The Word Hindu

The Word “Hindu”
There are many articles that are circulating the internet in regards to how the word "Hindu" should be viewed. To many people when they hear the word Hindu immediate misconceptions begin to manifest with issues such as cow worship, sati, dowry and worst of all untouchables. But who do we blame for people to have such interpretations of the word Hindu. Having examined many texts by western historians or so called historians, it’s not hard to find such vehemently anti Hindu texts. There is a significant historical origin to the present situations that Hindus experience today. During the British Raj in India the western Indologists who were practicing Christians as well as missionaries were the people responsible for the translation of the Hindu texts. It doesn’t take a genius to know the devious and conniving tactics Christians would and still use to make cultures other than theirs as inferior, therefore rendering the translated texts as products of poor quality. It is these reasons that many Hindus will cringe at the word Hindu. Having dwelled deep into the issue a realization dawned within me. The word Hindu is a word that was coined by the Persians who were Muslims when they were invading India. It is well known that there never was any legacy left by the Muslims in India apart from a nation of so called Hindus who are scared, weak and passive.

There should be a new word to denote so called Hindus, to remove the shackles of Muslim association. The word Hindu itself is not even a Sanskrit word and therefore a suitable Sanskrit word should be used to newly identify the people who have been practicing this wonderful philosophy for many many eons. Upon examination of the history of the African-American people, we all know that the word Negro was a termed coined by the European colonialist to depict the people from Africa. The word Negro itself means black and was used in a very condescending manner. Today people of African-American heritage detest the word Negro, nigger or any other racial pejorative. Hindus or so called Hindus as such should adopt a similar movement to remove this word from our vocabulary. The word Hindu indicates that we are still slaves and we still posses that slave mentality. Muslim is a word used to denote the practitioners of Islam while Christian is used to denote the practitioners of Christianity. Similarly a new word should be used for so-called Hindus; Words such as Arya, Bharataya, Santana’s etc. Even the word Hinduism should be changed as it has been stated by scholars of Hinduism that our culture is not categorized to any –isms; therefore a suitable name should reflect our unity is spiritual and cultural diversity. So called Hindus should separate themselves from these two very demoralizing and denigrating words such as Hinduism and Hindus and choose to identify themselves as something more appropriate. These words should be taken to offence just like the words nigger and Negro are.

-Muski

A Tribute to Lord Rama

I bow to thee O lord Rama, who’s bountiful blessings I seek.

I bow to thee O lord Rama, who grants peace to the troubled mind.

I bow to thee O lord Rama, who is without beginning, who is without end.

I bow to thee O lord Rama, who took form on earth, to rid her of evil.

I bow to thee O lord Rama, who resides in everything living being.

I bow to thee O lord Rama, the avatar of lord Vishnu.

I bow to thee O lord Rama, the one who is eternal.

I bow to thee O lord Rama, who is with form, who is without form.

I bow to thee O lord Rama, who is beyond space, beyond time.

O slayer of Ravana, it you whom all the Gods, Rakshasas, mortals, and animals worship. It is you O lord Rama, who is the ideal son, an ideal brother, and ideal friend, an ideal king, an ideal student, an ideal warrior. It is you and only you who has shown mankind the right path. To even emulate a small fraction of your all so perfect self is sufficient enough to call an accomplishment. O lord please bless me, grant us peace and lead us to immortality.

Jai Sri Ram

-Muski

Eurocentric Attitudes

Eurocentric Attitudes
This article is directed towards Hindus of Indian origin. I am sure many Hindus growing up in the west have gone through some disastrous cases of trying to find their identity and an identity that can yield respect from their peers. But the question is how do people perceive Indians and India. Common misconceptions that arise are 1) India is a land of poverty 2)Land of population crisis and 3) Land of plague. India lacks infrastructure, is full of corruption and a third world country. While many of the above statements are true, I think we are missing the point that India after independence is only about fifty years old and is therefore a young country, i.e. Republic of India.

Unlike many people of different ethnic backgrounds, it is very rare to find Indians or Hindus who are proud of their ethnic background or are proud of their Hindu heritage. What is the reason for this? Most of the education that we receive in the west is by European Christian teachers that have a strong contempt for anything different. We are always taught that civilization started from Greece and that the Greeks were the original people to think ‘logically’. That seemed ridiculous, and I recently read a book by Linda Johnsen who also proposed a very simple question, “How did the Egyptians build those pyramids?”, "How did the Aztecs and Inca’s built those superb cities and buildings that surpassed those of the barbaric and primitive Spaniards"? Did they spring up by accident? No, one would have to think logically to be able to engineer such endeavors. The Shankhya School of thought is based on logic thinking and it is confirmed by academic scholars that Shankhya School of thought is older and existed before any of the greeks dsicovered farming. What about all those advanced weapons used by the Indian warriors in ancient times? Did they crop up by accident? Not to mention the superb architecture of the temples you can find by a stones throw when in India.

I am not denying the logic thinking of the Greeks, I don’t believe that the Greeks were the original thinkers or the only thinkers. What about the Indians? Why is it that although Indians have discovered and invented many things for the benefit of mankind, they do not get the recognition that is due to them? What about all those scientists, philosophers, inventors, martial artists, musicians, etc? Were they a figment of our imagination? Are they mere legends? I would think not. It is unfortunate that in this day and age we are left with the outdated legacy of British education in regards to the history and religion of India. Now let’s take a trip through mainstream history and examine the major powers that were involved in colonizing countries that don’t belong to them, those countries being Britain, Spain, Portugal, and Belgium. Spain and Portugal are the major European powers that were known for their almost annihilation of the native populations. The unfortunate victims being the Aztecs and the Incas.

Before the British had arrived in India, the Hindus by general were very proud and content with their faith, and found no reason to change religions. The British knew this very well. Unlike their Spanish and Portuguese counterparts, the British were not so violent in nature in taking over. But that does not excuse them from what I think is atrocious. In a way, one could assume the damage done by the British is worse than what the Muslims did in the Middle Ages, but we will leave that out for now. However let it be known that most Hindus regard Muslims as nothing but savages who contributed nothing to India however, a lot of Hindus consider the British rule as an improvement to India. I don’t agree with that completely. What was so beneficial about British education to the Hindus? As many leaders have stated; British education is a means to secure a job and earn money. It does not develop morals and character like an ideal Hindu education tries to incorporate.

However what is unfortunate in British education is that while these young Hindus were being educated by the British, they where taught to hate their culture and country. They were indoctrinated in western civilization and philosophy. These bright young Hindus were taught that the western world was the most civilized and advanced civilization in the world. That’s rather ridiculous if you compare the middle ages of the Hindus and the Westerners. In Europe people were slaughtering each other through the crusades, inquisitions, protestant reformation etc while Hindus were busy developing different schools of thought and propounding the path of Bhakti to god realization. I would rather debate about philosophy than to fear for my life because I believe differently.

Many people assume the Greeks were the original thinkers in logic and philosophy, sorry to disappoint those arrogant Europeans, but according to this source It is stated that the sages of Greece got their knowledge from India.

" It will no longer remain to be doubted that the priests of Egypt and the sages of Greece have drawn directly from the original well of India," that it is to 'the banks of the Ganges and the Indus that our hearts feel drawn as by some hidden urge." (source: On Hinduism Reviews and Reflections - By Ram Swarup p. 102).

Many of us Indians in the west keep commenting on the passiveness of Indians, or more so we are divided between people who are labeled as sell outs i.e. those who have adopted western way of life, and those that remain to traditions. However the blame should be shared by Indian parents and the western education system. This problem does not only happen in the west but the same problem is in India where the country refuses to topple the shackles of British legacy. Why are we made to hate our culture? There are reasons for this,

1) The Aryan Invasion - Indian civilization is not indigenous and their civilization is from abroad. This adds to the ego of Europeans that they are responsible for India’s glorious civilization.

2) Caste System - Aryans established this to maintain racial purity.

3) Western education - As emphasized above.

We are taught about glories of the Islamic civilization, Christian civilization and the Judaic civilization. All of which are Semitic narrow minded religions. Given that Europe is a Christian continent, it is not surprising as to why these three religions are afforded their proper respect while India and Hinduism are looked upon with contempt not to mention our culture being eaten away by people within; notably the communists and the anglicized Indian sell outs. What can be done to stop this? A lot is being done as I was typing this and as you are a reading this now. I will be honest, I am not doing anything, and I am no scholar nor am I affiliated with any institution. I am writing my thoughts and you are free to read them or condemn them do what you wish. If you want to learn more about Eurocentric’s just type this world on Google along with Hinduism and you can learn more from professional writers and thinkers.

-Muski

http://india_resource.tripod.com/britishedu.htm

http://www.atributetohinduism.com/European_Imperialism.htm

What Advaita means to me

I have just recently discovered this wonderful website where I may retain my identity and post my thoughts every so often. To start it off I thought I would post my thoughts on Advaita and how it affects my everyday life.

For those who are unaware of Advaita, or even never heard of the word, it is a branch of philosophy in Hinduism that forms the part of Vedanta, which means the end of the Veda's. Advaita is not something new nor is it in anyway different from Hinduism. Advaita is in fact a philosophy that was rediscovered or basically propagated by his Divine and God realized Adi Shankaracharya.

Adi Shankaracharya is one of those philosopher saints one does not find too often, if any at all. His charisma, intelligence, rationality and humility are what define him. Adi Shankaracharya taught the components of Advaita which teaches one that in the end the soul and God, in Sanskrit Brahman, is one and the same and it is up to us to realize that unity. Okay, that’s fine and good. However, I have given an oversimplified explanation and I will state this right now that I am not an expert on Hinduism, Advaita, or India, but I am posting my thoughts about what I believe it to be and what it means to me.

Okay so now you’re thinking, I am God, shouldn't I be able to perform miracles like God and have the same powers as God. The answer is no. According to Advaita I am God too, however I still do not have miraculous powers either. This is where realizing God comes in. Unlike Shankaracharya we have not realized God, and like every ardent spiritualistic achiever, we are trying to realize that Unity. God realization is accomplished by highly evolved souls and saints, so how does the common man like you and me begin the quest for the ultimate.

Advaita teaches that people can worship their chosen God which eventually leads them to realize the merging of the soul to God. Chosen God? Yes Chosen God! God, that’s a concept which has different interpretations from people of different cultures and religions. God that is the ultimate reality is presented in two forms the un-manifest and the manifest. The world we see is the manifest form of Brahman, and therefore all the Gods in the Hindu Pantheon are different representations of God. Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu, Lord Ganesh, Devi Durga, Devi Kali, Devi Saraswati, Devi Parvati, Devi Laxmi are all but representations of God. Which ever form appeals to you, by all means worship that form with sincerity and devotion without any contemplation of whether or not worshipping that form will send you to hell, according to religions like Islam and Christianity.

Advaita really appeals to me. I feel that Advaita can really help unify people who believe in different Gods (Non-Semitic Gods) and I have no trouble worshipping any Hindu/Pagan deity as they are all one and the same. To be honest, I worship different Gods on different Days, and I feel the same presence of the Diving no matter which God or Goddess, be it Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna, Ganesh or Zeus. Advaita has really helped me get my peace of mind; it allows me to discover the truth for myself. Advaita does not bind me to any doctrinal instructions, and I don’t have to fear hell fire just because I worship different Gods or Goddesses. I hope Advaita can help you find your peace of mind, I hope we can all realize Brahman one day.

Jai Laxmi-Narayana.
-Muski