomplete, incompetent, great grand child of the mother of all languages, Sanskrit.
Then why create wars and massacres throughout history to "Convert people"? That just means, these religions do not believe truly that the God they worship is all powerful. In Sanatana Dharma, we truly believe that God is all powerful. And hence there is no concept of conversion in Vedic Sanatana Dharma.
So here is my humble request and suggestion to people from other religions: Do not get condensing towards the Vedic people of India, without a clear understanding of what we are about. Keep your half knowledge condescension with yourself.
In defense of a few schools of thoughts of which I am aware of in the Abrahmic Religions, I would have to say, the Sufi's of India saw through this truth. And hence a Kabir came from India and no where else on planet earth.
I write this also because across the Internet, I find people of other religions talking sheer nonsense about Sanatana Dharma, and make fun of it. I recognize that these fools will make fun of evrything that comes their way without ever having spent time to understand it... and seriously... they make fun of it for their incapability of completely grasping this vast ocean of a "religion" called Sanatana Dharma.
Think.
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