Monday I followed a lesson on hinduism in religious class (I am on a christian school). It was about hinduism as it is in India (so I realize that it might be a bit different that hinduism in a western country, just as islam in a western country can be different that islam in the middle-east). Please correct me at any point if I’m wrong. This is what I got: In hinduism in India, life is suffering. Reincarnation is a process you must go through, the goal is to escape the samsara, the atman becoming one with brahman. This is done through a very long process of reincarnation through all the castes. I am not a hindu so I am a paria. Above that is the caste of servants/slaves, then the traders/farmers, then the warriors, and finally the brahmans (holy men/priests). These main casts consist of many hundreds of sub-castes. Reincarnating up the ladder takes many many reincarnations and it can take many thousands of years for the atman to reach the moksja. To reincarnate to a higher caste, thus coming closer to ending the process of samsara, you must not disturb dharma, your role/position in the samsara. This means that you will not care about someone in a lower caste, and will not deal with people in a higher caste. You will be raised, married, and die in the caste you are born in, because you should not disturb dharma. My karma must be on zero, by clearing my mind by yoga and citing mantra’s. In your house you daily practice puja’s. This would be the life of the hindu in India. But if I compare to that the life of a new-ager, the mentality is totally different. There, reincarnation is not a horror that must be get rid of by moksja, but a big adventure. Becoming one with the brahman is very great, but in hinduism it is impersonal: you won’t realise it, no consciousness. In hinduism the dharma must not be disturbed and one must stay where and how he is and only deal with people from his/her own caste, while in new-age you must not stay in the position where you are but get somewhere higher, thus going on a journey of enlightenment and mind expansion to find your dharma instead of not doing anything and so not disturbing your dharma. In hinduism, you will not give help to a beggar, for he is in his dharma and you are in yours, and it should stay that way. But in the new age, love for the fellow human is very very important. What do you think about the differences between hinduism and new-age? Ofcourse I realise that not all hindus are this way, but if I understand correctly, this is the traditional hinduism of india. And the new age (and maybe also western hinduism) is so different because it has a western mentality which means that there is hope for a better future, chances to expand or get a better life, opportunity’s, freedom etc. What do you think?
Hey Nicely surprised to see a post of you here I think new-age and hinduism are so far apart that it's hard to even compare them. The main reason for this, I think, is because of the cultural differences. New age is mostly found in western society where there is enough luxury etc. whereas hinduism originates like you said, in India, a country with great poverty. The whole caste system is officially forbidden there, as far as I know, but the people (esp. at the country side) still live by it. Another difference is that new agers don't think in caste-like systems. So reincarnation for them, is less about going 'up the ladder' but more about experiencing everything.. how it is to be rich, poor, healthy, sick, human, insect.. etc etc. The hindu system seems more to be about 'getting it over with'.. suffering through this life and getting 'karma points' by doing good deeds so you (and your family) will have to suffer less in the next life.. and so on (there was a documentary on discovery, True Horror, about a woman who cleaned up the bodies of murder/traffic victims in order to clean her karma/get a better karma so she's have a better next life for her and her kids). So.. it seems that hinduism is more about hopes for a better future, whereas new age is more about experiencing everything.. in my opinion. I wouldn't call myself a new-ager though so I'm not really at liberty to speak up I guess. It's an interesting comparisson though.. the problem is that new-age is very ecclectic and 'borrows' not only from hinduism but from many religions and giving it a new twist. Hey, you should really see the movie 'the samsara'. It's about a buddhist monk who falls in love with a girl and has to choose between 'the samsara' (= living an 'wordly' life with his love) or devoting himself to the path of buddha and become 'enlightend'. I've made a thread about it somewhere.. I think in the 'Asian forum'.. I can really recommend it to you.. I cried my eyes out while watching it. Although it's about a buddhist monk, it's basically about the eternal struggle of every day distractions and longings versus a spiritual life.
Just an observation ~ You speak of religions as if they are shops that sell variations of life potential! My thoughts ~ I don't believe that any religion will get you "home". I do believe that "going home" occurs as naturally as arriving here. No worries.
Absolutely. The essential core of any faith is: a) a belief in a higher being or force b) life is suffering, to a certain extent c) some form of heaven or higher spiritual reincarnation If you take any religion, you can break it down to this and find many similarities, and many contrasts as well.
