As Above, So Below - the religion thread (formerly: People of California, beware)

Paging Belphuri, Demonstar or Sunil! (At a guess. No offense, guys. I know India harbours other religions as well).

Even Doyle with Holmes!! 221 Baker Street=2 (2+1).

I have to write a paper about different life views and religions. First I have to compare humanism with one of the monotheist religions. Then I have to take two interviews, one with a hindu and one with a buddhist. We are exploring the religions and life views by seven questions of life:

1. What is important in life?
2. What is a human being, what is humanity?
3. How do people (have to) live together?
4. What does pain and death mean?
5. What is the meaning of time? What is the meaning of space?
6. What is nature?
7. What is the connection between cosmos and humanity?

That's the idea.
I'd prefer to talk to someone in my own town, so I learn what it all means here in the Netherlands, but it's harder to find someone than I thought!

Hey Bregje, I'm not sure if I know Hinduism inside out but being born in a very orthodox Hindu family and watching quite a lot of mythological shows, I think I know quite a lot of facts.

In regard to the questions above -

1. What is important in life?

Hinduism says dharma (one's duties) and karma (one's deeds) are the most important in life. If one does good, good comes back to him and God will be happy with him. If one does an act of evil, he/she will have to suffer for it. Simply said, "as you sow, so you reap".

Life is compared to a mystic illusion where one must stay on the path of truth (satya) and fight the five inner evils everyone has - Kam (Lust), Krodh (Rage), Lobh (Greed), Moh (Temptation) and Ahankar (ego) and devote oneself to serve others and pray to God.

2. What is a human being, what is humanity?

A human being is the most supreme of all other life forms in the world, endowed with the power of mind and logical thinking. A human body is believed to be attained after one has been born and died in the form of all other organisms on earth. Therefore, one is told to make good use of this hard-attained human body and devote himself to doing good deeds.

3. How do people (have to) live together?

Our souls (aatma) are all a part of the Supreme Soul (paramaatma) that is God, therefore we should treat the whole world as a family (kutumbam) and live in harmony, and together pray to Lord to bestow his blessings on us.

4. What does pain and death mean?

Death is the opposite counterpart of birth and is inevitable, a law of Nature.. Death liberates the soul from one's mortal body. Hindus believe that, when a person dies, his spirit (aatma) is given another earthly body, that of an animal or a person of another caste (social level), depending on how he lived his current life. This cycle or death and rebirth continues on and on until one is finally released from this cycle when he has proved himself to God to be worthy, and his aatma goes on to merge with the paramaatma, attaining salvation (moksha).

Pain is believed to be a punishment for one's past bad deeds or (if you look at pain as simply trouble or tough times), sometimes, God's test (pariksha) of one's character. If one stays on the path of truth (goodness) and follow one's dharma even through tough times, he will be blessed by God and his troubles will be destroyed.

5. What is the meaning of time? What is the meaning of space?

I don't know much about this, sorry, but I'll look into it. We do have the concept of eras or epoch, called Yugas.

From Wikepedia - There are four Yugas - Satya Yuga, the Treta Yuga, the Dvapara Yuga and finally the Kali Yuga (the present time). According to Hindu cosmology, the world is created, destroyed and recreated every 4,320,000 years (Maha Yuga). The cycles are said to repeat like the seasons, waxing and waning within a greater time-cycle of the creation and destruction of the universe. Like Summer, Spring, Winter and Autumn, each yuga involves stages or gradual changes which the earth and the consciousness of mankind goes through as a whole. A complete yuga cycle from a high Golden Age of enlightenment to a Dark Age and back again is said to be caused by the solar system's motion around a central sun.

6. What is nature?

Hinduism is regarded as a very nature-friendly religion. We worship several kinds of trees and animals (especially cow) and Earth is regarded as bhoomi mata (Mother Earth). Almost all kinds of animals are depicted as steeds of various Gods and trees are declared holy, and this prevents people from harming them. Indian sages have always had a great respect for nature. The Bhagavad Gita advises us not to try to change the environment, meddle with it, or exploit it ruthlessly, but to respect and live in harmony with it. Ecology is an inherent part of a spiritual world view in Hinduism.

7. What is the connection between cosmos and humanity?

This is the concept of the Navagrahas or Nine Planets. Though the bodies in question are not all planets, they are all said to have a profound impact on human life. Based on their positions, we create birth-charts called kundalis, in the science of astrology. Precious stones worn in rings or chains are said to lessen harmful effect of grahas and enhance good effect. And this has been practically seen, even by me.

Read about the grahas here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navagraha

I'll look into the time portion later and write it here!

Thanks Steven for your input.
Fun to read and it raises some questions with me again, so I hope I will have the time to respond soon. As a matter of fact I have to answer the questions for myself as well, for yet another paper... Once they're all finished perhaps I can take the time to post all of the answers here (so that would be my answers, humanist answers, islamic answers, Hindu answers and buddhist answers).

Hi Bregje, I'm Hindu myself but I don't know our books like Bhagwad Geeta back to front like my parents, that's what I meant But I've had my experiences with prayer and therefore I have great faith in my religion!

Regarding the time thing, we do have Hindu calendars here where astrologers tell at what time someone can have good or bad luck depending on the position of the grahas I mentioned above.

Happy to help!

Thanks again Demonstar! I take it that is allowed for Hindu's?

I think I'm going to ask you some more questions soon. I will send you a PM then so you can decide if you want to answer them and where, in a PM or here on the board.

Hindu's can drink beer.

A Kingfisher?... a Tiger? to wet the ol'whistle???.....no!?

No worries....I can drink beer for two

Well, as a person of probability I myself am not a strict atheist. Asserting yourself as 100% atheist is as misguided as asserting yourself as 100% theist in my opinion, so I can definitely see why an agnostic approach appeals.
(As I've said before, I'm 99.99[ad infinitum]% atheist, so technically I'm agnostic too. )

I love that second quote.

Ah but a metaphor is a two-edged sword.

'Minds are like parachutes - once opened, they cannot be reused.' (without considerable effort, at least!)

Hehe! Good one!

Is it possible to comprehend something that has always been!? Is it possible mankind has a need to understand a begining and end to the universe due to the fact of our own mortality, a fact that we cannot conceive of anything that has no begining nor end?

Not at all.
I obviously created you.



I was thinking to add the exact same consideration to my earlier post!!!
Yes, you are so right, and this is my feeling as well: I don't think we are currently able to conceive on anything but the most abstract level of the concept of true eternity[/i].
That it is our own linear existence that we hold -necessarily- to be the measure of things outside us as well, as it it is truly the ultimate thing we measure ourselves by.

I am always reminded of Lovecraft's 'Render Of The Veil' story, where the human mind, confronted with the true nature of the Universe, immediately goes screamingly insane.