Since the random thoughts thread has started increasing in posts about religion, I, with the ideas and posts from others, thought we should have a dedicated thread about it.
Here's the deal though: Just as with the political section - DON'T DISRESPECT OTHERS. Everyone comes from some background in religion, be it something orthodox and strict to no religion at all. Everyone has a right to their individual beliefs and as another human being who is walking on this Earth, you should at least be open to listening to their beliefs, even if it clashes with yours. That being said, if someone is clearly disrespecting your views and beliefs, you have every right to admonish and bring clear the nature of their response to them in a diplomatic and non-antagonizing manner.
So ask questions, talk about where you come from, talk about religious problems in the world and how you feel about them, anything religion-oriented, go for it.
Tell us what religion you follow or believe, if you label yourself with a particular name, or if you're a "free agent" that takes bits and pieces from everything or even nothing.
For me, I am a Hindu. I am of the Brahmin caste, and right away I'm going to tell you that it's not the HIGHEST caste. There is no such thing as the highest caste. Without insulting the UKanians on this forum, all of the invaders came and screwed the system up, from the mughals to the brits. The caste system was a division of labor, with everyone getting equal treatment. No-one in our families has issues with touching or acting friendly to the "untouchable" caste. We have members of this caste helping us at home, and we treat them like our own family. We take care of them in that regard, and we love them as much as we love members of our own family. I was never raised to treat anyone else differently just because of where they come from or who they are. Which is why it was a huge shock to me when I grew up and felt the sting of discrimination directly. I couldn't believe there were people like that.
Hinduism is not a religion. I cannot impress this fact enough. It's a Dharma - which means philosophy, law, way of life. None of the words by themselves can really express the meaning of Dharma, but together they sort of paint the picture for what it is. Likewise with Buddhism, it's not a religion. The unofficial name for Hinduism is Santhana Dharma, which roughly translates to eternal law or unbreakable philosophy. And because of the flexibility of the "religion" and the fact that it isn't a religion at all, explains why so few were converted to Christianity even at gunpoint when India was last invaded and occupied (no offense to the UKanians again). Buddhism is again called Buddha Dharma, or Buddha's philosophies.
Hinduism is mostly about treating others and a science in terms of understanding nature and the universe, and where we come from. Having read the Upanishads (which is a sequence of back-and-forths between a sage and his students), I can clearly and unequivocally assert that Hinduism is a science based on millennia upon millennia of studies of the universe. It's basically astrophysics, which is why I never see it clashing with the work I do, and I never see work clashing with Hinduism.
I personally don't like to use the word God to explain things, because I have astrophysics to explain them. I don't mind however giving Hindu God labels to things, because the names just represent that aspect of the universe. For example, there is a form of Shiva, called Nataraja, who is dancing the cosmic dance.
They say if he stops dancing, every single atom in the universe will stop, and they have even created a story (or stories) about that, which my mom told me when I was a kid. But she, and I, call it Kinetic Energy, because that's what it is. Nataraja = Kinetic energy. Likewise, Krishna represents darkness, aka Dark matter and Dark Energy. Bhoomi is the Earth goddess, Surya is the sun and Chandra is the moon, etc etc.
Anyways I've rambled. Start the discussion, and feel free to ask me anything about Hinduism. While I'm still learning the intricacies of it, I can provide my background and understanding of it, and I feel like I have a good overall understanding and feel like it would represent almost what an outside observer would say about it.
Here's the deal though: Just as with the political section - DON'T DISRESPECT OTHERS. Everyone comes from some background in religion, be it something orthodox and strict to no religion at all. Everyone has a right to their individual beliefs and as another human being who is walking on this Earth, you should at least be open to listening to their beliefs, even if it clashes with yours. That being said, if someone is clearly disrespecting your views and beliefs, you have every right to admonish and bring clear the nature of their response to them in a diplomatic and non-antagonizing manner.
So ask questions, talk about where you come from, talk about religious problems in the world and how you feel about them, anything religion-oriented, go for it.
Tell us what religion you follow or believe, if you label yourself with a particular name, or if you're a "free agent" that takes bits and pieces from everything or even nothing.
For me, I am a Hindu. I am of the Brahmin caste, and right away I'm going to tell you that it's not the HIGHEST caste. There is no such thing as the highest caste. Without insulting the UKanians on this forum, all of the invaders came and screwed the system up, from the mughals to the brits. The caste system was a division of labor, with everyone getting equal treatment. No-one in our families has issues with touching or acting friendly to the "untouchable" caste. We have members of this caste helping us at home, and we treat them like our own family. We take care of them in that regard, and we love them as much as we love members of our own family. I was never raised to treat anyone else differently just because of where they come from or who they are. Which is why it was a huge shock to me when I grew up and felt the sting of discrimination directly. I couldn't believe there were people like that.
Hinduism is not a religion. I cannot impress this fact enough. It's a Dharma - which means philosophy, law, way of life. None of the words by themselves can really express the meaning of Dharma, but together they sort of paint the picture for what it is. Likewise with Buddhism, it's not a religion. The unofficial name for Hinduism is Santhana Dharma, which roughly translates to eternal law or unbreakable philosophy. And because of the flexibility of the "religion" and the fact that it isn't a religion at all, explains why so few were converted to Christianity even at gunpoint when India was last invaded and occupied (no offense to the UKanians again). Buddhism is again called Buddha Dharma, or Buddha's philosophies.
Hinduism is mostly about treating others and a science in terms of understanding nature and the universe, and where we come from. Having read the Upanishads (which is a sequence of back-and-forths between a sage and his students), I can clearly and unequivocally assert that Hinduism is a science based on millennia upon millennia of studies of the universe. It's basically astrophysics, which is why I never see it clashing with the work I do, and I never see work clashing with Hinduism.
I personally don't like to use the word God to explain things, because I have astrophysics to explain them. I don't mind however giving Hindu God labels to things, because the names just represent that aspect of the universe. For example, there is a form of Shiva, called Nataraja, who is dancing the cosmic dance.
They say if he stops dancing, every single atom in the universe will stop, and they have even created a story (or stories) about that, which my mom told me when I was a kid. But she, and I, call it Kinetic Energy, because that's what it is. Nataraja = Kinetic energy. Likewise, Krishna represents darkness, aka Dark matter and Dark Energy. Bhoomi is the Earth goddess, Surya is the sun and Chandra is the moon, etc etc.
Anyways I've rambled. Start the discussion, and feel free to ask me anything about Hinduism. While I'm still learning the intricacies of it, I can provide my background and understanding of it, and I feel like I have a good overall understanding and feel like it would represent almost what an outside observer would say about it.
